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| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 92.6 pts. and median of 93 pts. in 69 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by micheal0811 on 4/8/2024 & rated 93 points: To date, best bottle of 2024.
93...at times 94, but largely 93 for the evening. Alcohol presence the only detractor.
Next bottle late 2028 or early 2029. (229 views) | | | Tasted by StefanAkiko on 3/13/2024 & rated 94 points: This is a superbly intense wine that is ultra polished and well made. Still but a baby. HAs very much more to give! (311 views) | | | Tasted by Hschmitz on 10/29/2023 & rated 90 points: holder flot stadig, fin frugt (530 views) | | | Tasted by mflesh on 11/18/2022: Eclectic lineup with a 2002 Valbuena, 2013 Kosta Browne Gap's Crown Pinot, 2009 Reserve de la Comtesse, and 2016 SamiOdi Hoffman Dallwitz Shiraz. This is the first time I have ever had the opportunity to have this offering. Much more familiar with their Merlot, but have never had a chance to geek out on this one. The nose and initial palate is dark purple violets, funeral flowers with a hint of soy sauce. Mature black cherry and dash of rhubarb. The middle and finish goes darker than I it really was expecting but extremely delicious nonetheless. Softening tannin on the finish. Spice cake and dark red fruit density. Through the finish, you get a glimpse of the rocky and volcanic and calcareous soil that this wine likely came from. Still displayed a lot of youthful sweetness, and maybe actually a little bit more of this than what I thought. Really a very good wine in a good spot. If you are holding these, it's probably not a bad idea to keep holding. If you have multiple, might not be a bad idea to start drinking one every 1-2 years and yes I do feel like this one will continue to evolve and develop. (1338 views) | | | Tasted by ogres3 on 10/2/2022 & rated 93 points: First bottle of this wine. Nose fruit forward and pleasant on opening. But quite tight, dry, and cold. Probably takes three hours to open up. Morphs into a rich wine with dark complex fruit. Quite nice. (1184 views) | | | Tasted by MM29 on 7/16/2021 & rated 95 points: Jetzt fast da wo er sein kann! Ich liebe Paleo! Was für ein feiner Wein, wird in den nächsten Jahren noch samtiger. In einem Jahr die perfekte Reife? (2253 views) | | | Tasted by forceberry on 11/20/2020 & rated 88 points: 100% Cabernet Franc, fermented and macerated for 20 days in steel tanks and concrete tanks. Aged for 14 months in oak barriques (75% new, 25% once used). 14,5% alcohol.
Slightly translucent, blackish-red color. Toasty and sweetish nose with aromas of ripe dark berries, some dark-toned oak notes of mocha and milk chocolate, a little bit of sweet toasty oak spice, light woody notes of pencil shavings, a hint of roasted bell pepper and a touch of sunny, pruney fruit. The wine is ripe, weighty and quite solar on the palate with a full body and rather concentrated flavors of toasty oak spice, sweet dark plums and almost pruney fruit, some glossy, chocolatey notes of mocha oak, a little bit of extracted woody bitterness, light greener notes of minty herbal character, a hint of chocolate chips and a touch of raisiny character. Despite the hot vintage, the acidity feels relatively high, but the ripe, quite mellow tannins feel rather soft for a Paleo. The finish is long, gently tannins and slightly sweet-toned with quite lush flavors of chocolatey mocha oak, some ripe blackcurrants and dark plums, a little bit of chocolate chips and bittersweet dark chocolate, light woody notes of cedar, a hint of sweet pruney fruit and a touch of roasted bell pepper.
