2016 Vigna l'Apparita
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Tasting notes
This is super exuberant brimming with violets, dried fig, wood smoke, fresh tobacco, Asian spice box and copious amounts of blackberry, plum and morello cherry fruit – layers and layers of it. Despite the opulence and density of fruit that vibrant Tuscan acidity leaves the palate salivating. This is a stunning vintage for L’Apparita.
Critic scores
Average Score
Antonio Galloni, Vinous
James Suckling
More reviews and scores
The 2016 L'Apparita is a standout wine. A true symbol of the vintage, the wine shows the classic lines and extreme precision we can expect from 2016, with the plump, ripe generosity of the Merlot grape (when farmed in the right hands of course). The wine is profound, rich and beautifully concentrated with power but no residual heaviness. I went back to this sample a few times in the 12 hours after I popped the cork, and the wine was more beautiful each time. It offers a profound sense of beauty, harmony and Merlot purity now, and it should evolve slowly and softly in the coming years.
The 2016 L'Apparita, 100% Merlot, is a breathtaking, riveting wine that captures all the potential of the vintage. In this vintage, L'Apparita is especially silky and refined. Layered, perfumed and wonderfully nuanced, L'Apparita is simply epic. Lavender, mint, sage, spice, new leather and cloves develop with time, but more than anything else, L'Apparita is wonderfully complete and magnificently beautiful.
Extremely perfumed with violets and crushed raspberries, as well as wet earth and spice. Full body. Linear and chewy with racy tannins and fruit tension. Wild finish. Pure merlot. Needs time to open. Try after 2021.
About the producer
Castello di Ama is one of the pre-eminent estates in Chianti Classico. Situated in the southern-most district of the appellation, the estate has only been making wine since the late 1970s but has since built a reputation as one of the region’s best.