2021 L'Alberello

Now an IGT Toscana wine, the Grattamacco 2021 L'Alberello (made with certified organic fruit) is a full-bodied expression with layers of dark fruit, sweet plum, spice and dark rose. The blend is 70% Cabernet Sauvignon and 30% Cabernet Franc with 18 months of barrique aging. The wine is abundant and rich, but the 2011 vintage holds back just a little in order to give back more later with bottle age. The mouthfeel is linear, firm but generous. This is a 9,000-bottle release.

In 2004 Claudio Tipa and Maria Iris Bertarelli purchased a 2-ha plot, a lower site on the main road (it’s a long, narrow vineyard leading away from the coast), because at that time they were only renting Grattamacco (ahead of the eventual purchase) and wanted to produce wine from their own property in Bolgheri. This plot was planted to bush vines (alberello vines) as, after the extreme heat of 2003, bush vines seemed a sensible alternative to trellised vines (because more resilient to dry, hot conditions), although bush vines weren’t a traditional way of pruning in Bolgheri at that time. Then in 2011 when the Bolgheri DOC regulations were revised, chief winemaker Luca Marrone explains ‘they included alberello as a traditional pruning method in the appellation, after we proved it was very appropriate for the area’. They planted Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc first (bush-vine Cabernet is quite unusual) and a bit of Petit Verdot; now it’s just the two Cabernets. Bush vines meant they could pick across the rows according to ripeness. Grapes are co-fermented, then aged in barriques for up to 18 months. This is the first vintage that L’Alberello has been classified as Toscana IGT. Before 2021 it was labelled Bolgheri Superiore but they wanted to clearly distinguish it from Grattamacco. This wine evolves faster than Grattamacco. Mid purplish crimson. A little New World-like but lots of fun. Spicy. Quite chewy end and a little bit too inky at the moment. (JR)

The 2021 Bolgheri Superiore L’Alberello is deep and beautifully layered in the glass. Dark-toned fruit, scorched earth, tobacco, cedar and spice all run through this powerhouse Bolgheri red. The 2021 can be enjoyed with minimal cellaring, but a few years in bottle should help soften the formidable tannins. This is impressive juice.