2013 Paleo Rosso

This is another stellar set of wines from Le Macchiole. Proprietor Cinzia Merli and her winemaker Luca Rettondini continue to make small but noticeable refinements that have brought about greater finesse in the wines. This year I was deeply impressed with the Bolgheri Rosso, which is surely one of the best wines to emerge from Tuscany's challenging 2014 vintage. Sadly, there will be no Scrio in 2014 and only a small amount of Paleo and Messorio. Le Macchiole's three top wines are all outstanding in 2013. The cool, late-ripening vintage resulted in wines with striking aromatics and notable complexity. That said, the recent push towards more elegance increasingly highlights that Paleo and Messorio are on a different level from Scrio.