Andrew Cullimore

9.3

Medium red garnet , quite narrow ruby garnet rim . Quite open with tobacco , spice , charcoal , plum, cassis , truffle , cedar . Good cedar , cassis and blackberry , dusty tobacco . Well balanced acidity and quite dusty tannins . Good tobacco , dusty cassis tinged finish . Perfect now and over the next 5-10 years , at least in magnum . At Noble Rot , London , 15th Jan 2026 — 5 months ago

Mark Turner

9.9

This was the mystery bottle in our Super Tuscan tasting event. It was up against the 2016 Masseto, Ornellaia, Sassicaia, Solaia, Tignanello, and Redigaffi. This wine was outstanding. Probably one of the top 5 vintages of Insignia since 1994 in my opinion. Deep purple color, blueberry, blackberry, chocolate, some lead pencil and earth on the nose. Super smooth and elegant on the palate. Really well balanced fruit, tannins, acid. Long elegant finish of dark fruit and earthy with a touch of spice that lingered beautifully. We decanted this and all others about 2.5 hours prior to tasting. Second favorite of the night behind the Masseto which was a force of nature. — 5 years ago

with Jared, Craig and 2 others

Mark Turner

9.7

Part of Super Tuscan Horizontal tasting. All 2016 vintage Masseto, Ornellaia, Sassicaia, Solaia, Tignanello, Redigafi, and a mystery bottle (Phelps Insignia). Blackberry, blueberry, pepper, oak and vanilla, well balanced, good mouth feel, long graceful finish. Hard not to love this vintage of Solaia but it was not a standout among the others. (But some pretty stiff competition) — 5 years ago

David Wanek

9.6

Loved this wine. So much to unpack - firm tannins, plush textures, wide range of scents on the bouquet. Really fun wine and incredibly well made. Like a mix between Masseto and a not too sweet Valpo or Amarone — 6 years ago

Ron Siegel

9.4

This was much more open than the Masseto showing a beautiful nose of fruits & spice. — 7 years ago

John Del Bello

9.8

One of the most stunning & beautiful wines I've ever enjoyed, and I've tasted many of the worlds best wines over last 30 years. A 1966 Leoville Las Cases is a close #2, a 1982 Mouton Rothchild, 1989 Pinchon- Longueville, 1997 Masseto, 1997 Insignia, 1997 Dominus, 2001 Termanthia, 2003 Clos de Papes... — 7 years ago

Omid

9.7

Easily the best Super Tuscan I’ve ever had (Smokes 02 Masseto) — 8 years ago

Roman Boudou

9.9

1st ever Masseto, magnum ‘98 , Urbanus! — 7 months ago

Jeremy Shanker

Sommelier at RN74

9.4

Better than Masseto, and farmed the right way. — 2 years ago

Mark Turner

9.8

Part of Super Tuscan Horizontal tasting. All 2016 vintage Masseto, Ornellaia, Sassicaia, Solaia, Tignanello, Redigafi, and a mystery bottle (Phelps Insignia). Great black fruit and cherry. Coffee, cedar, chocolate, oak. All came together nicely. Super smooth on the palate and a long drawn out finish where the fruit lingered over the top of some earthy graphite notes. Very enjoyable wine. — 5 years ago

with Craig, Jared and 2 others

Lee Lightfoot

9.8

Merlot heavy. Nose like masseto voluptuous cherries and chocolate. Sexy as hell seamless and still needed an hour or two to open. — 6 years ago

Andy Hall

9.4

Wow, what a night!! The Diamond Creek trifecta (Red Rock, Gravelly Meadow and Volcanic Hill) and Masseto. Oh my. They are all great! Masseto has to be one of the strongest Merlot’s made. The Red Rock Diamond Creek is a such a strong expression of terroir with a strong iron minerality. The Gravelly and Volcanic are much softer and approachable. Much like trying to pick between your kids! — 7 years ago

with Jerry

David Wanek

9.4

Bday wines. Fun night. 1995 Rayas right in prime drinking window. Roulot was WOTN for some. My fave was the 2015 Masseto. No apologies for drinking this so young as it’s incredible. Have a few laid down to see how it evolves. — 7 years ago

Nic Z

9.5

Ink purple. Beautiful, extraordinary nose of creme de cassis and graphite. Full bodied, reminded me of a good Masseto. Totally drinkable now — 8 years ago

Nagib Nasr

9.2

Incredible Merlot based super Tuscan. Power house. — a year ago

DomDoc

9.7

Where can I buy all unopened bottles in the world. I thought Masseto was my all time Italian favorite. Sorry Masseto. Read the reviews. Jed’s a millionaire! — 5 years ago

Mark Turner

9.7

Part of Super Tuscan Horizontal tasting. All 2016 vintage Masseto, Ornellaia, Sassicaia, Solaia, Tignanello, Redigafi, and a mystery bottle (Phelps Insignia). Fantastic QPR. I plan on tracking more of this down and adding it to my cellar. Cherry, blackberry, with a little bit of vanilla and chocolate supported by solid but soft tannins. Well balanced. Tobacco and earthy on the finish. A little different flavor profile than some of the others, likely due to the 80% Sangiovese blend. I rated this middle of the pack in the tasting but for the price it is a fantastic bottle of wine. — 5 years ago

Bruce Leboff

9.2

Brilliant. Loved it. masseto- look out. And — 6 years ago

with David

Shay A

9.4

An absolutely stunning lunch from @joe leatherwood today. 1 sparkler, 2 whites, 5 reds and 1 dessert wine. All served blind.

You know you are living right when this wine is probably number five out of five reds on the table. Sounds like a slight, but with two old vintages of Insignia, older Masseto, and older Haut Brion, that’s stiff competition. Compared to those other four reds, there was more sweet fruit here. Dark fruit has softened to more of a black cherry medley, but the red fruit is still nicely tart and youthful. I picked up licorice and juicy blackberries here, both of which took me to South America for my guess. Not much herbal or secondary notes here...impressive fruit at 17yrs. — 7 years ago

with joe, Dan and 1 other

James Forsyth

9.4

I don't care what Sideways said, I love Merlot. Right Bank at heart. And it's done well in Tuscany too (hello, Masseto). Petrolo's top wine Galatrona from 2012 is a ripe Merlot. Mocha, cherries and spice come together deliciously. We enjoyed this wine at a terrific Japanese steakhouse in Williamsburg called Salt + Charcoal. Fatty, salty, juicy red meat with a big Merlot... kampai! indeed. — 8 years ago

with Cara