Le Macchiole : Scrio 2020

A sleek, elegant red signaled by violet, blueberry, boysenberry, earth and spice aromas and flavors. Dense yet fluid, with fine-grained tannins and a well-defined beam of fruit persisting on the finish. Shows superb finesse and balance. Syrah. Best from 2025 through 2040. 320 cases made, 35 cases imported.

Scrio has changed a lot in the last few years, switching from a ‘Rotie’ to a ‘Crozes’ style of Syrah. Indeed, fermentation and maceration take place for 20 days in concrete tanks, while ageing lasts for 14 months in tonneaux, conical trunk casks and stoneware amphorae. A light, crisp, peppery Syrah, it offers plenty of dark fruit on a taut palate. It lacks a bit of concentration but is pleasant to drink.

Plenty of flowers and fresh fruit such as blackberries and raspberries. Hints of cloves and nutmeg. Medium to full body, with ultra-fine tannins and a chewy, crunchy finish. A little tight at the end, suggesting it needs three to four years of bottle age. Drink after 2026.

The 2020 Scrio (Syrah) is a lovely wine. At this stage, the Scrio is pretty closed, but that is likely a very good thing for its long-term aging prospects. Time in the glass brings out hints of white pepper, smoke, dried flowers, mint and chalk that lend brightness to a core of sweet red and blood orange fruit. This is the first vintage in which vineyard sourcing shifts meaningfully to a site in the hills of Bolgheri. The 2020 was aged in 12hL cask, ceramic and about 10% in French oak.

Moving to the varietal wines, the 2020 Scrio (which is always Syrah) displays a deep but transparent magenta hue. Floral and inviting, the nose offers beautiful aromas of fresh lavender, candied black raspberry, mocha, and sweet herbs. Full-bodied but weightless, with ripe tannins, its more savory Mediterranean profile shines on the palate with notes of black olive. It has a buoyant and mouthwatering finish that retains freshness of acidity while also offering notes of salty earth. This vintage seems to be much more lifted than I remember this cuvée being in years past and is more about its mineral texture, with undercurrents of spice lasting long on the finish. One stunner of a wine, it’s haunting, as it lasts on the palate for ages. Drink 2025-2040.

The 2020 Le Macchiole Scrio is vibrant and fruity, full of blackberry, raspberry, cream and sweet spice aromas—it is very open and at ease with itself. On the palate it is round, with juicy ripe blackberries, cream, and spice. It is too young yet to have developed more interesting or nuanced flavors like the 2019, but it is showing lots of concentration and potential. At the moment it is much simpler, but it is joyful and beautifully made.

The nose is sleek and dark, like a well-tailored suit, as the chewy saltiness of black olives waltzes with the tartness of blackberries and blueberries, while fireworks of black pepper burst in the night sky above. The olives and dark fruit keep dancing on the palate, until the song ends with a spicy, bitter chocolate crescendo. Debonair tannins watch you from across the ballroom, while acid simmers on the balcony, inconspicuous but unforgettable.

A beautiful Syrah from Tuscany, the 2020 Scrio shows impeccable elegance with a very long and linear style that transcends the nose and the palate. I love the precision of this wine. The celebrated Rhône grape has found a very happy home along this part of the Tuscan coast. The team at Le Macchiole is especially talented at bringing out varietal nuances of dark fruit, baking chocolate, spice, charred meat, white pepper and pencil shaving.