Bruce Sanderson featured Le Macchiole’s beautiful expression of Merlot, Messorio, in Wine Spectator’s Decanted column. He recounted a vertical tasting experience dating back to 2001, focusing on the wine’s “ageability and promising future.”
Before delving into Messorio, he offers historical background on the winery. He speaks to the estate’s focus on single-variety wines, adding that “over the years, Messorio emerged as Le Macchiole’s flagship wine, earning the highest ratings and prices (the 2004 earned a 100-point rating on release).”
Sanderson explains, “the debut vintage was 1994, and Messorio has been made every year with the exception of 1996. I recently tasted eight vintages spanning two decades of Messorio, from 2001 to 2018, in an exclusive virtual meeting with Merli and winemaker Luca Rettondini, who came on board in 2008.”
What does Messorio stand for, you ask? Sanderson answers, “Messorio is the local dialect for a scythe used to harvest wheat, an important crop in Bolgheri a generation ago. Merli grew up in Bibbona, just north of Bolgheri, and recalls driving to Castagneto Carducci with her father as a young girl, passing fields of wheat and olives on either side of the Strada Bolgherese.”
“Bolgheri and the Tuscan Coast is the home of several pure manifestations of Merlot.” As it relates to this particular wine, he adds, “rather than aim for power, richness and concentration, Le Macchiole’s goal for Messorio is finesse and elegance. This is no easy feat, given Bolgheri’s benevolent climate and recent warmer growing seasons.”
This is a fabulous story worth reading in full to gain insight on the individual wines tasted, which can be found HERE
Wine-Spectator_Le-Macchiole_June-10Related Wines
Le Macchiole
Le Macchiole Messorio
Toscana IGT
Messorio, a Merlot monovarietal, is the winery’s crown jewel. Its initial vintage was 1994, and since then it has received extraordinary acclaim, including a 100-point score from the Wine Spectator for the 2004 vintage. The name Messorio refers to the ancient Tuscan practice of wheat harvesting, the most important time of the year in the Bolgheri countryside - once it referred to wheat; these days, it is all about grape harvesting.
Le Macchiole
Le Macchiole Messorio 2017
Toscana IGT
Messorio, a Merlot monovarietal, is the winery’s crown jewel. Its initial vintage was 1994, and since then it has received extraordinary acclaim, including a 100-point score from the Wine Spectator for the 2004 vintage. The name Messorio refers to the ancient Tuscan practice of wheat harvesting, the most important time of the year in the Bolgheri countryside - once it referred to wheat; these days, it is all about grape harvesting.
Masseto
Masseto
17 uniquely gifted acres that transmit a wine that is internationally proclaimed one of the world's finest. Coveted by international collectors and fine wine connoisseurs across the globe, Masseto constantly receives the highest accolades from the most prestigious wine critics in the world, and is a fixture in the international fine wine trade indices.
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Le Macchiole
Bolgheri, Italy
Le Macchiole can best be defined as the “Boutique Bolgheri.” The winery is known for its spectacular single-varietal wines, and their signature grape varieties are Syrah, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc and work is always conducted with the priority being "the expression of the land." The winery continues to evolve in both the vineyards and in the cellar to allow the soil characteristics from this estate property to be the defining identity in the wines.
Masseto
Bolgheri, Italy
Masseto is one of the world's iconic wines. Coveted by international collectors and fine wine connoisseurs across the globe, Masseto constantly receives the highest accolades from the most prestigious wine critics in the world, and is a fixture in the international fine wine trade indexes.
