Lucente, Tenuta Luce (2022) 2022

Lucente is the more approachable half of the Tenuta Luce story - the same Frescobaldi estate, the same southwest-facing Montalcino slopes, but built for pleasure now rather than the cellar. Where the flagship Luce leans on Sangiovese, here Merlot takes the lead, drawn mostly from the lower, clay-rich plots that give the grape its fleshier, rounder character. The winemaking is deliberately gentle. Fermentation runs in temperature-controlled stainless steel, with around three weeks on the skins, before the wine spends twelve months in French oak barrels - part new, part used - to round it out without burying the fruit. The point is polish, not power. The result is deep ruby red, with a generous nose of pomegranate, wild blackberry and violet over a thread of sweet spice. Broad and velvety on the palate, the tannins fine and already well knit in. A genuinely easy wine to like. Serve at 16-18°C.