SAFFREDI 2018

Description

Monica Larner 96 points www.robertparker.com
The Fattoria le Pupille 2018 Saffredi borrows quite a bit from all of the grapes that make up the blend (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petit Verdot). These balanced results open to a round bouquet of dark fruit, black cherry and plum. As the wine warms in the glass, it shows spice, cured tobacco and campfire embers. This is a full-bodied expression, but not excessively so. It puts forth immediate elegance with carefully measured tannins and a fitting postscript of fresh acidity. This newest vintage of Saffredi should be hitting the market now, but if you buy it, you should plan on cellaring it.

This is a terrific set of wines from Fattoria le Pupille. The 2018 Saffredi offers an accurate and classic expression of the vintage. As it so happens, I have recently had the opportunity to re-taste several bottles of the 2016 Saffredi (which I awarded 98 points) at various masterclasses and events I have guided. Coming back to that wine, I now detect a hint of animal musk that seems to have developed in the bottle. I’ll record that comment here, but I look forward to revisiting that vintage in a more formal manner at the next opportunity.

Antonio Galloni 96+ points www.vinous.com
The 2018 Saffredi is a regal, elegant, supremely polished wine. It may very well be the most refined Saffredi I have ever tasted. Silky in its first impression, with striking aromatic presence and exceptional balance, the 2018 is a total knock-out. Sweet red cherry, plum, mocha, licorice and cinnamon accents develop over time, but it is the wine’s overall balance and poise that are so impressive today. The 2018 is an absolutely gorgeous Saffredi. It spent 20 months in French oak barrels, about 65% new. Don’t miss it.