Wine spectator:  Rated as Very good: a wine with special qualities. "This crowd-pleasing Merlot is well-balanced, featuring juicy acidity and flavors of ripe damson plum, blackberry coulis and smoke. Drink now through 2012." Oct 2011

Winery:  "Traditional red wine vinification at controlled temperatures of around 25°C; briefly refined in wood, ruby red in color, intense bouquet, pleasantly herbaceous, dry flavor, lightly tannic, complex."

Wired For Wine:  We have an utterly dreary day in our neck of the Northeastern woods, so we're imagining opening our first bottle of this Mezzacorona Vignetti delle Dolomiti Merlot, and forgetting the gloominess outside... This beautiful Italian red is another on our list of killer holiday values with lots more to offer than an unbeatable price.  This Vignetti delle Dolomiti is well-balanced, crowd-pleasing, intense and complex.  We say fill your glasses and enjoy them with mini lamb and raisin pies with pine nuts and mint. Ciao delizioso!  The ripe, concentrated dark fruit, delicate herbaceousness, juicy acidity, hint of smoke and tannin all come together, making this Mezzacorona a terrific partner for meats such as lamb, duck, steak and much more.  Our first choice is roasted rack of pork with orange/caramel pan sauce.  Just one turkey during the holiday season isn't enough, so we're preparing for the next one.  Roast turkey with pomegranate gravy will show off the gorgeous fruit in this Merlot.  Seared duck breasts with red wine sauce and candied kumquats will do nicely too.  The complex nature of questo bello vino italiano is able to handle full-flavored cheeses.  We love it with an Italian gorgonzola, toasted walnuts and prunes.  You'll want to get out the big glasses for this one winelovers!!

Size:  750ml; cork
Varietal: 100% Merlot 
Alcohol:  13.0%
Region:  Trentino/Alto Adige, Italy