Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2012 Grattamacco also pours a deep red/brick color. In the glass, savory aromas of crushed Mediterranean herbs come to the fore along with notes of black raspberries, leather, sappy herbs, turned earth, and crushed flowers. Full-bodied, it has a balanced linear drive that focuses on the palate, with its characteristic saltiness and refreshing nature, supple, ripe tannins, and delicate notes of sweet orange citrus through the long, tapering finish.
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James Suckling
A super-expressive, intense and evolved wine. On the nose it shows smoke, cedar, coffee, leather and restrained cassis. Full-bodied and powerful, dense and extracted, with velvety tannins, crisp acidity and a chewy finish. Savory umami on the slightly warming aftertaste.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
This bottle is marked by a 30th anniversary seal (1982–2012) on the front label. The 2012 Bolgheri Superiore Grattamacco is a wine that has improved with aging. This elegant expression shows fine fruit with sweet cherry highlights and soft tannins. You might catch glimpses of the summer heat with a hint of white raisin or dried plum. However, there is a sprightly herbal note and freshness that suggest that this bottle could easily go another ten years. The 2012 vintage saw 1.5 meters of snow in the winter with dry and hot weather conditions that continued for the rest of the summer. The soils had absorbed enough humidity during winter to carry through to the summer season.
Disenchanted with Italian winemaking laws in the 1970s, a few rebellious Tuscan winemakers decided to get creative. Instead of following tradition, to bottle Sangiovese by itself, they started blending it with international varieties, namely Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah in differing proportions and with amazing success. However, some Tuscan Blends don’t even include Sangiovese. Somm Secret—The suffix –aia in Italian modifies a word in much the same way –y acts in English. For example, a place with many stones (sassi) becomes Sassicaia. While not all Super Tuscan producer names end in –aia, they all share a certain coy nomenclature.
An outstanding wine region made famous by Marchese Mario Incisa della Rocchetta, who planted Cabernet Sauvignon vines for his own consumption in 1940s on his San Guido estate, and called the resulting wine, Sassicaia. Today the region’s Tuscan reds are based on Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, which can be made as single varietal wines or blends. The local Sangiovese can make up no more than 50% of the blends. Today Sassicaia has its own DOC designation within the Bogheri DOC appellation.