Le Macchiole

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 already produced wines, mainly for his own use. The name "Le Macchiole" means "The place where everything started". The domain is best known for its wines, especially wines made from Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Syrah. With the 1987 harvest, the first wines were put on the market commercially. Especially in these early years, Eugenio and Cinzia produced multi-grape wines, focusing on Bordeaux blends. From the mid-1990s, they specialized in wines made from a grape variety.

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

The Paleo Rosso is a wine that is all made from the Cabernet Franc grape, in the early years of this release the wine also contained small parts of Cabernet Sauvignon and / or Sangiovese. The wine was first released in 1989 and has been aged for 18 months in wooden barrels. The Paleo Rosso is one of the very best Cabernet Franc wines worldwide! Total production: 25000 - 30000 bottles.

The Scrio is the third wine from Le Macchiole, made from 100% Syrah. This wine can also compete with the best that can be made of Syrah, the style resembles that of the Rhône Valley in France. The first edition was in 1994, production is very limited: only 6,500 bottles.

Le Macchiole has become a reference for Bolgheri. In 2008, their top wine Messorio in WineSpectator was rated with 100/100 points.