2017 Fattoria Le Pupille Saffredi Maremma Toscana Rosso IGT 750 ml

Bless you, Brunello.

The recently released 2015 vintage from Montalcino has bogarted all the buzz coming out of Tuscany... and that’s a good thing. Because while all eyes have been on those exquisite reds, we’ve been keeping a keen lookout for some of our favorite Super Tuscan stars.

We’re proud to say we nabbed one of the very brightest: the dual-97-point 2017 Fattoria Le Pupille Saffredi Maremma Toscana Rosso, a regal yet under-the-radar Super Tuscan whose score from Wine Advocate tied and topped the biggest names in the Maremma. That includes Sassicaia, Ornellaia, and Tua Rita, three legends whose average price hovers around $230. 

Straight from the cellar, we’ve got Saffredi at just $95, which means you can put two or three away alongside your Bordeaux First Growths and top Super Tuscans for the price of one marquee Bolgheri bottling. Then revel in this secret star’s long evolution. 

This is the 30th vintage of Saffredi, and we swear every year is gonna be its breakout—it’s scored 96 and higher from Wine Advocate four of the last five vintages—yet the price remains unthinkable for a blue-chip Bordeaux style red from Tuscany. 

A blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon with 35% Merlot and the rest Petit Verdot, it’s got a deep ruby core, and exudes black fruit laced with flowers, minerals, and graphite. With textured cassis and dried cherry notes under leather, mocha, and savory herbs, Saffredi has the muscle, textured palate, plush tannins, and overall regal bearing that mark the $200+ Bolgheri bottlings. 

Fattoria Le Pupille existed for years in the humble and nondescript DOC of Morellino di Scansano. But that all changed in 1984—that’s when Elisabetta Geppetti inherited her family’s small estate, which came with consulting winemaker Giacomo Tachis, the late Antinori ace who would eventually go on to be crowned Decanter’s Man of the Year.

When Elisabetta took over, Super Tuscan wines—Bordeaux-style blends made all over Tuscany—were making inroads, and Tachis encouraged her to make one at Le Pupille. The Saffredi blend was born in 1987, and with Tachis’ name attached, it started garnering some serious attention. All of a sudden, the out-of-the-way Le Pupille estate and its flagship wine were being mentioned in the same breath as Sassicaia, Ornellaia, and the other Super Tuscans taking the world by storm.

Elisabetta saw to it that Saffredi belonged at the top of the Super Tuscan food chain, and her impact has been long-lasting. Now, more than three decades later, Elisabetta is known as “The Lady of Morellino” and the “Ambassador of Maremma,” largely because of the success of Saffredi, one of the region’s marquee wines.

Grown on a sandstone-heavy, 35-acre vineyard planted mostly to Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, the blend (which includes 5% Petit Verdot) spends 18 months in 80% new French oak barriques, which polishes its tannins, yielding a rich and long-finishing Super Tuscan classic. 

There are great things going on in Tuscany, beyond 2015 Brunello, and this is the bottle we’ve been watching for.