Galatrona 2017 1800cl

Despite the hardships of the vintage, Luca Sanjust and the team at Petrolo poured all their focus and attention into creating this wine. The 2017 Galatrona shows a hot-vintage interpretation of Merlot that never feels too ripe or heavy. Instead, this wine ushers forth a remarkable succession of balsam herb-like aromas with Mediterranean shrub, rosemary essence and wild sage. Those garden-fresh aromas accompany the dark blackberry fruit that gives this wine its important center of gravity. The Merlot harvest came two weeks early in 2017, and yields were greatly reduced. I am suggesting a slightly shorter drinking window for the 2017 vintage compared to the cellar-worthy 2016 edition.<br/>Average production at Petrolo is 30,000 to 35,000 bottles, but only 17,000 bottles were released in the challenging 2017 vintage. Petrolo proprietor Luca Sanjust calls 2017 a "demoralizing vintage" for all, but hard work and perseverance has paid off handsomely. His wines from the 2017 vintage show great quality, if alas, extremely low quantities.<br/>