2021 Scrio 1,5 l Le Macchiole

The Le Macchiole 2021 Scrio (made with 100% Syrah) is a wine of generosity, depth and texture. It offers a full embrace of the senses with mulberry, damson plum, soft spice and camphor ash. You get a distant overlay of the peppercorn and smoked bacon that usually characterizes this variety; however, softer tones of cardamom or candied orange in dark chocolate take center stage. There's even a spot of blue flower or lilac. Some 10% of the wine ages in clay amphorae. I love the precision and determined length of this Syrah and the tannins that remain supple and velvety. This is an exceptional Tuscan Syrah.

The 2021 Scrio, Le Macchiole’s Syrah, opens with crushed flowers, bright, red-toned fruit and a kick of white pepper. Vibrant acids lift the mid-palate beautifully. This is an especially elegant, refined Scrio that very much reflects a shift to hillside vineyards that now account for 50% of the blend. At times, the red fruit profile and medium-bodied structure are Pinot-like. There’s a feeling of delicacy, of understatement, that is palpable. The 2021 was aged for 14 months in neutral French oak, Clayvers (small, round ceramic vessels) and stoneware amphora, an approach that further accentuates the wine’s vibrant fruit. Scrio is such an unusual Syrah. I am so intrigued to see how it ages.