92/100 - Gilbert & Gaillard (2011 vintage)
90/100 - Wine Spectator (2011 vintage)
90/100 - Decanter (2011 vintage)
Gold - Mundus Vini (2011 vintage)
Gold - Berliner Wine Trophy (2019 awards)
Top Ten Red Wines from the 2015 Savor CT Event

Neil Dubois "Stunning....a great wine which drinks like a right bank Bordeaux from a great vintage. This is another outstanding wine [from Tenuta Santa Maria]."

The Winemaker - "Complex aroma with hints of wild berries and dried plums, accompanied by notes of coffee, eucalyptus and vanilla. Well-structured, soft tannins, well-balanced acidity and consistency. Intense, with a fine liquorice aftertaste. Expressing the local terroir with an international grape variety by combining Merlot with a unique Veronese tradition of the drying known as appassimento. Some of the grapes are picked in late September and left to dry for about a month in protected airy locales on the estate. "

Winestyle "fresh fruity taste with a dense structure and a perfect balance of acidity, sweetness and spice tones. The wine has an intense aroma with notes of black currant, plum, raspberry, cherry and hints of spice."

Decanter - '16 Distinctive Wines from the Veneto' "Ripe black cherry and dark plum notes mix with hints of eucalyptus, graphite and spice box in this finely integrated red. Fresh and focused, with light tannins and accents of espresso and graphite on the finish. Merlot. Drink now through 2023. 400 cases. (2008 vintage)

Wine Enthusiast "Decima Aurea is a refined and elegant expression of Merlot with deep and long aromas of ripe cherry, blackberry pie, Indian spice, clove and old spice. The wine shows the sophistication of age, but also promises years of cellar aging."

100% Merlot

Centuries old, Tenuta Santa Maria all Pieve is located in the heart of the Valpolicella Classica. The 100-acre producer is comprised of two estates, one in the Valpolicella Classico zone and the second in the Illasi Valley. Tenuta Santa Maria all Pieve was established by Gaetano Bertani in 1850 and today it is owned and operated by his descendants, Gaetano Bertani and his sons Giovanni and Guglielmo. Since its sixteenth-century origins this elegant estate has been known for the production of fine wines, especially for its for Amarone Classico and Valpolicella Ripasso. It has a stunning chateau and walled vineyards. Since the 1800's the estate has been making wines using the Guyot Method, a technique with an emphasis on high density, and low yield harvests.

Veneto is one of the country's most widely used appellations. It covers a broad range of wine styles from Veneto, the engine room of Italy's wine industry. Each year, a substantial number of reds, whites and rosés are produced and sold under this title, in both sparkling and still forms, and even as sweet passito.


Merlot is a red wine grape variety with strong historic ties to Bordeaux and the southwest of France. It is the predominant variety in most wines from Saint-Émilion and Pomerol, the area in which the variety originated. Merlot is now widely planted in wine regions across the world and, in terms of the volumes of wine produced internationally, it is rivalled only by its Bordeaux companion, Cabernet Sauvignon.