Masseto – Tuscan Merlot de luxe

At the end of last year, the team from Ornellaia, the luxurious Supertuscan estate in Bolgheri, came to London to present a tasting devoted to Masseto, the luscious all-Merlot wine grown on the same estate that sells for hundreds of pounds a bottle. For the first time outside the estate, winemaker Axel Heinz and commercial director Alex Belson presented the components that go into this celebrated wine as well as five vintages back to 1997.

Plans are afoot to separate Masseto from its progenitor. Already the two wines have quite separate websites and the plan is for Masseto to have...