2019 Galatrona
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Tasting notes
The violets and flowers with some asphalt and blackberries are so enticing on the nose. Green olives, too. It’s full-bodied and very tight in the mid-palate and surrounded by fine, polished tannins. It has a unique mouth-feel. Very impressive and enticing. Try after 2025, but already seductive.
Critic scores
Average Score
Jancis Robinson MW
James Suckling
More reviews and scores
The 2019 Galatrona is a gorgeous wine. It possesses striking depth, but with the freshness and delineation that is a signature these days. Blue/purple fruit, mocha, incense, espresso and lavender build in this potent, pure Merlot from the hills. The 2019 is one of the better recent vintages I can remember tasting.
Made with organic Merlot grapes, the Petrolo 2019 Galatrona is soft and luscious, spreading evenly over the palate with elegance and sweeping intensity. The bouquet shows dark fruit, black cherry and sweet prune. Those dark fruit tones are woven into pretty layers of spice, leather and perfumed tobacco. I like the tight, compact, yet fundamentally rich quality that is part of the mouthfeel in this important vintage. This wine could be considered a bit lighter and more ethereal compared to recent past releases, but I found that all the wines in this batch of new releases go in this same direction.
Blackberries and black cherries with lavender and violets on the nose. Full-bodied with velvety, chewy tannins, yet the fruit is very intense with vibrancy and energy. Muscular, yet agile. Pure and poised. A unique definition of merlot in Tuscany. Drink after 2025.
About the producer
Petrolo is one of Tuscany’s cult names. It is best known for Galatrona – a Merlot cuvée that is, along with Masseto, often described as the Pétrus of Tuscany.