In my opinion, the 2006 Masseto is the greatest ever made, and this tasting confirmed the wine's justly deserved reputation as an icon. With absolutely nothing out of place, the 2006 came across as rich, dense and totally beautiful, The 2006 is essentially a combination of 2007 and 2008, with a little more elegance added in for good measure. What a wine!

This has a special savory character that is fascinating. It shows beautiful aromas of dried fruits, black olives, and brown sugar. Full-bodied with a phenomenal amount of fruit and freshness at the same time. Salty, juicy and fruity. Hard not to drink now. Decant two or three hours before serving. Great potential for aging.

An intoxicating aroma of helichrysum, of which Bolgheri is full, loaded with myrtle, prunes, and intense balsamic notes followed by a crunchy, fruit-driven structure, extremely powerful yet precise. The officinal herbs provide a bracing finish that perfectly balances the remarkable concentration on the mid-palate. According to Axel Heinz, managing director of the estate, the 2006 vintage 'should be judged apart'. He explained how it was 'a non-standard year, more extreme than 2017, with almost no water between April and September and then with 240mm of rainfalls during the harvest. We had the longest fermentations, powerful wines, an excess of everything.' Drinking Window 2021 - 2035
Tasted by Aldo Fiordelli (at Masseto winery, Bolgheri, 18 Dec 2020)
Part of Masseto vertical: 10 vintages back to 1988

A meaty style, this exhibits aromas of iron and cigar box more than fruit. However, this really finds its stride on the palate, offering ripe fruit, hot stone and iron flavors. A more linear red in profile, with ripe cherry, plum and spice notes on the fine aftertaste. Merlot.—Non-blind Masseto vertical (October 2017). Best from 2020 through 2040. 2,660 cases made, 550 cases imported. — BS

An extremely dry year with almost no rain at all - just 4mm from mid-April to mid-September. Temperatures were not excessively high, but this still mean ripening took a long time - even more so because they waited for sudden storms in September to pass before harvesting. This gives a rich opulent character to the wine, set against black pepper and cinammon spices, and a touch of welcome bitterness to the tannins on the finish that tames the creamy, generous fruits. At 15 years old, you can start to really see the classicism and grace of Masseto that is overtaken when young by the flamboyant density of the fruit. Here touches of undergrowth and dried herbs come in, and the gentle acidities give a welcome balance to the spice. 100% new oak.

Winemaker Marco Balsimelli loves this relatively generous vintage. Blackish crimson. Intense nose. Lifted and fresh with really beautiful balance. Good acidity and some real freshness. Round and graceful now. Structured but with perfect fruit, too. Well evolved but with no excess maturity. Lightly pruney end but it’s still a delight. More concentrated than the 1996 … (JR)

The wine that most delighted me at this historic tasting of Tuscany's most iconic wines was the 2006 Masseto. This is a wine of sheer power, bliss, opulence, infinity and sublime seduction. This Merlot-based masterpiece hits all your senses with the grace of a ballerina and the power of a heavyweight. It is steady on its proverbial feet, but it also glides over the palate with a profound sense of elegance, harmony and rhythm. Among the prized vintages of Masseto, including 2001, 2004 and 2007, this edition is my favorite. The wine delivers an extra sense of tightness or firmness at the back that serves to stitch together its fleshy richness and general sumptuousness. The personality is sunny, expansive, articulate and sophisticated. You'll remember that the 2006 vintage is celebrated for the elegance of its wines. In the coastal Bolgheri appellation, it is also remembered for the power of its wines. You get the best of both worlds with this stunning creation: elegance and power. These traits are particularly well suited to the versatile grape variety at the heart of this Tuscan all-rounder. This is a true Renaissance wine.

‘A great wine is not only concentration, it is balance, elegance’, remarks Marco Balsimelli, Masseto's new production director, and Masseto 2006 delivers the trifecta of factors he identifies, demonstrating balletic poise, supreme precision and beautifully rendered weight of fruit. The summer of 2006 was moderate but very dry, however the vines were able to call on bountiful water reserves from a wet winter. Yields were slightly up on the average but the berries were smaller and concentrated. Fragrant scents of pot pourri and sottobosco lead into a succulent and fleshy mouthful of dark cherries and black and blue berries, with delicate floral overtones. Broad and silky, it's brought perfectly into focus by intense but not overpowering acidity and a vein of salinity which runs through the core, providing a long lip-smackingly sapid finish. Impeccably harmonious and long-lived.