Podere Grattamacco Bolgheri Superiore 2019
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James
Suckling -
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Spectator -
Robert
Parker - Decanter
Product Details
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Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
#12 Wine Spectator Top 100 of 2022
The olfactory impact is of considerable aromatic intensity: it expands with notes of small, fully ripe red fruits, accompanied by clear balsamic and Mediterranean hints. In progression, typical mineral notes develop. The gustatory impact is austere, of remarkable freshness and of large volume. It develops in a balanced fusion between the broad minerality and the fine and enveloping tannins. Everything is found in the long final persistence that foreshadows a long life ahead.
Goes well with game, as e.g. local preparations of wild boar, roast, braised and stewed red meats, and medium aged cheese.
Blend: 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 15% Sangiovese
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Reserved layers and depth slowly begin to emerge from the 2019 Grattamacco, so it is going to need time in cellar to open and show itself. As it opens in the glass, it reveals attractive dark mineral earth, kirsch, black pepper spice, and balsamic. It is concentrated and compact at this stage, with savory richness, and it displays full and balanced structure, ripe and present tannins, and notes of cassis, cedar, and pine resin. It reveals rich complexity without ever feeling murky, and its energetic tension takes this wine to the next level.
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Wine Spectator
Dense and smooth, featuring black cherry, blackberry, plum, iron, licorice and menthol aromas and flavors. Fresh and featuring a spine of tannins, this finishes on the compact side for now. Shows balance, so be patient. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Sangiovese. Best from 2025.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2019 Bolgheri Superiore Grattamacco (a blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot and 15% Sangiovese) is a real beauty and shows very nicely today based on advancing vine age alone. Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah vines show great results after seven years, whereas Merlot and Sangiovese vines need a few more years before they start to show that extra degree of complexity, the winemaking team tells me. This is a complete and beautifully balanced wine that shows soft extraction and especially sweet tannins. It fermented in truncated conical oak vats and finished in barrique for 18 months.
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Decanter
Grattamacco is a blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot and 15% Sangiovese, which certainly contributes to the fresher style of this wine. The whole picture is complete only when understanding that the vineyards used for this blend are among the highest of the appellation. According to winemaker Luca Marrone, in 2019 the ripening of the grapes was slow and the harvests took place on 4 October. Grattamacco shines for its signature leafy, Mediterranean forest aromas, with assertive kiwi peel, restrained cassis, bell pepper and chocolate flavours. The attack is velvety, youthful and firm, less easy-going compared to Alberello but more tight-knit and extremely elegant - the Sangiovese grapes seem to emphasise the red freshness of the fruit. The length is amazing.
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Founded in 1977, and acquired by the Tipa Bertarelli Family in 2002, Grattamacco was one of first the two wineries in Bolgheri. A region typically known for Cabernet and Merlot, Grattamacco sets itself apart from surrounding wineries with its winemaking practices using 15% Sangiovese to impart quality and elegance in its wines. Grattamacco was not only the first winery in Bolgheri to use Sangiovese because of its high altitude despite its proximity to the coast, but also the first to plant Vermentino. Grattamacco wines are known for both their power, elegance and complexity that evolves with time.
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.