2012 Bolgheri Superiore Guado al Tasso

Antinori has done a terrific job with these wines from their Guado al Tasso estate in Bolgheri. Winemaker Renzo Cotarella describes 2013 as a late-ripening vintage with a growing season that extended a good 20 days longer than normal. Yields are down around 20%, mostly the result of poor weather during flowering. The 2012s are classic Maremma wines with plenty of richness and sweetness from the warm, mostly dry season, but without the heaviness or extreme opulence of 2011. Rain towards the end of the growing season was less problematic in Maremma than it was in other parts of Tuscany and appears to have shaped the wines to a lesser degree than in areas such as Chianti Classico.