Masseto - Toscana IGT 2020 (750ml)

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Producer	Masseto
Country	Italy
Region	Tuscany
Varietal	Merlot,  Cabernet Franc
Vintage	2020
Sku	38936
Size	750ml

 

WA

96

JD

97-99

JR

18

JS

99

V

98

Masseto 2020 is a wine that has embraced all the key traits of the vintage. It displays excellent concentration both in terms of color and bouquet. They remain persistent and vivid in the glass without subsiding over time. The potency of this wine returns on the palate with beautiful length and balsamic flavors. The integrity of the tannin reveals the aging potential typical of Masseto.

The grapes were harvested by hand into 15 kg crates. After de-stemming and gentle crushing, the grapes were transferred to concrete tanks by gravity, without any pumping. Each individual parcel of the vineyard was vinified separately. Fermentation took place spontaneously with indigenous yeasts at temperatures of around 25-28°C, with pumping over two or three times a day and délestages where necessary. The total time spent in the tanks ranged from 21 to 28 days. Malolactic fermentation took place in barriques, with 100% new oak, keeping the various batches separate for the first 12 months of aging. Subsequently, the wines were blended and returned to barriques for another year, totaling 24 months. After bottling, the Masseto 2020 underwent a further 12 months of bottle aging before being released on the market.

After a mild and rainy winter, there was a temporary drop in temperatures in March, with a few nights below 0°C just when the vines began to bud in the last week of the month. Fortunately the new shoots were still protected by the downy tissue around the bud, which prevented frost damage. The weather was generally warm during the rest of spring, with normal rainfall, ensuring regular vegetative development until blossoming, which took place between the 20th and 25th of May. A passage of heavy rain towards the middle of June was followed by a very long dry period with a substantial absence of rain and scorching temperatures until the end of August. Veraison took place evenly and quickly between the 20th and 25th of July, triggering the ripening of the grapes under a blazing sun. Rain arrived at the end of August, leading to a considerable drop in temperatures, with overnight lows sometimes falling to 13°C, creating the ideal conditions for completing the ripening of the Merlot grapes. They were harvested early and quickly in order to preserve their freshness as much as possible, and just in time to avoid a sudden week-long heat wave, in which temperatures soared to 37°C. The Merlot harvest was completed on the 14th of September, followed almost immediately by the Cabernet Franc harvest, which ended on the 16th of September.

Intense aromas of ripe herbs, plums, green coffee beans, and hazelnuts. Turns to crushed berries and orange peel. Full-bodied with superb concentration and fine, velvety tannins that run the length of the wine. It's big but agile and gorgeous. Merlot. What a wine! Best after 2030.

The 2020 Masseto is superb. Bright and vibrant in the glass, the 2020 offers up an exciting mix of dark-toned fruit, mocha, spice, leather, tobacco, cedar and a kiss of French oak. Lively acids and Franc aromatics lend vibrancy throughout. The Franc is so evident today. This is exceptionally polished and sophisticated, albeit a touch slender relative to most years. In 2020, Masseto is more finesse than power.

Tasted from barrel, the 2020 Masseto is incredibly expressive out of the gate, with a sweet perfume of candied plum, boysenberry, crushed flowers, mocha, sweet earth, and fresh sage. The palate is full-bodied and decadent, with a velvety texture and notes of black plum, fresh leather, and scorched mineral earth. It delivers great finesse and polish that features opulence without having weight. I look forward to tasting this next year from bottle.

The adjacent sister property to Ornellaia, the Masseto estate in Bolgheri produces benchmark wines based on Merlot, with its first vintage in 1987. Their new winery, which debuted in 2018, was designed by architects Hikaru Mori and Maurizio Zito of the ZitoMori Studio, who named it “The Quarry.” It is an impressive design, with the exterior blending into the landscape, only to reveal its true grandeur upon entering the winery beneath. One feature of the new winery has been to move away from the use of stainless steel, which they found could contribute to reductive qualities. Instead, 20 to 25% of the wine is now fermented in concrete tanks, with the remainder in oak barrels. The concrete also takes on some of the qualities of barrel fermentation, without adding the additional flavors that barrels would contribute. The oldest vines are currently approaching 40 years old, and in newer vintages, Cabernet Franc they planted more recently has been making its way into the wines. My tasting took place at the winery with the estate’s new winemaker, Gaia Cinnirella, and Axel Heinz, who has moved into an overseer role as the estate director.

The 2020 Masseto now sees new DNA with a touch of Cabernet Franc added to this celebrated Merlot-based icon wine. This is a vintage of enormous richness and density, and everything about the wine is taken up a notch or two (including the bottle glass weight and the 15% alcohol content). But Axel Heinz and his team are well prepared for the hot vintages like 2020, and changes to farming and canopy management ensure even ripening. This wine is always hard to analyze in its youth. It needs many more years to soften and flesh out. Give it time.

Merlot plus some Cabernet Franc. Harvest 14–16 September. Spontaneous fermentation with indigenous yeasts at 25–28 °C, with pumping over two or three times a day and délestages where necessary. The total time in tank ranged from 21 to 28 days. Malolactic fermentation in barriques, with 100% new oak, keeping the various batches separate for the first 12 months of aging. Subsequently, the wines were blended and returned to barriques for another year, totaling 24 months’ oak aging. After bottling, the wine was aged for a further 12 months before release.

Highly concentrated on both the nose and the palate, this is chock-full of opulent black fruit. The tannins are highly polished and allow the fruit to take center stage. This has a fleshy breadth but equally impressive depth. The wood spice is generous but matched by the fruit. Very seductive but perfectly balanced with bright acids keeping everything in check.