Masseto 2018

Robert Parker
The 2018 Masseto is the vintage surprise few of us could have expected. The season saw rains just before harvest, and vintners were forced into dramatic last-minute decisions and risks. The expert team at Masseto navigated those challenges with deft precision in this first vintage executed in the new winery that is now fully dedicated and engineered to fulfill the expectations of this iconic Merlot from coastal Tuscany. The new gravity-flow building has angular concrete fermentors and an old-fashioned basket press. Dark fruit and ripe blackberry bleed slowly into spice, leather, chocolate and sweet tobacco. The wine shows generous extraction and concentration; however, it remains light and lifted throughout. Welcome Masseto into your new home.

The 2018 vintage offers a unique perspective on the wines of Bolgheri, and nowhere is this more evident than the property that houses two powerhouse brands, Masseto and Ornellaia, just off the scenic via Bolgherese at the heart of this dynamic appellation located on the shores of northern Tuscany. Two of Italy’s most important wines are coming online. The 2018 Bolgheri Superiore Ornellaia is being released now and the 2018 Masseto will hit the market later this year in October. We also have the 2018 Ornellaia Bianco (released now), the 2019 Bolgheri Rosso Le Serre Nuove dell’Ornellaia (to be released in September) and the other wines from the Ornellaia program coming soon. The number two wine in the Masseto program, the 2019 Masseto, will be available in the fall. The 2018 Bolgheri Superiore Ornellaia sees a historically high percentage of Merlot in the blend. That grape makes up 50% of the wine, with 42% Cabernet Sauvignon and tiny percentages of Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc. “The Merlot in 2018 was a big surprise, and we thought that a little meat was missing on the bones of the Cabernet Sauvignon,” he says. 

Leveres i original trækasse ved 3 flasker.

Masseto er vokset frem i baghaven hos Tenuta dell'Ornellaia - eller rettere på nogle parceller et par km. nordvest for vingården - hvor Lodovico Antinori sammen med sin daværende makker André Tchelitscheff som et eksperiment plantede de første Merlot stokke i 1983 og 1984. Ingen aner i dag hvor vinstokkene kom fra, men rygtet om vinen, med den dengang yderst beskedne produktion, spredtes blandt vinelskere. Vinen blev kult, og da Wine Spectator, som havde fulgt vinen lige fra starten, kastede 100-point efter 2001-årgangen mangedobledes efterspørgslen.

Masseto har i dag overhalet Ornellaia på alle parametre (undtagen smagen, som ikke kan/bør sammenlignes, da der er tale om 2 vidt forskellige vine), og Frescobaldi ’s folk med forstand på branding mente derfor, at Masseto skulle have lov til at vokse helt ud af Tenuta dell'Ornellaia skygge. Derfor stod en helt ny vingård klar til at modtage sin første høst i efteråret 2018.

Masseto handler om kult, liebhaveri og investering, og - når vi skræller virakken væk - om hvad der kan ske, når druen, der forgylder Pomerol, får lov til at slå rod på den toskanske kyst.

Masseto er blevet en af Italiens dyreste vine og samtidig en relativt sikker investering. Nogen kalder den endda for Italiens svar på Petrus.