Le Macchiole

Proprietor Cinzia Merli has done an outstanding job running her family's small winery after the untimely passing of her husband Eugenio, whose passion and spirit permeates everything about the estate and its vision. Under the direction of brilliant oenologist Luca d'Attoma Le Macchiole continues to make some of Italy's most inspired wines. The estate's philosophy starts with what can only be defined as a near-obsessive attention to detail in the vineyards, many which I was able to see during the 2006 harvest. The original vineyards are planted at 5,000 plants per hectare but newer plots have been planted at a very dense 10,000 plants per hectare. Green harvesting, along with the high density of the vineyards and the naturally poor soils result in small bunches and low yields per plant. Once in the cellar the estate's philosophy is minimalist. The wines see fermentation lasting 20-25 days followed by malo in barrique where the wines complete their aging for 12-18 months. The estate's most famous wine, Messorio, is aged in smaller 112 liter barrels, which were also used for a portion of the 2003 Paleo. A slightly different approach is taken for the Scrio (100% Syrah), parcels of which see micro-fermentation in barrique, a laborious and time-consuming practice. “Syrah is a varietal that naturally tends towards reduction,” says D'Attoma. “We ferment a portion of the fruit in barrique in order to give the fruit more oxygen during vinification. We also use micro-oxygenation in the cellar to give the wine a rounder, softer texture.” “2003 was just a tough vintage,” says D'Attoma. “To be honest it felt more like Australia or Sicily. It was of course very hot, but perhaps even more importantly there was no respite form the heat, and for fruit to mature well some alternation of temperatures is essential. The skins were fairly ripe, but we didn't achieve 100% phenolic ripeness in the seeds and I think that anyone who says they did reach full ripeness is exaggerating. The Cabernet Franc did pretty well but we reached our highest levels of ripeness with the Syrah, which seemed to react best to the heat. We did a fairly drastic selection in the vineyards and then treated the fruit very carefully. We did shorter fermentations and worked at lower temperatures than usual to try to keep some freshness in the wines. In 2003 it was critical to not over-extract, which is what gives some wines in this vintage a bitter taste. This was a year to play defense rather than offense, but you know what they say, defense often wins championships.” “2002 was of course completely different. Because it rained a lot especially during August the skins were very delicate and there was significant risk of rot. We didn't produce our Scrio as the grapes weren't healthy. Overall temperatures were normal during fermentation but we used much less new oak on the wines given the less muscular nature of the vintage.” Merli likes to release her wines with a little additional bottle age on them so readers will find the 2002s and the 2003s on the market. Her decision to lower prices on the 2002s is commendable. Recognizing the lower quality of the vintage she didn't feel it was fair to keep prices in line with past vintages so the 2002 Paleo has been reduced by 30% and the 2002 Messorio by 50%. Merli's views are refreshingly honest and show a level of integrity as well as concern for the consumer that is all too rare these days. She also intends to keep the ex-cellar price of Messorio lower once her newer vineyards enter production and the number of bottles increases. While 2002 and 2003 clearly represent anomalous vintages, the 2004s offer a much more balanced and elegant style. I tasted the wines just after bottling and they are full of promise.

From Exploring Maremma’s 2003 and 2004 Vintages (Feb 2007) by Antonio Galloni

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2003 LE MACCHIOLE

Release Price: $35

Color: Red

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2003 PALEO ROSSO

Release Price: $90

Color: Red

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2003 SCRIO

Release Price: $190

Color: Red

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2003 MESSORIO

Release Price: $260

Color: Red

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2002 PALEO ROSSO

Release Price: $80

Color: Red

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2002 MESSORIO

Release Price: $130

Color: Red

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