In this divine land where the nobility, together with technology, forged the famous Supertuscans, the Bordeaux-type wine of Italy, if you pass through the Bolgherese provincial road, you can see alternating great names such as Tenuta San Guido, Ornellaia, Guado al Tasso.
Among these pillars, pioneers in the land to be discovered, there is also Le Macchiole, a historic wine company founded by Eugenio Pampolmi in the early 1980s, a Tuscan man who at twenty years old bought the first hectares of land and started with his wife Cinzia the wine adventure which still holds international fame today.
The vines helms of the company are Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Syraz as well as Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. The first wines produced were mainly blends, but slowly they moved towards the mono-varietal such as Messorio (100% Syrah) or Scrio (100% Syrah). But above all and above every label the real workhorse is the Paleo: purely 100% Cabernet Franc.
It was actualy for this wine, for the Paleo, that I booked a visit to Le Macchiole: a very interesting visit that started from the vineyard, right in front of the rows of Cabernet Franc whose grapes are harvested manually and whose selection is also in mostly done by hand: we could therefore understand the utmost care and attention that are used around this vine in the very first harvest operations. Cabernet Franc undergoes fermentation after 15-20 days and aging in barriques (70% new and 30% after passage) after 18 months.
The barrel room is perfectly kept at controlled temperature and humidity with several nebulizers that are activated automatically in the event of a drop in humidity.
And then we went up to the long-awaited tasting room (environment very bright and architecturally very pleasant).
First we tasted the Bolgheri Rosso 2017: Merlot 40%, Cabernet Franc 30%, Cabernet Sauvignon 15% and Syrah 15%, a very pleasant wine with medium structure, well balanced even if still a little too tannic.
And finally the Paleo Rosso: this label was initially born as a blend based on cabernet sauvignon in the nineties which then was replacerd by an exclusive cabernet franc starting from the 2001 vintage. The fruity note is very persuasive, elegant, I would say very feminine, there is also some balsamic note and for the first time I must admit (I who basically hate wood) that all the tertiary notes of oak not only do not exasperate or, even worse, dominate the bouquet, but clearly enhance it, reinvigorate it, make it soft and round. And everything is confirmed in the mouth: very persistent taste with the right level of freshness and flavor. They give an aging potential of 25 years, but all in all even after only 6 years it already knows its stuff! Obviously this meticulous production of about 25 thousand bottles (out of the total 190 thousand of annual production) is paid for (we are about one hundred euros par bottle): after all, it is a unique and unrepeatable work of art.
If I really have to say it all, there is a small detail that clashes: it is its label with color, and “texture” that personally do not convey that touch of elegance and sublimity worthy of the content.
I come back home with a piece of gold to add to my cellar with the intention of opening it in at least 5 years and discovering how this enchantment will evolve.