Maculan Palazzotto Cabernet Sauvignon Breganze 2018
VENETO
Regular price $31.99
Maculan
Veneto, Italy
Palazzotto Cabernet Sauvignon Breganze 2018
$27.99 on 4+ bottles
$31.99 on bottle 1
100% Cabernet sauvignon
Terroir and soils: Hillside vineyards of volcanic and tuffaceous soils
Winemaking: Stainless steel tanks with eight days of maceration and several punch downs. Malo is spontaneous, only about 90% goes through malolactic. Aged for one year in French oak barriques: 1/2 new and 1/2 second usage
Veneto, Italy
Palazzotto Cabernet Sauvignon Breganze 2018
$27.99 on 4+ bottles
$31.99 on bottle 1
100% Cabernet sauvignon
Terroir and soils: Hillside vineyards of volcanic and tuffaceous soils
Winemaking: Stainless steel tanks with eight days of maceration and several punch downs. Malo is spontaneous, only about 90% goes through malolactic. Aged for one year in French oak barriques: 1/2 new and 1/2 second usage
My Tasting Note
Ruby red and vibrant at the edges. A classic nose of cassis, currants, plum, and a touch of capsicum pepper spice. Some rose petal notes and a smoky mineral note (something I tend to find from cabernet in volcanic soils). The palate is juicy, with a medium body verging into med+. Medium grain tannin. The flavor density is excellent, a lot of flavor without a lot of weight. The finish is excellent too, med+.
No 2018 scores/notes, here is the 2017 and 2015:
91 pts Vinous (2017)
The 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Palazzotto has evolved since my last tasting in 2021, with an added richness to its wild berry fruits and a lifting air of minty herbs and crushed stone. It’s soft-textured and deep, with a fleshy feel to its purple-tinged berries and pretty lavender tones that form toward the close. This finishes long and lightly structured with mineral underpinnings.
91 pts Robert Parker WA (2015)
A pure expression of the French grape, the 2015 Breganze Cabernet Sauvignon Palazzotto is a steady and finely textured red wine with plenty of plummy black fruit and spice at its core. The wine is mid-weight in style with some full-bodied attributes, mostly credited to the warm sunshine and heat of the vintage and the pretty ripeness of the fruit. The wine is fermented in steel with seven days of skin contact and later aged in French barrique, both new and used. This would be nice with a braised eggplant in a garlic sauce. Some 30,000 bottles were made.
Vinous on Maculan:
- By Eric Guido on January 2022
When most readers think of the Veneto, it’s usually Valpolicella, Soave and possibly Prosecco that comes to mind; however, if you haven’t experienced what’s being produced in Breganze, a small town in the Province of Vicenza, northeast from Verona, then you’re missing out. Especially for lovers of Bordeaux blends and dessert wines. The winery to know in Breganze, and the one that defines the region entirely from an international perspective is Maculan. Today, the management of the winery and vineyards is split between the third generation of the family, Angela and Maria Vittoria Maculan, yet with their father, Fausto, still involved in the daily operations. The style here is distinctly inspired by Bordeaux, where the family makes use of the hilly terrain, volcanic soils and a strong confluence of cooling effects from the mountainous north and warming currents from the south and Adriatic sea. Frankly, lovers of Italian Cabernet and Merlot are going to find a lot to like here: the entry-level Brentino representing tremendous value, the single-vineyard Fratta that can stand shoulder to shoulder with Bordeaux and the Crosara, which puts a northern Italian spin on Merlot. As for the Maculan family, their pride and joy is the selection of sweet wines that they produce, the Acininobili and Torcolato, both created using Vespaiolo grapes that are air-dried and botrytis-affected. These wines are heady yet wonderfully balanced and capable of evolving slowly over the course of decades. As evidence, my recent visit to the winery included a tasting of vintages going back to 1986, and readers can find the notes within this report.
When most readers think of the Veneto, it’s usually Valpolicella, Soave and possibly Prosecco that comes to mind; however, if you haven’t experienced what’s being produced in Breganze, a small town in the Province of Vicenza, northeast from Verona, then you’re missing out. Especially for lovers of Bordeaux blends and dessert wines. The winery to know in Breganze, and the one that defines the region entirely from an international perspective is Maculan. Today, the management of the winery and vineyards is split between the third generation of the family, Angela and Maria Vittoria Maculan, yet with their father, Fausto, still involved in the daily operations. The style here is distinctly inspired by Bordeaux, where the family makes use of the hilly terrain, volcanic soils and a strong confluence of cooling effects from the mountainous north and warming currents from the south and Adriatic sea. Frankly, lovers of Italian Cabernet and Merlot are going to find a lot to like here: the entry-level Brentino representing tremendous value, the single-vineyard Fratta that can stand shoulder to shoulder with Bordeaux and the Crosara, which puts a northern Italian spin on Merlot. As for the Maculan family, their pride and joy is the selection of sweet wines that they produce, the Acininobili and Torcolato, both created using Vespaiolo grapes that are air-dried and botrytis-affected. These wines are heady yet wonderfully balanced and capable of evolving slowly over the course of decades. As evidence, my recent visit to the winery included a tasting of vintages going back to 1986, and readers can find the notes within this report.