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Masseto Toscana 2017 750ml

size
750ml
country
Italy
region
Tuscany
appellation
Bolgheri
6 Ratings
See 6 Professional Reviews
JS
98
WA
97
VM
97
DC
96
JD
96
WS
95
Additional vintages
2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 1996 1993
JS
98
Rated 98 by James Suckling
The clarity of the ripe blackcurrants, black cherries and flowers in the nose is entrancing. Lavender, too. It’s full-bodied with firm, silky tannins that run long and straight through the wine, providing brightness and focus. Goes on for minutes. Strength with finesse Drink after 2024, but already wonderful to taste. ... More details
Image of bottle
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Masseto Toscana 2017 750ml

SKU 893555
Sale
Long-term Pre-Arrival
$833.54
/750ml bottle
$786.95
/750ml bottle
Quantity
Add to Cart
* This is a Long-term Pre-arrival item and is available for online ordering only. This item will ship on a future date after a 4-8 months transfer time. For additional details about Pre-arrival Items please visit our FAQ page.
Professional Ratings
JS
98
WA
97
VM
97
DC
96
JD
96
WS
95
JS
98
Rated 98 by James Suckling
The clarity of the ripe blackcurrants, black cherries and flowers in the nose is entrancing. Lavender, too. It’s full-bodied with firm, silky tannins that run long and straight through the wine, providing brightness and focus. Goes on for minutes. Strength with finesse Drink after 2024, but already wonderful to taste.
WA
97
Rated 97 by Wine Advocate
The Masseto 2017 Masseto puts on another exhilarating, knock-out performance for the third year in a row. The Masseto vineyard is a triangular-shaped plot tucked in at the back of the same property that houses the Ornellaia vineyards and winery. 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 vines are planted at an altitude of 80 to 100 meters above sea level in blue clay soils that are unique to Bolgheri. 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. It's a little garden of Merlot Eden. The center of the vineyard now is home to the new Masseto winery and an adjacent tasting room built into a pre-existing farmhouse. This wine was made in the old winery (the existing Ornellaia winery). 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. The wine then goes into bottle for 12 months before its release. 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. It is powerful, but that's always the case with Masseto (this vintage records a 15.5% alcohol content). 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). Perhaps, what this vintage lacks is that profound varietal character that we saw in recent vintages like 2016 and 2015. 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. Those distinctive notes of macchia mediterranea (wild bush) that I always associate with Masseto are less present in this vintage. You feel the oak tannins on the finish with toast and vanilla that will certainly shed as the wine ages. In fact, I went back to taste the wine 12 hours later, and they had already softened considerably. This 2017 vintage will be released in October 2020.
VM
97
Rated 97 by Vinous Media
The 2017 Masseto is fabulous. A wine of tremendous inner perfume and sensuality, the 2017 dazzles from start to finish. Although not the most potent or structured Masseto, the 2017 impresses with its breathtaking finesse. The flavors are vibrant and remarkably pure from start to finish. Blackberry jam, bittersweet chocolate, spice, lavender and licorice all come alive in the glass. I have a hard time thinking of a Masseto with this much sheer allure at the outset. Masseto has so often been a wine of impact, but the 2017 says it all with finesse. It spent 22 months in 100% new oak, a bit less time than is typical, and finished its aging in tank, decisions taken to preserve as much freshness as possible.
DC
96
Rated 96 by Decanter
According to Axel Heinz, managing director of the estate, 'the 2017 vintage for Masseto was analytically close to 2011 but with more elegance'. The grapes were harvested between 24 and 30 August, so relatively early, in just three tries - quicker than usual. A powerful wine displaying grace in a warm, dry vintage, it's dominated by bright blueberry and blackberry fruit, raw butter and balsamic whiffs. The palate is focused on mulberry and dark chocolate, polished but concentrated with a thick finish due to its youthfulness. Firm yet creamy tannins and lively acidity balance the hefty 15.5% of alcohol. An outstanding wine that will reward further ageing with more complexity.
JD
96
Rated 96 by Jeb Dunnuck
The 2017 Masseto is another stunning wine from this benchmark estate, and along with Petrus, they fashion one of the greatest expressions of Merlot out there. The 2017 reveals a deep ruby/purple hue as well as a captivating bouquet of ripe black cherries, currants, dried herbs, leather, spicy oak, and tobacco, with even a touch of forest floor coming through with time in the glass. Concentrated, medium to full-bodied, and structured on the palate, it has loads of minerality, a seamless texture, ripe (yet certainly present) tannins, and a great finish. While it shows the sunny style of the vintage aromatically, it's tight and backward on the palate and in need of 4-5 years of bottle age. It's going to keep for 30-40 years.
WS
95
Rated 95 by Wine Spectator
There's a meaty character to this intense, polished red, adding a seriousness to the dark plum, blackberry, iron, vanilla and chocolate flavors. A beam of bright acidity keeps this focused and drives the fruit- and spice-filled finish. Merlot. Best from 2022 through 2042. 300 cases imported.
Product Details
size
750ml
country
Italy
region
Tuscany
appellation
Bolgheri
Additional vintages
2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 1996 1993
Overview
The clarity of the ripe blackcurrants, black cherries and flowers in the nose is entrancing. Lavender, too. It’s full-bodied with firm, silky tannins that run long and straight through the wine, providing brightness and focus. Goes on for minutes. Strength with finesse Drink after 2024, but already wonderful to taste.
green grapes

