Petrolo Galatrona 2019

Professional Ratings

• 99 James Suckling
  Blackberries and black cherries with lavender and violets on the nose. Full-bodied with velvety, chewy tannins, yet the fruit is very intense with vibrancy and energy. Muscular, yet agile. Pure and poised. A unique definition of merlot in Tuscany. Drink after 2025.
• 97 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

  Made with organic Merlot grapes, the Petrolo 2019 Galatrona is soft and luscious, spreading evenly over the palate with elegance and sweeping intensity. The bouquet shows dark fruit, black cherry and sweet prune. Those dark fruit tones are woven into pretty layers of spice, leather and perfumed tobacco. I like the tight, compact, yet fundamentally rich quality that is part of the mouthfeel in this important vintage. This wine could be considered a bit lighter and more ethereal compared to recent past releases, but I found that all the wines in this batch of new releases go in this same direction. Best After 2023.

• 96 Wine Spectator

  A concentrated red, with an earthy, savory side contrasting its plum and blackberry fruit. A broad swath of tannins makes its presence felt on the finish, yet there's a beam of acidity keeping this focused and refined. Best from 2025.

• 96 Wine & Spirits

  When Giulio Gambelli found a plot of clay-rich soil on the Petrolo estate in 1989, he recommended planting merlot to blend with sangiovese. The first vintage was 1994, and the results were so good that Petrolo bottled a portion separately, creating Galatrona, a distinctly Tuscan rendering of merlot. In 2019, the wine’s flavors of fresh plum are densely packed with notes of dark chocolate and tobacco and enlivened by flecks of graphite and mint. It’s hard to resist those vibrant flavors and supple tannins now, yet this has plenty of cellaring potential.

• 90 Decanter

  Quite a green, herbal nose, with some older oak nuances. A fresh palate with bright herbs joining the juicy ripe plums.