Syrah

Here comes the third vintage of Stefano Frascolla's heart project from the Alta Maremma. Just 2,500 bottles of this 100% Syrah are bottled, aged (on the skins) for half a year in amphorae, then filtered and matured in small French oak barrels.

Just 2,500 bottles of this 100% Syrah are bottled, aged (on the skins) for six months in amphorae, then filtered and matured in small French oak barrels.

Black cherry red with a violet rim. On the nose, notes of spices such as ginger, cinnamon, dried coriander and vanilla pod, rounded off with fruit flavours of pomegranate, cherry and floral nuances such as geranium, lavender and rose. Fresh rose sugar and graphite on the palate, with raspberry, cherry, fresh plum and cranberry flavours. Long finish with a fine hint of cassis. SUPERIORE.DE

Black cherry red with a violet rim. On the nose, notes of spices such as ginger, cinnamon, dried coriander and vanilla pod, rounded off with fruit flavours of pomegranate, cherry and floral nuances such as geranium, lavender and rose. Fresh rose sugar and graphite on the palate, with raspberry, cherry, fresh plum and cranberry flavours. Long finish with a fine cassis note. SUPERIORE.DE

A characterful expression of southern elegance, characterised by the terroir of the Maremma and a cuvée that ingeniously combines Syrah and Grenache. The vines for the Tinata grow on clay and limestone soils on a hillside not far from the Tyrrhenian coast near Capalbio. The 2021 vintage was balanced and almost ideal: a moderately warm summer, without drought stress, followed by a long, sunny autumn - the best conditions for fully ripe, aromatically complex grapes.

A long-cherished vision of Elisabetta and her daughter Clara finds its completion in this crescent. This 100% Syrah builds on all that the winery has achieved in recent years and for which it has gained world renown. The best grapes, careful selection and a sensitive, clever and innovative vinification combined with a clearly recognisable signature and the already proverbial quality fanaticism.

A long-cherished vision of Elisabetta and her daughter Clara finds its fulfilment in this crescendo. This 100% Syrah builds on everything that the winery has achieved in recent years and for which it has gained a worldwide reputation. The best grapes, careful selection and sensitive, intelligent and innovative winemaking combined with a clearly recognisable signature and the proverbial fanaticism for quality. The grapes come from the estate's two vineyards, Pian di Fiora and La Vigna del Palo. Pian di Fiora is the cooler vineyard with just 5 hectares, the grapes are destemmed by hand and then fermented in 500 litre clay amphorae. The grapes from the east-facing vineyard La Vigna del Palo are fermented in open 500-litre barrels. The wines are then blended and matured in 300 litre barriques for a further 10 months before being bottled for a further 22 months.

Syrah Suisassi is rich and expressive. The bouquet convinces with aromas of sage, rosemary, wild flowers, liquorice, violets and plums. On the palate very full and round with memories of berries, chocolate and nuts. Elegant and intellectual. SUPERIORE.DE

Syrah Suisassi is rich and expressive. The bouquet is convincing with aromas of sage, rosemary, wild flowers, liquorice, violets and plums. On the palate very full and round with memories of berries, chocolate and nuts. Elegant and intellectual. SUPERIORE.DE

Suisassi is rich and expressive. The bouquet convinces with aromas of sage, rosemary, wild flowers, liquorice, violets and plums. Very full and round on the palate with memories of berries, chocolate and nuts. Elegant and intellectual, still needs time. SUPERIORE.DE

Around 300 bottles. No more. Anyone who knows the Etichetta Nera knows: you don't just buy it like that – you get it if you're lucky. The Syrah on the black label grows on a single hectare in Blera, 380 metres above sea level, exposed to the south-east, on heavy clay with rock inclusions. The same vineyard from which Emanuele Pangrazi and Marco Casolanetti have always distilled their Syrah fraction for the Habemus blend – the part that Pangrazi once described as the "mouth of Habemus": the fleshy, the dark, the substantial. What used to carry the body of the blend stands alone here for the first time.

