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Masseto, Bolgheri
On Italy’s Tuscan coast, overlooking the Tyrrhenian Sea, where the ancient Greeks believed the four divine winds of the god Aeolus met, Masseto sits in a protective sweep of the Bolgheri hills. Around the vineyard grows a wild profusion of Mediterranean maritime umbrella pines, groves of gnarled olive trees and ‘macchia’, that typically Tuscan blend of shrubs and bushes. Unseen, beneath the vines, is an extraordinary seam of ancient seabed, transformed over millions of years into a rich blue clay, filled with fossils of the sea life that once abounded there.
The wine made here is rarely seen, but each vintage is eagerly awaited, even as it is still evolving in French oak barrels, kept in an underground cellar buried deep in the same clay.
To open a bottle, is to unleash a liquid kaleidoscope. An elixir of wind-concentrated grapes, a rare combination of sumptuous opulence and polished elegance. Crimson-red with glints of light, like sun on broken seas. Complex tannins, silky from the summer’s heat, and subtle oak.
It is a wine that was not meant to exist, but the potential of the unused slope was finally seen in the 1980’s, when, against all the odds, good advice and local tradition, the first Masseto vines were planted there. Intuition paid off. Three years later, the wine broke free, shaking off long-established beliefs, driven not by lineage, history or reputation, but by its own untamed quality and softness and rich, raw power.
As a tribute to its rugged force, its softness, and the debt it owes to the soil from which it rises, Masseto was named after the rock-hard clusters of blue clay called ‘massi’ that form on the vineyard’s surface after the summer ploughing, and then seem to melt, like snow, in the winter rain.
Sprung from confidence, faith and the belief that great wine can alter the course of peoples’ lives and shape their dreams, Masseto will draw you into an embrace and hold you tight to its beating vibrancy. It is beautiful, profound, elegant and uncommon. Its unmistakable personality, its sensual power, will haunt you, puzzle you and defy categorization.
This offer starts with the first released vintage, 1987. It is rarely seen nowadays, especially in such great condition as these bottles. 1989 and 1992 and then each vintage up to 2005 is represented in this amazing range of wines. Extremely limited numbers of large format Masseto are made, we are therefore proud to offer here double-magnums and imperials from various vintages. A unique chance to acquire this Tuscan legend with impeccable provenance.
Masseto 1987
Tuscany
In original wooden case. Good appearance. Levels: into-neck
6 bottles per lot
On Italy’s Tuscan coast, overlooking the Tyrrhenian Sea, where the ancient Greeks believed the four divine winds of the god Aeolus met, Masseto sits in a protective sweep of the Bolgheri hills. Around the vineyard grows a wild profusion of Mediterranean maritime umbrella pines, groves of gnarled olive trees and ‘macchia’, that typically Tuscan blend of shrubs and bushes. Unseen, beneath the vines, is an extraordinary seam of ancient seabed, transformed over millions of years into a rich blue clay, filled with fossils of the sea life that once abounded there.
The wine made here is rarely seen, but each vintage is eagerly awaited, even as it is still evolving in French oak barrels, kept in an underground cellar buried deep in the same clay.
To open a bottle, is to unleash a liquid kaleidoscope. An elixir of wind-concentrated grapes, a rare combination of sumptuous opulence and polished elegance. Crimson-red with glints of light, like sun on broken seas. Complex tannins, silky from the summer’s heat, and subtle oak.
It is a wine that was not meant to exist, but the potential of the unused slope was finally seen in the 1980’s, when, against all the odds, good advice and local tradition, the first Masseto vines were planted there. Intuition paid off. Three years later, the wine broke free, shaking off long-established beliefs, driven not by lineage, history or reputation, but by its own untamed quality and softness and rich, raw power.
As a tribute to its rugged force, its softness, and the debt it owes to the soil from which it rises, Masseto was named after the rock-hard clusters of blue clay called ‘massi’ that form on the vineyard’s surface after the summer ploughing, and then seem to melt, like snow, in the winter rain.
Sprung from confidence, faith and the belief that great wine can alter the course of peoples’ lives and shape their dreams, Masseto will draw you into an embrace and hold you tight to its beating vibrancy. It is beautiful, profound, elegant and uncommon. Its unmistakable personality, its sensual power, will haunt you, puzzle you and defy categorization.
This offer starts with the first released vintage, 1987. It is rarely seen nowadays, especially in such great condition as these bottles. 1989 and 1992 and then each vintage up to 2005 is represented in this amazing range of wines. Extremely limited numbers of large format Masseto are made, we are therefore proud to offer here double-magnums and imperials from various vintages. A unique chance to acquire this Tuscan legend with impeccable provenance.
Masseto 1987
Tuscany
In original wooden case. Good appearance. Levels: into-neck
6 bottles per lot
Special notice
On lots marked with an + in the catalogue, VAT will be charged at 7.7% on both the premium as well as the hammer price.
Brought to you by
Edwin Vos