Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
Grattamacco is one of the highest estates in Bolgheri, located just beneath the village of Castagneto Carducci. It has a distinctive contribution of 15% Sangiovese to the blend, along with the Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. This indigenous grape gives the wine a particular freshness and drinkability, rejuvenating the tension of the classic Bordeaux varieties. In 2016, Grattamacco has exceeded itself, with aromas of elegant, youthful red currant fruits integrated with citrus notes and cedar wood. On the palate the wine is perfectly balanced, and more immediately drinkable than some of the other top samples. It has delicious tension and ripeness, with a mediterranean character and a hint of kiwi on the finish.
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James Suckling
Restrained yet intense, with aromas of brambleberries, balsamic, kiwis, leather and milk chocolate. Full-bodied, it shows velvety tannins, a dense palate, crisp if not zesty acidity and a polished finish. Flavors of milk chocolate and Mediterranean herbs. Powerful and balanced. Very youthful indeed.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2016 Bolgheri Superiore Grattamacco is a subtle and elegant wine with decisive energy and forward momentum. The blend is mostly Cabernet Sauvignon with Merlot and Sangiovese, and the fruit is sourced from across the best sites in the estate's various vineyard holdings. The bouquet opens to delicate berry and wild cherry and then moves over to warmer Mediterranean tones of rosemary, pressed flower and gardening soil. To the palate, the wine shows depth and medium consistency that prizes smoothness, texture and length. Elegance is the big takeaway.
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Wine Spectator
The aromas offer a subtle mix of black currant, violet, cedar, iron and sweet spices, evolving into an elegant profile, with superb balance and harmony. Complex and intense, this seems approachable even at this early stage, yet it will only gain with time in the bottle. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Sangiovese. Best from 2021 through 2048.
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.