La Massa Giorgio Primo Rosso Toscana 2003

This retails for $235 normally – but we’re knocking it down to just $80 each when you order 2 or more bottles! Over $300 in savings on La Massa’s flagship Bordeaux blend from the heart of Chianti – oh, yes!

Giampaulo Motta is our favorite rule-breaker in Chianti Classico, a Naples-born rapscallion who moved to France in his youth to study fashion – grooming to one day take over the family’s leather goods business. He fell in love with a French oenologist in Bordeaux, who introduced him to the great wines of the region, and while only one of these great loves survived the tests of time – we’re just thankful it was killer, Bordeaux-based wines!

La Massa’s site – set on a sloping valley, in a gorgeously picturesque backdrop of wild woodlands and rolling hills punctuated by the occasional vineyard – lies in the heart of Panzano, in Chianti Classico. This was the first region to have all of its myriad producers farm fully organic, a rather stunning achievement that really deserves more international attention. The quality of wines in this area is top notch, though the principal focus here is on Sangiovese, with a smattering of other local varieties. But Giampaulo – or, when you’ve drunk as much bubbly as we have with the man, Giampagne – specifically chose this site for the unique mixture of soils that would allow him to plant his favorite grapes: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Petite Verdot. Doing so, would set him at odds with the powers that be, namely the Chianti Classico Consorzio, and rapscallion that he is, Giampaulo gladly parted ways with them in 2002. A parting gift – of Chianti’s iconic black rooster, spit-roasted over an open flame – was added to the back of La Massa’s labels, and Giampaulo never looked back!

This exceptional 2003 vintage of his Giorgio Primo flagship is composed from 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 45% Merlot, and 5% Petit Verdot treated like 1st Growth Bordeaux and lovingly raised in La Massa’s state-of-the-art subterranean winery. The aromas and flavors leap from the glass with spiced currants and blackberry notes, some roasted herbs and mineral graphite sensations, then some wild fennel, a splash of some super decadent black truffles, a twist of red cherries, and cassis, with a neverending finish. Just pure class, and plenty of titillating brightness that shows this wine as having years left still to enjoy. A stunning wine, all the way, that we scored direct from the winery a full 20 years after careful aging in pristine conditions. It’s a provenance that can’t be beat – at a price that is surely never to be matched! Under $100, with a drop to just $79.95 on 2+ bottles – this is a collectible, brag-worthy wine that should be in any wine lover’s collection...while we have it, at least!

PAIRING IDEAS: We had this at the winery with lunch, which – among a bounty of other dishes – featured cold, thinly shaved, barely-cooked roast beef, dressed in olive oil, with salt and a fresh squeeze of lemon. As simple as it gets, but as perfect as can be.