Tenuta Luce 2020, Tuscany 2020

Luce was born in 1993 from an unlikely partnership - the Frescobaldi family of Tuscany and Robert Mondavi of California - with one idea: to be the first Montalcino wine to blend Sangiovese and Merlot in equal measure. Frescobaldi runs it outright now, and three decades on Luce remains the benchmark for that union, the structure and lift of Sangiovese meeting the roundness and weight of Merlot. The vineyards sit on the south-west-facing slopes above Montalcino, among the highest in the zone - stony schist and limestone up top for the Sangiovese, richer clay lower down for the Merlot. After fermentation in temperature-controlled stainless steel, the wine spends around two years in French oak barriques, the majority new, which knits the two grapes into a single seamless whole. Expect a deep, layered red - ripe dark cherry and plum, cedar and sweet spice, a thread of cocoa - carried on tannins that are firm but polished to silk. Powerful without being heavy. Serve at 16-18°C, and give a young bottle a decant.