2021 Masseto
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Tasting notes
100% Merlot. Winemaker Marco Balsimelli said, ‘ I know this vintage well because we started to present this on the market when I arrived in 2023. I love this vintage, one of the best ever. Perfect weather, with a rainy spring and hot summer’. Deep, glowing crimson. Heady nose – one sniff reminds me of a fine Napa red. Lots of ripe tannins but very sweet fruit before that and just a hint of heat on the end. Not nearly ready. Sufficient acidity but the tannin dominates the wine currently. Very vital wine that softened in the glass. (JR)
Critic scores
Average Score
Antonio Galloni, Vinous
Audrey Frick, jebdunnuck.com
More reviews and scores
Blueberries and black olives with violets and hints of sage, as well as rosemary flowers. Full and powerful with lots of fruit and vanilla on the palate. A rich and flavorful red, yet held together beautifully. Muscular and powerful. Needs five or six years to come together. Give it time.
Concentrated grapes in a hot vintage means expect this to be a rich, concentrated Masseto, exuberant with luxurious tannins. Beautiful depth on the aromatics from the first moment, with rich fruit flavours that flood the palate, tons of liquorice, olive pit, chocolate shavings, cocoa bean, rosemary, freshly cut herbs, underbrush, opulent and powerful, flash of heat that subsides after a moment but is evident on the opening. Marco Balsimelli winemaker, Marchesi Frescobaldi owners. 11ha vineyard, 24 months ageing in barrel then 12 months in bottle before release, 100% new oak. Back to 100% Merlot in this vintage.
Tasted from barrel, the 2021 Masseto pours a youthful magenta hue and brings forward an inviting bouquet with some blue fruit coming through and more chocolate aromas as well with to me it is fresh with blackberry, and purple violet flowers. It boasts outstanding concentration and depth, with a plush, cushiony texture at this stage, incredible finesse and balance, and a wonderful mineral aroma of wet asphalt coming through. A harmonious wine with well-integrated oak, this may be the best vintage of this cuvée that I have tasted to date.
About the producer
Established in the 1980s by Lodovico Antinori on the advice of André Tchelistcheff, Masseto was one of Tuscany’s first pure Merlot wines. Sibling to Ornellaia, the Super Tuscan is often considered the Pétrus of Italy – offering powerful, perfumed wines that are highly sought-after by collectors.