Winemaker Notes
Intensely red in color with purple reflections, this wine contains aromas of red fruit and sweet spices that balance out vanilla wood notes. On the palate, the wine is round and harmonious with a persistent finish and sweet tannins.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Rather subtle aromas of black olives, violets and crushed stone on the nose. The palate is medium-bodied with firm and polished tannins, and a long and flavorful finish. Linear and long.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The Famiglia Cotarella 2020 Merlot Sodale Cotarella represents terrific value. The undisputed theme of this wine is softness, and you get plenty of ripe, velvety fruit as a result. Black cherry and plum are framed by mild spice and cured tobacco. This is a medium-bodied red with melting tannins to pair with a classic plate of roast or fried chicken.
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Wine Enthusiast
On the nose, metallic notes come from pennies and cranberries, while bricks and herbs provide warmth. Vibrant fruit and tea flavors create an astringent palate, but an essence of cherry and vanilla preserves softness. Tannins and acidity are perfectly in harmony.
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.