2018 Tenuta Luce Lucente Toscana 750 ml

After helping launch Napa into the stratosphere and partnering with Baron Philippe de Rothschild to create Opus One, Robert Mondavi turned his attention toward his family’s native Italy, partnering with the legendary Frescobaldi family to create Luce della Vite.

That partnership has become Italy’s version of Opus One, producing wines that are among the richest and most monumental in the country. Their flagship wine, Luce, a Super Tuscan blend of Sangiovese and Merlot, has become synonymous with staggering concentration and power, racking up 98- and 97-point scores. 

The Lucente is one of the best deals in Super Tuscans every year. Sporting the same voluptuous blend as Luce, made from the same high-elevation vineyards and by the same renowned team, it’s especially stellar in a warm vintage like 2018, which imbued grapes across the peninsula with extra richness and power.

If Luce is a Napa Cabernet drinker’s Super Tuscan, Lucente is its more classically Italian younger brother, defined by litheness and energy married to the estate’s characteristic intensity. The Sangiovese and Merlot grapes hail from some of the highest slopes in Montalcino, bordering on Frescobaldi’s Castelgiocondo, home to some of the area’s finest Brunellos. The two are fermented separately and see 12 months in a mix of new and older wooden barriques, resulting in a less oaky expression than Luce.

We haven’t been able to resist this offering from the Frescobaldi family, and today we’re delighted to share one of our favorite Montalcino deals with you.