Even if we are clearly on an opulent wine, the wine is not lacking in suppleness and elegance. Open and decanted, it was very expressive from the start, with good maturity. The juice is earthy, with liquorice and peppers, which aeration will transform into undergrowth and leather. It is indeed dense, but the acidic texture gives balance and flexibility to an ensemble that has a strength of 14 ° without the alcohol coming out at any time. The complexity is emerging even if the wine is only at the beginning of its life with a sweet and elegant woody note. Nice finish, intense on tobacco with still slightly perceptible tannins and length covering the throat.
It’s excellent but still needs aging.
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Merlot showdown at Maison Dakota. Tasted semi-blind. Drank in Grassl 1855. Appearance is clear, medium intensity, ruby colour. Legs. Nose is clean, medium+ intensity, with aromas of red plums, licorice, kirsch, florals. Developing. On the palate, dry, high acidity, medium+ alcohol (14%), plump lush high tannins, full body. Medium+ flavour intensity, with flavours of ripe red plums, sweet earth, ripe red bell peppers, licorice, kirsch. Long finish. Very good quality. Ripe dense fruit but has a very lifted feel. There is a certain elegance to it. Guessed correctly as the 2011 l'Apparita. Consistent style (as with the 2007 l'Apparita). Not exactly the most flamboyant in the lineup, so could have suffered in that respect. Young and in need of more age development.
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Decanted for 6 hours, then drunk over 3 hours. At the beginning quite harsh and sandy tannins. Showed much better at the end of the evening. Still needs a few more years in bottle. Interesting to see how this will develop and if it ever will reach the high Parker rating. For the moment 93.
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Clear, deep-ruby. Good legs/tears, suggesting medium+/high alcohol/viscosity. Clean, pronounced, highly-complex nose with primary, secondary and tertiary notes. Primary: black fruits - cherries, blackberries, prunes, figs. Red fruits: red cherries, red currants, kirsch. Wet earth/slate. Menthol. Secondary: smoke, nutmeg, baking spices. Tertiary: leather, pipe tobacco, sous bois. On the palate: dry, high acidity, medium+ tannins, high alcohol, full body. Tannins are fine-grained and very ripe. Silky. Pronounced primary flavors of black cherries, kirsch, red currants, wet slate and road dust. Pronounced Secondary flavors: smoke, nutmeg, baking spices, chocolate. Tertiary: leather and tobacco. Finish is long. The texture is mouth coating. Can drink now, will improve with aging. Good structure, medium+ tannins and high acidity along with high intensity of flavors and their complex nature are conducive to long aging. This wine is outstanding for the aforementioned reasons and the high varietal definition.
Descriptive note.
There is merlot (this meh-stuff bashed to death by Sideways and the like) and then there is Merlot. This one is certainly the latter. Upon taking the first sniff and making the first sip, one can't help but ask why everyone does not produce their Merlot in this style. And the answer seems to be rather obvious, - it is the mysterious terroir, the skill of the winemaker and the passion to make the most out of it that must come together in one place for this real gem in the world of wine to come truly alive. The wine quite honestly possesses all the pre-requisites which are indispensable in my opinion for it to be considered truly outstanding: - high-varietal definition/expression (you know it's Merlot the moment you grab a glass); - the sense of place (you know it's Merlot, but you realize it's coming from some very special place) - the quality of winemaking (very clean, pure, there is oak and just the right type and amount of it) - complexity (red and black fruits, chiseled with laser like precision, spring flowers, wet earth, spices and oaky notes, tobacco and leather, menthol.) - purity (while complex all the flavors are beautifully delineated) - long and clean finish (30+ seconds of really good fruits, followed by another 30 something seconds of non-fruity flavors).
If you need anything else to convince you to buy this one, let's just say the price to quality ratio is really top notch. You can't buy anything much better for USD 160 (the wine-searcher indicated price).
So, go grab a case of this elixir and drink a bottle every year, for it is at least as many great years that this wine has in front of it.
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Opened the case and unwrapped it. This comes in a really beautiful box. The wine was very impressive, with half a day of air, but you better wait. This will, from my experience with older vintages, get so much better with patience. I ordered another case but will not touch it for at least five years. Excellent!!!
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An explosion of flavors and aromatics. Perfumed notes of sweet dark cherries, plums, ripe figs, tobacco, but also dark chocolate, tobacco and graphite. It's medium-full bodied and dense, with medium-high tannin that is very silky and medium-high acidity. Great length. A super complex, perfumed and beautiful L'Apparita and probably one of the best I can remember. This is Merlot of the very highest level... Surprisingly accessible but will also age nicely for many years.
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11/23/2021 - Benoit Hardy Likes this wine: 93 Points
Powerful nose on plum, kirsch and spices.
Even if we are clearly on an opulent wine, the wine is not lacking in suppleness and elegance. Open and decanted, it was very expressive from the start, with good maturity. The juice is earthy, with liquorice and peppers, which aeration will transform into undergrowth and leather. It is indeed dense, but the acidic texture gives balance and flexibility to an ensemble that has a strength of 14 ° without the alcohol coming out at any time. The complexity is emerging even if the wine is only at the beginning of its life with a sweet and elegant woody note. Nice finish, intense on tobacco with still slightly perceptible tannins and length covering the throat.
It’s excellent but still needs aging.
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5/27/2021 - Romol Likes this wine: 93 Points
Decanted 2 hours. Better than 2 years ago. Now it is more aproachable. Ready to pop a bottle but no hurry. 93 pts. at rhe moment.
