In 1995, Vittorio Frescobaldi of Italy's venerable Marchesi Frescobaldi joined forces with Napa Valley icon Robert Mondavi to produce a Tuscan red called Luce della Vite. The grapes came from vineyards in Montalcino, adjacent to the Frescobaldis' Castelgiocondo estate.
Luce debuted two years later with the 1993 vintage. There is also a second wine called Lucente produced from the same vineyards. Earlier this year in New York, Lamberto Frescobaldi, vice president of the company in charge of production for Marchesi Frescobaldi, presented a vertical tasting of every vintage of Luce from the past 20 years, exclusively for Wine Spectator. Here are my scores and tasting notes.
