2014 Fattoria la Massa Toscana IGT 750 ml

Back in 2017, when we first offered 100-point winemaker Stephane Deronencourt’s 2014 Fattoria La Massa on Wine Access, it quickly became a member favorite, earning the kind of adoration usually reserved for heavy-hitting Super Tuscans in the $50+ range. 

Many of you keyed in on the unusual degree of depth, complexity, and persistence displayed by the 2014, which was echoed by critics like James Suckling, who called it “silky and savory,” as well as Wine Advocate, which praised its “attractive elegance,” and “freshly delineated,” bouquet. 

The 2014 sold out quickly and almost immediately afterward Kate C. and our member-services team were bombarded with emails from members hoping for more— and we finally made it happen! If you thought it was good then, you won’t believe it now. 

After six years resting in La Massa’s cool Tuscan cellars, the 2014 La Massa has risen to its full potential, unveiling notes of saddle leather, potpourri, red tobacco, and dusty earth to compliment dark black cherry, smoked red plum, and dried rose petal. While the 2014 has softened, it still exudes vivid freshness and cut with fine grippy tannins that become more supple, sip after sip.

That the $20 La Massa can evolve in bottle like a wine twice the price is one reason Giampaolo Motta’s eponymous estate has become one of Wine Advocate’s “favorite estates” in the region. The other is unquestionably due to Motta’s hiring of Bordeaux’s legendary 100-point magnate Stéphane Derenoncourt—whom Wine Spectator has hailed the “world’s hottest winemaker.” Together, Motta and Derenoncourt continue to outdo themselves with every vintage.

In Chianti, La Massa sits on hallowed ground—111 acres in the famed Conca d’Oro, or Golden Basin. The estate is over 500 years old, and Cabernet Sauvignon has been grown there for the last 400 years. The legendary Galestro soils of the Conca d’Oro are strewn with shards of limestone, adding an unmistakable mineral element to the wine.

In 1992, when the La Massa estate was listed on the market, Giampaolo Motta was making wine just next door, but had always coveted La Massa’s soils. Seizing the opportunity, Motta purchased La Massa and has never looked back. Since then, praise has accompanied every release, often led by Wine Advocate, which has hailed the “extreme elegance” of the wines of La Massa.

While most Super Tuscans of this pedigree carry a significantly higher price tag, La Massa’s 91-point 2014 comes in at less than a top Chianti. Aged to perfection and raised directly from the estate, this is the answer to all the long-awaited calls—another shot at Tuscany’s greatest value.