Availability: Direct from winery here
Cost: $60.78 ($64.90 including taxes)
Alcohol: 14.4%
Production: 206 cases
Date Tasted: June 22nd, 2015
@LaStellaWinery
Tasting Notes: The "Pie Franco" in the name of this excellent Merlot from LaStella, translates from the Italian meaning "on its own feet", a reference for wines made from "ungrafted" vines - a rarity in the Okanagan and most everywhere else, except Chile. The uniqueness factor aside, the resulting wine can honestly claim to be a pure expression of Merlot, especially when the winery employs non-invasive winemaking techniques.
A sturdy backbone of fine-grained tannins supports all of the other elements of this Merlot, from the ripe, dark plum flavours, to the dusty, Christmas cake spice notes, to the mouth-watering, wild berry acidity. The complexity and depth on the nose is impressive and needs to be explored, yet, takes hours to open up. A few years of bottle age will do wonders for this wine and let it live-up to its full potential. Drink 2017-2020+.
- Liam Carrier ©copyright 2015 IconWines.ca
