Le Macchiole Scrio 2015

Professional Ratings

• 100 James Suckling
  A stunning syrah; the real McCoy for the variety. The depth of aroma takes your breath away with bark, tea leaves, peppermint, dried rosemary, thyme, sage, pressed violets, cedar, creme de cassis, blackcurrants and lavender. The palate is incredibly tight and yet, profound in its delivery of flavors. Full body, layer upon layer of fruit of every color on the spectrum, pinpoint acidity and a finish that seems endless. Drink in 2025 and way beyond.
• 95 Wine Spectator
  Deep and saturated in both color and fruit, with core flavors of ripe plum, blackberry and black cherry, this red also offers interwoven notes of earth, vanilla, licorice and black pepper. This is solidly built, yet also polished and balanced, with a long, palate-staining finish. Best from 2021 through 2038.
• 95 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
  It's worth noting that the Scrio was not made in 2014, as Syrah did not reach the right maturity for the quality Le Macchiole looks for. The 2015 growing season wasn't much easier, with 15 days of extreme heat in July. August brought cooler weather, and so they tried to slow down the ripening process by doing very little green harvest. This vintage is marked by more pepper than fruit, but it's still a beautiful effort, and I see a lot of potential for aging this wine. The 2015 Scrio is made with a more reductive approach overall, and this vintage needs a year or two to open fully.
• 93 Wine & Spirits

  Merli significantly reduced the influence of new wood in the 2015 vintage, moving to larger and older barrels (all second pass). The result is a syrah with nuanced scents of violet and wild thyme and concentrated, plummy flavors accented by notes of grilled game and cracked black pepper. The meaty tannins suggest that this will continue to improve over several years.