The 2018 Luce is a bold and elegant Super Tuscan from Montalcino, blending 80% Sangiovese with 20% Merlot. It’s rich and polished, showing layers of blackberries, cherries, plum, and earthy mushroom, wrapped in firm tannins and balanced by fresh acidity. Full-bodied with a smooth structure and a hint of mint and spice on the finish. Impressive now, but best from 2025 onward.

Jamessuckling.com | JS 97
Published: Aug 20, 2021

Very focused and classy on the nose with blackberries, currants, mushrooms and dark bark. It’s full-bodied with a tight palate of chewy tannins that give structure and form to the wine. Beautiful center palate of dark fruit and mushrooms. Subtle and strong. Give this at least three or four years to resolve itself. Best after 2024.

Decanter | D 93
Published: Oct 31, 2024
Drink: 2025-2034

Expressive and upfront in its charms, the 2018 exudes baked black plum, macerated cherry, smoke and toasty oak. It becomes weightier, building in concentration as it draws across the palate. The fruit is enfolded in lush yet grippy tannins, and juicy acidity keeps it afloat right through to the mint-inflected finish. With this vintage, there was a further decrease in the percentage of new oak barriques, from 85% to 80%. The remainder ages in second-use barrels.
Closure: Cork
Alcohol: 15.00%
Body: Full
Oak: Oaked
Grapes: 20% Merlot 80% Sangiovese

Wine Spectator | WS 93
Published: Jun 30, 2023

Rich and plump, this juicy red features cherry, black currant and Mediterranean scrub flavors, with flashes of graphite backed by a swath of muscular tannins, which exert their presence on the finish. Shows fine balance overall. Best from 2025 through 2042. 3,333 cases made, 250 cases imported.

Jancisrobinson.com | JR 16.5
Published: Nov 4, 2022
Drink: 2023-2028

Lustrous, dark ruby. Spicy oak, but otherwise not much on the nose right now. The palate shows concentrated and ripe fruit that still has some vitality too it. Very suave and polished and open-knit. Carries its incredible 15.5% with great ease. Ready now.

Tenutaluce.com

Luce was the first wine from Montalcino made by blending Sangiovese and Merlot grapes. It was thanks to the collaboration of the Marchesi del Frescobaldi and Robert Mondavi Families that came the idea of matching the roundness and softness of Merlot with the elegance and structure of Sangiovese in the land of Brunello di Montalcino, the worldwide famous Italian wine made strictly from Sangiovese grapes.
Since 2002, Lamberto Frescobaldi is completely responsible for this project. In the land of Brunello di Montalcino he continues to write the history of Luce, a Super Tuscan wine appreciated all around the world. In his work, he continues to unite the tradition of Sangiovese, a typical local grape variety, with the innovation of Merlot, first introduced in Montalcino in the Seventies.