Antinori - Guado al Tasso Bolgheri Superiore 2020 (750ml)
Wine Independent Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW: 98 Points
Guado Al Tasso is Marchesi Antinori's super-stylish Bolgheri Superiore Bordeaux blend. In the 2019 the blend is 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Cabernet Franc, and 15% Merlot. The color is intense, almost black with a shiny, purple rim. The nose is bright, youthful, open, and brimming with roasted coffee bean notes, with oak, spice, pepper and blackberries. The oak is dominating the aromas right now with rich, dark, exotic sandalwood notes, but there is a fragrance too of mint and wildflowers. Naturally there are plenty of tannins but they are very fine in nature. The 2019 is beautifully composed on the palate with dark licorice flavors, juicy acidity and lingering, savory, silty tannins. What a wonderful texture! It is so silky and seductive, like falling into a bed of soft rose petals. Still very young, it's best to wait 2-3 years. 2024-2042.
Wine Advocate: 96 Points
The Marchesi Antinori 2020 Bolgheri Superiore Guado al Tasso sees Cabernet Franc at over 30% of the blend in this vintage, with the rest going to Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% to 20% to Merlot. Matarocchio was not produced this year, and this wine benefits from the extra Cabernet Franc as a result. The 2019 and 2021 vintages of Guado al Tasso are quite concentrated and rich, whereas 2020 is leaner in texture, along the lines of the edition we saw made in 2010. There was rain in September. Managing Director Renzo Cotarella says he would not describe 2020 as a hot vintage because the rain did pose challenges at the end of the growing season. In Bolgheri on the Tuscan coast, budbreak is earlier than in other appellations, and the growing season is longer as a result. This is a benefit to the international varieties used here. The wine shows nice richness and intensity. The Cabernet Franc definitely comes through and adds the characteristic vertical lift and linearity that the grape is known for. You get black fruit, spice, white pepper and no signs of bitter stems or bramble. Sweet, almost milky tannins are interlocked with fresh acidity to give this wine good cellaring potential. The new oak was dialed back a bit in this vintage.