Michele Satta is one of the pioneers of Bolgheri – in 1982, he founded his winery as one of the first in this now world-famous Tuscan coastal region. While the big names all around were focussing on Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc, Satta took an unconventional step: with Marianova, first vinified in 2015, the second generation of the family created the first Bolgheri Superiore to be made entirely without Bordeaux grapes. Instead, this wine combines equal parts of the best Syrah and Sangiovese grapes from the Vignanova vineyard – the grape varieties that have most strongly characterised Satta's Bolgheri experience. Vinification takes place in cement vats with 30 per cent whole-cluster fermentation and malolactic fermentation in barriques. Ageing lasts 18 months in Liters amphorae and barriques, followed by further bottle ageing.

Marianova is the first Bolgheri Superiore to be produced without Bordeaux grape varieties. Instead, it is a 50/50 blend of Syrah and Sangiovese, an idea of Michele Satta's son Giacomo, which was first produced in 2015.

Deep dark, almost impenetrable red colour. A whole range of ripe wild berries on the nose, delicately accompanied by nuances of tobacco, leather, cedar and lavender. The palate is also full of fruit, powerful, yet silky and elegant. Traces of dark chocolate in the endlessly long final. SUPERIORE.DE

Eugenio Campolmi loved Syrah. Not as an assemblage component, not as a flavouring for other grape varieties – but in its pure form, without compromise. In 1994, when hardly anyone in Bolgheri was seriously considering 100% Syrah, he started Scrio. The name comes from the Tuscan – a dialect word normally used for people: scrio, whoever it is, is pure, sincere, undivided. Eugenio Campolmi has transferred this word to a wine. It fits. Scrio is made from a rigorous selection of the best Syrah grapes from the Puntone and Vignone vineyards – hand-picked, 800 grams per vine. The vineyard does not yield more than this, and it does not want more. Never more than 5,000 bottles. Fermentation and maceration for 20 days in stainless steel, then 13 months in new tonneaux and conical wooden containers, a small proportion in ceramics – ageing that gives the wine texture without masking it.

Deep dark, almost impenetrable red colour. A whole range of ripe wild berries on the nose, delicately accompanied by nuances of tobacco, leather, cedar and lavender. The palate is also full of fruit, powerful, yet silky and elegant. Traces of dark chocolate on the endlessly long final. SUPERIORE.DE

The name Scrio comes from a Tuscan expression for "pure, sincere, unadulterated" – qualities that Eugenio Campolmi's (†2002) favourite Syrah has embodied since 1994. The 2019 vintage tells of a year of slow ripening without extreme heat. A dry winter with a late cold snap at the end of March was followed by a cool, rainy May, which slowed down the vegetation. The intensive foliage work in summer finally led to a late but excellent harvest between the second and third week of September. The glass reveals a deep black Syrah with a Mediterranean richness that clearly stands out from its French counterparts. 25 days of maceration in steel and concrete, followed by 18 months in tonneau and conical wooden barrels with a proportion of ceramic vessels, result in a wine of exceptional purity and depth. A rare treasure from only a few thousand bottles. SUPERIORE.DE

Scrio - a great Tuscan Syrah from Le Macchiole - is a real beauty. The persistent bouquet offers aromas of dark berries and cured meat, warm and balsamic on the palate with great intensity and dynamism, rich in extract and long. SUPERIORE.DE

Scrio is Tuscan and means: pure, sincere, whole. Since 1994, this wine has been Cinzia Merli's vision of a single-varietal Syrah that is neither French nor Californian, but Mediterranean and Tuscan at the same time. Produced in minimal quantities, this wine quickly became the reference in Bolgheri for a grape variety that is not actually native to the region. The 2021 marks a turning point: 50% of the grapes now come from new hillside vineyards, which gives the wine an elegance and delicacy that is almost reminiscent of Pinot Noir. After 20 days of fermentation and maceration in concrete tanks and earthenware amphorae, the Scrio matures for 14 months in neutral French oak, clayvers and earthenware amphorae – an ageing process that emphasises the lively fruit.

It was 1991 when Michele Satta planted his first Syrah vine in Bolgheri – an act of rebellion in a still young appellation that was just beginning to find its identity. The visionary winemaker from Varese followed a clear conviction: The Syrah should maximise the aromatic complexity of the Mediterranean terroir and at the same time express his personal identification with the great wines of the Rhône. Thirty years later, this exotic wine has matured into one of Bolgheri's most fascinating single-vineyard wines.