La Massa 2020

50% Sangiovese, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, about 20% Merlot and a little Alicante and Petit Verdot. Mid to deep crimson. Very sweet and ripe and then lots of acidity and tanginess. Just a tad overripe but big and bold. (JR)

The Tenuta La Massa 2020 La Massa, with 100,000 bottles produced, offers great value across the board. This is a generous and deeply layered blend of 50% Sangiovese, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon and 20% Merlot, Alicante and Petit Verdot. The wine sees 12 months of barrique aging with 20% new oak. Vintner Giampaolo Motta breaks the rules by making Bordeaux-inspired wines in one of the most fervently Sangiovese-leaning spots in Tuscany. But he adds a little charm and magic to this wine nonetheless.

This red opens with bright black cherry and raspberry fruit, then picks up notes of tobacco, eucalyptus, iron and leafiness. Dense tannins emerge as it winds down on the lengthy finish. Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Alicante Bouschet and Petit Verdot. Best from 2025 through 2040. 8,500 cases made, 250 cases imported.

La Massa's estate blend began life as the second wine of Giorgio Primo, and was labelled as a Chianti Classico for the first 10 years before becoming Toscana IGT, allowing for greater flexibility to suit Giampaolo Motta's Francophile leanings. Despite his love of French wines – he opened a bottle of 2000 La Conseillante from Pomerol and a selection of grower Champagnes over dinner, rather than his own wines – Giampaolo is also proud of his Sangiovese. For La Massa, which is composed of 50% of this native Italian grape, he says it ‘has to bring the message of Sangiovese with all the pleasure of Cabernet and Merlot.’ The 2020 also includes small amounts of Petit Verdot and Alicante Bouschet. Tasted the day of bottling, literally spending a couple of hours in the bottle before being poured back out, this is just an initial impression of a wine that will no doubt improve given more time. Blue and black fruits are cradled by fine, chocolatey tannins with a hint of bitterness – possibly from bottle shock. Juicy and dense, it has violet overtones and good acidity which carry through to a long finish of blackberry fruit and moreish salinity. Good concentration while retaining a sense of elegance.

Ripe berries, citrus, preserved plums and some savory baking spices extend to a medium-bodied palate with fine, juicy tannins and a tight, focused finish. Drink now.

The 2020 La Massa is quite the powerhouse. A rush of black cherry, plum, licorice, incense, chocolate and dried herbs stains the palate. This flamboyant, dense wine is packed to the core. Give it a few years to soften.

Inky dark purple core with a lighter rim. Mild oak and butterscotch with dark berries, cassis, cherry, aromatic herbs, sage and mint with tobacco leaf. The palate is dense yet fresh with savoury dark fruit flavours – crushed cherry, cassis and plum – with mild oak and butterscotch in the background; finely grained tannins with a long, supple finish.

Leaping out of the glass, the 2020 La Massa is lush with aromas of blueberry, black cherries, sweet tobacco, graphite, and candied violets. Offering a very nicely structured palate, it opens to ripe tannins and well-balanced juiciness and retains good freshness throughout. Clean and well-styled, this is going to do well to cellar another year and drink 2025-2037.

At Tenuta La Massa, there’s a real eye for detail, and you can feel it even in sunny vintages. The bouquet opens with notes of cherries, cherry pits, and a hint of blackcurrant. Good density on the palate, where harmony is achieved through a perfect balance between the tannins and the acid structure. A wine that still needs to blossom, but the groundwork has been laid—very solidly!