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Nathalie Djurberg and Hans Berg for Ornellaia Vendemmia D’Artista 2019 “Il Vigore”

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Charity auction supporting the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation’s “Mind’s Eye” program

From 5th to 19th October 2022

The charity auction of Ornellaia Vendemmia d’Artista 2019 “Il Vigore” organized by Sotheby’s gets underway from 5th to 19th October. Swedish artists Nathalie Djurberg and Hans Berg designed this vintage’s special labels and this year’s proceeds will once more go to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation for the “Mind’s Eye” program.

Jamie Ritchie, Worldwide Chairman, Sotheby’s Wine says: “This is our twelve partnership with Ornellaia for their annual Vendemmia d’Artista project, which is so special to us because it supports worthy artistic causes and combines the brilliance of the estate’s wines with the visual ingenuity of the artists who take part. We look forward to presenting a range of bottles from the 2019 vintage “Il Vigore” later this year, headlined, as ever, by a unique Salmanazar. With its emphasis on the senses, the Mind’s Eye program has been the ideal beneficiary and, as in previous years, we expect these exclusive bottles to attract international interest from collectors eager to also enjoy the unique experiences on offer.”

Since 2019, the proceeds from the Vendemmia d’Artista charity auction have been donated to support this innovative program, which was created by the Guggenheim’s education department to help the blind and low-vision visitors to experiment with art by the fullest use of the senses.

This enables the development of creative impressions, emotional connections and lasting memories. As in all the arts, the appreciation of fine wines also necessitates the total engagement of the senses. Sharing this idea caused Ornellaia to support the growth of this innovative program.

“Ornellaia’s generosity has provided for the expansion of Mind’s Eye, connecting participants across the globe through virtual programs, states Richard Armstrong, Director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation and Museum. “In the last three years, our knowledge has allowed Guggenheim New York to increase accessibility both to the museum and to works of art through multi-sensorial exploration. We are grateful for the ongoing support of Ornellaia.”

The Guggenheim stands out as an innovative institution for its commitment to accessibility and building the Mind’s Eye Community. Digitalization has enabled Mind’s Eye to reach a vast public from many countries around the world through its Sensory Guide to the Guggenheim New York or through Verbal Descriptions that use specific language to convey a visual experience for artworks and the unique architecture of the Frank Lloyd Wright designed building. 

The proceeds raised have allowed the program to be extended to the two other museums in the Guggenheim constellation, Venice and Bilbao, hence bestowing international prestige on the program.

For this reason, Giovanni Geddes da Filicaja, CEO of the Ornellaia estate, is excited to state: “Since the beginning of Vendemmia d’Artista in 2009, we have donated the proceeds from the auction to charity. It is immensely rewarding to see the project grow internationally and to know that the work we are doing gives the blind and low-vision persons the possibility to explore contemporary art through the senses. This sensibility has always been a key part of our philosophy.”

Le Cupole tells the story of the 2020 growing year

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While the gran vin Tenuta di Trinoro will keep the world waiting for another year.

“On the 26th of September, we finally had a break in the weather and the cold arrived. The deeper colours of autumn became visible all around and the sky cleared. On the 30th, the vines dried off and harvest began.”

These are the 2020 harvest notes of Andrea Franchetti (who passed away last December). The growing year at Tenuta di Trinoro opened with a normal spring, followed by a summer that brought heat spells and a week of rains in late August, and finally a September that gifted grapes with optimal ripeness. The estate vineyard team precisely followed the progress of the grapes right up to the harvest, ensuring optimal quality.

All this took place in Sarteano in the Val d’Orcia, in the south-east corner of Tuscany, one of the world’s most intriguing and mesmerising places, on a wine estate that has always successfully imprinted its own distinctive signature on its wines, recognised across the globe.

The 2020 vintage saw the bottling of the entire Tenuta di Trinoro range, but on a different calendar this year. Tenuta di Trinoro 2020 will spend another 12 months in the cellar, before its release in spring 2023. In the lead up to this, its younger sibling – Le Cupole 2020 – tells the story of this growing year.

