97.3 Points: Invest In 2017 Masseto And Get A Share Of The Coveted Super Tuscan

More Masseto, Please. Both Producer And Vintage Are Oozing Of Potential

”The 2017 Masseto puts on another exhilarating, knock-out performance for the third year in a row.”

- Wine Advocate

The following investment tip highlights the 2017 Masseto but highlighting the 2017 Masseto is not even necessary to see the investment potential: Rating across reviewers of 97.3 points, breathtaking historical Masseto returns and minimal supply. Learn even more about the 2017 vintage of Masseto below.

A Super Tuscan Is Put Into The World

Masseto has already established its place on the international wine scene. In the 1980s, Lodovico Antinori established the famous house of Ornellaia, from which Masseto emerged since it did not fit into the Ornellaia concept. A clayey lot near Bolgheri was particularly suited to Merlot.

Antinori was initially reluctant, however, as Merlot was almost non-existent in Tuscany. In addition, the dominant wine in Bolgheri was Sassicaia, which did not contain Merlot. Fortunately, he dared to commit himself to the now coveted Masseto.

Masseto was created, and it soon became a reality that the wine was both distinctive and fine. Its reputation spread rapidly, and its clientele increased.

Great Scores Underline Quality

The 2017 vintage from Masseto is awarded great scores by the world's most renowned wine critics. Wine Advocate awards 97 points, and Vinous follows suit and acknowledges the 97 points by saying: "the 2017 Masseto is a spectacular wine in the making". James Suckling shows the same enthusiasm and awards a full 98 points.

The extremely high level is not to be overlooked, and Masseto delivers with the 2017 vintage a great successor to the two top vintages of 2015 and 2016. The 2017 vintage stands here as a showpiece, proving the importance of a skilled winemaker who can get the best out of even more difficult vintages.  

Everyone Wants To Get Their Hands On Magical Masseto

RareWine Invest has previously claimed that the best Italian wines are on the rise worldwide. In August 2021, Liv-ex released a report on which Italian wines traded the most in 2021 YTD - measured by both value and volume. Here, Masseto is in a great third place, and especially the vintages 2017, 2015 and 2011 have been the most active vintages from here.

The high trading activity underlines in particular a strong demand for the vintage 2017 from Masseto.

In addition, it is worth taking a look at Liv-ex's 2020 Power 100 list from January 2021, which is a list of the year's power brands measured on several parameters – including trading activity in both volume and value. Here, it became abundantly clear that Italy is among the best in the world. Masseto is in the top 10, and the 17 Italian brands included in the top 100 saw an average price increase of 6.01 % in 2020.

This puts Massesto among the top power brands in the fine wine market – power brands including Leroy, Leflaive, Sassicaia, Dom Perignon and Penfolds. The 2017 vintage is showing great potential and is attracting a lot of interest.

Further Constraint On An Already Limited Masseto Production

Masseto is produced on 7 hectares, and this scarce area delivers around 30.000 bottles of Masseto annually. This is extremely limited in a market, where the thirst for Super Tuscans is growing.

According to Liv-ex, the number of 2017 Masseto has been reduced by 15 % compared to 2016, which only results in an even smaller supply of the already minimal quantities and a more than unequal ratio between supply and demand.

Masseto's Performance In Rarewine And Liv-Ex Context

This is the first time that RareWine Invest offers 2017 Masseto for investment. It is therefore interesting to look at the 2013 Masseto, which is comparable in quality to the 2017 vintage, as both have an average score across reviewers^* of 97.3.

Since January 2020, the 2013 vintage of Masseto under management of RareWine Invest has returned 24.4 %, equivalent to 12.6 % average annual return.

According to the UK wine exchange, Liv-ex, the price of the 2017 vintage from Masseto has also increased 10.4 % since it was listed in October 2020. And if we take the praise from Vinous for good, it suggests that the 2017 vintage from Masseto hasn't reached its full potential yet.

The price of a 2013 vintage Masseto has increased 17.9 % since July 2020. This means that the price of the 2013 vintage has increased significantly more than the price of the 2017 vintage, which is why it is considered that the 2017 Masseto in particular has untapped potential and validates the investment potential in the long term.

*Wine Advocate, Vinous, James Suckling

Rarewine Invest's Opinion

With 97.3 points across the main critics of Italian wine, the 2017 Masseto is in a position worth considering in terms of quality and investment. The strong historical returns on Masseto under the management of RareWine Invest further underline the investment potential of this vintage, as it is in the same position in terms of points.

Add to this the fact that demand for Italian wines is booming, and that the supply of the 2017 vintage is reduced by 15 % compared to the 2016 vintage. This, combined with an imbalance between supply and demand, makes the case of the 2017 Masseto a textbook example of a classic wine investment in many ways, yet in a class of its own with its position as the most exclusive Super Tuscan on the market.