1 BOTTLE X 75cl. 

Variety: 100% Merlot.

MASSETO

To open a bottle, is to unleash a liquid kaleidoscope. A rare combination of sumptuous opulence and polished elegance.
As a tribute to its rugged force, its softness, and the debt it owes to the soil from which it rises, Masseto was named after the rock-hard clusters of blue clay called ‘massi’ that form on the vineyard’s surface.

Making Masseto is a balancing act, one feels like a tightrope dancer always on the edge of a precipice.

Winemaking at Masseto is at the same time an adventure and a continuous discovery. A place where intuition prevails, where no one could be sure that the fragile Merlot could succeed, even if the presence of blue clay from the Pliocene gave a hint. Making Masseto is a balancing act, one feels like a tightrope dancer always on the edge of a precipice. The clayish soils in themselves represent all the contradictions: A capacity to store great amounts of water, and to release it very gently. A soil that is cold and wet in a rainy year but gets hard as a rock during a dry summer, creating a shear physical barrier to the roots that struggle to go deep down into the subsoil. A soil in which, with a low planting density, a level of vigor is achieved that would normally be expected from a high-density vineyard. The vines of Masseto seem to be continuously struggling with the elements, frequently at the limit of collapse but somehow always able to resist and develop fruit of incredible concentration and flavor. A rare combination of lush ripeness and lavish concentration which somehow manages to preserve its complexity and freshness. Each individual vintage expresses its unmistakable Masseto character, but with a slightly different interpretation - just as a masterpiece of music will sound differently according to the artist who plays it.

CLIMATE AND VINTAGE After the drought vintage 2017, winter 2018 seemed to indicate that things were getting back to the norm, with cold weather and even few days of snow which we had not seen for years. Things changed quickly from March onwards with one of the rainiest springs in Masseto’s history. At the same time temperatures, particularly in April, were higher than average, which led to a rapid vegetative growth, culminating in flowering which occurred one full week earlier than normal. Precise timing and presence of all our workforce was required to keep pace with the vines and operate shoot thinning and positioning of the canopy. While temperatures came back to the norm in May, the high amount of rain created a high level of disease pressure, especially for downy mildew, which put the nerves of vine growers to the test for the rest of the growing season. Only through perfect organization and capacity to enter the vineyard for spraying in the few days without rain was it possible to get control of the disease keeping canopies and grapes healthy. In July mostly sunny and warm weather allowed for a little rest before véraison stepped in timely around the 22 July. August was warm with a bit of rain around the 15th, which prevented the appearance of any major hydric stress. Sugars and acidity moved at a slow pace while berry sizes grew a bit more than usual. Harvest started on 31st August with the youngest gobelet-trained vines and then stopped for one week until we started picking the older vines from the 6th September onwards. Differences between parcels within Masseto were particularly marked, leading to a very long harvest that was concluded only on 4th October and yielded 9 different vinification lots. VINIFICATION AND AGEING The bunches, hand harvested in 15kg crates, were selected by hand on a double sorting table before and after destemming and then subjected to soft crushing. Fermentation took place in concrete tanks, small portions of vineyards in barrel at temperatures between 25 and 30°C. Maceration times ranged from 21 to 28 days. Malolactic fermentation began in 100% new oak barrique barrels, while keeping the various lots separate for the first 12 months of ripening. Subsequently, the wine was blended and reintroduced once again into the barrels for another year, for a total of 24 months. As usual, Masseto 2018 was given another 12 months in bottle before being released on the market. TASTING NOTES Masseto 2018 is a wine that perfectly respects its unique terroir and the vintage. Dark in colour, with an expressive nose of perfectly ripe cherries, plums, and spicy new oak. The palate is broad and rich as one would expect from Masseto, but shows refined and silky texture that is so typical of 2018. The finish shows great length with a touch of refreshing tannic grip. A particularly elegant version of Masseto that combines richness and elegance. Tastings November 2020