Le Macchiole

The farm "Le Macchiole" that is named after the place where it rose originally, was created in 1975 when Ottorino and Umberto Campolmi, the present owner's father and grandfather, decided to sell the wine produced from their modest vineyards, applying the wine-making methods of the local peasant tradition. The production was limited and the quality was poor because of the position of the vineyards and the soil composition, both unsuited to top quality production; nevertheless the original aim, which was to sell a genuine wine, was achieved, and this was enough. In 1981 Eugenio Campolmi, grandson and present owner, took over the farm and, in few years, he changed its policy. He first transferred the vineyards to an area at the foot of the hills around Bolgheri (the present siting) where the soil was more suitable for grapevine cultivation. But the local viticulture was too young and some experiments were necessary for selecting the proper clones and the most appropriate plant spacing. This is why plants are not all equal. E. and L D'Attona, his adviser, were convinced that it was necessary to follow the production starting from a proper vineyard management. After several tests, given the soil fertility, they chose very narrow vineyards with 10,000 vines per hectare; they introduced innovative varieties, very weak rootstocks, double spur pruning, double guyot and grapevine thinning so that the production could not exceed 800/1,000 grapes per plant. Thanks to this new technology and to the favourable soil and climatic conditions, the obtained grape harvests are similar in quality and yields are nearly constant every year. Today "Le Macchiole" has got an area of 17 hectares in ownership (7 of which were planted in 1999) and 6 hectares on rent, and produces the following varieties: cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, sangiovese, merlot and red-berry sirah, sauvignon and white-berry chardonnay.