Super Tuscan is an ambiguous term, but if you had to put your money on it, you’re most likely drinking a Bordeaux blend from Tuscany (and there are hundreds of exceptions). Some drinkers are "Anti-Super Tuscan," claiming the wines to be over-the-top and uninteresting, but when you get a good one, it’s like Bordeaux and the Mediterranean collide, and the grapes become secondary.    

After a riff with their past importer, the wines of Castello de Terriccio were absent from the American market for several years. Now, under the thoughtful new leadership of Vittorio Piozzo di Rosignano, the wines are beckoning a comeback. Spreading over 1,000 hectares, including its own village, castle and church, Terriccio is one of Italy’s largest privately owned wine estates located just north of Bolgheri. Influenced by the daily breezes of the Tyrrhenian Sea, it's a spectacular paradise of wildlife, many soil types, aspects, and micro-climates. 

Tassinaia is the entry-level Super Tuscan of the estate and is a textbook blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Since its first vintage in 1992, the style has evolved into a more elegant one, relying on older vines, slower fermentations, and second and third-use French 500L barrels, instead of new barrique. The palate is generous with red and black berries, a mix of tart ones and ripe ones. Then the “Macchia” of the Mediterranean turns-on with forest greens, purple spice, sunbaked earth, and an irresistible olive-like salinity on the finish. More medium body than full, Tassinaia is a great introduction to the rise and return of Castello del Terriccio and proves that not all Super Tuscans are so big and uninteresting. ~Allegra A