2019 Desiderio Merlot

Desiderio was a bull which lived on Avignonesi’s Capezzine farm more than one hundred years ago. The largest bull in Tuscanyat that time, this majestic animal helped define the Chianina cattle race, specific to the Bistecca Fiorentina. It came as a natural choice to dedicate this Merlot to the beloved bull as a testimony to the wines’ origin. This is Merlot from Tuscany at its best.

The wide aromatic bouquet ranges from cherry and plum jam to notes of black tea, rhubarb, and graphite, and final touches of cardamom. The entrance is bursting. On the palate it is enveloping and deep, accompanied by a silky and linear tannin typical of the structure of Tuscan Merlot. Tastefully juicy and in symbiosis with the olfactory notes, it gives notes of coconut and black pepper in the aftertaste.

James Suckling - 93 points