As Andrea Franchetti used to say, “con la luna di febbraio il vino diventa vino,”or “with February’s moon wine becomes wine”. This is the moment of the winemaking year when wines from the individual vineyard parcels are tasted, to select those that best express the character of Le Cupole. Fermentation takes place in steel vats, followed by ageing in once- and twice-used oak barrels, and finally blending and further ageing in concrete vats.

Le Cupole 2020, a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Petit Verdot that can vary from vintage to vintage, possesses, in the words of estate director-winemaker Calogero Portannese, “a vibrant life-force, harmonious complexity, and silky elegance,” a description that can only make us wonder what awaits us with gran vin Tenuta di Trinoro 2020.

Chianti Classico 2020 and Riserva 2019

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Eloquent expressions of a distinctive terroir: Castello di Querceto

At Castello di Querceto, the growing conditions of 2020 and 2019 allowed us, more than in recent seasons, to fashion wines that were eloquently expressive of the terroir of this historic wine estate and in particular wines that displayed the vibrant crispness and depth classic to this distinctive spot lying at elevations of over 400 metres on the highest hills of Greve in Chianti.

Chianti Classico 2020 is fruit of a growing season that was hot but with below-average night-time temperatures. Plentiful rainfall in May and June fortunately topped up groundwater reserves to enable the vines to cope with summer conditions, but it was the day-night temperature ranges that brought the clusters to optimal ripeness and aromatic development. The crop came in slightly less than the norm, but the resultant wines, carefully vinified for 8 months in steel and concrete, have emerged with exceptional structure and acidity.

As for Chianti Classico Riserva, the 2019 growing year was more gradual and balanced. A fairly dry June delayed veraison some two weeks, beyond mid-August, in fact, but the rains, limited though they were, kept conditions to the historical norm, so that cluster development was thoroughly satisfactory. Gorgeous weather in September and October allowed us to push back the start of harvest, and the high quality of the Sangiovese reflected that gift. The wine fermented and macerated in steel some two weeks, followed by 12 months’ maturation in large oak ovals. The overall result is an elegant, intense expression of Castello di Querceto that presages many sensory surprises over the years to come.     

“Thanks to the zonation studies carried out since the 1970s,” stated Castello di Querceto producer Alessandro François, “we now have an in-depth understanding of the characteristics and expressive properties of our vineyards. They lie at elevations higher than the Chianti average, and the soils are rich in polychrome schists, manganese and iron, and earth-alkaline metals. All these factors play an important role in ensuring lively acidities and supple tannins in our wines, qualities emblematic of Castello di Querceto and evident in both these expressions of Chianti Classico and Chianti Classico Riserva.”

To these gifts of nature must be added the François family’s intimate familiarity with its estate Sangiovese, after a full 125 years of experience, plus the near-obsessive attention by the Castello di Querceto team in vineyard and winemaking cellar, both guarantees of authentic, classic Chianti Classico wines, each an impressive marriage of aristocratic austerity and excellent structure.

“We strive, constantly and ever more sensitively, to infuse into our wines the entire wealth of our experience and passion, since each of our wines is an ambassador to the world of our winemaking philosophy and of our terroir here at Castello di Querceto,” concludes Simone François, who supports his father Alessandro in directing the winery.

*

Castello di Querceto, property of the François family and one of the founders of the Consorzio del Vino Chianti Classico in 1924, lies in a small valley in the high hills in Greve in Chianti. The estate, with its agriturism, Castello, and luxuriant park, includes 65 hectares of vineyards. The denomination wine, Chianti Classico, the long-standing estate standard-bearer, is produced in a number of interpretations: standard and Riserva, and two Gran Selezione crus, Il Picchio and La Corte. The portfolio contains a number of IGT crus, the fruit of zonation studies carried out by Alessandro François.

The genius loci of Bolgheri in the bright reflections of Poggio alle Gazze dell’Ornellaia 2020

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Ornellaia is proud to present the 2020 vintage of Poggio alle Gazze dell’Ornellaia, which is enhanced by the Poggio alle Gazze dell’Ornellaia Ambassadors project that pays tribute to its relationship with the sea and land to which it belongs.

