1994 Siepi
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Tasting notes
This growing season saw a lot of rain and humid conditions. The Mazzei 1994 Siepi is somewhat underwhelming as a result, with a thin and streamlined texture and less aromatic intensity than we saw in the protagonist of this vertical tasting. However, the wine's aging trajectory is on track, and this bottle does not show excessive oxidation or age. The rather closed nature of the bouquet seems to be driven by the vintage, and the wine otherwise shows nice freshness and consistency. The Siepi vineyard is planted to a density of 3,600 vines per hectare, so competition for nutrients and moisture at the root system is rather relaxed and favorable to each individual vine.
Critic scores
Average Score
Monica Larner, Wine Advocate
Jancis Robinson MW
More reviews and scores
Full bottle 1,211 g. Alcohol: 12.5%. Early, hot season but with sufficient precipitation, except in August. Harvest: hand-picked starting from 6 September (Merlot), from 20 September (Sangiovese). Fermentation temperature: 30 °C. Period of maceration: 16 days (Merlot), 15 days (Sangiovese). Ageing: 15–16 months in small (225-litre) French oak barrels. Bottling: May 1996. Production: 25,000 bottles. Transparent ruby with shading towards a colourless rim. Lifted, balsam nose with recognisable Sangiovese and very charming, rather claret-like, maturation. Fresh but not skinny. Very complete. Quite a charmer, this wine, and still fun to drink. Perhaps a little past its peak but still with high-elevation fruit in evidence. Long. But I would drink it as soon as the bottle is opened (and hope your cork doesn't crumble like mine) for the wine is relatively fragile. (JR)