Maculan 'Brentino' 2023 750ml

ITALY : VENETO : BREGANZE DOC

Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon

MED-BODIED, BLACKBERRY, DARK CHERRY, CEDAR, FRESH SPICE, OAK

Breganze sits at the foot of the Asiago Plateau in northeast Italy, on volcanic and tuffaceous hills that most wine drinkers have never encountered. It is Bordeaux territory, loosely speaking: the altitude slows ripening in a way the Veneto's hotter, flatter zones cannot manage, and Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon have been at home here since Fausto Maculan started taking the estate seriously in 1973.

Brentino is the everyday expression of that work, 55% Merlot and 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, fermented in stainless steel after roughly a week of maceration, then aged a full year: half in tank, half in French barriques with a third of those new. The split keeps the fruit intact while the barriques bring the cedar and the grip.

2023 was a hard year in the Veneto, a cold wet spring and relentless mildew pressure followed by a dry, warm September, so the growers who held their nerve and picked late are the ones who brought in clean fruit.

PAIRINGS :