2022 Tenuta Sette Ponte Oreno Toscana IGT

There’s a purity and beauty to this that impresses you the minute you put your nose in the glass. So aromatic. Flowers, graphite, blackcurrants and hints of gunmetal. Medium- to full-bodied with tannins that coat your mouth but give a feeling of fine cashmere. The length and intensity is calm but rather endless. 45% merlot, 40% cabernet sauvignon,10% cabernet franc and 5% petit verdot. From organically grown grapes. Best after 2028.

Sette Ponte has modified the viticulture, winemaking, and the composition of Oreno, their Bordeaux blend. The result—a magnificent wine. Amedeo Moretti Cuseri, Sette Ponte’s CEO, explains, “We want the wine to have more finesse.” Having tasted a twenty-year vertical of Oreno last year, I can affirm that they have succeeded admirably with the 2022. They are harvesting earlier to capture acidity, reducing the oak aging, and substituting some Cabernet Franc from the Merlot and Petit Verdot. The resulting lower volume allows us to hear the notes very clearly—and what wonderful notes. A panoply of flavors supported by suave tannins caress the palate. It is an iron fist in a velvet glove. Surprisingly lovely now because of its silky texture and impeccable balance, it will develop superbly over the next two decades.