The 2018 Decanter World wine awards announced this very wine as one of the greatest Italian wines today. With over 16,000 wines entered, less than 0.3% of those wines tasted, won a prestigious Best in show medal. A total of 16,903 wines were tasted with 50 wines awarded best in show. Of the 50 best in show wines, just six came from Italy and Just one of those wines is a Super Tuscan. This is it. Poggio al Tesoro is a 70 hectare property in Bolgheri acquired in 2002 by the Allegrini family. The first vineyard they bought, Le Sondraia, is next door to Ornellaia and was previously rented by them. It is 12 hectares in size and is planted with Merlot, Cabernet Franc and a small amount of Cabernet Sauvignon. Vintage: 2020 Vineyards ‘Seggio’ is the name of the creek that runs through Bolgheri - its course from above is represented on the label. This wine is produced from different plots of vineyards in the Poggio al Tesoro estate. The Cabernet Sauvignon is grown in the Via Bolgherese vineyards, at 53 meters above sea level. Here soils are deep, with coarse-grained red sand, that is gravelly and well-drained with a layer of clay at 120 centimetre below the surface. The other varieties are grown on the Le Sondraia vineyard, at 35 meters above sea level. Its soils are clayey with well-drained sandy silt and high concentrations of magnesium and iron. The average age of the vines is 17 years and they are spurred cordon trained. Vintage Information The harvest conditions in 2019 were characterised by late ripening. A wet but mild winter was followed by a dry and breezy spring. The summer was somewhat unusual, with temperatures that were well below average and very frequent showers, which slowed down the ripening of the grapes significantly. Meticulous work in the vineyard nevertheless succeeded in compensating for these climatic conditions. September and October were particularly sunny and ensured good ripening. The harvest started in the middle of September with the Merlot grapes and was completed in the second week of October with the Cabernet Sauvignon grapes. Vinification The grapes were destemmed and softly pressed. Fermentation took place in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks at 28-30°C for 12 days. Malolactic fermentation was carried out naturally in barriques in November. The wine was then aged for 15 months in 225 litre French oak barriques from Allier (30% new, 70% second use). Tasting Notes This wine has an intense ruby red colour, and there are red berry and cassis aromas with mineral and spicy notes on the nose. The palate is medium bodiedand the tannins are elegant and silky. The wine has a lively finish.