2020 Le Macchiole Bolgheri Rosso

Le Macchiole is a relatively small domain (24 Ha) in the Bolgheri in Tuscany in Italy. The domain was founded in 1983 by Eugenio Campolmi and Cinzia Merli. Before 1983, Eugenio's father and grandfather were already producing wines, mainly for their own use. The name “Le Macchiole” means “The place where it all began”. The domain is best known for its varietal wines, especially the wines made from Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Syrah. With the 1987 harvest, the first wines were commercially marketed. Particularly in these early years, Eugenio and Cinzia produced wines from multiple grapes, with an emphasis on Bordeaux blends. From the mid-1990s, they specialized in wines made from one type of grape.

Unfortunately, Eugenio passed away in 2002, he was only 40 years old. At the moment, “Le Macchiole” is run by Cinzia, his widow. The first wine made under her direction (since 1994) is the Messorio, a 100% Merlot wine that has been aged for 20 months in wooden barrels (barriques) and bottled without filtration. It is without a doubt one of the best Merlots from Italy and can be compared to the best Merlots from Bordeaux. The total production is about 9000 bottles per year.

Le Macchiole has become a reference for Bolgheri. In 2008, their top wine Messorio was rated in WineSpectator with 100/100 points. The entry-level wine Rosso 'Le Macchiole' now also falls under the DOC Bolgheri appellation and contains merlot, cabernet franc and syrah. Entry is actually a bit insulting because the Rosso is a very nice Bolgheri and unlike the Messorio, Paleo and Scrio, this wine is still reasonable in price.

The Le Macchiole Rosso has been allowed to mature for 6 months in 1st and 2nd year barriques. In the glass, the wine has a beautiful garnet red color with somewhat purple hues. In the nose, this beautiful Bolgheri has slightly spicy accents of green pepper with a light vanilla tone and pleasant red fruit aromas. Very elegant and refined. This is a very nice Rosso made by one of the very best wineries in the Bolgheri.