Tenuta Sette Cieli 2016s
These wines from Tenuta Sette Cieli still just about fly under the radar, and that’s a good thing for the pricing, but the press is starting to come.
In his article for Decanter, entitled ‘Bolgheri 2016: One of the best vintages ever?’ Aldo Fiordelli writes:
“Sette Cieli is a spectacular estate with some of the highest vineyards in the region and a talented young winemaker, Elena Pozzolini. Officially, it’s not included in the DOC as it’s just outside the appellation, but in terms of style, grape varieties and quality it’s a great expression of this terroir. A blend of Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, Indaco shows great intensity of cedar wood and leafy notes, with bright cassis aroma and flavour. 94 points”
For Scipio 2017, being released next year, Fiordelli has just rated it 2nd, only to Masseto and Sassicaia 2017, that sell for around £600 and £280 a bottle, respectively, is his report of the big name Bolgheri wines.
Walter Speller, the notoriously tough Italian wine taster for Jancis Robinson has also just highly praised these wines. See below.
But for me the bottom line is you are getting delicious top tier, cellar-worthy, Tuscan Cabernet blends for a sensible price.
In this vintage I think that Indaco is the stand out buy. The complexity that reveals itself on decanting or keeping it open for 2 or 3 days is superb, becoming exceptionally delicious.
Scipio is 100% Cabernet Franc and only released in the exceptional vintages, and in considerably smaller quantities. Scipio may become the more collectable, but it also needs a bit more time in bottle.
The 2016s need a bit more time than the 2013, 2014, and 2015. Typical of an excellent vintage, 2016 has conferred to the wines a bit more structure, which will take a bit more time to unfurl. But ultimately the wines be a bit more complex, finer, and long-lived.