In Tuscany, wine is often regarded as red by definition. “And yet”, Axel Heinz, Estate Director, explains “with a clear vision, patient research into the best soil and aspect, a suitable selection of the varieties to be planted and a constant commitment to cultivating the vines with care and attention, we are certain that the genius loci of this unique land can also be conveyed in the straw yellow colour of our white wines.”

Poggio alle Gazze dell’Ornellaia owes its elegant Mediterranean style to the special microclimate that distinguishes the estate.

The 2020 vintage was characterized by a rainy yet mild winter. The budbreak occurred later than usual, shielding the vines from any frost damage. A still wet June was followed by a hot, dry summer. The harvest took place earlier, in the first half of August for the Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier and Verdicchio, while we were able to wait until September for the perfect ripening of the Vermentino. “The earlier harvest and the absence of particular water stress, due to the water reserves accumulated in June, enabled the grapes to convey all their hallmark aromas, especially the Sauvignon Blanc,” Axel Heinz remarked. 

The winemaking and ageing must support the balance that distinguishes Poggio alle Gazze dell’Ornellaia, without distorting it, in addition to accentuating the texture, without making it heavier. In so doing, the bright colours and refined aromas are kept intact.

The practical winemaking choices are aimed at acquiring additional balance, layers of complexity that allow the wine to withstand the test of time and reveal its deepest soul and the ultimate expression of the terroir with the passing of the years.

The wine is made by gently pressing the grapes, followed by the decision to decant and allow half the wine to age in steel tanks, while the remaining half ages in barriques. The wine subsequently spends six months on the lees with bâtonnage.

The winemaker Olga Fusari, who is particularly attached to Poggio alle Gazze dell’Ornellaia and who has witnessed the revival in conjunction with its maiden vintage led by Ornellaia’s technical team, explains. “With its bright straw yellow colour, Poggio alle Gazze dell’Ornellaia 2020 displays beautiful aromatic complexity on the nose: woodland and white flowers, accompanied by white peach, sage and herbal notes, are released in the glass. On tasting, the wine fills the palate with elegance and decisiveness, showing the right balance between freshness, acidity and density. The finish is vibrant, lasting and on the savoury side.” 

The release of the 2020 vintage is also accompanied by the Poggio alle Gazze dell’Ornellaia Ambassadors project. This initiative is devoted to the Mediterranean Sea and Italian excellence. The ambassadors, who come from all over the peninsula and beyond, having been selected for their creativity and the quality of their cuisine, have created recipes that pair perfectly with Poggio alle Gazze dell’Ornellaia. The chefs that have taken part to this project are Daniele and Andrea Zazzeri, La Pineta in Marina di Bibbona, Gennaro Esposito, La Torre del Saracino in Vico Equense, Andrea Migliaccio and Salvatore Elefante, Il Riccio in Capri, Emanuele Riccobono, Ristorante Zagara in Sciacca, Pietro d’Agostino, La Capinera in Taormina, Enzo Florio, Da Tuccino in Polignano a Mare, Roberto Gatto, Cip’s Club in Venice, Domenico Soranno, Langosteria in Paraggi e infine Antonio Colaianni, Ristorante Ornellaia in Zurich. Their dishes reflect the same salinity of the sea that can be found in Poggio alle Gazze dell’Ornellaia, which has always borne witness to the evolution of mankind and its connection with a land that yields the centuries-old wisdom of time and patience.

Tenuta di Trinoro and Passopisciaro In the name of continuity

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“Man realises his true self through what he creates” – so said Andrea Franchetti.

The wine producer’s passing on 5 December last year has left a void in the international world of wine, but his legacy – Tenuta di Trinoro and Passopisciaro – will continue to flourish. For more than 30 years, Franchetti painstakingly and uncompromisingly assembled a professional and close-knit team that helped to bring a shared vision of excellence to fruition. Together, they created exciting wines that are a direct expression of their terroirs – in Tuscany they speak about Cabernet Franc, on Mount Etna about Contrade and Nerello Mascalese.

At Tenuta di Trinoro in Val d’Orcia, Andrea Franchetti had been carefully passing on his passion and experience to his recruits over decades, including young oenologist Lorenzo Fornaini and estate director Calogero Portannese. The latest vintage, the Tenuta di Trinoro 2019, achieved an incredibly rare 100/100 score from Wine Advocate, which would have been impossible without perfect teamwork.

