The 2017 Mazzei Castello di Fonterutoli 'Siepi' Toscana IGT is a highly acclaimed Super Tuscan blend consisting of 50% Sangiovese and 50% Merlot. Born from a hot, dry growing season, this vintage yielded an extra ripe, powerful, and monumentally built expression that celebrates the wine's 25th anniversary.
Profile Overview
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Color: Deep ruby-red with purple and garnet highlights.
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Aroma Profile: Intense bouquet of ripe blackberry, dark cherry, elderberry, plum, and sloe. It features layers of dark chocolate, tobacco leaf, espresso, sandalwood, mint, and wild aromatic herbs like sage. Some critics note heavier, warm undertones of hot tar and tarmac due to the hot vintage.
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Palate & Texture: Fleshy, concentrated, and full-bodied. It features a lush, velvety texture balanced by a distinct beam of acidity from the Sangiovese.
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Tannins: Fine-meshed, polished, yet grippy and tightly coiled, giving the wine exceptional structure.
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Finish: Extremely long, persistent, and savory, echoing dark berries, cocoa, and toasted hazelnut.
Critical Acclaim & Scores
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James Suckling (95-98 Points): Desired it as dense and rich with seamless tannins, full of flesh yet remarkably fresh at the same time.
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Vinous / Antonio Galloni (96 Points): Called it a "total knock-out," praising how the succulent dark cherry, spice, chocolate, and leather build volume effortlessly in the glass.
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Wine Spectator (92 Points): Highlighted its rich, fleshy upfront fruit flavors of black cherry and plum that transition into a firmer, drier finish.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate (91 Points): Noted it is "big-boned and chunky" with a pretty mineral note derived from its integration time in cement vats.
Drinking Window
While some critics previously suggested drinking through 2024 because the hot vintage matured quickly, current tasting evolution reveals a precise tension that is continuing to unfold. Community consensus and extended aging evaluations show it enters an optimal, mature drinking phase from 2025/2027 through 2041.
