Description

Pure, intense, unadulterated Sangiovese fruit showcasing the simplicity of the Tuscan way of life - this is the soul of Tenute Pietro Caciorgna and its wines.

MACCHIE — The Soul of a Single Tuscan Vineyard

The story of Macchie begins in 1953, when Giovanni and Fulvia Caciorgna moved with their seven children to Casole d’Elsa, in the heart of Tuscany, and continued the family tradition of farming. Today, the Caciorgna family farm covers around 20 hectares, where agriculture, livestock and vineyards remain part of a deeply rooted rural way of life. From this family heritage came Macchie, with its first vintage in 2004, created to express the character of their land and their beloved Sangiovese.

At the heart of Macchie is the Osteria delle Macchie, a small 2.3-hectare single vineyard on a south/southeast-facing hill at around 250 metres above sea level. Its medium-textured soil, predominantly sandy with limestone and clay and naturally rich in magnesium, provides excellent drainage and a distinctive mineral foundation. Here, Sangiovese is planted using four different selections (including Chianti Classico clone & Brunello clone) - F9, VCR23, VCR24 and massal selection — bringing together different expressions of Tuscany's great red grape in one unique vineyard.

Massale selection (or massal selection) is the traditional method of propagating new grapevines. A winemaker walks an old vineyard, identifies the healthiest, highest-quality vines with the best fruit, and takes cuttings from them to plant new vines. It is often considered "better" for fine wine production because it fosters genetic diversity rather than using identical cloned vines. Different individual vines have slight, natural variations. This mix of grapes brings more flavour depth and character to the final bottle. In contrast, buying generic cuttings from an industrial nursery involves mass-produced, genetically uniform clones derived from a single mother plant.

Guiding this project is owner Paolo Caciorgna, also a highly experienced enologist whose career has taken him throughout Italy. His expertise allows him to combine precision in the cellar with a profound respect for the vineyard, allowing the character of the fruit and place to remain at the centre of the wine. Macchie is therefore more than a Sangiovese: it is Paolo's interpretation of one special hillside, combining ripe fruit, depth and structure with elegance, finesse and a lingering finish — a true expression of Sangiovese rooted in its place of origin.

“Paolo Caciorgna has spent decades interpreting some of Italy's most distinctive vineyards, from those of Andrea Bocelli’s 1831 family estate to Montalcino (Altesino and San Filippo), Montepulciano (Cantine Dei) and Chianti Classico (Sting and Trudie Styler’s Il Palagio) to San Gimignano, Maremma, Campania (Cantine Di Marzo) and Etna. Yet Macchie is different: it comes from his own family's vineyard in Casole d'Elsa, where his expertise as an enologist meets the land from which he came.”

In the glass, Macchie shows the generous side of Sangiovese: ripe dark fruit, spice and depth, with a muscular structure that gradually reveals something more refined. French oak ageing gives the wine texture and complexity, but the aim is not to hide the Sangiovese — it is to give it time to express itself.