2012 Le Macchiole Scrio Rosso IGT

This deep, spicy red was first produced in 1994, and the inspiration for its creation was the desire to produce a 100% Syrah, one of Le Macchiole's favorite grapes. Rare and original and produced in very small quantities, Scrio quickly became a benchmark in Bolgheri. The name of the wine, inspired by a Tuscan expression that means "pure, candid, whole," perfectly describes its defining characteristics.

Harvest 2012 has certainly been, for Le Macchiole, one of the longest in the past few years (no less than 43 days!), due to the special and favorable weather conditions that gave grapes time to reach the optimum sugar and phenolic ripening level. In early summertime, the year did not look so promising; warm temperatures and lack of rainfall made us fear the worst. That is why all vineyard work was aimed at protecting the vine's vegetative cycle by working the soil's surface layer and carefully lightening the foliage (by removing the secondary shoots, not by topping the plants) to allow the vines to deal with the summer's heatwave. This proved to be a successful move: by the middle of the summer season, when the weather changed by bringing breezy winds and rainfall, the vegetative cycle recovered its strength and achieved excellent grape ripeness. Grape yield was below average for the early varieties, but the year's weather conditions allowed us to work at a less feverish pace and perform a more careful selection of the grapes and winemaking process and a more cautious choice of vinification strategies.