2016 La Ricolma

So many of Tuscany’s most famous wines achieved their vaunted status by accident. That is the case with San Guido’s Sassicaia, which for several decades was made solely for the Incisa della Rocchetta family’s home consumption. In 1978, Piero Antinori had more Cabernet Sauvignon than he needed for his Tignanello, so he bottled it separately. That wine became Solaia. Masseto was an experimental wine when it was first produced in 1986 as Il Merlot dell’Ornellaia. What about San Giusto a Rentennano’s Merlot La Ricolma? Well, it turns out La Ricolma has a pretty interesting story too. This complete vertical of La Ricolma was the first ever complete retrospective ever held at the estate.

The Martini di Cigala family follows their brilliant 2015s with an even more thrilling set of 2016s. Over the last few years in particular, Luca Martini di Cigala and the family have taken their wines into the stratosphere and firmly placed them among the world's most pedigreed wines. With regards to 2017, Luca Martini di Cigalactold me frost was not a big factor at San Giusto, but that instead the major event was a blast of heat in August that scorched the fruiit and reduced yields by 20%. Unlike other warm years, the 2017s here retain a good bit of freshness that is likely the result of heavy rains in early September that were basically the first rains of the entire growing season. The flagship Percarlo is absolutely stunning, but it is also slightly edged by the 100% Merlot Ricolma, which is majestic in 2016. I tasted it three times, once with the other 2016s, a second time in a complete vertical for a forthcoming article, and third time next to a number of other top 2016s. In my opinion, the 2015 and 2016 La Ricolma are the greatest back-to-back wines ever made by an estate in Tuscany.