Varietal: Merlot

Merlot has long been a grape associated with excellent quality of character and flavor, and has spread around the globe as a result of its relative hardiness and reliability. From Chile to Bordeaux, Merlot vines grow to ripeness, and end up producing a remarkably wide variety of wines. Single variety wines made from Merlot grapes tend to be beautifully rich in color, and packed full of jammy, hedgerow flavors and notes of plum and currant, and ideal for newcomers to red wines as a result of their medium body. This medium body comes about due to the fact that the skin of Merlot grapes tends to be quite thin, meaning that the tannin content of Merlot wines is lower than those made from other blue-black grapes. The mellowness and roundedness which results is ideal for blending, also, and Merlot is used as a blending grape in some of the world's finest wineries, to produce aged wines of exceptional character.
barrel

Region: Tuscany

Tuscany has been producing fine wines for almost three thousand years, and as such is widely recognized as being one of the key Old World wine regions which have shaped the way we understand and enjoy quality wines throughout history. Interestingly, the region is typified by a unique soil type which is not particularly good for growing grapevines, but in Tuscany, the emphasis has always been on quality over quantity, and low yields with high levels of flavor and intensity are preferred, and have become a feature of the region's wine industry. The main grape varietals grown in Tuscany are Sangiovese for the distinctive, flavorful and complex red wines, and Vernaccia for the exquisite dry white wines, although the last couple of decades have seen more varietals grown and an increasing trend towards 'Bordeaux style' wines.
fields

Country: Italy

For several decades in the mid to late twentieth century, Italy's reputation for quality wines took a fairly serious blow. This was brought about partly due to lack of regulation in certain regions, and too much regulation in others. This led to several wineries in the beautiful and highly fertile region of Tuscany making the bold move to work outside of the law, which they saw as responsible for the drop in quality in Tuscan wines. They believed that they had the expertise and the generations of experience necessary with which to make truly excellent, world class wines, and set about doing just that. These 'Super Tuscans', as they came to be known, quickly inspired the rest of Italy to improve their produce, and now, Italian wine producers in the twenty-first century are widely recognised to be amongst the best in the world. Regulation and law began to change, and wine drinkers across the globe woke up to the outstanding wines coming out of Italy, which are continuing to improve and impress to this day.
Customer Reviews
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More Details
Winery Masseto
green grapes

Varietal: Merlot

Merlot has long been a grape associated with excellent quality of character and flavor, and has spread around the globe as a result of its relative hardiness and reliability. From Chile to Bordeaux, Merlot vines grow to ripeness, and end up producing a remarkably wide variety of wines. Single variety wines made from Merlot grapes tend to be beautifully rich in color, and packed full of jammy, hedgerow flavors and notes of plum and currant, and ideal for newcomers to red wines as a result of their medium body. This medium body comes about due to the fact that the skin of Merlot grapes tends to be quite thin, meaning that the tannin content of Merlot wines is lower than those made from other blue-black grapes. The mellowness and roundedness which results is ideal for blending, also, and Merlot is used as a blending grape in some of the world's finest wineries, to produce aged wines of exceptional character.
barrel

Region: Tuscany

Tuscany has been producing fine wines for almost three thousand years, and as such is widely recognized as being one of the key Old World wine regions which have shaped the way we understand and enjoy quality wines throughout history. Interestingly, the region is typified by a unique soil type which is not particularly good for growing grapevines, but in Tuscany, the emphasis has always been on quality over quantity, and low yields with high levels of flavor and intensity are preferred, and have become a feature of the region's wine industry. The main grape varietals grown in Tuscany are Sangiovese for the distinctive, flavorful and complex red wines, and Vernaccia for the exquisite dry white wines, although the last couple of decades have seen more varietals grown and an increasing trend towards 'Bordeaux style' wines.
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