A few years ago, Marchesi di Gresy’s new winemaker was familiarising himself with the cellar and found a few large casks full of red wine that weren’t due to be bottled. Asking his predecessor what they were, he learned that they contained Merlot from vintages dating back several years, which they couldn’t sell, because the film ‘Sideways’ had done a hatchet job on the grape variety and demand had evaporated for anything that mentioned the M-word on the label (the wine was due to be called ‘Solomerlot’). On tasting the contents of the barrels (the wines having by now spent a luxurious few years mellowing in oak), he was sideswiped by the quality and suggested that it could be labelled under the Monferrato Rosso appellation, which permits the use of Merlot without allowing it to be mentioned on the bottle, and the wine finally left the cellar, making its way onto the shelves of canny wine merchants, albeit in disguise, like the women dressed as men in Monty Python’s ‘Life of Brian’ (“there aren’t any Merlots here are there?”).

Marchesi di Gresy is one of the most respected estates in Piedmont. We’ve been fans of their Babarescos for many years, but you need deep pockets, so this Monferrato Rosso was a seriously exciting new discovery for us and we think it’s remarkably undervalued, because it’s pretty serious! Like another of Italy’s most lauded wines, Masseto, it is made entirely from Merlot, grown in Marchesi di Gresy’s ‘Monte Aribaldo’ vineyard. It would make more economic sense to grub it up and plant Nebbiolo, but the owner is adamant that the quality of the Merlot here is of the very highest calibre. According to the winery, it has only recently been released to the UK market, because it was purposefully being matured at Marchesi di Gresy’s cellars until ready to drink. It was matured for a year in old French oak barriques followed by more than 2 years in Slavonian oak casks before being cellared and allowed to rest.

The classic, elegant label instils an immediate sense of confidence, but it’s not just a façade, the interior decoration is even more beautiful. The wine sparkles with layers of sweetly-perfumed fruit (fleshy plums, shiny cherries, scented damsons) intermingled with woody spices from the new oak graced by blackcurrant leaf and notes of forest floor and shoe polish. It’s an expressive and seductive wine that lights up your palate with a sense of vibrant energy combining northern Italian high-toned fruit with the finely-woven, velvety tannins of a great Saint-Émilion. Complex and distinctly Italian, this red has tons of class and luxury about it. A gorgeous drop from an outstanding vintage! 14% alc. Drink now-2032.

Press review:

JancisRobinson.com (previous vintage): “Deep, ripe blackcurrant aroma streaked with the bite of green herbs and bitters. If I didn’t have the bottle in front of me, I’d have thought this was claret, and double the price. Dignified and classy and restrained… Except that, as it opens, there is flair, a stubborn indignation in the tannins and the gleam of well-polished church pew (generations of virtuous derrieres as well as generations of virtuous cleaning ladies) that is distinctly Italian. Merlot’s classic clipped-box-leaf framework shapes dark fruit with a wicked glint in its eye. If you don’t feel like shelling out £50 for a Bordeaux, but want a classy claret character, this might just be your baby. GV (TC). Drink 2022-2028.” 16.5 points

Customer comments (including previous vintages)

"It's a HIT!" - Mr C.F.

"This was delicious!" - Mr. J.P.

”Superb!” - Mr. B.W.