Mazzei Philip Toscana Rosso 2019

The Mazzei family’s history includes everything from the first documented use of the name “Chianti” in 1398 to swapping vineyard tips with Thomas Jefferson. Their track record of producing top-notch wines is pretty solid, too. This 94-POINT beauty illustrates that point perfectly.

What better way to celebrate President’s Day weekend than featuring a wine named after the man who helped Thomas Jefferson fine-tune his vineyards at Monticello (and a 94 POINT cabernet sauvignon, at that!)? Phillip Mazzei did far more than just help Thomas Jefferson establish vineyards in the new world...Jefferson would go on to paraphrase Philip’s writings and is now credited with inspiring Thomas’s opening for the Declaration of Independence “All men are created equal”!

That’s a pretty significant historical footnote, I’d say, so it is no wonder the Mazzei family continues to honor their most famous ancestor. But the wine? Intense. Voluptuous. Plush. Structured. And those are just the critics talking! Double 94s, plus a 92 from Vinous and a 91 Decanter, state this wine is a noble and worthy effort...especially when you take into account our epic price of only $29.95!

Hailing from two of the Mazzei family estates – at Fonterutoli in the heart of Chianti, and Belguardo in the Montebottigli area of Maremma – this 100% cabernet sauvignon is a structured and powerful wine that somehow manages to appear elegant and delicate at the same time. Experience aromas of saddle leather, dried herbs, and crushed raspberries and cherries – evolving into the glass with flavors of cigar, and blackberries, dark chocolate, and plums. A mineral edge and racy acidity carry this ample and plush wine to a long and balanced finish, with a velvety polish rarely seen in cabernet sauvignons outside of the New World (and only in illustriously few examples there). 18 months in 30% new oak aids in that, with a split of French and American oak barriques putting a truly unique stamp on this Tuscan cabernet. Delicious to drink now, better still in a couple of years (or with a vigorous decant). While it lasts!