The Terra di Monteverro 2021 is the second wine of Monteverro — a label that here falls short on every count. With a blend of 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Cabernet Franc, 20% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot, aged for twenty months in French oak casks of which half are new, this vintage delivers a wine of rare harmony and intensity. Both Robert Parker and Falstaff awarded it 94 points, James Suckling 93 — an exceptional achievement for what in other regions would be called the second wine.
In the glass, a deep, dark garnet red with purple and ruby highlights. On the nose, an explosion of wild Mediterranean herbs — rosemary and thyme leading the way — balanced by deeper notes of iodine, blackberry, black currant, roast beef and a subtle sweet liquorice. With time in the glass, tulips and wild berries emerge. On the palate, a dense, velvety entry supported by a structured tannic frame that opens onto a ripe fruit core of cherry and cassis, with fine spice and a refreshing touch of eucalyptus. The finish is long and balanced, with the characteristic minerality of the red clay soils of Capalbio. A wine for herb-crusted rack of lamb, grilled beef tagliata, duck with cherry sauce or long-aged Pecorino di Pienza.
Monteverro is the leading coastal estate of Julia and Georg Weber in Capalbio, in the southern Maremma. Since 2003 they have been building a reference estate for Tuscan coastal wines, with Bordeaux and Rhône varieties on stony red clay soils, just five kilometres from the Tyrrhenian Sea. The modern, entirely gravity-driven cellar and an uncompromising approach from vineyard to bottle have established Monteverro, in less than two decades, as one of the most talked-about new names on the Italian coast. Terra di Monteverro shares the DNA of the flagship Monteverro and is composed of the same grape varieties, drawn from different parcels. For the 2021 vintage, the blend is composed of 40% Cabernet Sauvignon (power and structure), 35% Cabernet Franc (aromatic freshness and floral lift), 20% Merlot (roundness and juiciness) and 5% Petit Verdot (depth of colour and spice). The grapes grow on clay and limestone soils with eroded stones, on vines planted at a density of 7,575 per hectare in north-south orientation. The slightly warmer 2021 growing season delivered rounder, more concentrated fruit, while the sea breeze and cool nights preserved the wine's tension and freshness. Grapes are harvested entirely by hand, with picking dates precisely adapted to each section of each parcel. In the cellar, each lot is vinified separately, in stainless steel and in barrel, with spontaneous fermentations and manual punch-downs. All movement is gravity-driven. The wine then ages for twenty months in French oak casks, of which 50% are new. The wine is unfined and only lightly filtered before bottling. The result is a Terra di Monteverro that surpasses even the excellent previous vintages — a wine that combines the elegance of the Bordeaux varieties with the Mediterranean warmth of the Maremma, and one that has been received with exceptional scores by the international wine press. Ready to drink today, with ample potential to develop well into the next decade.
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