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.. catching up with Masseto!
37 years ago now, there was a special dinner at The River Cafe (Hammersmith in London) hosted by Ludovico Antinori to show us, the then London fine wine trade, a wine that he had produced for the first time called Masseto. We drank the 1986 (the first vintage made) then 1987 in magnum (first commercial vintage produced) followed by 1988 vintage and 1989 vintage. They had not bottled the 1990 vintage yet. The wines all literally blew me away, I was hooked from the beginning. In those days they produced around 3,000 bottles. Today 30,000 bottles. It was Italy’s first and still most famous 100% Merlot wine, as you well know. Some used to call it the Italian Petrus! The 2001 vintage gained the famous 100/100 points from the American wine critic, and then it all went bananas. The wine makers have come and gone, all leaving their mark of course. Tchelistcheff was the first, Tibor Gal then followed by M.Rolland. Thomas Duroux (Ch.Palmer) had a spell there and from 2005 Axel Heinz. Axel made the wines both at Ornellaia (Cabernet Franc centric) and Masseto (100% Merlot) up until just recently. He introduced organics to Masseto in 2012 and also upped the barrel ageing from 18 months to 24 months in new oak.
We have most Masseto vintages available in stock @ the London City Bond.
You’ll have to check the stock list (updated regularly): http://www.
Earlier in the month we tasted the 1999, 2013 and 2014 vintages. The 2005 bottle broke in transit. We are still awaiting the DHL claim to come through, grrrrR! .. these are the tasting notes and where penned by dear A.G.
The 1999 Masseto is another epic wine. Swaths of tannin give the 1999 a real sense of energy to match its decidedly virile, inward personality. Dark and brooding, the 1999 doesn’t quite have the volume of the 2001, the power of the 2006 nor the finesse of years like 2004, but it is nevertheless superb in a slightly burlier style than those wines. 96/100pts
The 2014 Masseto continues to develop into a very pretty wine. Silky, medium in body and gracious, the 2014 is all about understatement. Each time I taste it, I uncover a new layer of dimension and nuance I did not see before. I expect the 2014 will develop along the lines of the 2005 and 2002, both wines from very cool, late-ripening years. This is the best showing yet for the 2014. This very challenging cool, rainy growing season is also the longest harvest at Masseto. Picking started on September 5 and wrapped up more than a month later, on October 7th. 93/100pts
The 2013 Masseto is a wine of real vibrancy, clarity and precision. In some moments, the 2013 shows a bit of it’s voluptuous fruit, but it is rich, structured and clearly in need of time. Like all Massetos from cooler years, the 2013 is a long-distance runner. Give it time. A warm, dry summer helped the vineyards catch up after a late and irregular flowering. Cool night time temperatures provided the diurnal shifts at the end of the season that are so critical for the development of aromatics. 97/100pts
If you are a Sassicaia freak, I am of course, you are by virtue also a Masseto freak…don’t be shy!
Orders and more info: william@
