Fattoria Le Pupille Saffredi Toscana Rosso 2021

Maremma is a rising-star coastal region on the western edge of Tuscany, only about 20 miles from Montalcino, and extending all the way up into Bolgheri. This might just be the next great star of Italian wine, with significant investment and development from major players like Biondi-Santi, Frescobaldi, Gaja, and even the Lafite-Rothschilds. Fattoria Le Pupille Saffredi is one of Maremma’s OGs – and you can argue that no one does this region better. 99 points is one heck of a statement, and this Super-Tuscan style red doesn’t disappoint!

We’ve been on a bit of a kick exploring the lesser-known Maremma region as of late, so when this arrived, we popped a bottle and...wow! Plush, layered, complex, and sure to age gracefully over the next two decades plus! A great one to have in magnum, too, so we’re stoked to have 15 magnums to share, as well! But a little background here to start – Elisabetta Geppetti is the matriarch and superstar of this house...a visionary winemaker who was inextricably drawn to the land of Maremma, and well ahead of her time when she planted Bordeaux varietals here all the way back in the early 1980s, in what was once considered a forgotten wasteland of Tuscany. Seriously, I’m not being hyperbolic – since the times of Dante, Maremma has been mocked and bedraggled as a land of pestilence and pirates, swamps, foul beasts, and rogue cowboys.

Today, and oddly enough, thanks to the efforts of the tyrant Mussolini – who set about draining the swamps (literally) of Maremma – the region’s potential for agriculture and infrastructure has flourished, and the modern era of Maremma wine is underway. This is quintessentially expressed by Saffredi – a 5-hectare vineyard set on nutrient-poor, calcareous, silty soils that serve as a perfect home for Bordeaux varietals. The first Saffredi wine was crafted by Elisabetta in 1987, and the region has never looked back. Following in the footsteps of Bolhgheri’s Sassicaia – this cabernet dominant wine showcases the potential of grapes beyond sangiovese, made in a luscious and modern style that has resonated with a whole slew of international wine lovers.

The 2021 release boasts a mix of some 60% cabernet sauvignon, alongside 30% merlot and 10% petit verdot – all aged for 18 months in French oak barriques, 70% new. This is a flashy and immediately seductive wine – with aromas of Tahitian vanilla, graphite, black plums, sandalwood, and smoldering sage. Giving and textured in the mouth, with currants, black cherries, crumbled rocks, and toasted walnuts – this is a complete and full-bodied gem that reveals a whole lot now...and yet whispers at a greater depth and complexity to come. My two cents – grab a magnum while you can, plus a few 750s to help you gauge the best time to open it! No matter how you shake it, this is a must-have Tuscan for your collection!

PAIRING IDEAS: This is a great fit for some Vietnamese “shaking beef” (BÒ LÚC L?C) – the texture, the spiced elements, the savoriness...just an ideal match to make this croon!