Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Fantastic merlot here with black-olive, blackberry and nutmeg undertones. Medium to full body, silky tannins and a delicious finish. Give it a year to come together.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Sporting a new, minimalist design (a simple cream background replaces the label’s previous look), the 2010 Montiano is a great achievement for Riccardo Cotarella and his family. The wine is 100% Merlot and every effort has been made to preserve the high quality of fruit harvested in this happy vintage. It’s bold, rich, velvety and chocolaty all at the same time, with mesmerizing layers of dark cherry, Indian spice and tobacco.
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Wine Spectator
This leads with a pure beam of black currant and black cherry fruit, layered with light, sculpted tannins and accents of eucalyptus, star anise and mineral. Finely meshed and elegant, this opens with air. Merlot. Drink now through 2027.
With generous fruit and supple tannins, Merlot is made in a range of styles from everyday-drinking to world-renowned and age-worthy. Merlot is the dominant variety in the wines from Bordeaux’s Right Bank regions of St. Emilion and Pomerol, where it is often blended with Cabernet Franc to spectacular result. Merlot also frequently shines on its own, particularly in California’s Napa Valley. Somm Secret—As much as Miles derided the variety in the 2004 film, Sideways, his prized 1961 Château Cheval Blanc is actually a blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc.
Known as the ancient homeland of the Latins, today there is a vigorus wine industry beyond the city limits of modern, bustling Rome. The Cesanese grape, full of red berry, spice and rose, is responsible for Lazio’s only true local reds. Lazio’s most famous white wine, called Frascati, is based on the local Malvasia del Lazio and Trebbiano Toscana. A sweet version, called Cannellino di Frascati, is also made.