The 2008 Merlot Graf de la Tour comes across as rather cool and tightly wound. With time in the glass the fruit begins to open up, revealing hints of blackberry jam, espresso, grilled herbs and plums. Some of the wine’s more reticent qualities are balanced by the giving, sweet aromatics. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2016. Villa Russiz appears to be in transition at the moment, after the departure of longtime winemaker Gianni Menotti over the summer. Hopefully things will settle down. The estate is run by a non-profit organization, and my feeling has long been that the potential of these vineyards in the heart of the Collio has yet to fully be realized. Importer: Empson, USA, Alexandria, VA; tel. (703) 684-0900

The 2006 Merlot Graf de La Tour is particularly successful in this vintage. Ripe red fruit, licorice, flowers and French oak are woven into a firm, structured frame. The integrity of the fruit is simply remarkable here, but readers will need to cellar this wine for a few years in order for more tertiary notes to develop. The finish is long and poised, suggesting a bright future lies ahead. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2022. Gianni Menotti makes some of the richest, most fully-flavored wines readers will come across in Friuli. The entry-level 2008 whites appear to be excellent across the board, but it is the 2006 Merlot Graf de La Tour that steals the show among these new releases. Importer: Empson, USA, Alexandria, VA; tel. (703) 684-0900

This is a beautifully extracted and rich Italian Merlot with layers of luscious fruit and mature berry. The wine is exceedingly soft and velvety in the mouth and ends with alcohol, structure and a healthy dose of blackberry, cherry and jammy fruit.——M.L.(12/15/2009)—— 91

The 2004 Merlot Graf De La Tour is a medium-bodied offering with modest concentration. The wine possesses pretty, fresh fruit, but also come across as excessively herbal, with little complexity to speak of. Anticipated maturity: 2008-2012. Villa Russiz is one of Friuli’s top estates, but this is an uneven set of releases owing to the challenges of the 2007 vintage. The whites in particular show the unfocused aromatics and overly heavy quality which is common in this vintage.Importer: Empson, USA, Alexandria, VA; tel. (703) 684-0900

The 2003 Merlot Graf de la Tour is sweet and long, with dark fruit, herbs, chocolate, licorice, mineral, raisin and graphite notes that flow from the glass. It needs at least another year in bottle for the tannins to soften a bit, alternatively it should be given some air prior to serving. Anticipated maturity: 2007-2015. Villa Russiz is a unique property in that it is run as a non-profit organization whose mission is to improve the lives of needy children. Oenologist Gianni Menotti is one of the leading lights of the Friulian wine scene. His considerable skills are on display in this terrific set of releases which are among the most consistently outstanding wines I tasted from Friuli this year. The estate releases a set of entry-level wines plus its higher-end “de La Tour” bottlings which bear the name of the original owner of the estate, French Count Theodore de La Tour. Menotti told me he was very happy with the 2006 vintage because it gave him the perfect conditions to make the wines he likes most; fat, ripe wines with plenty of structure yet balanced by freshness and aromatic complexity. After undergoing fermentation in stainless steel, the whites are left on the lees until the Spring after the harvest which gives the wines their open textures. With the exception of the Chardonnay de La Tour (partly aged in oak), Menotti prefers that his whites not undergo malolactic fermentation in order to maintain as much freshness as possible.Importer: Empson, USA, Alexandria, VA; tel. (703) 684-0900