2018 | Tenuta Dell'Ornellaia | Masseto (Magnum)

Masseto 2018 is a wine that perfectly respects its unique terroir and the vintage. Dark in color, with an expressive nose of perfectly ripe cherries, plums, and spicy new oak. The palate is broad and rich as one would expect from Masseto, but shows refined and silky texture that is so typical of 2018. The finish shows great length with a touch of refreshing tannic grip. A particularly elegant version of Masseto that combines richness and elegance.

Reviews:

• Wine Advocate: 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.

• James Suckling: This is extremely perfumed with flowers, cherries and blackberries, as well as hints of lavender. It’s full-bodied, yet so refined, linear and racy. Pure silk. The texture is every so polished. Succulent and subtle fruit at the end. New wood showing now. A sophisticated Masseto that shows balance and harmony. Builds with tannins at the finish. Needs time to come completely together.

Producer Information

Masseto is a famed single-vineyard, Super Tuscan wine label produced from a site in Bolgheri, on the Tuscan coast, planted entirely to Merlot. It is one of the most famous Super Tuscan wines and is made by Tenuta dell'Ornellaia. The wine is known for its aromatic complexity, opulent fruit and tannic structure, and is consistently regarded as one of the top wines in the world with auction prices to match. It is classified as IGT Toscana. The 6.6-hectare (16.3-acre) site, a former clay quarry, was identified by famed American enologist André Tchelistcheff as having great potential for Merlot. This is due to its high content of compact clay, particularly in the central portion, with more pebble- and sand-based soils in the upper and lower portions. The vineyard is managed in small plots and, despite its modest size, the harvest can take up to a month. The wines were initially produced in an old farmhouse although in 2019 a newly designed, underground winery was unveiled to the press. Bunch selection takes place in the vineyard with further berry sorting after destemming, Masseto's fermentation takes place in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks. The base wines are then aged in medium-toast French oak barrels for about a year. After blending, the wine is aged for another year. Masseto was first released in 1984 to immediate acclaim. Today, production totals around 35,000 bottles a year and a second wine – Massetino – has been produced since 2017 from barrels that are not selected for the flagship wine. As with Ornellaia, Masseto has been owned by the Frescobaldis since 2005. The famous Bordeaux-based winemaker and consultant enologist Michel Rolland has been consultant at the property since the death of Tchelistcheff in 1994.

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