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7/3/2020 - Derek Darth Taster wrote: 93 Points
Merlot showdown at Maison Dakota. Tasted semi-blind. Drank in Grassl 1855.
Appearance is clear, medium intensity, ruby colour. Legs.
Nose is clean, medium+ intensity, with aromas of red plums, licorice, kirsch, florals. Developing.
On the palate, dry, high acidity, medium+ alcohol (14%), plump lush high tannins, full body. Medium+ flavour intensity, with flavours of ripe red plums, sweet earth, ripe red bell peppers, licorice, kirsch. Long finish.
Very good quality. Ripe dense fruit but has a very lifted feel. There is a certain elegance to it. Guessed correctly as the 2011 l'Apparita. Consistent style (as with the 2007 l'Apparita). Not exactly the most flamboyant in the lineup, so could have suffered in that respect. Young and in need of more age development.
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5/9/2020 - aridan Likes this wine: 95 Points
Wonderful bottle of wine. Enjoyed straight out of the bottle without any food.
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10/3/2019 - MarcelloW Likes this wine:
Decanted for 6 hours, then drunk over 3 hours. At the beginning quite harsh and sandy tannins. Showed much better at the end of the evening. Still needs a few more years in bottle. Interesting to see how this will develop and if it ever will reach the high Parker rating. For the moment 93.
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3/12/2019 - Romol Likes this wine: 92 Points
Decanted 2+ hours. Still pretty young. Very good bottle. This has a long life ahead. 92+ pts.
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1/21/2018 - IvanLi Likes this wine: 97 Points
WSET note followed by a descriptive note.
Clear, deep-ruby. Good legs/tears, suggesting medium+/high alcohol/viscosity.
Clean, pronounced, highly-complex nose with primary, secondary and tertiary notes.
Primary: black fruits - cherries, blackberries, prunes, figs. Red fruits: red cherries, red currants, kirsch. Wet earth/slate. Menthol.
Secondary: smoke, nutmeg, baking spices.
Tertiary: leather, pipe tobacco, sous bois.
On the palate: dry, high acidity, medium+ tannins, high alcohol, full body. Tannins are fine-grained and very ripe. Silky.
Pronounced primary flavors of black cherries, kirsch, red currants, wet slate and road dust.
Pronounced Secondary flavors: smoke, nutmeg, baking spices, chocolate.
Tertiary: leather and tobacco.
Finish is long. The texture is mouth coating.
Can drink now, will improve with aging. Good structure, medium+ tannins and high acidity along with high intensity of flavors and their complex nature are conducive to long aging. This wine is outstanding for the aforementioned reasons and the high varietal definition.
Descriptive note.
There is merlot (this meh-stuff bashed to death by Sideways and the like) and then there is Merlot. This one is certainly the latter.
Upon taking the first sniff and making the first sip, one can't help but ask why everyone does not produce their Merlot in this style.
And the answer seems to be rather obvious, - it is the mysterious terroir, the skill of the winemaker and the passion to make the most out of it that must come together in one place for this real gem in the world of wine to come truly alive.
The wine quite honestly possesses all the pre-requisites which are indispensable in my opinion for it to be considered truly outstanding:
- high-varietal definition/expression (you know it's Merlot the moment you grab a glass);
- the sense of place (you know it's Merlot, but you realize it's coming from some very special place)
- the quality of winemaking (very clean, pure, there is oak and just the right type and amount of it)
- complexity (red and black fruits, chiseled with laser like precision, spring flowers, wet earth, spices and oaky notes, tobacco and leather, menthol.)
- purity (while complex all the flavors are beautifully delineated)
- long and clean finish (30+ seconds of really good fruits, followed by another 30 something seconds of non-fruity flavors).
If you need anything else to convince you to buy this one, let's just say the price to quality ratio is really top notch. You can't buy anything much better for USD 160 (the wine-searcher indicated price).
So, go grab a case of this elixir and drink a bottle every year, for it is at least as many great years that this wine has in front of it.
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7/11/2017 - Romol Likes this wine: 92 Points
Decanted 3 hours. Deep dark color. Powerful (i guessed more than 14% alc.). With enough air very good at the moment. Has a long life ahead. 92-93 pts
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2/15/2017 - MarcelloW Likes this wine: 95 Points
Opened the case and unwrapped it. This comes in a really beautiful box. The wine was very impressive, with half a day of air, but you better wait. This will, from my experience with older vintages, get so much better with patience. I ordered another case but will not touch it for at least five years. Excellent!!!
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10/20/2016 - putter520 Likes this wine: 92 Points
Best of the 3 CAstello's; had most depth and longest finish.
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10/17/2016 - Burgundy Al wrote: 93 Points
Fine Vines Fall 2016 Portfolio Tasting (Fine Vines - Melrose Park IL): Tasting, brief note. Popped and poured. Rich, dense, meaty and chocolaty. Much more modern styled than elegant, but very long, powerful and tasty. Very long finish. 100% Merlot from Chianti proper.
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3/9/2016 - NostraBacchus Likes this wine: 96 Points
An explosion of flavors and aromatics. Perfumed notes of sweet dark cherries, plums, ripe figs, tobacco, but also dark chocolate, tobacco and graphite. It's medium-full bodied and dense, with medium-high tannin that is very silky and medium-high acidity. Great length. A super complex, perfumed and beautiful L'Apparita and probably one of the best I can remember. This is Merlot of the very highest level... Surprisingly accessible but will also age nicely for many years.
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