On the slopes of Sicily’s Mount Etna, Franchetti was the father-founder of the contrade concept of local districts. At Passopisciaro he was assisted from the very beginning by current estate director and winemaker Vincenzo Lo Mauro. Vincenzo shared Andrea’s vision regarding the contrade and, in knowing every detail and nuance of the ancient vineyards, he was in the ideal position to formulate the winery’s five different annual contrade expressions.

Andrea Franchetti will be greatly missed; but as his son and successor Benjamin affirms “The wines developed by my father have taken on a life of their own, an identity that transcends their creator. Our job now, in Tuscany and Sicily, is to continue the work he started, and to carry on translating these terroirs into the finest of wines.”

Tenuta di Trinoro and Passopisciaro are two separate entities, as singular as they can be complementary. Their wines are fruits of different terroirs and extreme climatic conditions unified by one common thread – each single wine transmits the emotion of two great wine regions that were discovered and beloved by their visionary creator. It is this emotion and quality that is prized by collectors across the globe who, year after year, compete en primeur for the rare few bottles available on the market.

Tenuta di Trinoro: The estate, located near Sarteano at the beginning of the Val d’Orcia in the southeast of Tuscany, has 16 plots of vines for a total of approximately 24 hectares, all at an altitude between 450 and 650 meters. The flagship wine “Tenuta di Trinoro” is the blend of the best grapes of Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot. The estate also produces “I Campi” three pure Cabernet Franc expressions, an all-Merlot “Palazzi” and “Le Cupole”, a younger and more accessible wine, as well as “Bianco di Trinoro”, a white wine from predominantly Semillon grapes.

Passopisciaro: Situated on the north flank of Etna, the estate relies on 26 hectares of vineyards mostly planted with Nerello Mascalese, the vines often un-grafted and between 80-100 year old. In addition, the estate cultivates some rows of Petit Verdot, Cesanese d’Affile and Chardonnay. “Franchetti Cuvée“ is a blend of Petit Verdot and Cesanese d’Affile, the 5 Passopisciaro crus express the different contrade, Passorosso and Passobianco are the “democratic” voices of Andrea Franchetti’s Mount Etna.

Marco Lucentini

IL VIGORE – Ornellaia 2019

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The vigour of the vines interpreted through the visual brilliance 

of artists Nathalie Djurberg and Hans Berg

Ornellaia is delighted to reveal Il Vigore (‘Vigour’), the latest Vendemmia d’Artista dedicated to Ornellaia 2019 and thus described by Estate Director Axel Heinz: “Il Vigore is the strength of the healthy growth of the vines. It is the active vigour of mind and body. It is the character of a wine that captivates the senses and projects the flavour into a natural landscape of energy, power, strength and vitality. The flavours, aromatic nuances and the body of the wine transport it into a spiritual dimension, where the power of nature is central to the experience.”

The 2019 vintage provided the inspiration, characterized by highly variable conditions interspersed with cold, wet spells and long periods of heat and drought. After a changeable spring and an almost perfect summer, the lower temperatures at the end of September resulted in wines of great finesse and aromatic abundance. This is a powerful, mysterious and intriguing wine, whose first sip does not reveal all its facets, but envelops the palate, curious to grasp its myriad nuances.

The Vendemmia d’Artista project took root from this inspiration to celebrate the unique character of every season on a yearly basis. Some of these exquisite labels will be sold during the Sotheby’s online auction scheduled from 5th to 19th October 2022 before being delivered to lucky collectors. Since 2019, profits have been donated to The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation to support the innovative Mind’s Eye program. 

Jamie Ritchie, Worldwide Head of Sotheby’s Wine, explains: Ornellaia’s Vendemmia d’Artista is a pioneering project, which involves the ensemble of wine and art to support charitable work. This October will be our 14th collaboration with the estate on this exceptional project. When we started this venture, we had no idea that it would lead to a multitude of charitable projects in the wine world. Our clients around the world always await with trepidation the opportunity to take part in the auction and to purchase unique bottles, knowing that they are supporting a noble cause that facilitates access to art for the blind and low-vision persons. The combination between the extraordinary wines from the estate and the visual brilliance of the participating artists has proven to be an irresistible pairing, which will be illustrated this year for the 2019 vintage, “Il Vigore”, with the designs of Nathalie Djurberg and Hans Berg.

