The greatest Super-Tuscan of them all

Snap up this bargain red from one of Tuscany's most underrated estates, says Matthew Jukes.

Matthew Jukes
By
published
in Features

2007 Tassinaia, Castello del Terriccio, Tuscany, Italy (£23.95, reduced to £21.95 by the case, Lea & Sandeman, 020-7244 0522, www.leaandsandeman.co.uk).

Castello del Terriccio can be found overlooking the sea in the province of Pisa, 30 kilometres from the city itself, in the very northernmost part of the Tuscan Maremma.

This estate makes two of my favourite wines in Italy, Lupicaia and Tassinaia, under the guidance of master-winemaker Carlo Ferrini. Terriccio is one of three Super-Tuscan' specialists to make my 100 Most Iconic Wine Estates book, along with Sassicaia and Ornellaia.

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While you will undoubtedly have heard of these two rock-star properties, Castello del Terriccio flies stealthily under the radar. This means prices are incredibly competitive, but I can assure you that the wines lack nothing in nobility, extraordinary complexity and impeccable balance of exuberant fruit and intriguing, Tuscan, savoury nuance.

The 2007 is the finest vintage of this merlot, cabernet sauvignon and sangiovese blend I have tasted. It is a touch youthful, as you would expect given its class, but you must strike now because stocks are limited.

This is already a cult wine in my book and wine collectors are slowly waking up to its undeniable breeding. Pound for pound this is the greatest Super-Tuscan of all in my opinion. I gave it a massive 19+/20 in my notes.

Matthew Jukes is a winner of the International Wine & Spirit Competition's Communicator of the Year (www.matthewjukes.com).

Matthew Jukes
Matthew Jukes

Matthew Jukes has worked in the UK wine business for well over three decades and during this time has written 14 wine books.  

Matthew regularly lectures, judges, speaks at wine conferences and runs masterclass tastings for both corporate and private clients all over the world. Matthew is also the creator of his ground-breaking initiative, the One Day Wine School, an indulgent day of tasting and learning first performed in 2006.

He has been the MoneyWeek wine correspondent since 2006 and has written a weekly column for the Daily Mail’s Weekend Magazine since 1999. His four highly-acclaimed, annual wine reports – the Burgundy En Primeur Report, the Bordeaux En Primeur Report, the Piemonte Report and the 100 Best Australian Wines – are published on his website, www.matthewjukes.com.

Matthew is one of the world’s leading experts on Australian wine and, with Brisbane-based wine writer Tyson Stelzer, runs an annual competition in Australia to find ‘The Great Australian Red’.  He was made Honorary Australian of the Year in the UK at the 2012 Australia Day Foundation Gala dinner. 

Matthew is a winner of the International Wine and Spirit Competition's Communicator of the Year Trophy.  His thoughts, recommendations and tastings notes are followed very closely by the wine world at large.

 

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