2021 Tenuta Sette Ponti Oreno Toscana 750 ml

The Super Tuscan landscape was once teeming with steals. Now, Ornellaia and Sassicaia go for $250+, Solaia’s pushing $400, and Masseto’s on another planet, with the iconic Merlot commanding over $900. 

Savvy buyers know to go straight to the 98-point 2021 Tenuta Sette Ponti Oreno. 

It’s one of the great bottles made in Tuscany—but it’s still a deal compared to its blue-chip peers. The flagship bottling from the Tenuta Sette Ponti estate, it always stands with the best: This 2021 tied Sassicaia and outscored Antinori’s Solaia in the eyes of James Suckling, who made his bones as Spectator’s Italian expert.

Tenuta Sette Ponti is an 1,800-acre estate named for the seven bridges across the Arno River in between Arezzo and Florence. The vineyards’ terroir of clay, sand, and crumbly galestro has exactly the right balance of drainage and water retention, and every May, workers prune the vines so only one or two grape clusters remain on each cane, ensuring even earlier ripening and higher concentration. 

That concentration is on full display in this beautiful 2021, thanks to the warm conditions of the vintage. The wine is powerful, dense, and seductive, with a pack of dark-fruited aromas accompanied by hints of violet, wild mint, and licorice, all wrapped in a layer of tobacco. The mouthfeel is rich and dense, with black-cherry preserves, spices, firm tannins, and balanced acidity. 

Composed of 50% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 10% Petit Verdot, matured for 18 months in new French oak, it’ll be fascinating to watch evolve.