One of Italy's most celebrated Merlots, the 2013 L'Apparita is a soft and luscious expression with dark fruit, baking spice, hickory smoke and aged mahogany. The wine does show some nagging unripe flavors of green herb or peppercorn at the back that prevent me from being as enthusiast as I was with the 2010 and the 2011 vintages. That impression is backed by a spot of sourness that you taste on the finish. I'm sure it will improve with age, but I doubt that bitter note will ever fully disappear.