Winemaker Notes
Deep purple in color, Sodale is redolant with inky black fruit, sweet spice, and mineral- all of which are woven together tighlty with a degree of finesse that calls its revered cousin, Montiano, to mind. On the palate the wine is juicy yet structured with abundant tannin that is polished and supple in texture. A balanced finish of medium length begs another sip and makes Sodale an indespensable everyday drinker.
Pair Sodale with your mid-week supper, or a more carefully coordinated affair. A stuffed portobello mushroom, a slow-cooked Bolognese sauce, or a seared shell steak with frites and a red wine reduction would all pair beautifully with Sodale.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Here is a new wine from the Cotarella family. The 2015 Merlot Sodale aspires to a very specific place in the marketplace: impressive quality at a very attractive price point. It's a win-win you say? Yes, but perhaps you get a little less personality and uniqueness as a result. This wine drinks as you would imagine a warm-vintage Merlot would. It offers soft cherry fruit and ripe blackberry with spice and leather.
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.