Mazzei Siepi Toscana 2018

Mazzei "Siepi", Castello di Fonterutoli. Toscana IGT, Tuscany, Italy, 2018

Grapes: A blend of 50% Sangiovese & 50% Merlot, Alberese soil, 21-34 year old vines, hand harvested, 18 months in French oak (70% new) Merlot in barriques & Sangiovese in large tonneaux 

Producer Tasting Note:

Monumentally built, crispy notes of elder, plum, berries, sandalwood, tobacco, with a very long, bright finish. Ageing potential: 20+ years.

Siepi, owned since 1435, by the Marchesi Mazzei family of Castello di Fonterutoli, located in the Tuscan village of Castellina in Chianti (near Siena) at the heart of the Chianti Classico appellation, used to be an olive grove until it was destroyed by frost in 1985. Replanted to vines, and first produced in 1992, it has since become the flagship "Super Tuscan" wine of the company.

Critics' Tasting Notes:

"One of the 50 wines that changed Italy wine style" (Gambero Rosso)

"Iconic and showing a floral beauty which alternates lavender with scents of hibiscus, wet geraniums, hot asphalt and juniper berries. A frame of citrusy nuances are described with pink grapefruit juice, pink pepper, cinnamon powder and sweet caramel. Full bodied, well blended slightly rigid tannins, a matrix rich in material and a vertical finale on the centre palate and onwards. A blend of 50% Sangiovese and 50% Merlot. Better from 2023."

97/100 points, Raffaele Vecchione - WinesCritic.com, March 2021

"The Mazzei 2018 Siepi is extremely linear and focused, with a pretty mineral signature that makes a nice segue to red and purple fruit, spice and blue flower. Francesco and Filippo Mazzei tell me that they consider this one of their most "gastronomic" or food-friendly vintages of Siepi, a celebrated blend of equal parts Merlot and Sangiovese. These two grapes complement each other beautifully, with the French grape adding dimension and depth and the Italian grape showing a lifted or buoyant quality to the bouquet. This was a healthy production of an ample 38,000 bottles released. It could pair with a classic Tuscan dish of pappardelle in a slowly simmered wild boar sauce."

95/100 points, Monica Larner, WINE ADVOCATE, April 2022

Also awarded 97/100 points by both James Suckling and Vinous.

Food Match: Flavourful, textured dishes, dark sauces, game, blue cheeses