January 8, 2010

Magnificent Merlot
Italy is home to over 2,000 different grape varieties and yet Merlot, a French import, is currently the fifth most-planted grape in the country. And now, one hundred or so years after the first vine was planted, Merlot has certainly made its mark in Italian viticulture.

Petrolo Galatrona 1997

Petrolo’s Galatrona— a 100% Merlot—moves in the popular realm occupied by the likes of Masseto, Messorio, and Redigaffi, and it routinely merits critical recognition, displaying remarkable consistency from vintage to vintage. Its performance is anything but routine in terms of what it does for Merlot, however—realizing a sleek, untamed, and exotic number that is a high fidelity rendering of the potential this grape realizes in its Super-Tuscan role. What’s more, it doesn’t come at the cost of its fellow Super-Merlots, affording truly accessible luxury.

HK$1,880.00

Villa Mangiacane Aleah 2004

The Super-Tuscan Aleah is 100% Merlot that is handpicked, and then fermented in stainless steel for just under a month. After spending eighteen months in French oak barrique, the wine spends another eight months in bottles before release. As graceful as its name, Aleah has a surprisingly robust character, supple tannins, and the unmistakable terroir of Toscana. Very little of this award-winning Merlot is made, and even less makes it out of Europe. Enjoy Aleah for a unique Tuscan experience.

Quantity	Price
1 – 11	HK$360.00
12 +	HK$331.20

Tua Rita Redigaffi 2005

One of the world’s most renowned Merlot. Redigaffi derives from
low-yielding vines, lengthy maceration periods and a small new-oak age
barrels. Notes of leather, spices and currants.

HK$2,428.00

Tua Rita Redigaffi 2006

The coastal Merlot star of Redigaffi is a pinnacle monovarietal expression, produced in minute quantities that powerfully evoke painstaking artisanal craftsmanship. Italian Merlots like Redigaffi consistently outperform Petrus and Le Pin and further distinguish themselves by delivering substantive and complex expressions that offer lushness in concert with exceptional structure and age worthiness. Despite the fact that the estate received perfect scores of 100 from the critics for both its 1997 and 2000 Redigaffis, little has changed since the time when the first of these provocative and untamed wines exited Tua Rita’s little cellar door and sent Redigaffi far beyond its village. Heightening the Redigaffi’s status is the minute amount of wine produced; the estate’s case production ranges from 350 to 600, depending on the vintage. An iconic Merlot that has touched aficionados and collectors worldwide, the 2006 Redigaffi is tremendous in its chiseled structure and harmonious layers of fruit and minerals. Dark fruit aromatics offer a preview to the palate’s reading of massive fruit offset by sweet tannins. The structure is finely delineated and promises a harmonious evolution as the wine matures during a cellar period of 2011-2023.

HK$4,388.00

Le Macchiole Messorio 2003

Part of an unofficial, but nevertheless widely recognized clique that includes Redigaffi, Masseto, and Galatrona, Messorio provides a compelling testament to Toscana’s affinity for the varietal; these bottlings, in fact, often merit comparison to the wines of Bordeaux’s Pomerol region, the renowned Château Pétrus and Vieux-Château-Certan. With a limited case production averaging 750 and an impeccable vintage record, Messorio ranks among the most highly sought of Italy’s cult bottlings.

HK$1,880.00

Movia Merlot 2004

HK$300.00

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