2013 Vintage

Timed Online Auction, 6 - 13 March 2023

2013 Vintage theme
About the Session

Just how well do modern-era South African wines perform as they get older ? One of the most important measures of great wine is that it should be age-worthy, that is it should become more pleasurable and more interesting to drink with time in the bottle.
To view the WineMag.co.za 10-Year-Old-Report 2023 please visit. https://winemag.co.za/wine/best/10-year-old


Sold for

ZAR 11 725
Lot 94
  • Masseto; Toscana; 2013; 1 (1 x 1); 750ml


Lot Estimate
ZAR 11 000 - 15 000
Selling Price
Incl. Buyer's Premium & VAT
ZAR 11 725

About this Item

2013 Toscana
1 (1 x 1) 750ml

Masseto is a unique and magical place, surrounded by forests and caressed by sea breezes. It lies on Italy’s Tuscan coast, overlooking the Tyrrhenian Sea near the small village of Bolgheri, on an unlikely slope, planted entirely to Merlot. Blessed with the presence of blue clay, Masseto wines are known for their unmistakable character. According to Masseto, their wines were never meant to exist, as planting vines on that unused hillside was against all advice and local tradition. Fortuitously, the potential of the site was seen in the 1980s and the first vines were planted. The winemaking is kept very simple. Their goal is simply to capture the essence of nature and take it to the highest level. The entire project is all about their amazing, very challenging vineyard and making wine with great simplicity. It is one of the most famous Super Tuscan wines and is made by Tenuta dell'Ornellaia. The wine is known for its aromatic complexity, opulent fruit and tannic structure, and is consistently regarded as one of the top wines in the world with auction prices to match. It is classified as IGT Toscana.

Provenance

The Coats Family Cellar is arguably the most prestigious fine wine collection ever offered in South Africa. It contains a deep collection of the worlds finest, most sought-after wines, spanning over 150 years. Collected over many decades, the cellar was imported from Ireland to South Africa via reefer. Each bottle within the Coats Family Cellar was authenticated by Michael Egan in August 2022 and given an ID number for tracking.

Michael Egan is a world-expert in fine and rare wines with more than thirty five years of experience. He was the principal expert for the plaintiff in the two major wine counterfeiting trials in Koch v. Eric Greenberg and United States v. Rudy Kurniawan, both of which occurred in 2013.

Along with Michael Egan, the Strauss & Co Fine Wine team have tasted extensively through the cellar and are confident of the wine storage and hence quality. The entire collection is currently stored at Wine Cellar.

Critics Ratings

'The 2013 Masseto paints a glorious picture of Tuscany. It captures an inspired moment in time and walks an impressive tightrope between power and elegance. In my preview tasting last year, I noticed the firm textural richness of the 2013 vintage and the crystalline sharpness of its aromas. Thanks to 12 additional months of bottle aging, that impression is evermore constant and concrete. The focus is there, yet the wine has also fleshed out and put on more velvety definition especially in terms of mouthfeel. It wears its pedigree with pride, but most importantly it offers the balance and integration to promise a long and healthy aging future. The 2013 vintage follows closely on the heels of the impeccable 2006 and 2010 vintages in terms of cellaring potential. This is definitely a bottle that should interest collectors.' – Monica Larner, Wine Advocate, 97/100 (Oct 2016).

'Pure, cherry and graphite flavors abound, with a touch of herbs and spice. This is all about finesse, elegance and a linear profile that builds to a fine, expansive finish. Shows superb texture and harmony already. Merlot. Best from 2020 through 2040'. – Bruce Sanderson, Wine Spectator, 97/100 (2018)

'The 2013 Masseto is a wine of real vibrancy, clarity and precision. In some moments, the 2013 shows a bit of voluptuous fruit, but is rich, structured and clearly in need of time. Like all Massetos from cooler years, the 2013 is a long-distance runner. Give it time. A warm, dry summer helped the vineyards catch up after a late and irregular flowering. Cool Nighttime temperatures provided the diurnal shifts at the end of the season that are so critical for the development of aromatics.' – Antonio Galloni, Vinous, 97/100 (Jan 2018)

View all Masseto lots for sale in this auction