Palazzi 2018
ABOUT THE VINTAGE
This 100% merlot is made from a selection of grapes from about 2 hectares across the estate, with only a small quantity produced each year.
After the sweltering summer of 2017, we welcomed the cooler, more even temperatures of 2018 in the valley. As we neared the end of August, we were looking at larger than usual clusters, not too sweet for the period, and unusually soft in their early fruit. Because of these cooler temperatures, the vineyards were able to ripen the fruit and tannins earlier; all of that is usually kept back because of heat in August. The skins, thin as they were, were incredibly forward in color – they stained the fingers! Usually, that happens in mid-October.
In the last days of summer, we were dizzy with the silver of the new moon. From the 21st, there was a sudden density in the merlot: the astronomy signaling. The grapes were showing dark and soft, and we began bringing in twenty tons of merlot a day. The juice was low in alcohol, high in acidity, rich in taste – complex merlots, reminding one of Saint-Emilion. We started earlier than ever, with two large final ripe pickings finishing on the 23rd.
REVIEWS
Monica Larner, Wine Advocate, 97 points: “The Tenuta di Trinoro 2018 Palazzi is a pure expression of Merlot that boasts seamless power, intensity and concentration. With a precious 1,660 bottles produced, you are treated to a full-throttle expression from Tuscany that exudes generous black fruit, spice and sweet tobacco. Black cherry and plum give the wine soft contours and sweetness. Palazzi sees 15 days of fermentation on the skins and is racked into new barrels for eight months of aging. It is then put into cement for a final 10 months of rest. To the palate, the wine is structured and concentrated, suggesting a pairing with a succulent cut of red meat marinated in rosemary and olive oil. What a beautiful treat.”
Antonio Galloni, Vinous, 94 points: “The 2018 Palazzi, 100% Merlot, is plush, silky and so inviting. Like all of these wines, the Palazzi is quite overt, and yet all the elements come together so well. Dark raspberry fruit, chocolate, spice, leather, licorice all flesh out in the glass. Flamboyant and exotically ripe, Palazzi is a quintessential wine from Tenuta di Trinoro.”
Othmar Kiem – Simon Staffler, Falstaff, 96 points
100% Merlot