The chosen artists based their work on the theme of metamorphosis, the cycles of nature and its transformation, as well as the relationship between humans and the Earth. These concepts are expressed in a project that evolves from the design developed for the 750 ml and 3-litre labels to sculptures for the large 6-litre and 9-litre formats.

The finger, depicted on the 750ml label, which leaves a print on the Earth, is a fine representation of the wine, which sparks curiosity and a desire to reveal itself gradually before leaving a tangible impression in a lingering tasting experience. In the glass, connoisseurs discover the energy that nature gives to plants and humans, but in particular to the region that expresses itself as lifeblood: the lifeblood of Il Vigore.

The estate’s winemaker Olga Fusari describes Ornellaia 2019 as a wine “having a deep ruby red colour, with a rich bouquet of intriguing spiced and balsamic notes, including black pepper, sage and herbal aromas. The wine is full bodied and vibrant in the mouth, filling the palate with its dense and elegant tannins, and ends with an enduring and wonderfully refreshing finish”. 

The amounts collected through the Vendemmia d’Artista project enables the programme’s expansion to all museums in the Guggenheim constellation (New York, Venice, Bilbao). “Ornellaia’s generosity has provided for the expansion of Mind’s Eye, connecting participants across the globe through virtual programs,” said Richard Armstrong, Director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Foundation. “Our learnings over the past three years have enabled the Guggenheim to increase accessibility to both place and to works of art through multisensory exploration.  We are grateful for the ongoing support of Ornellaia.”

Giovanni Geddes da Filicaja, CEO of Ornellaia estate, is also delighted to state that: “Since the introduction of Vendemmia d’Artista in 2009, we have donated more than 2 million dollars to art charity. It’s immensely rewarding to see the project grow internationally and to know that the work we are doing gives the possibility for the blind and low-vision people to discover contemporary art by using the senses.”

 The Masseto estate presents the latest vintage of its second wine, Massetino 2019

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A harmonious take on the graceful force of the fruit Massetino 2019, now in its third vintage, born from the selection made for Masseto, with which it shares an underlying identity. Released to market on tiptoes in 2019, this second wine immediately revealed itself as the utmost interpretation of the terroir with a well-defined identity.

Vaunting a harmonious character while remaining profound and powerful, like the land where it comes from, Massetino is a Merlot blend that incorporates a small percentage of Cabernet Franc. “Massetino comes from the careful selection of the estate’s vineyards, which is carried out during the blending stage,”explains Estate Director Axel Heinz. “Our consideration was that the selection of wines that did not end up becoming Masseto could have their own life. A new wine is always a new challenge.”

Massetino 2019 displays the typical traits of a vintage with variable weather conditions, which saw cold, wet spells alternate with long, hot and dry stages. The vine growth was delayed, but it was followed by a hot, sunny summer with next to no rainfall. The precipitation at the end of the summer enabled the Merlot to be harvested at the beginning of September and Cabernet Franc in early October, with a seasonal finish that provided the right conditions for ripening.

The cellar philosophy is to reduce intervention to a bare minimum. The exceptional concentration of the grapes requires no sophisticated winemaking mechanisms; just simple measures. In Massetino, delicate infusion is discerned instead of aggressive extraction. In so doing, the wine displays richness without being heavy. In the cellar, everything has been researched for this very reason: from moving the grapes without using pumps, but by gravity alone, to using vats designed to elicit delicate extraction.

Every parcel of the vineyard is vinified separately with a spontaneous fermentation. The malolactic fermentation takes place in 50% new barriques for 12 months. Lastly, the base wines are blended before being aged for another 3 months in barriques.

“Massetino 2019 appears dark and youthful, with perfectly ripe black fruit aromas underlined by notes of new seasoned oak and liquorice. The wine is rich and bodied on the palate, with a refined velvety structure balanced by a frame of refreshing acidity and bold tannins,” describes Axel Heinz, Estate Director.

