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2015 Avignonesi Toscana Desiderio Merlot

Not Currently In Auction

Latest Sale Price

August 28, 2022 - $26

Estimate

RATINGS

94James Suckling

Plenty of plum fruits with dried herbs and spices in addition to ash and baking spices. Full body, chewy tannins and a long finish. Shows complexity, as well as a fruit and acid balance.

92Wine Enthusiast

Enticing aromas of underbrush, spiced plum, fragrant blue flower, cedar and a whiff of incense come to the forefront on this fragrant Merlot. It's taut, elegant and structured, delivering dried black cherry, clove, licorice and a hint of sandalwood framed in fine-grained tannins. It has surprising freshness for the hot dry vintage.

91Vinous / IWC

...very pretty wine...it is much more polished. Raspberry jam, wild flowers, vanillin and white chocolate give the Desiderio its distinctly racy personality.

REGION

Italy, Tuscany

Tuscany, or Toscana in Italian, is Italy’s best-known wine region and its most diverse. Historically Sangiovese was the primary grape grown in Tuscany and Chianti was considered the purest expression of Sangiovese. Sangiovese and its many clones are still important, and they are the grapes used for the Tuscan appellations of Brunello di Montalcino, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, Morellino di Scansano, Chianti, Chianti Classico and Carmignano. But in the last 50 years innovative producers, many of them in southwestern Tuscany in the area called Maremma, have also planted Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc. The tradition defying producers have blended those varietals with Sangiovese to produce dazzling wines that do not conform to Italy’s appellation regulations. Such wines are called Super Tuscans and cannot be labeled with either of Italy’s highest level quality designations, which are in order of status Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantia, (DOCG), and Denominazione di Origine Controllata, (DOC). (This has not at all hindered the demand for Super Tuscans, some of which are consistently among the world’s most admired and well-reviewed wines.) Tuscany has six DOCG appellations and thirty-four DOCs. Though famous for its red wines, Tuscany also produces whites made primarily from Trebbiano and Vernaccia. There are also many Tuscan Indicazione Geographica Tipica (IGT) wines that are often an innovative blend of traditional and non-traditional grapes. This relatively new appellation status was started in 1992 as an attempt to give an official classification to Italy’s many newer blends that do fit the strict requirements of DOC and DOCG classifications. IGT wines may use the name of the region and varietal on their label or in their name.

TYPE

Red Wine, Merlot, I.G.T.

The Merlot grape is such a deep blue that it is named for the blackbird. It’s an early ripening grape and one of the primary varietals used In Bordeaux. Merlot is also grown in the "International style," which is harvested later to bring out more tannins and body.