Winemaker Notes
Podere Grattamacco L'Alberello Bolgheri Superiore shows a deep purple core with ruby reflections. The wine is generous and silky on the palate with rich aromas and flavors of wild blackberries and plums, black pepper, and balsamic. The structure is defined by dense, yet soft tannins and a mouthwatering acidity that is marked by a sense of saltiness. A long and harmonious finish presupposes a very long life of development.
Goes well with game, red meats and medium aged cheese.
Blend: 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Cabernet Franc
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Lovely, clean black fruit character to this full-bodied and densely packed red. Also offers hints of dark chocolate, cardamom and fresh fenugreek seeds. The tannins are well embedded in the texture and pull you down into the wine. The fruit is persistent. The finish is long, turning firm by the end. From organically grown grapes. Cabernet sauvignon and cabernet franc. This is really impressive now, but will benefit from another couple of years in bottle.
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Wine Spectator
There's a yin and yang between the lush blackberry, black currant and cherry fruit and the tense, grainy tannins in this red, which starts out fluid, then tightens up as it builds to the long finish. Mineral and underbrush notes add depth. Just feels more youthful than its peers at this stage.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon and 30% Cabernet Franc, the Grattamacco 2020 Bolgheri Superiore l’Alberello sees fruit from 15-year-old vines, and everything is harvested on the same day. The wine ages in barrique for 18 months. The bouquet evokes dry aromas of Sicilian oregano, grilled thyme and earthy licorice root. On the palate, you get good length and general complexity with rich tart fruit, cherry and blackberry that can still go the distance.
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
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.