In the vineyard
The marine influence is key to the success of the Masseto site, with cool sea breezes and a magnified intensity of light, especially towards the end of day.
The vineyard’s blue clay soils – having similar properties to the (different) blue clay of Pomerol – provide the perfect balance of heat intensity by day and cooling influences at night to produce a wine with both power and elegance.
The clay soils have good water-holding capacity, reducing vigour in wetter conditions, and providing a slow supply of water in drier weather. They also have a high salt content which restricts vigour. The fluctuation between hot days and cool nights preserves acidity, while giving the wines great concentration and ripeness.
The seven-hectare vineyard is made up of three parcels: Masseto Centrale (the original site located on blue clay) provides power, density and concentration of tannins; Masseto Alto produces more structure, rigidity and linearity; while the most recently planted site lower down the slope has a simpler, lighter profile that can soften the potentially angular wines from the main site. The three parcels complement each other to produce wines of balance and consistency. Since 2012, the vineyards have been farmed organically.
In the winery
Originally the wines were made at Ornellaia, where André Tschelistcheff was the winemaking consultant, then Michel Rolland.
From 2005, Axel Heinz has been at the helm of both Ornellaia and Masseto. The 2018 vintage is significant for the estate, with Masseto’s dedicated gravity-fed winery – named “The Quarry” – completed just in time for harvest, while Cellar Master Eleonora Marconi has taken over the winemaking, although Axel Heinz (now Estate Director) remains heavily involved.
Since Axel Heinz took over winemaking, plots of vinified separately – with some barrel-fermented to provide softer tannins and extraction – and matured separately for 12 months in new oak. The wine is then blended and spends an additional two years in 100% new French barrels. In 2017, the estate introduced a second wine Massetino, using parcels that don’t make it into the flagship wine.