“Lovely aromas of sweet fruit, flowers such as violets and black olives. Sandalwood undertones. Full body and extremely fine tannins. Persistent and sexy. Shows such intensity and finesse. Drink in 2019.”

“On the ripe and sweet side, the 2015 Val d’Arno di Sopra Torrione is a terrific, easy drinking red wine made near Arezzo in Tuscany. The bouquet is soft and sunny with red fruit aromas, cherry  and crème de cassis. The wine offers a mid-weight finish with bright acidity that is characteristic of Sangiovese. This wine is, in fact, mostly Sangiovese with smaller parts Cabernet Sauvignon and merlot. This vintage tastes more immediate and accessible.”

“Terrific aromas of violets, roses and raspberries with hints of strawberries and brown sugar. Full body. Phenomenal layers of focused fruit and polished velvety tannins. This is the Galatrona that everyone has been waiting for. It’s the vintage that shows depth and power yet wonderful finesse and focus. Best ever. Drink from 2023 but already electrifying.”

“Galatrona is one of the best Merlots made in Italy (definitely in the top five) and this vintage keeps the banner flying high. The 2015 Galatrona is luscious, soft, soothing and ever-so intense. The wine wraps thickly over the senses and the palate with lasting flavors of dark fruit and spice. Specifically, you get black cherry, pressed blackberry, toasted spice and bitter chocolate or fragrant espresso. The wine shows depth and length, width and soaring heights. It’s young now, so put the bottle at the back of your cellar.”

“A dense and beautiful young sangiovese with dried cherry, orange rind and flowers. Full body, tight and silky with a long and seamless finish. Tannic and structured. A fantastic sangiovese. Aged in cask. No new wood. Give it two to three years to soften.”

“The 2015 Val d’Arno di Sopra Bòggina C sees fruit sourced from a single vineyard site with 65-year-old Sangiovese vines. The wine offers a light and streamlined expression of the grape that  underlines its natural fruit qualities and acidic freshness. The wine is lean and stripped down with wild berry, raspberry, white almond and grilled herb. The mouthfeel is prime, pristine and absolutely silky.”

“Very perfumed aromas of plum, dried berry, cedar, and flower. Full body, with velvety tannins and a juicy finish. Love the texture and richness to this wine. Fascinating smoky undertone. Amphora gives it a life and energy of its own. No wood. Drink or hold.”

“This is lean and taut, with cherry, leather, tobacco, earth and iron flavors. Leans to the dry side in the end, but has depth and character. Turns more elegant and complex with air. Sangiovese, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon.”

“The 2015 Torrione is gorgeous. Bright fruit and expressive floral notes give the Torrione striking energy. Hints of smoke, tobacco and game add further shades of complexity as the wine gains volume and nuance with air. Above all else, though, what stands out is an emphasis on energy that is quite a departure from the Petrolo style of years past. The 2015 is a winner.”

Wine Spectator features Ornellaia, Masseto, Petrolo and Le Macchiole in senior editor Bruce Sanderson’s latest Tuscan vintage report. The blistering heat, severe storms, frost and drought of the 2017 vintage in Tuscany were clearly harsh conditions; director of Ornellaia and Masseto, Axel Heniz, described it as “a winemakers vintage, if you got it wrong, it’s going to show.”

Heniz details that, “It was necessary to achieve ripe tannins, which meant not picking too early. Many had finished the harvest in Bolgheri by mid-September, but the second half of the month was cooler.” Heinz and his team finished picking at the end of September. “It was a vintage you had to read properly,” he adds. “You couldn’t make any mistakes, because it was not a forgiving vintage.”

For the white wines, Sanderson gives high claim to Petrolo’s Toscana White Bòggina B 2017, which “ups the ante, offering opulent peach, melon, lemon and wild herb flavors wrapped in a cloak of vanilla-accented oak.” Similarly Ornellaia’s rare Toscana White 2017 “is the most expensive white in this report, but also one of the best, with complex peach, passion fruit and elderflower aromas and flavors ending in a saline note.”

To learn more about the 2017 vintage and these estates, read the full article HERE.