Masseto

Masseto stands as one of Italy’s most esteemed wines, renowned for being a Merlot from a sole vineyard in the Bolgheri region along the Tuscan coast. It began as a large experiment and has now achieved a status in the wine world that's nearly untouchable. Collectors pin it as one of thé Italian reds to have in one’s cellar. See also our Blog '10 things you should know about Masseto'.

Here’s a glimpse at what distinguishes Masseto as a must-know wine.

History

The early 1980s mark the beginning of the story of Masseto. A scion of the Antinori winemaking family, from Tuscany, Lodovico Antinori was seeking to make something new in Bolgheri, a coastal part of Tuscany that was then little known even in Italy and not well known by tourists. Inspired by the area's potential, in 1983, he planted Merlot on a small hill with blue clay soils—not a place where anyone else was planting anything, let alone grapes, since the soils were thought to be too heavy. The first wine, very much a product of its terrible weather during the 1986 growing season, was produced in 1986. It quickly gained a following among people who could taste.

For many years, Masseto was something of a hidden treasure within the world of fine wine. Yet every year, it was slowly but surely growing more and more well known, popular, and liked by serious wine aficionados. Then in 2005, Masseto joined forces with another highly respected name in Italian wine, the Frescobaldi family, who took direct management of the estate. In 2019, Masseto opened a new, dedicated winery situated on the hillside next to the vineyards, created to essentially cave-in to the half-dome of the hillside so as to work with "gravity" to help protect the delicate wine flavors on their journey from just-picked fruit to glorious bottled wine. In that same year, a special "cave" or cellar was created in the new structure to house almost religiously every bottle of each vintage just after the wine has been released. 

The Vineyards

The vineyard of Masseto is small, extending to just around 7 hectares (17 acres) on a gentle hillside. This vineyard is just a few kilometers from the sea, and tucked inside the Bolgheri wine region (Tuscany).

Masseto is truly a unique vineyard, with blue and grey clay soil that is very different from what you find in nearby vineyards (which mostly have sandy and gravelly soils). That is also why Masseto is not only close to the sea but also in a slightly unusual locale topographically: its higher altitude and these rare clays—which are almost a geological anomaly—are what give Masseto its distinctive style of wine.

The Terroir

At Masseto, the dominant blue-clay soils, not dissimilar from what you would find at the famous vineyards in Pomerol, France, where the equally iconic Petrus is made, offer exceptional water retention for the vines to endure the Tuscan dry summer, and provide the grapes a unique growing environment. Factor in the nearby Mediterranean Sea, whose breezes cool the hot summer sun, and you have a weather pattern that allows the vines and grapes to develop character. Slow ripening, which translates into concentration and depth of flavor, is another pronounced benefit.

The Varietals

Almost always made from 100% Merlot (sometimes Cabernet Franc is added in very small amounts), Masseto is unusual for Tuscany. Most of the region’s top reds are blends or made from Sangiovese. Merlot was chosen, first of all, because it thrives in the clay soils of the Masseto vineyard. Moreover, it ripens nicely in Bolgheri’s climate and seems to be very well suited to this part of Tuscany.

Winemaking Method

Masseto's winemaking, although quite modern in its uses of technology, when that's to the desired effect, very much plays to the vineyard's quality and lets the estate's singular character come out. Each section of the vineyard is vivacious and unique, and the team ferments grapes from those sections in two distinct ways, the way the sections demand. Vineyard and vintage conditions dictate variation just as much as or more than the ways of the winemakers.

The Masseto team follows a philosophy of intervention as little as possible, waiting for nature to do her thing before using modern tools, for the good of the wine, when necessary. This less-is-more approach is critical to the Masseto's winemaking style.

3 Fun Facts

- "Masseto" comes from the Italian word for masso, which means rock or boulder, and it describes the tough blue clay in the vineyard which can be so hard that they are like a rock.

- Masseto was the first Italian wine sold through Bordeaux's Place de Bordeaux, a wine market typically reserved for the top French wines of the day.

- Deep inside the winery, the Masseto Caveau stores a bottle of every vintage since 1986, each placed in its own cradle.