Le Macchiole : Scrio 2022

The Le Macchiole 2022 Scrio (made with 100% Syrah) is the first wine we tasted in a flight of the estate's top reds (that includes Paleo and Messorio). This lineup indicates a growing level of richness and intensity expressed in this hot and dry vintage. The Scrio (with 4,000 bottles made) has a level of bright primary fruit that comes out roaring. The power and textural richness of the vintage is immediately clear, and you get dark fruit, sweet spice and a nicely hydrated mouthfeel and tannins. The estate has seven hectares of Syrah in the Vigna Vignone and an additional 9,000 square meters of vines in the Casavecchia vineyard that is 200 meters above sea level with schistic galestro soils and head-pruned plants. The first site delivers the wine's roundness and sweet fruit, whereas Casavecchia brings the acidic tension and linearity. This wine is a 50-50 blend of both parcels. No whole cluster is used because the skins were too fragile and the stems did not fully ripen. The wine is fermented in Tava cement vats, and cap management is more of an infusion with submerged cap. Great care is taken to avoid oxygen, which could result in undesired black olive-like aromas. This wine has taken on a life of its own, and the intensity of primary fruit is excellent.

A vibrant, intense red, whose blackberry, blueberry, violet and black pepper flavors are driven by vivid acidity. There are dense tannins, too, finely wrought and adding support on the finish. All of the elements dovetail on the harmonious aftertaste. Syrah. Best from 2027 through 2042. 320 cases made, 35 cases imported.

The nose glistens with aromas of blackberries, blueberries, top soil, new leather and herbs, while the palate is tangy and bouncy with tart berries, plum skin and citrus. Chewy, dense tannins provide structure.

Sourced from two Syrah vineyards at high altitude, partially vinified in Tava amphorae, Scrio 2022 is a class act. Mediterranean scrub and some medicinal notes mingle with dark fruit aromas. In the mouth, it offers a charming amalgam of crushed stone, lavender, violet, dark cherry, blackberry and raspberry coulis, and spices. Vertical with a saline core, this screams precision with its delineated, vibrant fruits, and finishes with some bitter herbs which speak of place.

The 2022 Scrio, 100% Syrah, is once again more a wine of Le Macchiole than anything else. Perfumed aromatics meld into red cherry/plum fruit, blood orange, espresso and cinnamon. Scrio is not especially varietal, but it is quite beautiful. It is also the most changed wine at Le Macchiole in recent years. There’s lovely precision and class, qualities that make me very curious so see this in more favorable vintages. The 2022 was aged in 500L and 600L barrels (10% new), wood uprights and a touch of ceramic amphora.

Looking at the single-varietal wines, the 2022 Scrio is a youthful magenta color and is highly perfumed in the glass with aromas of candied flowers, pink peppercorn, dried earth, incense, and fresh red plum. The palate has a more sanguine feel, with savory notes and defined compact tension and structure, bright acidity, balanced energy, and a lovely mouthwatering finish. It‘s only going to improve with time. Drink it over the coming 15 years.