The estate's 2009 Tenuta di Trinoro presents exotic notes of wild cherries, plums, spices, minerals and licorice all of which come together on a silky, polished frame. Smoke, incense and a host of other seductive, beguiling aromas and flavors add complexity as they wrap around the seriously intense finish. The 2009 Tenuta shows off marvelous intensity and a full-throttle personality while retaining a touch more freshness than is sometimes the case. In 2009 the Tenuta is 42% Merlot, 42% Cabernet Franc, 12%, Cabernet Sauvignon and 4% Petit Verdot.

If you ask Andrea Franchetti to name his two favorite vintages of the past, they are 2001 and 2009. The 2009 Tenuta di Trinoro is indeed an outstanding blend of 40% Cabernet Franc, 30% Merlot, 26% Cabernet Sauvignon and 4% Petit Verdot. The wine is showing beautifully right now and promises more excellence to carry it forward over the years. At the moment, it is seamless and infinite with a superior sense of balance and dark fruit integrity. It speaks in a loud, clear and articulate voice. The wine's appearance shows a dark, impenetrable color that underlines the ideal growing conditions of the vintage and the slow fruit-ripening. The aromas are stunning and perfectly balanced, showing both elegance and power. The tannins deliver dimension and a firmly unyielding quality that bodes very well for the future evolution of this stunning wine.

‘One of the best wines ever made at Trinoro’, according to Andrea Franchetti. 2009 was when he decided to restart Palazzi after 10 years because the Merlot was so good. Franchetti: ‘rainless storms rumbling over the unyielding green of the vines … leaving us at Trinoro with a feeling of the tropics … Seeing the fertility and forecasting a blazing summer (which then came) I cut very much down the vines' canopy hoping that some of the water in the berries would be absorbed to fight the heat's stress; that happened and in September the plants had also lost their deeper green – but they still had lots of energy and resumed gathering water. At picking I found that cases were coming in the cellar weighing much heavier than what would have built our average of 3.4 tons per hectare, and that led to the second important step taken during this vintage: opening the valve under every tank we filled and bleeding it for 20% of its weight.’ 42% Cabernet Franc, 42% Merlot, 12% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Petit Verdot from 4.8 ha of vineyards at 600 and 450 m above sea level.. Harvest: Merlot 27 September to 1 October; Cabernet Franc 5, 9, 13 and 20 October; Cabernet Sauvignon 21 October and Petit Verdot 27 October and 1 November. 8,400 bottles produced. Still deep lustrous crimson. This smells quite Cabernet! Very rich aroma and then rich undertow but not especially sweet. Some meatiness and great balance. Fresh finish with some fine tannin still in evidence. (JR)