The wine achieves its fullest expression in the acclaimed vintage
Bolgheri, September 20, 2024 – The harvest at Masseto, a name that conjures up a wine, a vineyard and an estate, finished yesterday. While the just-picked bunches rest in the concrete tanks for the first stage in their long journey to become wine, bottles of the 2021 vintage down in the Caveau are beginning to set off around the world as ambassadors of the Mediterranean magic that can be discerned in the vibrant and intoxicating aromas.
In the glass, Masseto 2021 is as elegant and enticing as ever, filling the mouth with a certain corpulence and endurance. “The vineyard has interpreted 2021 with personality,” explains Marco Balsimelli, Production Director of Masseto. “Adding a range of emotions to a vintage that has proven to be beautiful and balanced due to the spring water reserves that helped the vines during the long summer months of sun and dry weather.”
After all, the uniqueness of Masseto derives from the distinctive soil, in which blue Pliocene clay veins resurfaced from the sea meet the water needs in the vineyard. “Again, this year, the soil stopped the vines from enduring too much water stress and helped them to grow concentrated berries with high levels of quality,” confirms Balsimelli.
“Masseto 2021 is a wine that knows how to wow, ever present during tasting, dry on the finish, and at its fullest expression.”
“We are thankful for this rich and powerful vintage,” confirms Lamberto Frescobaldi, President of Marchesi Frescobaldi, to which Masseto belongs. “We played our part by looking after each micro-parcel individually in this vineyard. All the same, without the complicity of nature, the sun and constant sea breezes from the Tyrrhenian, humans would be unable to create such harmony.”
Once harvested and selected, the grapes are gathered in the cellar carved deep into the hillside and designed to be at one with the surrounding clay. The smooth grey surfaces create a feeling of suspension as the bunches benefit from optimal conditions and technology, beauty and silence to be turned into bottles of rare prestige.
This is the 35th edition of Masseto. From September onwards, the 2021 vintage will be distributed in Italy and all around the world.
About Masseto
Masseto is the name for a unique wine, vineyard and estate. The potential of the slope where the homonymous Masseto vineyard stands on the Tuscan coast was sensed in the early 1980s when the first vines were planted, contrary to all predictions, advice and local tradition. The intuition paid off. The blue clay soil, the cool coastal breezes and the excellent refraction of light guaranteed by the Tyrrhenian Sea contribute to the intriguing mix of power, elegance and complexity that distinguishes this Tuscan red. Since the 2017 harvest, Masseto has been accompanied by a second wine, Massetino. Both derive from the estate’s philosophy centred on utmost respect for the fruit and minimal intervention in the vineyard.
