Le Macchiole : Messorio 2022

The last wine tasted during my visit was the magnificent Le Macchiole 2022 Messorio made with 100% Merlot. "It is important to build this wine step by step," says proprietor Cinzia Merli of the blending process that sees grapes blended from various sites with different soils and exposures. Production is 9,500 bottles. The wine reveals a wide span of fruit flavors that include dark cherry on one side of the spectrum and fragrant pomegranate on the other. In 2022, the fruit came off the vines earlier than normal so that the crunchiness of those berry flavors would remain intact. Messorio covers the palate with soft richness and pretty tannins. Hints of spice and crushed stone appear on the long finish.

Purity is the hallmark of this vibrant, black cherry–, blackberry- and violet-flavored red. Solidly built, with refined tannins that will require time to integrate, yet overall this is balanced and elegant. Graphite and wild herb accents emerge on the long aftertaste. Merlot. Best from 2027 through 2040. 920 cases made, 75 cases imported.

The cool, fresh, saline nose of dirt, herbs, new leather, tulips and hibiscus candy glides into a palate which is sweeter but still coherent, with flavors of blackberries, cherries, wild mint and black licorice. Acid zips past chalky tannins to bolster a bitter citrus bite on the finish.

Le Macchiole's Messorio 2022 is a lovely rendition of Tuscan Merlot. Partially vinified in Tava amphorae, it features mint scents overlaying a perfume of red and black berries. Fine, powdery tannins clasp the intense, vertical and very fresh palate. Saline and sapid red and black fruits are showcased up front, with floral lift and a powerful yet poised nature. Lovely.

The 2022 Messorio is the wine at Le Macchiole that shows the estate’s move in recent years towards a style that emphasizes subtlety and nuance more than power. Blood orange, rose petal, cinnamon, kirsch and red cherry fruit open first. Time in the glass releases the wine’s aromatics nicely. The 2022 is an especially perfumed, mid-weight Messorio. I can’t wait to see how it develops with a few years in bottle. The 2022 was raised in new, low-toast barriques, wood uprights and ceramic amphora.

The 2022 Messorio pours a youthful magenta color and is smoky and seductive on the nose, with inviting smoky aromatics of camphor, plum, pine, and forest earth. Full-bodied but with a defined structure, it’s noble on the palate, with a snappy freshness of acidity and a sanguine note through the mid-palate and finish. It’s going to benefit from more time in a bottle, with its nervous energy being more forward at this tasting. Drink 2026-2046.