This was an exceptional bottle to pair with our small Thanksgiving dinner of bone-in prime rib roast, sweet potatoes (credit: Paula Deen), and sautéed asparagus.

Denomination: Toscana IGT First Vintage: 1994 Grape varieties: 100% Merlot Vineyards: Vignone 1999, Ulivino 2016 Training System: simple guyot Yield: 800 gr per plant Harvest period: 1st and 3rd week of September Winemaking: fermentation and maceration for 25 days in concrete Aging: 18 months in new oak barrel Bottling: August 10, 2021

Notes: Nose was red and black fruit, vanilla, oak, also showing warmer notes you might expect from a Super Tuscan, with tobacco leaves and sweet balsamic vinegar. On the palate, medium tannins and balanced acidity, with spice, mocha, cherry, tobacco, vanilla. While I think the nose could have shown a bit more definition, this was all around delectable, and perfect on the palate. This bottle was mainly primary, but I’d be interested to follow this over the next 20 years. Unfortunately, the price tag here is a bit painful. 94-95 with room to develop.

I’d love to hear other people’s favorites in terms of Tuscan Merlot!