Winemaker Notes
The 2016 Le Macchiole Messorio, a Merlot monovarietal, is the winery’s crown jewel. A generous grape variety, perfect for the typical Bolgherese wine blends, but tricky and difficult when made into a single varietal wine. Currently considered to be one of Italy’s most representative Merlot-based wines, Messorio is very complex and elegant and evolves beautifully in the bottle year by year.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
This expression of Merlot is explosive and profound. The 2016 Messorio presents an absolute textbook rendition of Merlot that can be read and appreciated in terms of the layering and overlapping textures of the wine as it rolls over the palate. There is a point of sweetness on the palate, and the wine also shows a bright point of acidity that makes for a great balancing act. I tasted this wine twice, and at my first tasting, I tried it next to the 2015 vintage, thus putting me in a better position to directly compare the two. Whereas the 2015 edition came off as more velvety and soft, the 2016 vintage displays exceptionally crafted precision. This is an incredible wine.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2016 Messorio is rich, expressive, and beautifully tailored. Ripe with lush fruit of boysenberry, plum, and candied violets, and a bit of vanilla bean spice, it is very pleasant and attractive. It is full and inviting on the palate and ripe with velvety tannins, and it offers elegant, polished notes of sweet plum, spice, and a lightly saline and long finish.
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James Suckling
Shows very ripe aromas on the nose with lightly burnt oranges, black olives and fresh dark berries and hints of walnuts, yet the palate is driven and very bright with ultra-fine tannins and a flavorful finish. Shows definition and tension.
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Wine & Spirits
This pure merlot from the Bolgheri coast is smooth and velvety. This is the second year in which proprietor Cinzia Merlia has reduced the toast levels in the new French oak barriques where Messorio ages, and the effect is brilliant in this wine from the moderate 2016 growing season, bringing striking clarity to the wine’s juicy plum and black cherry flavors. Notes of fennel bulb and aniseed accent the fruit tones, and the flavors glide on silky tannins toward a long, elegant finish.
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Wine Spectator
Dense and concentrated, featuring ripe blackberry and black cherry flavors. Serious tannins add structure, as does the lively acidity. All the elements cascade through the long, saturated finish, where iron, tobacco and herb notes emerge. The oak is well-integrated, and this is racy in the end. Merlot. Best from 2021 through 2038.
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Wine Enthusiast
Cedar, camphor, French oak and cassis aromas are front and center. Mirroring the nose, the firm full-bodied palate offers coconut, roasted coffee bean, dried blackberry and vanilla along with notes of grilled green bell pepper. Assertive, close grained tannins provide the framework and generate a clenching, mouthdrying finish. Give the tannins several years to unwind. Drink 2023–2031.
Long before it was fashionable, Eugenio Campolmi saw the potential of his homeland, buying his first vineyard in Bolgheri in 1975 baptised "Le Macchiole". In 1987, he hired famed oenologist Vittorio Fiore as a consultant before the later was joined by Luca d'Attoma for years later. In contrast to his renowned neighbors who focused on Bordeaux blends, Campolmi focused on achieving the purest expression of individual varieties, crafting distinct wines of unprecedented quality. Soon Le Macchiole joined Sassicaia, Ornellaia, and Guado al Tasso as one of the most prestigious estates in Bolgheri. Following Eugenio's death in 2002, his wife Cinzia Merli, who shares her husband's passion, took over at the estate. Working with Luca D'Attoma, she has carried on her husband's legacy by continuing to make great Tuscan wines.
Legendary in Italy for its Renaissance art and striking landscape, Tuscany is also home to many of the country’s best red wines. Sangiovese reigns supreme here, as either the single varietal, or a dominant player, in almost all of Tuscany’s best.
A remarkable Chianti, named for its region of origin, will have a bright acidity, supple tannins and plenty of cherry fruit character. From the hills and valleys surrounding the medieval village of Montalcino, come the distinguished and age-worthy wines based on Brunello (Sangiovese). Earning global acclaim since the 1970s, the Tuscan Blends are composed solely of international grape varieties or a mix of international and Sangiovese. The wine called Vine Nobile di Montepulciano, composed of Prognolo Gentile (Sangiovese) and is recognized both for finesse and power.