The 2002 Poggio ai Merli, a Merlot, is unexpectedly positive - the vines are still young and the stressful trio of hot vintages from 1999 and 2001 gave rather hot and alcoholic wines. The cooler weather of 2002, instead, gave a surprisingly dark wine, round and ripe and with attractive notes of plums and charred oak in a medium-bodied, supple format.
— Wine Advocate, Apr 2006