Masseto is red wine made by Marchesi Frescobaldi from Merlot grown in Castagneto Carducci in Livorno province on the Tuscan coast. The wine is made at Frescobaldi’s Ornellaia estate. The first vineyards, Merlot were planted in the 1980s.

The name: Masseto means ‘field of stones’ in Italian.

Vineyards: The wine is said to come from an area with a unique terroir compared to its surroundings. It was formerly a swamp containing stones, sand and clay, subject to the action of a salt sea. Disintegration of the nearby mountains pushed the area down, before it was raised up again via tectonic forces. The unique feature is that here Pliocene clays re-appeared. Clay soils are ideal for Merlot (eg Pomerol). The first vineyards were planted in the early 1980s. The vineyard is subject to direct coastal influences. The first vintage bottled as Masseto was 1987. From 2019 Masseto has had its own underground cellar, designed by Hikaru Mori and Maurizio Zito.

Masseto vintages 1980s: Source. 1986: Masseto before the existence of Masseto. The first official release of Masseto was in 1987, but an experimental bottling of a Merlot was carried out in 1986; the wine was made from the first fruits of the new Merlot vineyard planted in the clay soil of the Masseto hill. This wine was the first “prototype” of Masseto. | 1987 This was the first vintage to bear the now iconic Masseto front label. The harvest of the Merlot was carried out on the 13th September 1987. | 1988 The Merlot was picked 14th September 1988. | 1989 The harvest of the Merlot was carried out on 28th September 1989.

Masseto vintages 1990s: Source. 1990 The harvest was carried out on 5th September. | 1991: Picked 11th and 17th of September (somewhat later than for previous harvests). | 1992: The harvest took place on the 5th and 12th of September. |1993 TPicked 5th and 22nd of September. |1994 The harvest took place on the 4th and 15th of September 1994. 1994 is said to be the first vintage to delineate clearly Masseto’s personality: a rich, opulent wine. |1995: Flowering initiated on 24-25 May for the Merlot. | 1996: The harvest was carried out between 8-12 September. | 1997 Picked under ideal conditions, starting on 25 August and finishing at the end of the first week of September. | 1998 Picked under fine conditions from 3rd and 9th September 1998. | 1999: Picked during the second week of September and lasted 7 days under ideal weather conditions.

Masseto vintages 2000s: Source. 2000 Picked from the last days of August and continued until mid-September. | 2001 Harvest started at the beginning of September and was completed about four weeks later. | 2002: The harvest started on the 4th September in the upper part of the Masseto vineyard and was completed on the 25th of September with the central part. | 2003 Due to the hot conditions, the upper part of the Masseto vineyard (‘Masseto Alto’) was in fact picked on 25th August, while the clayey soils situated in the heart of the vineyard, (‘Masseto Centrale’), were able to remain relatively cool and this contributed to optimal ripeness, which was reached on 18th September. | 2004 The central and lower parts were harvested between the 17th and the 21st September. | 2005 To allow the grapes to ripen fully and develop optimal concentration the harvest was late, beginning with the lower part of the Masseto vineyard on 14th September and finishing up the central part on 30th September. | 2006 During the harvest, the pickers worked their way through the vineyard four times, beginning on 6th September with the ‘Masseto Alto’ section of the vineyard, and 23rd September with the ‘Masseto Centrale’ section. | 2008 ‘Mostly harvested in the first half of September. Harvest started on 4th September with the youngest vines of ‘Masseto Junior’ and was completed with the last section of ‘Masseto Centrale’ on 18th September yielding a total of six different lots,’ (Source: Masseto Vintage report). | 2009 Harvest started on 2nd September (very early) and was completed on 10th September yielding a total of five different lots,’ (Source: Masseto Vintage report).

Masseto vintages 2010s: Source. 2010 ‘Harvest started on 14th September and was concluded on 4th October yielding a total of five different lots,’ (Source: Masseto Vintage report). | 2011 ‘Harvest began on 25th August and finished on 1st September in the earliest harvest to date in the history of Masseto,’ (Source: Masseto Vintage report). | 2012 The harvest began on 29th August with the youngest vines and finished on the 16th September with the last portions of ‘Masseto Centrale’. | 2013 A later than average harvest started on 12th September with vineyard parcel “Masseto Alto” and concluded on 25th September with the last block of “Masseto Centrale”. | 2014 2014 To date is the latest and longest harvest in the history of Masseto. Starting on 5th September and ending on 7th October. | 2015 The harvest began on 29th August with the youngest vines and finished on the 16th September with the last portions of ‘Masseto Centrale’. | 2016 Harvest started early on the 24th August with the younger vines. The older vines of ‘Masseto centrale’ took great advantage from this situation and continued their ripening until the third week of September. The last plots were picked on the 20th September.

Winery: New one from 2019. Underground. Designed by ZitoMori studio

Contact

Website: www.masseto.com