2021 - Superiore, Grattamacco, Bolgheri

The superb Grattamacco 2021 Bolgheri Superiore Grattamacco (a certified organic wine) is balanced and intense, yet it remains faithful to a medium-plus texture that never feels weighed down. That's one of the best qualities of this classical vintage: you get the power of the fruit with contained concentration and extraction. The bouquet is alive with blackcurrants, cherry, spice and hints of campfire ember. This is one of the jewels of Bolgheri. The blend is 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot and 15% Sangiovese (with 60,000 bottles made). It ferments in conical oak vats with ambient yeasts and manual push-downs and ages in barrique for 18 months.

A bold, sweeping wine, the 2021 Grattamacco is pretty impressive. Readers should expect a potent, extroverted red with tons of Bolgheri opulence. There’s plenty of supporting structure too, but at this stage it’s the wine’s intense, ripe profile that carries the day. A blast of blackberry, scorched earth, new leather, licorice and incense saturates the palate on the long, sustained finish.

The usual blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 15% Sangiovese. The current vintage, released May 2024, was initially challenging. After a winter with normal rainfall, budbreak arrived rather early; the first part of spring brought no rain. The night of 8 April experienced an abrupt drop in temperatures and a freeze on the Bolgheri plain, but with minimal damage to the Grattamacco vineyards. Rains from mid April through mid May established continuously wet conditions during that period, but summer was dry and fairly hot. To keep the clusters shaded during the hot days, leaf-pulling was not performed, and during July emergency irrigation was applied in all the Grattamacco vineyards, with the exception of Casa Vecchia. Harvest started early, on 25 August. Two harvesting passes were often required in order to pick grapes at peak ripeness. Fine weather in the first half of September and rains on the 19th brought the remaining grapes to a finely balanced ripeness. Harvest concluded on 28 September. Pressing-off of the new wine proceeded rapidly, following maceration on the skins lasting two weeks at most. The exceptions were the last-harvested lots of Cabernet Sauvignon, which macerated longer, with the additional application of two Piemontesinas, the last pressed on 24 November. Crop levels for the year were average. Aged 18 months in small oak barrels. Bottled in August 2023. Mid to dark crimson. Very complete and with a little less obvious tannin than the 2016. Already very approachable and well balanced with a chalky texture on the end. Really charming with a little light inkiness. Long, and fresher than 2016. (JR)