A rather solar and quite glossy vintage of Paleo, coming across as rather sweetish with its glossy sheen of chocolatey oak and sunny dark fruit that feels not only sweet and soft, but at times even slightly pruney and raisiny as well. The overall feel is quite soft for Paleo, as the wine normally shows quite noticeably firmness and healthy tannic grip, while this wine is conspicuously soft in that respect. While the wine is very balanced, complex and wonderfully textural as a whole, it doesn't really manage to impress wholly: the oak use feels a bit too liberal, lending the wine a somewhat chocolatey feel, and the hot vintage has made the wine feel a bit too soft and sweet. This is a good, modern Super-Tuscan, but definitely not among the great vintages of Paleo. I hope that with enough aging the oak characteristics would integrate with the fruit. (2766 views) | | | Tasted by Ramberg on 3/27/2020 & rated 91 points: Another fine Paleo.
From my favorite Tuscan producer.
Although quite different from all previous vintages I have had the pleasurer to devour.
Immediate signs of the hot 2009 showing.
Tell-tale Cab Franc nose, with freshly cut green grass, some pine needles underneath, smoke, bell peppers, spices, touch of cedar wood and tobacco and loads of booth ripe red and black cherries.
More wood and "hotter" and denser than usual.
Palate still somewhat young and unready, with dense sweet ripe dark cherries and wood spices present.
Some dark chocolate and sweet plums as it opens up with more air.
A sweeter and riper version in this vintage, with alcohol showing and also more oak present than usual.
In a warm vintage like 2009 this is perhaps suffering a bit compared to all the other vintages I have tried (that is more or less every vintage from 1997 and onwards).
I have one more bottle left, and I will tuck this one away for a long time to see if it might smoothen out and integrate all the sweet fruit with the high alcohol and somewhat more than usual oak.
Still, so much better than any 3:d world Cab Franc, even in a hot version like this one.
(90 - 92?) (137 views) | | | Tasted by rob.boothe on 11/14/2019 & rated 92 points: Medium ruby. Refined fruit, blackberry, bit of dark plum, capsicum and vegetal tones with some herbs. Seriously ripe on the palette, a hair on the sweet side but lots of vitality. Medium body, medium plus finish. Still a lovely expression of cab franc, albeit slightly simple. And for the price... (2707 views) | | | Tasted by Rollerball on 11/10/2019 & rated 93 points: The pleasure makes up for the lack of distinctiveness. Gets by on purring engine revs and appeal. Not fading either; plenty in here to take us to -2024 (2258 views) | | | Tasted by cweiner on 5/18/2019 & rated 95 points: Plenty of time. A delight and the last. A deep purple, nice fruit and all integrated. (2601 views) | | | Tasted by PSUSteve on 2/19/2019 & rated 92 points: PnP. This is ripe and bold while still feeling young. (2347 views) | | | Tasted by MM29 on 1/17/2019 & rated 93 points: Sehr schön und immer noch wie direkt ab dem Fass - der wird nur noch besser - hoffentlich kann ich die Finger eine Zeit von den restlichen Flaschen lassen... (2098 views) | | | Tasted by Aldo Doria on 10/27/2018 & rated 95 points: very balanced, leather, mushrooms. excellent wine (1789 views) | | | Tasted by drjb on 10/14/2018 & rated 93 points: Tasted at lunch at Arnolfo, Colle di Val d"Elsa, Tuscany. This wine had a deep garnet colour with a rich nose of red and dark plums, blackcurrant, blackberry leaf and tobacco. The palate was very rich with layers of flavour and quite good persistence and shape. The shape and structure became more linear and elegant with breathing but the ripeness and richness of the fruit is the defining character. (2058 views) | | | Tasted by cweiner on 8/1/2018 & rated 95 points: Forceberry and I apparently had very different bottles. Mature, ripe and lingers on the taste buds. (1893 views) | | | Tasted by forceberry on 10/25/2017 & rated 88 points: 14,5% alcohol. Tasted alongside most of the Paleo vintages from 2013 to 1993.
