Also undeniably beautiful, the 2016 Palazzi shows inky black extraction and penetrating intensity. This pure expression of Merlot delivers rich notes of tobacco weaved in with ripe fruit, spice, dried blackberry and blackcurrant. There are also some pleasant undertones of raisins and figs that come with the early-ripening grape in a hot year such as 2016. The wine is fermented in steel vats and aged in new oak for eight months before going into cement vats for an additional 11 months. Some 2,900 bottles were made.