Masseto
⏳ Drinking Window
2022 - 2045
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
Slow-roasted lamb shoulder with rosemary, classic Tuscan wild boar ragù (cinghiale), or dry-aged Bistecca alla Fiorentina.
✨ Technical Specifications
Masseto is one of the world's most legendary 'Super Tuscans,' a magnificent 100% Merlot born from a singular, magical hill in Bolgheri, Tuscany. Its story began in the 1980s when the legendary enologist André Tchelistcheff recognized the extraordinary potential of a patch of pliocene blue clay soil, defying local advice to plant Merlot instead of Cabernet. This unique terroir, reminiscent of Pomerol but bathed in the warm Mediterranean sun, imparts an unparalleled combination of power, opulence, and mineral refinement. Fermented in concrete and oak, and aged for up to 24 months in new French oak barrels followed by extensive bottle aging, Masseto is celebrated for its complex layers of dark fruit, spice, truffle, and velvety tannins. It stands as a monument to Italian winemaking, blending Tuscan soul with Bordeaux-style sophistication.
🍾 About the Producer
Established in 1981 by Marchese Lodovico Antinori and guided today under the stewardship of the Frescobaldi family with Technical Director Marco Balsimelli, Ornellaia stands as a pillar of coastal Tuscan viticulture. Situated near Bolgheri along the Tyrrhenian seaboard, the estate commands around 100 hectares of meticulously mapped vineyards. Soils reflect a mosaic of marine gravel, clay, loam, and limestone, nourished by generous maritime sunlight and tempered by cooling coastal breezes sweeping down from the Colline Metallifere. Viticulture adheres to rigorous sustainable standards, certified through Equalitas, championing parcel-level diversity and biodiversity. Ornellaia's winemaking philosophy centers on precise vinification of individual micro-plots in stainless steel and concrete before barrel maturation in fine-grained French oak. The estate's namesake grand vin, Bolgheri DOC Superiore Ornellaia, blends Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot with structural nobility and opulence, alongside benchmark bottlings such as Le Serre Nuove dell'Ornellaia, Poggio alle Gazze, and the legendary single-vineyard Merlot, Masseto.