Le Macchiole Paleo 2010

Professional Ratings

• 97 Wine Enthusiast
  This extraordinary wine put Cabernet Franc on the map in Bolgheri. The 2010 reveals an exquisite bouquet of black currants, crushed blue flower, leather and baking spices. The smooth palate delivers mouthwatering blackberries, black cherry, white pepper, thyme and licorice alongside an age-worthy structure boasting firm but elegant tannins and fresh acidity. It's already gorgeous with intriguing depth but it will age and develop beautifully. Drink 2015–2040.
  Editors' Choice
• 96 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
  The 2010 Paleo Rosso is the most impressive wine of the tasting and easily cements this wine's reputation as coastal Tuscany's finest Cabernet Franc. The complexity is mesmerizing, as the wine playfully offers aromas of black fruit, salvia, rosemary, chocolate and spice in quick succession. It still tastes tight and nervous, so give it the time required to soften. Anticipated maturity: 2016-2030.
• 95 James Suckling
  A solid wine with blueberry, blackberry and wild-cherry character. Full body with chewy tannins. So much mineral, chalk and cedar character, with gorgeous fruit. Pure cabernet franc, showing how fabulously the varietal works in Bolgheri. Needs two to four years of bottle age.
• 93 Wine Spectator
  Perfumed, offering sandalwood, floral and sweet wood smoke aromas that augment the blackberry and spice flavors. Dense and muscular, with stiff tannins and ample sweet fruit. Fine length. Cabernet Franc. Best from 2016 through 2025.
• 93 Wine & Spirits
  With the gentle caress of cabernet franc, Paleo Rosso is the most elegant of Le Macchiole’s reds. Its scent of fresh currants layered with herbs follows a narrow path, a tight formation that drives through spicy cedar notes of wood aging and tannins as fruity and fragrant as blackberry seeds. The flavor is bright and remarkably long without any excess weight.