1988 Masseto

This wine was tasted as part of a complete retrospective I co-hosted with Masseto winemaker Axel Heinz, singer/songwriter Martina McBride and her husband, producer John McBride that was auctioned off at the Nashville Wine Auction to fund cancer research and treatment.

First made in 1986 as Il Merlot dell’Ornellaia, Masseto has gone on to become one of the most highly sought-after wines in the world. Masseto emerges principally from three Merlot vineyards: ‘Masseto Alto, Masseto Centrale and Masseto Junior.’ The wine sees 3-4 weeks on the skins, followed by malolactic fermentation in barrel. The lots are aged separately for 12 months in 100% new oak, blended and then the wine is aged for another 12 months in wood. Earlier vintages saw shorter macerations and less time in oak, broadly speaking. Production is around 32,000 bottles. Readers who want to learn more about the history of Masseto might enjoy this article from some years back.

Over the years Tenuta dell'Ornellaia's Masseto has earned a well-deserved reputation as one of the world's great wines. As it turns out, Masseto's existence is quite accidental. When Lodovico Antinori and Tibor Gal first developed Tenuta dell'Ornellaia in the early 1980s, their goal was to create an estate wine that could stand on its own terms next to Sassicaia, Bolgheri's established superstar. Sassicaia is 100% Cabernet, so Antinori and Gal decided that Ornellaia would have a significant percentage of Merlot, which would help differentiate their wine. Out of curiosity and armed with a hunch they had a superior site, in 1986 Antinori and Gal bottled their first pure Merlot, Il Merlot dell'Ornellaia, as an experiment. Though not commercially released, the wine was a huge success and paved the way for the 100% Merlot Masseto, which was first released with the following vintage. One of the little-known consequences (and ironies) of the success of Masseto is that Ornellaia remained a much more heavily Cabernet Sauvignon-based wine than originally conceived. Masseto is made from as many as three vineyards, although in challenging years not all of the parcels make it into the final blend. Masseto Centrale is the original Merlot vineyard on the estate. It was planted in 1984. Masseto Centrale is further divided into two sub-parcels, Sinistro (left) and Destro (right) which are often picked and vinified separately. Masseto Alto lies just up the hill from Masseto Centrale. The ocean views from this higher-altitude site are quite striking and serve as a poignant reminder as to the origins of the Tuscan Maremma. Masseto Junior is the youngest Merlot vineyard and was planted in 1999. The harvest generally takes place from early to mid-September. Each of the parcels is harvested, vinified and aged separately. Fermentation and maceration has been around 25-30 days in recent years. Masseto is aged for 24 months in new French oak barrels. Typically the blend of sub-parcels takes place after the first twelve months of aging. The final, blended wine is returned to barrel for a subsequent twelve months before it is prepared for bottling. During the 1980s the estate experimented with shorter aging regimes, notable with the 1989 and 1990, which spent 11 and 14 months respectively in oak. Beginning with the 1991, all vintages have spent two years in barrel.