2022 Tenuta Luce Luce Toscana 750 ml

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

Luce is Italy’s version of Opus One, founded by Robert Mondavi and the Frescobaldi clan to showcase the terroir of Montalcino using Brunello-clone Sangiovese and Merlot. It’s a collectible that will thrill lovers of rich Napa Cabernet and top-class Brunello di Montalcino alike. 

James Suckling awarded the 2022 96 points—the same score as the 2022 Tignanello, which goes for twice as much. It’s clear that Lamberto Frescobaldi’s significant investment—including the addition of a new winery—has elevated this project to must-have icon status, just as Opus One is in the Napa Valley. 

Just as Baron Philippe de Rothschild found California’s quintessential producer in Mondavi for Opus One, Mondavi found the perfect partner for his Italian project in the Frescobaldi family, whose Tuscan roots go back to the 1300s. Frescobaldi family patriarch Vittorio saw a kindred spirit in the iconoclastic Mondavi—whose parents had moved from Le Marche to America in the early part of the 20th century—and so Tenuta Luce was born. 

The estate is located in the hills of Montalcino, and Luce is the top wine from their vineyards—fittingly, since they can play up its Napa-Tuscan heritage. While they do make great Brunello at the estate, Luce is a Super Tuscan par excellence: It’s a blend of equal parts Merlot and Sangiovese, harvested and fermented separately in multiple passes. The fruit is selected rigorously in the field and sorted meticulously by hand in the winery.