Masseto 2018: the sublime fragility of the soil and humankind’s intuition

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The estate presents Masseto 2018

The elegant and silky texture of a one-of-a-kind wine

It is said that the expectation of a pleasure represents a pleasure in itself, but the peak is the instant in which it is finally reached, when desire is transformed into reality. Finally, after years of refinement, Masseto 2018 is released on the market, with a deep olfactory intensity that flows in the silky texture of this wine.

Humankind, the soil, and the vineyard: these are the three determining elements for the success of this  wine that has established itself as among the most respected in Italy and in the world.

Masseto was born from the intuition of taking a chance on difficult land and seeing its great potential. Estate Director, Axel Heinz, describes it as “an unspoiled, harsh and austere place, that’s not at all easy to work. The conditions are extreme, yet this vineyard never fails to amaze us. It’s truly a magical place where nature makes the most important decisions”.

The will is to interpret the spirit of nature and then let it express itself without limits, because everything revolves around the extraordinary – and at the same time demanding – vineyard. The expert hands of those who love every single plant and know its soul in depth are the ones that lead it. All of this obtains a wine without any coercing, accompanied by actions in the cellar that are as limited as possible in order to obtain its maximum expression.

Masseto 2018 is a wine that perfectly reflects terroir and vintage.

After a season of drought in 2017, winter 2018 seemed to indicate a return to normal, but one of the wettest springs in Masseto’s history, with higher than average temperatures, led to rapid vegetative growth with the risk of diseases. Only the timing of the team made it possible to keep firm control of the vines through the thinning of the shoots and the correct positioning of the foliar apparatus. Thanks to the skillful interplay between shadow and light obtained, both leaves and grapes remained healthy.

The 2018 harvest was the first to find its home entirely in the new cellar dug deep into the blue clay soil on which the vineyard stands, between walls that represent a physical and symbolic tribute to the history of the estate and to the intuition of those who believed in it. The double sorting table enabled the selection of only the most perfect grapes. Fermentation took place in concrete tanks, with the malolactic fermentation beginning in new oak barrels in separate batches for the first 12 months, then blended and left to rest in barrels for a further year.

Masseto 2018 amazes with an infinite salinity that fills each sip. Likewise, there is no sign of excess in the expression of a perfect balance between fullness and harmony that reveals the profound belonging to a terroir with an unmistakable identity.

A symphony of aromatic notes tinged with berries is woven into a refined texture. “Perfectly ripe cherries, plums and spiced new oak. The palate is broad and rich, revealing a refined and silky body derived from the 2018 vintage“, elaborates Axel Heinz, who calls it “a particularly elegant version that combines richness and finesse”.

Soon a new address in Bordeaux for Masseto, Ornellaia, Tenuta Luce and CastelGiocondo

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Masseto, Ornellaia, Tenuta Luce and CastelGiocondo are opening a representative office in the city of Bordeaux, aimed at strengthening their worldwide sales network, starting with the French stronghold of fine wines. 

The prestigious Tuscan estates are set to open a representative office in 2022

The first wine estates in Italy to make such an investment.

Masseto, in 2009, was the first Italian wine to be distributed through La Place de Bordeaux. Ornellaia followed suit in 2015. In the wake of their success, in 2019 Tenuta Luce and in 2021 CastelGiocondo Brunello also embraced the international distribution of La Place de Bordeaux. Since 2009, this choice has resulted in ever increasing results. The Négociants boast a centuries-long history of the sale of fine wines at an international level.

“Making top-tier wines is not enough,” explains Giovanni Geddes da Filicaja, CEO of Frescobaldi group. “Knowing how to communicate this quality and choosing the perfect distribution is essential. By considering these years with La Place de Bordeaux as the first step and examining potential sales growth, it now seems logical for us to open a representative office in Bordeaux. Our goal is to strengthen our position by developing a deeper and more integrated relationship with the Négociants, no longer working from a distance, but in close contact with our partners.”

