Dinner at Home with Le Macchiole

December 2006

This past fall my travel schedule took me to Tuscany rather than Piedmont, which has been my more typical destination in late November. Although I suffered from a severe case of truffle withdrawal in Chianti Classico I did come home with several bottles of freshly-pressed olive oil, my second-favorite food of the season. We started with very simple bruschetta topped with the 2006 olive oil from Petrolo, a remarkable estate for the exceptionally high quality of all its products. The Insalata Caprese provided an illusion of summer warmth on an otherwise cold and drab New York winter evening.

This informal dinner also provided a perfect opportunity to check in on a few wines from Le Macchiole. Overall the 2000s gave the impression of being slightly less elegant than the more refined 2001s. The wines also appear to be entering the early part of their drinking windows making 2000 an excellent vintage to enjoy while the 1999s and 2001s continue to develop in the cellar. The 2000 Paleo (70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Cabernet Franc) was ripe, open and gorgeous on the palate. Powerful and rich, it was a wonderful wine with which to start our dinner even if it lacked the complexity of the best vintages. The 2000 Scrio (100% Syrah) took things to another level. It presented plenty of super ripe dark fruit, chocolate and toasted oak flavors along with its characteristic note of mint. With air more advanced notes of leather, earthiness and animal made an appearance. The estate’s 2000 Messorio (100% Merlot) also enjoyed a strong showing and provided much pleasure. Although some of the baby fat has dropped off, it was still quite concentrated, yet the presence of early tertiary earthy and leather notes suggest it too has arrived at the early part of its drinking window.

I prepared a simple seared filet mignon with roasted potatoes and sautéed mushrooms to accompany our flight of the estate’s stunning 2001s, a vintage that remains a benchmark for Le Macchiole. Although the 2001s may benefit from additional cellaring they were drinking absolutely brilliantly on this night. Stylistically they were also fresher and more vibrant, showing greater refinement than the 2000s. The 2001 Paleo (100% Cabernet Franc) was simply off the charts. It opened with gorgeous, well-delineated aromatics followed by heady notes of dark fruit, menthol, spices, chocolate, minerals and toasted oak. Warm, ample and vibrant on the palate, is showed tremendous length and plenty of Cabernet Franc character with more nuance and finer tannins than the 2000. In top vintages the estate’s Scrio makes a case for itself as Italy’s finest Syrah. The 2001 was utterly irresistible. It presented a seductive array of dark cherries, plums, mint, minerals and spices with extraordinary length and purity of expression, closing with a long, resonating finish. Though rich and concentrated it also came across as remarkably light on its feet. Amazingly, the 2001 Messorio (100% Merlot) reached an even higher level of profoundness. Blessed with a super-finessed nose and layers of dark, jammy, plum, mineral and toasted oak that slowly opened in the glass, it displayed extraordinary purity in its ample, generous expression of Merlot from Bolgheri. It was a phenomenal wine in every way. I was happy to savor a last glass alongside a plate of artisan cheeses.

Food:

Bruschetta with Petrolo olive oil

Insalata Caprese

Seared filet mignon with sautéed mushrooms

Artisan cheeses

Wine:

--Antonio Galloni