The 2014 Masseto continues to develop into a very pretty wine. Silky, medium in body and gracious, the 2014 is all about understatement. Each time I taste it, I uncover a new layer of dimension and nuance I did not see before. I expect the 2014 will develop along the lines of the 2005 and 2002, both wines from very cool, late-ripening years. This is the best showing yet for the 2014. This very challenging cool, rainy growing season is also the longest harvest at Masseto. Picking started on September 5 and wrapped up more than a month later, on October 7.

Cocoa bean, cocoa powder, blueberry and red cherry fruits, set against gentle grilled aromatics of cold ash and gunsmoke. This grips on tightly through the palate and has a sappy character to the tannins. The 2014 vintage saw a cool and rainy August then a long, slow harvest through to October 9 under largely sunny skies that allowed for full ripening, and this is a lovely, sculpted Masseto packed with Mediterranean spice, sage and olive pit. 100% new oak.

The 2014 Masseto has developed beautifully over the past few years of its oak and bottle evolution. This is a very distinctive edition of the iconic Italian Merlot that delivers a silky and streamlined approach. As bold and opulent as Masseto is in the warm vintages, I personally find those wines difficult to finish because the extract, concentration and intensity are so over the top. The best vintages of Masseto usually overpower any food dish you put before them. This is a subdued and downplayed expression instead. The cool summer season has shaped fresh berry notes of wild blackberry and cassis with drying mineral, tobacco, licorice and tar. There is evident sweetness here in terms of the wine's fruit flavors and its tannins, but there also is a cooling vein of acidity that makes the difference. The alcohol feels integrated and light. If you are hankering for a less massive and less muscular Masseto, this vintage is for you.

From a much-derided vintage, the nose actually has a green-flecked lightness of touch that has innate appeal of its own. Certainly less fruit-centric than its successors in 2015 and 2016 but there is a very good place for this lighter style. The palate is more developed and more drinkable as a result, too, and while the flavour resolution might be missing a few pixels here and there, this is still a great wine by any standards, with excellent balance and great enjoyability for now and the next five years. (RH)