This stimulating challenge has been entrusted to Patrick Lachapèle who will take on the role of Director of the representative office, returning to France after 16 years in Asia where he worked as Asia-Pacific Export Manager for Baron Philippe de Rothschild and then as Director Asia-Pacific, Middle East, Africa and South America for Ornellaia and Tenuta Luce. Patrick will work alongside the commercial directors of the four estates, which will remain individually managed.

The new office will be operational in the first quarter of 2022.

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Masseto wines are available to all markets through La Place de Bordeaux with the exception of Italy, United States and Canada where Masseto retains direct distribution. Ornellaia wines are available as well through La Place de Bordeaux with the exception of Europe, United States and Canada.

In the case of Tenuta Luce, La Place de Bordeaux holds the distribution in Asia (with the exception of Japan), Africa and Middle East meanwhile CastelGiocondo is available with the Négociants in China only.

THE 2021 HARVEST at MASSETO

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A fruitful conclusion to a vintage of extremes

The extraordinary reaction of the vines to climate change and the resilience of great terroir

Every harvest marks a new chapter that elicits new expertise in knowing how to best interpret the vines and their extraordinary ability to react to nature.

The 2021 vintage was rather difficult, with extreme conditions throughout the year as evidence of the climate change that now characterizes the seasonal development.

At Masseto, strength lies in the ability of the vines to react, helped by what Estate Director Axel Heinz calls the “resilience of a great terroir”: “the characteristics of the vines enabled the climatic extremes to be cushioned and channelled, creating conditions that were limiting yet without an excessive stress for the plants. Fine wines derive from these beginnings.”

The hallmark traits of Masseto – soil and microclimate – proved fundamental in these critical conditions. The blue clay, unique to Masseto, was crucial, capable of accumulating water reserves in the depths of the soil and only releasing the amount of water needed to avoid the excessive stress of the vines and overcome the summer dryness. Themicroclimate, with sea breezes and mild temperatures, provided shelter from the spring frost, while in the summer it ensured the ventilation required to withstand the heat.

The best way to understand this complex vintage is the relationship between men and terroir. The synergy between the soil type and the area, in addition to the constant vineyard management and attention to detail, enabled the year’s potential pitfalls to be turned into extraordinary strengths.

The harvest, which went without rain from start to finish, began on 30 August, with the youngest vines and higher, more precocious parcels in Masseto Alto. The Merlot was harvested on five different occasions until mid-September, while the Cabernet Franc was gathered between 15 and 28 September.

Initial impressions would point to a very stylish vintage. As soon as the wines (which are currently showing great potential) have been racked, which is about to finish, they will be moved into barriques for a lengthy period of ageing. The road ahead is long, but Axel Heinz explains his initial impressions: “The dry season concentrated the grapes, which yielded intense wines with great potential. The colours are particularly intense, like the aromas characterised by fully ripened black fruit. In the mouth we find the unmistakable balance between richness and firmness that distinguishes Masseto. The wines develop a rich and concentrated palate, with dense and velvety tannins, as the result of careful and soft extraction, underpinned by striking acidity that is reminiscent of some of the best vintages such as 2006, 2010 and 2016.”

All of these expectations will take two years to reach their conclusion, when the wine will have finished ageing and become ready for bottling. The established practice at Masseto means that cellar intervention is limited to a bare minimum so that the wines find their natural balance between fullness and harmony, which displays their sense of belonging to a terroir with an unmistakable identity. Masseto, as Axel Heinz describes it, is “truly a magical place where nature makes the most important decisions”.

News about the 2021 vintage

2021 brought news to the winery with the arrival of Gaia Cinnirella, who beginning with this harvest became the winemaker at Masseto under the supervision of Axel Heinz. Gaia, formerly Assistant Technical Director and Vineyard Manager at Biondi Santi from 2018 to 2021, is enthusiastic about contributing to the oenological development and stability of a winery like Masseto: “After work placements at leading wineries like Allegrini and Tenuta San Guido, I was able to hone my passion first at Istine and then at Biondi Santi. Now I’m proud to be part of this incredible team and I’m excited to contribute towards making uniquely characterful wines. It’s a dream for those, like me, who love their work and see every experience as an opportunity to grow. The extremely stimulating and ever evolving environment will be a challenge for me, while always looking to the future in the way that a wine like Masseto requires.”

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