Shipping Autumn, 2025

Lorenza and Marco Pallanti of Castello di Ama have been making wines in Tuscany since the 1970s situated around the hamlet of Alma, which perches at 450-550 metres above sea level. Regarded for their elegance and freshness, allied to their natural intensity and depth, Castello di Alma has, as Galloni states, crafted some of the most riveting wines in Tuscany… simply put, there are few estates in Italy at this level.

LApparita is their 100% Merlot farmed from a 2.8ha parcel at the top of the Bellavista estate. It is Tuscanys oldest 100% Merlot, the first vintage produced in 1985, two years before Masseto, (which it regularly outscores at a fraction of the price). Typically such a prime site would have been reserved to produce an estates finest Sangiovese but it shows the foresight of Lorenza and Marco to plant Merlot instead, the 490m elevation crucial in giving the wines both freshness and elegance, allied to their natural intensity, depth and concentration. With soil rich in the same mineral-packed blue clay that is responsible for the very best wines of Pomerol, Ama had its own Judgement of Paris triumph in 1992 when the 1987 vintage beat Ptrus 1988, Le Pin and 16 other top-flight Merlot wines in a blind tasting hosted by the Acadmie du Vin in Switzerland, with a jury that included renowned consultant Michel Rolland (who worked for a number of the competitors!)

Lorenza has granted us exclusive access to large formats (right up to 9l Salmanazars) from their personal library stocks, of three superb vintages which are now in their drinking windows. A number these you will not find for sale anywhere in the world, and where they are available we are the best UK price by up to 26%. We have also managed to tweak prices to ensure that, very unusually for maturing ex-estate wines, there is no premium on buying the double magnums or salmanazars. As a further treat, each bottle sold will be hand signed by Lorenza and Marco prior to leaving the winery.