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Rapid Ship
Red
750ml
Bottle: $24.94
Ripe crunchy red forest fruits with notes of candied dark cherries. Rich and bold, with juicy tannins. (Bronze) -...
DC
89
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $11.54 $12.57
Deep ruby red with violet reflections; intense fruity bouquet with notes of plum and cherry, hints of Mediterranean...
Sale
Red
1.5Ltr
Bottle: $18.44 $20.49
6 bottles: $16.66
Our Merlot is a very stylish and fruit-driven red wine. Rich and complex flavors of plum and berry are complemented...
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $9.90 $11.00
12 bottles: $9.51
Our Merlot is a very stylish and fruit-driven red wine. Rich and complex flavors of plum and berry are complemented...
Rapid Ship
Red
750ml
Bottle: $6.99
With a soft and elegant mouthfeel, this wine has deep flavors of rich cherries and jammy blackberries, followed by...
Red
1.5Ltr
Bottle: $20.49
6 bottles: $16.66
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $10.45 $11.00
12 bottles: $9.51
Case only
Red
1.5Ltr - Case of 6
Bottle: $18.68
Sale
Red
4.0Ltr
Bottle: $32.10 $33.79
4 bottles: $19.99
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $14.41 $15.17
12 bottles: $12.36
With a deep red color, Carmenet Merlot starts with hints of rich bursting blackberries and currants. Gentle tannins...
Case only
Red
1.5Ltr - Case of 6
Bottle: $16.94
Case only
Red
750ml - Case of 12
Bottle: $7.84
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $12.87 $14.30
12 bottles: $11.40
Merlot is like that ol’ pick-up truck of mine. Dependable. A real worker. Just jump in and start it up. It never...
Red
750ml
Bottle: $17.49
12 bottles: $15.83
Color: Clean burgundy color with cherry hues. Nose: Expressive nose of red and black fruit such as blackberry along...
Red
750ml
Bottle: $98.89
12 bottles: $96.91
A pretty red with aromas of blueberries, plums, incense and tea leaves. Full-bodied and structured with a creamy...
12 FREE
WS
94
JS
94
Red
750ml
Bottle: $66.72
6 bottles: $66.00
The 2019 Merlot Liu' is another outrageously beautiful wine from Rampolla. Deep, inky and explosive, the 2019...
12 FREE
WA
94
VM
94
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $12.43 $13.87
Broad, ripe black fruit and spice aromas, with notes of pepper, toasty vanilla and Mediterranean scrub. On the...
Red
750ml
Bottle: $13.93
12 bottles: $13.65
Our Castle Rock Merlot is produced from grapes grown on hillside vineyards in Washington State’s prestigious...
Sale
Red
1.5Ltr
Bottle: $28.84 $30.36
6 bottles: $19.20
With its ruby red color and round notes of plum, red cherry and a hint of chocolate, it’s a varietal that thrives...
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $15.11 $15.91
12 bottles: $11.52
With its ruby red color and round notes of plum, red cherry and a hint of chocolate, it’s a varietal that thrives...

Merlot Primitivo

With its dark blue colored fruits and high juice content, Merlot varietal grapes have long been a favorite of wine producers around the globe, with it being found in vineyards across Europe, the Americas and elsewhere in the New World. One of the distinguishing features of Merlot grapes is the fact that they have a relatively low tannin content and an exceptionally soft and fleshy character, meaning they are capable of producing incredibly rounded and mellow wines. This mellowness is balanced with plenty of flavor, however, and has made Merlot grapes the varietal of choice for softening other, more astringent and tannin-heavy wines, often resulting in truly exceptional produce. Merlot is regarded as one of the key 'Bordeaux' varietals for precisely this reason; when combined with the drier Cabernet Sauvignon, it is capable of blending beautifully to produce some of the finest wines available in the world.

As with many European grape varietals, there is some debate regarding the precise origins of the Primitivo grape. Most people now agree that it probably came from Croatia, where it is still used widely in the production of red wine, and it known as Tribidrag. However, today it is a grape most commonly associated with the powerful red wines of Puglia, the heel of Italy’s boot, where the intense sunshine and brisk Mediterranean breezes produce grapes of remarkable character and balance. Primitivo is a dark grape, known for producing intense, inky, highly tannic wines, most notably the naturally sweet Dolce Naturale and the heavy and complex Primitivo di Manduria wines. Primitivo tends to be naturally very high in both tannin and alcohol, making it ideal for both barrel and cellar ageing, which brings out its more rounded and interesting features.


Primitivo is not the easiest grape to grow or manage, and it has had something of a difficult century. Indeed, by the 1990s, there was little interest in Puglian wines in general, and winemakers were neglecting their Primitivo vineyards and looking to other, more commercially viable varietals. However, the last decade has seen this grape come well and truly back into fashion, with new techniques and a heightened interest in native Italian grape varietals bringing Primitivo back into the spotlight. It is now widely loved for its intensity and ability to be paired with strongly flavored foods.