Tenuta Santa Maria Alla Pieve
Decima Aurea 2004
This is a new Merlot from an ambitious producer north east of Verona. 3 Merlot clones, 9500 vines per hectare planting density, looong maceration, matured in barrique and significant bottle aging before release; all the characteristics of a modern red wine. And first impressions are just that: this could pass for an ambitious Merlot from any number of US high-end producers: dark and dense in color, dark fruits, fully-ripe fruit, no herbaceousness, quite soft tannins, fairly high alcohol (14.5%), initially seems a bit linear on the palate. But the second day shows that this is actually a really good wine; the flavors develop in a very nice way to produce a wine that is an extremely good example of a first class Merlot. This will compete on even terms with any merlot-based wine I can think of including the best French and American examples. Excellent plus.
It is not cheap at Euro 33 a bottle but when compared to a Pomerol or some of the pricey American wines, a decent value.
Regards,
Robert