Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Wow. This is the best syrah in Tuscany this year with incredible depth and beauty. The texture is so plush yet polished and caressing. Full body. The finish of chocolate, hazelnuts, smoked meat and fruit lasts for minutes. Drink or hold. Pure syrah.
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Jeb Dunnuck
A blend of 100% Syrah aged 20 months in 75% new oak, the inky colored 2013 Scrio gives up a stunning bouquet of blackberries, smoked meats, graphite, and licorice. Deep, layered, gorgeously concentrated, ripe and sexy, yet with a core of ripe tannin and a great finish, it needs a year or two but will keep for another 10-15 years. This is another singular effort from Luca Rettondini that readers should do their best to taste.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2013 Scrio is an opulent, generous and engaging wine. It reveals an all-Syrah personality with ample layers of dark fruit, blackberry, spice, cured meat, leather and bacon fat. Its integration is absolutely seamless. Scrio is dark and impenetrable in terms of appearance and presentation. The bouquet and the mouthfeel are long and luscious. You can count the length of the finish in many, many long seconds. Only 5,000 bottles are made. In terms of its aging potential, this Tuscan Syrah has the inner energy to last two decades or more.
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Wine Spectator
This is meaty, exhibiting iron, blackberry, cracked pepper and sanguine aromas and flavors shaded by spicy oak notes. Powerful and dense, this could still benefit from aging but would be approachable with something like a juicy, grilled steak. Syrah. Best from 2019 through 2029.
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Tasting Panel
Le Macchiole's 2013 Scrio is a deep, dense wine built on a core of serious fruit. Dark, powerful and inviting, the 2013 possesses striking nuance throughout, especially in the expression of fruit. Creamy, silky tannins add to an impression of generosity. It will be interesting to see if more varietal aromatics develop in bottle. Today, the Scrio is a wine decidedly built on primary notes.
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Wine Enthusiast
This 100% Syrah wine opens with ripe black-skinned fruit, roasted coffee, leather and cedar aromas. The full-bodied, concentrated palate offers dried blackberry, espresso, white pepper and star anise flavors, bolstered by ample, polished tannins. Enjoy through 2021.
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.