The 1994 Merlot di Aprilia is a textbook Merlot (you don't often hear me say that). The chocolatey, black-cherry, mocha-scented nose is followed by a wine with attractive, smoky, sweet, rich, chewy flavors, medium to full body, excellent ripeness and purity, and a long, nicely layered, silky finish. This 100% Merlot was aged in 50% Allier and 50% Nevers small French oak casks (in fact, malolactic fermentation took place in these casks). It should drink well for 5-7 years. This is a terrific bargain in high quality Merlot.Cotarella's highest achievements are to be found in his red wine portfolio. He has gone against the flow of modern day commercial winemaking. For example, he has (1) fought for lower yields, (2) harvested full physiologically mature fruit by hand, (3) utilized small barriques, and (4) bottled the wines with minimal clarification, frequently with no fining or filtration. The current offerings, some of the most exciting reds of Italy, emerge from a largely unknown wine region for reds, Umbria.This wine is from an estate owned by one of Italy's most renowned oenologists/winemakers, Riccardo Cotarella. One of the young geniuses that has revolutionized winemaking in Italy, Riccardo Cotarella is the spiritual equivalent of Michel Rolland in France. His brother, Renzo, is the chief winemaker for Piero Antinori. Cotarella's position with respect to white wines is to preserve their fruit, recognizing they should be fermented at low temperatures and bottled as early as possible.Kudos to Riccardo Cotarella for this extraordinary showing of just what brilliant quality can be achieved from the vineyards of Umbria. As I mentioned, Cotarella is the Michel Rolland of Italy. As with Rolland, whom readers of The Wine Advocate discovered long before he became known to the international wine press, I predict Cotarella will be gracing the cover of leading wine magazines over the next few years.Leonardo LoCascio, Winebow, Inc., 22 Hollywood Ave., Suite C, Hohokus, NJ 07423; telephone number (201) 445-0620; fax (201) 445-9869