March 21, 2023 - Jammy, kind of sweet, even, not to my taste.
April 23, 2022 - PnP. Very dark maroon in color with a tinge of orange around the perimeter. In a good drinking window now but plenty of life left imo. Brown sugar & caramel on the nose. Extremely well balanced. Tannins still present. Sweet cherry, a hint of pomegranate and a hint of coffee on the palate. Bravo! Will be on the lookout for more of these.
February 23, 2019 - This was quite lovely. I intentionally decanted it about fours before dinner. It had a little brown tinge upon opening, but that went away and it evolved into something really special. Full of fruit and spice, with richness and a nice long finish. It was delicious!
June 21, 2017 - Inky, dense and opaque burgundy color. Ripe, opulent and quite developed nose with some inky character, sweet oak spice that are hinting some leathery aromatics, succulent plummy dark fruits, a little bit of pruney fruit, a hint of confected dark berries and a touch of crunchy blackcurrant. The wine is extremely full-bodied and very concentrated, yet remarkably dry and savory on the palate. There are flavors of bitter dark chocolate, tart dark berries, some stony minerality and a hint of ripe red fruit. The structure relies more on the chewy and quite tightly-knit tannins that still pack quite a bit of grip, instead of acidity, which in turn feels a bit too low and soft. The finish is dry, tightly wound and grippy with remarkably long flavors of spicy oak, developed dark fruit character, some assorted forest fruits, a little bit of dark chocolate bitterness and a hint of pruney fruit.
A very big, dead-serious and remarkably savory Merlot from the southern part of Italy. Compared to the normal style of Italian Merlot, this is a lot weightier and more extracted wine, but also lacking that typical plump red fruit character and emphasis on the sweetness of fruit. I don't know how much it has to do with the cooler vintage of 2002 and how much it has to do from the region the grapes came from, but this is hands down one of the greatest Italian Merlots I've tasted. Truth be told, this is on par with great Pomerol red with similar age, although this might quite a bit bigger and clumsier a wine stylistically. Good value at 41,50€.
January 11, 2017 - Tasted blind. Ripe, inky, full bodied, rich, dark chocolately, dark fruit with the intensity of dried cherries and plums, sweet tannins, mouth-coating. Impressively, very much like Aglianico and very much like a far better vintage than 02. At it's best right now, but no rush.
March 10, 2015 - wine group dinner at Two Chefs. Mixed reviews. Some thought it was too heavy; others, including me, thought it was drinking spot-on
July 15, 2012 - Unique nose. Could not tell that it's a merlot.
April 29, 2012 - Beautiful body. Breath taking!
April 27, 2011 - Slightly mismatched to spicy seafood with light fresh tomatoe sauce this wine is definitely Left Bank Bordeaux merlot style (as per another reviewer's notes) with Italian style and richness. Really opens up. I might suggest at least 2 hours decanting before-hand to fully expose the tiny amount of fruity residual sugar. Agree again with all reviewer notes of cedar, tobacco leaf, and exotic fark fruits.
January 25, 2011 - Black. Potent nose of chocolate, coconut creme, dark fruit, sweet cocoa. While there is some dark plummy fruit, it's covered with a lot of oak, roasted coffee, and sweet tannins. Decent acidity, very silky, superb steak wine. Will the fruit ever come out from behind the oak and roasty chocolate tones? Pretty internationally styled but fantastic concentration.