2018 Costa Toscana IGT Merlot, Tuscany, Italy

Firm, somewhat iodine-like, cedary and dried herbal scent of blackcurrants with aromas of black olives and dried tomatoes, peppers, meaty-animalic notes and a hint of mixed pickles. Very ripe, quite juicy, partly dried dark fruit, distinct, toasty, chocolaty and coffee-spicy wood aromas, powerful and persistent on the palate, a little iodine, pepper and juniper, some acid bite, tobacco nuances, a hint of mushrooms, crumbly-sandy, a hint of drying tannin, very good, alcoholic finish with ripe, again partly dried fruit and sooty wood.

Best to drink: Bis 2027+. What our ratings mean