Deep garnet colored, there’s a good intensity of warm raspberry and mulberry aromas with some notes of spice box, stewed tea and tobacco leaves. The palate has a pleasant earthy / savory character lending medium to firm chewy tannins and medium-high acid to support the full bodied flesh. The finish is long and a little dry.

The 2004 Tenuta di Trinoro is almost all Merlot enhanced by bright scintillas of the other grapes (Petit Verdot and Cabernets Sauvignon and Franc) that make up this celebrated Tuscan red. Of the wines tasted in this vertical, the 2004 is most indicative of that trademark Andrea Franchetti style that sees Baroque-style opulence in terms of the wine's ripeness, curvaceousness and softness. This vintage saw a warm summer that accelerated ripening, followed by a cooler period before the harvest that helped to finalize aromas and structure. The Merlot is planted on clay and red alluvial soils, and these conditions have also contributed to the overall heft and power of this bold expression. A very critical palate may note an oxidative tone of dried cherry skin within all that ripe fruit. The wine is evolving fast and I have shortened the drinking window estimate as a result.

This vintage of Tenuta di Trinoro’s renowned super Tuscan (mostly Merlot with some Cab Franc, Petit Verdot and Canernet Sauvignon) is a tad too ripe and mature to score higher. Bold notes of strawberry and blackberry preserves rob the wine of some of its inherent elegance and add a chewy, sticky element to its mouthfeel. Otherwise, you’ll get bold tones of tobacco, leather and spice.——M.L.(5/1/2008)—— 89