Somewhat paler and more translucent garnet red color compared to many of the surrounding vintages with somewhat maroon hue and a wide, pale orange rim. The hot vintage shows pretty much in the sweet aromas of the wine: there are notes of raisins and dried dates, some prune character, a little bit of roasted exotic spices and a hint of sweet, dark-toned oak character. The wine is remarkably full-bodied, rich and silky on the palate, yet the wine retains its balance with moderately high acidity. There are intense flavors of fresh, almost tart blackberries, sweet prunes, some raisiny character, a little bit of peppery bitterness and a hint of sweet cocoa oak. The tannins are remarkably soft and mellow for a Paleo of this age. The finish is a bit grippy and rather rich with quite long and bright but rather sweet flavors of ripe blackcurrants, some pruney fruit, a little bit of sweet, toasty oak and a hint of savory wood.
A surprisingly nice effort for a Tuscan 2009, but in a vertical Paleo tasting this was very obviously a hot vintage wine. No other wine from the surrounding vintages showed such maroon color, as mellow tannins and as sweet and raisiny dried fruit aromas and flavors as this wine. This wine had its charms, nevertheless, and especially its high-ish acidity saved a lot, but still this didn't come across as impressive as the other Paleos of similar age. There's still some years left before the wine will reach its plateau of maturity, but this really doesn't feel like it's going to hold on for decades, setting it apart quite noticeably from the other vintages. A very good wine, but definitely not as great as Paleo normally is and not really my style of wine. (2844 views) | | | Tasted by MWiking on 10/1/2017 & rated 95 points: Så jäkla gott vin, söt mörk frukt, gröna toner, nästan som paprika på näsan
Smaken är helt underbar
Vinet är fortfarande ungt och kan växa till sig mer. (2900 views) | | | Tasted by Rollerball on 4/29/2017 & rated 92 points: High quality and delicious but seems as if the distinctiveness has been polished out. Needs a few hours in the decanter. Got more out of this a few years ago and wonder if now it wouldn't be better to wait for full maturity. Try in 2020. (3494 views) | | | Tasted by mattias_hansen@hotmail.com on 4/1/2017 & rated 95 points: A beaty. Has evolved quite nicely since last time. A nose of black berries, faint tobacco trace, ripe and warm yet still retaining cool mint and green leafs as well. Very enticing. Palate is impeccable balance between ripe fruit, mature(ish) tannins, integrated high quality oak influence, and more nuances of leafs, roses, scorched earth, charcoal (a hint only mind you) fully bodied. Finish is long and gracious. In its early maturation window, was better at day two. (3426 views) | | | Tasted by Paul S on 3/1/2017 & rated 91 points: When Mike Grammar visited Singapore (Nicolas Restaurant, Teck Lim Street, Singapore): An unusual Cabernet Franc from Tuscany - and we had two on the night. This was pretty good without quite rocking my world. It sure had an interesting nose - neither Right Bank Bordeaux nor Loire, this had a real savoury base of earthy mushroom, and a hint of soy sauce scents, along with more typical notes of mint and menthol, and some bright red fruit aromas running behind, all this garlanded with sprigs of Italian herb. The palate was a lot less savoury and umami than the nose, with sweet ripe berries at the fore, then some menthol, herbs and spice leading to an interestingly bittersweet finish. There was a nice sense of depth and balance to this, with some powdery tannins adding a good sense of structure. I thought there was just a touch of sparkly spritz in there somewhere, but not quite enough to distract from the overall quality of the wine. Overall, pretty good, and I think it will continue to get better with more time in the bottle. One to try again in 4-5 years. (1055 views) | | | Tasted by Ianthemac on 1/28/2017 & rated 90 points: Needs more time. Lovely green peppers on the nose. Only decanted for an hour which may have been an issue. Not as memorable as the other bottles and drunk after a lot of Burgundy so probably my fault. It's all there, but will leave other bottles for a bit. (3300 views) | | | Tasted by JonnyG on 12/12/2016 & rated 94 points: An absolutely superb bottle, decanted and