Masseto
Masseto
Toscana IGT
2016

The producer

From a 6.6 ha vineyard, located around 100 meters above sea level on a hillside near the small village of Bolgheri, on the Tuscan coast, comes this 100% Merlot icon. It was Ornellaia’s consultant winemaker, at the time, Andre Tchelistcheff, who identified the 6.6 ha plot, on the Ornellaia property, as ideal for Merlot, mainly because of its clay soils. The plot was planted in 1984 and the first vintage of Masseto produced in 1987.

The wine was first released in 1988 to a great critical reception. Being 100% merlot, favourable comparisons were quickly made to the likes of Petrus and Le Pin. From the start, Masseto was released at a higher price than sister estate Ornellaia. The 2001 vintage achieved a 100 point score by Wine Spectator.

The vineyards were converted to organic farming in 2012 and the winemaking is rather traditional with the wine maturing for 24 months in new French oak barrels, followed by another 12 months of resting in bottle before it is released onto the market. Originally established by Lodovico Antinori in the 1980s, both Masseto and Ornellaia have been owned by Frescobaldi since 2005. From 2006 onwards, Masseto has been sold through La Place de Bordeaux.  

The wine

First made in 1988, this 100% Merlot wine caused many raised eyebrows at first. Derived from 6.6 hectares of the finest clay soils on the property, Masseto ferments in concrete and is then aged for 24 months in new French oak barrels. The 2001 vintage achieved a 100 point score from Wine Spectator and immediately shot to cult status, a pinnacle at which it has remained since.

We choose our wines based on a range of criteria (see how we choose our wines) of which critic scores is just one. Rather than simply highlight the best score to promote a wine, our average critic score is calculated from the scores provided by several respected wine critics, who we follow for specific regions. They do not represent all critic scores and, wherever possible, we try and give more weight to more recent reviews. Where appropriate we consider market-based scores like Global Wine Score or Wine Searcher Average scores.

As a rule, we look to offer wines that achieve a 92/100 average critic score or better and frankly a lot of very good wines simply don’t make the cut. As a high-end provider we want to reflect that positioning in the quality of wines we offer. Such wines are only a tiny fraction of those generally on offer in the market. We believe that an average score is a more conservative and representative approach, but it is still subjective and only offered as a guide to our customers, who will (and should) do their own research. We will add individual critic scores to our website in the future.