The 100% Merlot 1994 Redigaffi is awesome. I suspect the likes of Christian Moueix and Michel Rolland from Pomerol would be thrilled to taste this wine as it possesses the quintessential Merlot characteristics - chocolate, mocha, jammy black-cherries, and toast, as well as subtle herbs. This wine is extraordinarily rich, full-bodied, opulent, and, as my enthusiastic notes read, "great stuff." With full body, low acidity, luscious layers of chewy, jammy fruit, and a finish that lasts for over 30 seconds, this terrific Merlot rivals the sensational Merlot of Castella di Ama and Ornellaia's Masseto. It should drink well for 12-15+ years.Tua Rita's 7.5 acre vineyard was a source for the Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot used in the blend at Sassicaia until Tua Rita began to estate bottle in 1992. Approximately 400 cases of the Giusto dei Notri are produced from a blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Merlot. The wine is aged for 14 months in French oak barrels, of which 50% are new, and bottled without fining or filtration. Only 125 cases of the 100% Merlot, Redigaffi, are produced. It, too, is aged in 50% new French oak, and is bottled without fining or filtration. Both wines are stunning ... and keep in mind that the two I tasted were from a relatively difficult, rain-plagued vintage. Thus it is easy to imagine how extraordinary the 1995s might be.A Leonardo Lo Cascio Selection, Winebow, Hohokus, NJ; tel. (201) 445-0620

Our historic retrospective of one of Italy's most celebrated Merlots sets off in the right direction with this inaugural release. The Tua Rita 1994 Redigaffi is still very much alive. It was born in a vintage that is remembered for shifting temperature highs and lows. There are hardly any baked or dehydrated aromas, and the wine delivers an impressive intensity of perfumes with black plum, minty herb and rose potpourri. You might expect flat fruit for a 28-year-old Merlot, but instead you are met by pleasant opulence and sweet highlights in the mouth. The wine scored 93 points when first reviewed by Robert Parker, and he gave it a drinking window that took it from 1997 to 2012. Today, the 1994 vintage enjoys a compatible score, in my opinion, with a much longer drink date.