Winemaker Notes
Today, Paleo Rosso is one of the symbols of Bolgheri winemaking, while maintaining a non-standardized wine style, and it is one of the world's best-known Cabernet Francs.
"Paleo" is the common name of a species of grass, Festuca Pratensis (of the Gramineae family), which grows wild along the Tuscan Coast.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Intense aromas and flavors of fresh herbs and blackberries. Full and very velvety. Poised for greatness with so much intensity and character. Super-charged finish. A 100% cabernet-franc wine. Better in 2020.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Paleo is a pure expression of Cabernet Franc first made in 2001. The 2013 Paleo shows a soft and feminine side with rose petal, lavender, wet earth, rosemary and dark fruit. These are beautiful but unexpected qualities. The wine is ever so reflective of the grape variety, but it also does a great job of incorporating Tuscan ideals, with sunshine, grace and generosity among them. As you dig deeper, Paleo reveals more surprising layers. The finish is soft and slightly sweet. Paleo reveals something new each time you go back to the glass to take a new sip. This wine promises a long aging future.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2013 Paleo Rosso is 100% Cabernet Franc that saw an extended maceration in concrete tanks followed by 20 months in 70% new French oak. It’s a total blockbuster and offers up sensational notes of black currants, smoked tobacco, chocolaty oak, and dried flowers. Concentrated, full-bodied, and structured, with building tannin and a great finish, this singular, exotic, quintessential Cabernet Franc needs 2-3 years of bottle age and will shine for 10-15+. Bravo.
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Wine & Spirits
Paleo Rosso is delicious in 2013, offering a distinctly Tuscan take on cabernet franc. Initial flavors of dark chocolate and sweet spice rush through the wine, polished over the course of 20 months in barriques (70 percent new). The flavors maintain vibrancy and lift over several days, building layers of complexity with notes of cardamom, licorice and roasted red pepper even as the tannins take on an earthy tone. Hard to resist now, this will gain complexity as the flavors continue to integrate over the next five years.
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Wine Enthusiast
This all- Cabernet Franc bottling opens with cassis, mocha, graphite and bell pepper aromas. The concentrated palate delivers black currant, raspberry jam, clove and oak-derived spice flavors, with assertive but polished tannins. Drink through 2023.
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.