Masseto wine 2001 tasting notes1/15/2024 ![]() The first vintage was called very simply ‘Merlot’ but, from 1987, it has taken on the name of its vineyard ‘Masseto’. This small, exceptional and legendary cru has soon become a collector’s item sold in auctions all over the world. Masseto was born ‘almost by chance’ in 1986 when it was decided to vinify the Merlot from the Masseto vineyard alone as it ‘promised well’. ![]() Merlot, or wine for that matter, doesn’t get any better! With no shortage of concentration and structure, this primordial powerhouse of a Merlot needs 4-6 years of bottle age yet should evolve for decades. It's full-bodied, concentrated and masculine on the palate, with serious minerality, yet it stays flawlessly balanced with magical purity of fruit. Aged two years in oak, its deep purple color is followed by a powerful bouquet of black cherries, cassis, spicy oak, damp earth, green tobacco, and spring flowers. As always, it's 100% Merlot from a single vineyard that has a complex, diverse set of soils and expositions, causing harvest at times to be spread over as much as three weeks. Not yet released, the 2016 Masseto is sensational and unquestionably one of the greatest expressions of Merlot in the world. These vintages are identical twins, two perfect wines. I tasted the 20 vintages together for comparison when I scored this wine, and then I tasted this 2016 edition alone about a month later to confirm my impressions. There is great tightness and laser focus to the fruit. You gain better perspective as the wine opens in the glass and reveals deeper layers that were not immediately apparent on first nose: dark fruit, spice, sweet tobacco and black cherry. Despite that considerable mass, this Masseto remains delicate and graceful. There is no overstating the sheer power and richness of this iconic vintage of Italy's groundbreaking Merlot. The first thing you'll notice is the thickness and concentration of the fruit that makes an immediate impact on all the senses, in terms of appearance, aroma and mouthfeel. It represents an encore performance, continuing the string of successes that is bringing Italy to the forefront of the wine world. Like the 2015 Masseto before it, this vintage is a seamless wine of the highest pedigree. The 2016 Masseto is a thunderstorm of emotions, but it manages to keep them under perfect control. ![]() This is the first time that an Italian wine has earned 100 points in successive vintages. This 2017 vintage will be released in October 2020.Masseto has pulled off back-to-back home runs. In fact, I went back to taste the wine 12 hours later, and they had already softened considerably. You feel the oak tannins on the finish with toast and vanilla that will certainly shed as the wine ages. Those distinctive notes of macchia mediterranea (wild bush) that I always associate with Masseto are less present in this vintage. If concerned that the hot vintage would draw out too many ripe fruit tones, the oak serves to soften some of the more volatile components of the fruit. Perhaps, what this vintage lacks is that profound varietal character that we saw in recent vintages like 20. I tasted this wine next to the decidedly more playful Massetino, and the Masseto moves over the palate with substantial fruit weight and concentration gained over the course of this hot and dry growing season (which produced smaller, richer and more compact berries). ![]() It is powerful, but that's always the case with Masseto (this vintage records a 15.5% alcohol content). Like most vintages of Masseto tasted this early in the game, the oak is omnipresent, and it grounds the wine in terms of texture and structure. The wine then goes into bottle for 12 months before its release. Fermentation kicks off in a combination of steel and oak tanks before the wine is racked over to barrique, where it rests for two years. This wine was made in the old winery (the existing Ornellaia winery). The center of the vineyard now is home to the new Masseto winery and an adjacent tasting room built into a pre-existing farmhouse. That ideal position opens the vineyards to soft breezes, proximity to the sea, long daylight hours and cool diurnal shifts from the protective wall of low mountains at the back. The vines are planted at an altitude of 80 to 100 meters above sea level in blue clay soils that are unique to Bolgheri. This special site is located at the base of the mountains that rise gently from the Tyrrhenian Sea, with the picturesque silhouette of the Castiglioncello castle at the top. The Masseto vineyard is a triangular-shaped plot tucked in at the back of the same property that houses the Ornellaia vineyards and winery. The Masseto 2017 Masseto puts on another exhilarating, knock-out performance for the third year in a row.
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