2022 Masseto Tuscany 750 ml

Tuscany’s Masseto hill is one of the planet’s most iconic terroirs. 

From it comes one of the world’s most extraordinary wines—one that deserves a place in any world-class wine collection. Masseto is to Tuscany what Screaming Eagle is to Napa or Petrus to Pomerol.

The 2022 is the exact kind of wine that gave Masseto its reputation as one of the world’s very greatest wines. It is elegance incarnate, with a soaring bouquet of black plum, blueberry liqueur, and ripe blackberry intertwined with violets, cocoa, graphite, and warm spice. The palate shows concentrated layers of dark fruit glide over finely polished tannins, energized by vibrant acidity that keeps the wine fresh and precise through the monumental finish.

Antonio Galloni of Vinous this version, which comprises Merlot and a touch of Cabernet Franc, “super-refined,” and it will offer outstanding early drinking as well as an impressive evolution in the cellar. 

We have but 30 bottles—it’s beyond scarce, and the apogee of Merlot.

Lodovico Antinori comes from Tuscan winemaking royalty, and in founding Ornellaia, his aim was to compete with the wine that put Super Tuscans on the map: his own cousin’s Sassicaia. So he made Ornellaia a Bordeaux-style blend that, like Sassicaia, would be dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon. 

But Tenuta dell’Ornellaia had one anomalous 17-acre section: a hilltop that legendary consultant André Tchelistcheff knew was not ideal for Cabernet. However, it was rich in the type of blue clay found at Château Petrus—the kind known for producing world-class Merlot.

Tchelistcheff recommended planting Merlot. Antinori was ambivalent, since the grape was all but unheard of in Tuscany. Finally, in 1984, he heeded Tchelistcheff’s advice and planted the Masseto hill purely to Merlot. 

Four decades later, Masseto stands as perhaps the most sought-after Merlot in the world. This wine has eclipsed the Cabernet-dominant Super Tuscans to become one of the most celebrated bottlings on the globe, bar none, and you should not pass up a chance to cellar it—especially when it is adorned with a flawless score. This is a perennial head-turner at the table. You’ll thank yourself.