2009 Tenuta di Biserno Toscana IGT Biserno 750 ml

A Super Tuscan’s 95-Point TRIFECTA

We’ve been around the block enough to know that consensus among the world’s leading wine critics is rare. So we certainly noticed that the Tenuta di Biserno “Biserno” Bibbona Super Tuscan from the Antinori family was racking up 95 points from a number of venerable critics.

Maybe we shouldn’t be too surprised, given the Antinori family’s Super Tuscan C.V., which boasts names like Sassicaia, Ornellaia, Tignanello, and Solaia.

We first learned about the Biserno property from Dante Scanavino, when he was GM of Ornellaia. Scanavino believed the Biserno soil to be nearly identical to the clay-and-pebble bed of Ornellaia’s Masseto site, where their stratospherically priced Merlot grows. After confirming Dante’s hunch and seeing the potential for Bordeaux varietals at Biserno, Piero and Lodovico Antinori needed no further convincing. Biserno has become, in the words of Robert Parker, “the pride and joy of Lodovico Antinori, a man with a gifted talent for selecting the best sites for growing vines along the rugged coast of Tuscany.”

With this ideal site selected, the Antinoris brought on Michel Rolland, whose portfolio of 100-point wines have made him perhaps the world’s most famous vigneron. Rolland carefully selects the estate’s best Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Petit Verdot, all cleansed by sea breezes, and crafts the namesake wine. Aging 15 months in new French oak and a year in bottle before release completes the deft treatment of the “Biserno.”

In 2009, the “Biserno” hit a 95-point TRIFECTA courtesy of three top critics. Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate found a wine that was “humming with energy and bold fruit flavors,” showing “enormous balance and a profound, opulent mouthfeel.” Antonio Galloni at Vinous called it “wonderfully alive and opulent,” and “totally spherical in its expression of black fruit,” noting that “layers of fruit continue to build in the glass as the wine flows through to a creamy, expressive finish.” And James Suckling loved the wine’s “Aromas of blackberries, rosemary, blueberries, and spices,” calling it “very fine indeed,” and noted the finish, which “goes on for minutes.”

2009 was a good year for the top Super Tuscans: Sassicaia, Ornellaia, and Solaia from that vintage all pulled down high scores and even higher price tags, pushing $200. The “Biserno” belongs in that lineup, and, with its 95-point trifecta, it’s A STEAL at the WineAccess-exclusive price of $117 — the lowest price in the U.S.! Here’s to the lucky few who order in time, as 200 bottles will disappear (have disappeared?) in an instant. Shipping included on all orders!