enjoyed over two hours, so I am not sure if it changed much from the first sip to the last. Sweet plum, mocha and herbs. Rich and ripe, with an almost creamy texture. Neither monolithic nor overdone, just a treat. (2751 views) | | | Tasted by Bobc7had on 11/22/2016 & rated 91 points: better day 2 (even though I decanted it) (2491 views) | | | Tasted by capacious on 10/5/2016 & rated 94 points: This is a spectacular example of how a broad array of grapes find their own song planted in the soils of Italy. Have enjoyed this wine in multiple years before, this might be the best yet. (2258 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| By Antonio Galloni
Vinous, Cellar Favorite: 2009 Le Macchiole Paleo Rosso (Sep 2019) (9/1/2019)
(Le Macchiole Paleo Rosso Red) Subscribe to see review text. | By Antonio Galloni
Vinous, Le Macchiole: Paleo Rosso 1992-2012 (Apr 2014)
(Le Macchiole Paleo Rosso) Subscribe to see review text. | By Ian D'Agata
Vinous, August 2012
(Le Macchiole Paleo Rosso Toscana) Subscribe to see review text. | By Antonio Galloni
Vinous, Tuscany 2009 and 2010: A World of Opposites (Jun 2012)
(Le Macchiole Paleo Rosso) Subscribe to see review text. |
NOTE: Scores and reviews are the property of Vinous. (manage subscription channels) |
| Le Macchiole Producer website
U.S. Importer (Addt'l Info)
Producer Location (Google Maps)
Source: VinConnect (VinConnect.com)
A beacon of fine wine production in Bolgheri, today recognized as one of Italy’s most important wine regions, the history of Le Macchiole began in 1983 when Eugenio Campolmi, a native Bolgherese, purchased his first vineyard. Together with his wife, Cinzia Merli, Eugenio began his pursuit, based on the philosophy of experimentation, planting many different varietals (Sangiovese, Merlot, Cabernet, Syrah…) to discover those best adapted to the microclimate and particular soil of this region along the Etruscan coast, nestled between the Bolgheri hills and the sea.
Beginning with just a few hectares, little by little the estate grew, the winery was built, and in 1991, winemaker Luca d’Attoma joined Le Macchiole, sharing a common goal: to produce an original, perhaps unexpected, wine capable of expressing and celebrating the characteristics of the territory. The winery focused on achieving the purest expression of individual varieties, such as Cabernet Franc and Syrah, atypical at the time in an area predominantly known for its Bordeaux style blends. With its distinct wines and unprecedented quality, Le Macchiole soon joined Sassicaia, Ornellaia and Guado al Tasso as one of the most prestigious estates in Bolgheri. Following Eugenio’s death in 2002, Cinzia took over the reins, moving forward with passion and dedication.
Working closely with a carefully selected team in the winery and the vineyards, Le Macchiole has always been at the forefront of innovation, applying methods including extremely low yields, high density planting, specially designed cement fermentation tanks in the cellar, and since 2002, the implementation of organic farming practices, with the sole objective of strengthening the vine. The winery continues to produce what are internationally recognized as some of Tuscany’s finest wines, confirmed by the numerous accolades received in Italy and abroad, including the Wine Spectator’s prestigious 100-point score a few years ago for the 2004 Messorio.
Today Le Macchiole produces 5 wines: Paleo Rosso (Cabernet Franc), Messorio (Merlot), Scrio (Syrah), Bolgheri Rosso (Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Syrah) and Paleo Bianco (Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc), each with its own personality, an expression of the soil and result of the respect given to the vineyard.
“It is essential to first find balance in the vineyard, only then can we find balance in the wine.”
– Cinzia Merli
Cabernet Franc Varietal character (Appellation America) | Wines & Vines articlePaleo RossoPaleo Rosso used to be a blend of predominantly Cabernet Sauvignon with some Cabernet Franc, but starting in 2001 it shifted to be 100% Cabernet Franc.Italy Italian Wines (ItalianMade.com, The Italian Trade Commission) | Italian Wine Guide on the WineDoctorTuscany Tuscany (ItalianMade.com) | TuscanytToscana IGTHere is the Wikipedia entry for Toscana wine. |
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