The price on this wine would signify that this is the very first vintage of Masseto and it is. It is every bit as impressive as it was when I tasted it for the first time last year. The 2008 is a Serre Nuove that will need another few years in bottle for the tannins to soften, but its potential seems clear at this stage. Sometimes I think it may be too good, as the rationale for paying the premium for Ornellaia doesn’t make any sense at all when the second wine is this outstanding. Once again, Le Serre Nuove is simply fabulous. The finish is intense and very much closed in on itself at this stage. Mocha, smoke, tar, grilled herbs and black fruit emerge from the glass, followed by a dense core of fruit, all wrapped around a firm, tannic frame. (93 Points) The 2008 Le Serre Nuove dell’Ornellaia is drop-dead gorgeous. The vintage doesn’t seem to have given General Manager/Agronomist Leonardo Raspini and his contract growers the most ideal of conditions to work with. Dark cherries, herbs and tobacco emerge from a powerful, rather burly frame. In 2008 the wilder, rougher side of Sangiovese is particularly evident. (89 points) The 2008 Le Volte is an impressively constituted, rich wine. The Le Volte is estate Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon with the addition of Sangiovese that is from contracted vineyards, all of the other wines are made from 100% estate grown fruit. I have been part of three such tastings and it is very evident the potential of the early years is now being recognized with the new releases here which are stunning!!Įven the entry level wines are outstanding from this property are excellent and when shown side by side with the estate wine some tasters actually like the Le Serre Nuove wine better!! It is drinking better when released so it just depends if you want to drink your wine today, or hold it in your cellar for a decade. I will never forget the tasting that we did a year ago at AJ’s where Axel Heinz, the winemaker for Ornellaia, went through 20 vintages of the Tenuta Ornellaia. We have an offering here featuring a premier collections of Masseto going back to this initial release. This wine went from 60 dollars to $3000 a bottle for the initial release! I don't think that anyone in the know would argue that in the short period of 25 years Ornellaia Masseto has appreciated in value more than any other wine in Italy. This 2017 vintage will be released in October 2020.What is the ultimate blue chip collectible from Italy? 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.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |