Soledi Sagl is a small-production estate in the Canton Ticino, the Italian-speaking southern canton of Switzerland whose vineyard territory borders Piedmont and Lombardy and shares both the climate and the grape-growing tradition of the Italian lake district. Ticino is Switzerland’s most significant red wine producing region, with Merlot as its dominant and defining variety, and the canton’s finest estates have over the past three decades established a body of work that demonstrates what the Merlot variety can achieve in the Alpine foothills at altitude. Soledi’s Emiole is the estate’s most ambitious expression, produced from a selection of the finest parcels within the estate’s holdings and vinified with the extended maceration and oak ageing that are the hallmarks of serious Ticino red wine.

Rosso del Ticino is the DOC designation for serious red wines from the Canton Ticino, with Merlot as the dominant or sole variety in virtually all of the canton’s most celebrated examples. The Ticino’s geology and climate are distinct from both the alpine zones to the north and the Po Valley lowlands to the south: the canton benefits from the moderating influence of the pre-Alpine lakes, relatively warm summers, good natural drainage on the glacially-deposited moraine soils and a daily temperature variation that preserves aromatic freshness and natural acidity in even warm vintages. The 2022 growing season was excellent across much of southern Switzerland and northern Italy, producing wines of good concentration and ripeness.

Swiss wines from Ticino remain largely unknown outside the country, sold almost entirely within Switzerland itself and to specialist importers in Germany and Austria who follow the canton’s finest estates with attention. For collectors who seek wines of genuine quality and curiosity from outside the mainstream fine wine regions, a serious Rosso del Ticino from a committed small producer represents one of the most rewarding discoveries available. Soledi’s Emiole is precisely this kind of wine: a Merlot of significant ambition produced from a region whose quality potential has been systematically underappreciated by the international market.

Deep ruby with a complex nose of dark plum, black cherry, cigar box, dried herbs, spice and a fine mineral note from the alpine moraine soils. Full-bodied on the palate with well-integrated tannins from extended oak ageing, good natural acidity and a long, savoury finish of genuine complexity. Drink now through 2033.