Winemaker Notes
Blend: 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Cabernet Franc, 20% Merlot
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
Tenuta I Greppi is undergoing a high-tech revolution under the management of proprietor and geological research expert, Neil McMahon. The 2019 is a blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Cabernet Franc and 20% Merlot aged for 18 months in 80% new French oak. The oaky character is still too assertive to be fully integrated but the wine shines for its intensity of smoky woodland, cedar wood and graphite which do not veil the bright purity of the cassis fruit, enhanced by eucalyptus and coconut. The attack is fresh due to the high definition of the fruit, crisp integrated acidity and creamy, refined and matured tannins. The extraction is polite up to the end, where the oaky flavour is still dominant. One to wait for.
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James Suckling
Aromas of dried cherry, lavender, sage and sweet tobacco. Full-bodied with round, creamy tannins and a juicy finish. Dried lemon rind. Slightly chewy. Lightly salty at the end. Plenty going on here. Give this three or four years. Better after 2027.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2019 Bolgheri Superiore Greppicaia (a blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Cabernet Franc and 20% Merlot) shows beautifully. This is certainly the best vintage made so far. The bouquet is stacked tall with black fruit, cedar, clove, balsam herb and cooling mint. There is some wet stone as well. The impact of the oak (the wine is aged in French barrique, of which 80% of the barrels are new) is quite strong at this young age, but it seems well managed and will surely integrate fully.
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
An outstanding wine region made famous by Marchese Mario Incisa della Rocchetta, who planted Cabernet Sauvignon vines for his own consumption in 1940s on his San Guido estate, and called the resulting wine, Sassicaia. Today the region’s Tuscan reds are based on Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, which can be made as single varietal wines or blends. The local Sangiovese can make up no more than 50% of the blends. Today Sassicaia has its own DOC designation within the Bogheri DOC appellation.