Winemaker Notes
Intense ruby red with pomegranate hues. Campo del Viotto Merlot shows notes of marasca cherries, sweet tobacco, dark chocolate, and ripe wild berries. Intense on the palate, with sweet soft tannins and a spiced persistent finish.
Professional Ratings
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A pure expression of Merlot that sees a partial "appassimento" or drying of the grapes (but clocks in at a normal 14% alcohol level), the Scarbolo 2015 Campo del Viotto opens to a wild or untamed character with dark fruit, plum and dried cherry. The fruit is backed up by crushed white pepper, tar, black licorice and spent campfire ember. This is an elegant, mid-weight wine that offers a new and intriguing view onto a grape you might think you know well. This wine offers a new side to Merlot. There is a subtle touch of hot-vintage sweetness on the close with fruit from clay-soil vineyards.
-
Wine Spectator
Green olive and grilled rosemary notes show on the nose of this bright, medium- to full-bodied red, leading to a creamy range of plumped cherry, violet, graphite and dried blackberry flavors on the palate. Fine-grained tannins firm the finish.
-
James Suckling
A ripe and juicy red with dried-berry and plum character. Medium to full body and soft tannins. Flavorful finish.
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.
The source of some of Italy’s best and most distinctive white wines, Friuli-Venezia Giulia is where Italian, Germanic and Slavic cultures converge. The styles of wines produced in this region of Italy's far north-east reflect this merging of cultures. Often shortened to just “Friuli,” the area is divided into many distinct subzones, including Friuli Grave, Colli Orientali del Friuli, Collio Goriziano and Carso. The flat valley of Friuli Grave is responsible for a large proportion of the region’s wine production, particularly the approachable Pinot grigio and the popular Prosecco. The best vineyard locations are often on hillsides, as in Colli Orientali del Friuli or Collio. In general, Friuli boasts an ideal climate for viticulture, with warm sunny days and chilly nights, which allow grapes to ripen slowly and evenly.
In Colli Orientali, the specialty is crisp, flavorful white wine made from indigenous varieities like Friulano (formerly known as Tocai Friulano), Ribolla gialla and Malvasia Istriana.
Red wines, though far less common here, can be quite good, especially when made from the deeply colored, rustic Refosco variety. In Collio Goriziano, which abutts Slovenia, many of the same varieties are planted. International varieties like Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Cabernet Franc are also common, but they tend to be Loire-like in style with herbaceous character and mellow tannins. Carso’s star grape is the red Teranno, notable for being rich in iron content and historically consumed for health purposes. It has an earthy, meaty profile and is often confused with the distinct variety Refosco.