2006 La Massa Toscana Rosso

The 2006 La Massa is 60% Sangiovese, 30% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon that spent 14 months in French oak (20% new). It is a gorgeous, fruit-driven wine with superb depth in its plums, dark cherries, herbs and sweet toasted oak. It offers terrific balance in its fruit, structure and acidity, all of which come together in a very pretty La Massa. Proprietor Giampaolo Motta continues to make some of the most ambitious Bordeaux-inspired wines in Tuscany. Freed from the constraints of the Chianti Classico DOCG under which he bottled his early wines, Motta seems to be finding more of his own personal voice with each passing vintage. 2006 represents yet another step forward for this small estate. Now that his vines have acquired some age, Motta has decided to make La Massa the estate's main wine, rather than the second label it was in previous vintages. Giorgio Primo becomes a cuv?e that is produced from the estate's best fruit, but in smaller quantities than has been the case recently and only in the finest vintages. Importers: Martin Scott Wines, Little Neck, NY; tel. (516) 327-0808; Wine WareHouse, City of Commerce, CA; tel. (323) 724-1700; Cavatappi Distribution, Seattle, WA; tel. (206) 282-5226; Bommarito Wines, Saint Louis, MO; tel. (314) 961-8996; The Wine Company, St. Paul, MN; tel. (651) 487-1212; Un Po Pazzo, Boca Raton, FL; tel. (561) 391-6008