The relatively small Le Macchiole estate has become a benchmark for the Bolgheri region. In 2008, their top wine, Messorio, was awarded 100 points in WineSpectator, a maximum score. Production is handled by the family business founded in 1983 by Eugenio Campolmi and Cinzia Merli. They adhere to tradition and strongly believe in organic viticulture. Their passion and dedication to wine are beautifully reflected in every bottle they bring to market.
The harvest is done entirely by hand in the 25-year-old Vignone vineyard. After sorting and destemming, a third of the grapes were vinified in concrete vats and the remainder in steel. A regular fermentation process, long macerations, frequent pumping over and hand punching, and a few quick cold soaks in recent days produced a sweet-smelling and fresh wine, with noble and mouth-filling tannins and excellent complexity on the palate. At the end of October, the wine is aged for another twenty months in oak barriques, followed by twenty months in the bottle. After the long wait, we are rewarded with this beautiful red wine. A magnificent wine, but it can also easily age in the bottle for another 10 to 15 years. The aroma is powerful and full-bodied, with numerous impressions of black fruit, spices, and vanilla, among other things. The palate is complex, rounded, and very refined—a wine to rave about.
