GERE Solus Merlot 2023

Gere Solus 2023 is a rich, age-worthy Villány Merlot that marries plum and sour-cherry fruit with dark chocolate, mineral freshness, and 16 months of oak.

A Prestige Villány Merlot

Solus is A. Gere's 100% Merlot from the Kopár vineyard, made to show the depth, ripeness and freshness Villány can bring to the variety. It carries the DHC-Villány designation as a premium red wine of protected origin, reflecting its defined regional provenance and careful maturation.

Made only in selected vintages, Solus is produced from a strictly limited crop of five to six bunches per vine. The grapes are carefully sorted before fermentation in large wooden vats, followed by malolactic fermentation and 16 months of ageing in small Hungarian oak barrels.

Tuscan Inspiration, Villány Character

The idea for Solus began in Tuscany in 1998, when Attila Gere visited Ornellaia and tasted the base wine for Masseto directly from barrel. Inspired by its richness and concentration, he set out to explore what Merlot could achieve in Villány's warm, sub-Mediterranean climate.

The first Solus was made in 2000. Its name comes from the Latin for "unique" and also recalls sol, meaning sun: a fitting reference to Kopár, a notably sun-drenched vineyard in southern Villány.

The Kopár Vineyard

Solus comes exclusively from Kopár - a name often translated as "barren" or "bare", reflecting its exposed, sunlit character - where loess and clay soils sit over limestone bedrock. The stony vineyard absorbs warmth through the day and releases it back to the vines overnight, supporting slow, even ripening. Limestone beneath the surface also contributes to the wine's characteristic mineral freshness and lift.

100 Points from Stuart Pigott

Gere Solus 2023 received a perfect 100-point score from renowned wine critic Stuart Pigott in his May 2026 report, Villány: Multiple Personalities. Pigott wrote that he was "hypnotised by its breathtaking elegance," celebrating how the wine achieves "gigantic concentration" while maintaining a filigree finish driven by a unique aromatic profile of passion fruit, mangosteen, and flowers.

While the initial concept for the wine drew inspiration from the legendary Tuscan Merlot Masseto, Pigott noted that Solus has carved out its own unique identity. He described it as a "totally 21st-century" wine in the best possible sense, offering an elegant, modern alternative to traditional European powerhouses. For connoisseurs of Right Bank Bordeaux, cult Merlots, and collectors seeking rare 100-point additions for their cellar, this bottling is a magnificent find.

Read Stuart Pigott's original 100-point review of Gere Solus 2023.

Tasting Notes

Remarkably deep in colour, with a near-black core and purple rim, Solus is concentrated yet energetic. Saline and mineral notes sit alongside ripe plum, raspberry and sour cherry, followed by dark chocolate, coffee and sweet spice. The palate is full and layered, with suave acidity bringing freshness to the fruit, while firm, polished tannins give the wine structure, length and excellent ageing potential.

Food Pairing

This is a serious, full-bodied Merlot for richly flavoured dishes. It is particularly good with:

• Rib-eye steak, roast beef or slow-cooked lamb shoulder.
• Roast goose, mushroom ragù, aubergine dishes or truffle pasta.
• Mature cheeses, including Brie or Camembert, whose creamy texture softens the wine's tannins.
• A board of our Buffalo Salami, whose rich, gently smoky flavour pairs well with Solus's dark fruit and oak spice.
• Dark chocolate mousse, chocolate tart or other not-too-sweet chocolate desserts.

Serving and Cellaring

Serve at 16–18°C in a large red-wine glass. Decanting for around an hour will let the dark fruit, mineral notes, and sweet oak spice open fully.

Solus 2023 is already enjoyable, but has the structure to develop beautifully in bottle. Gere expects it to reach its peak between 2033 and 2038.

Technical Details

A. Gere, Villány

Founded in 1990, A. Gere is a family-owned Villány winery drawing on seven generations of local winemaking tradition. The estate farms around 75 hectares across some of the region's leading vineyard sites, with a particular focus on Bordeaux varieties such as Merlot and Cabernet Franc, which thrive in Villány's warm, sub-Mediterranean climate.

Gere has helped establish Villány as a leading home for serious Hungarian red wine. Its vineyards have been farmed organically since 2010, and the fruit is hand-harvested before careful modern winemaking and measured oak ageing shape concentrated, polished wines with a clear sense of origin.

Explore more distinctive bottles in our Hungarian wine collection.