Fausto Maculan is the man behind the winery of the same name: Maculan Winery. They are a stunning, and small, winery based in the village of Breganze in the Veneto of northern Italy (think; a short trip from Venice).
Fausto is a man of true passion - not a rare quality for the world's best winemakers - but his level of true passion for precise and perfect wines is unmatched. It is often joked with friends of the family that Fausto was quite literally born into the winery. He was delivered in a room which is now the modern Maculan winery space! As far back as he can remember he was working in the winery helping his father with odd jobs. It was just at the age of 14 his father signed him up for his enology degree which he sped through aceing all the classes. Fausto has been working as the winemaker at Maculan ever since.
Over the years he has had his own children with two beautiful daughters. Both of which are heavily involved in the winery with events management, sales, and winemaking covered.
Although Maculan make many a stunning wine from all sorts of grape varietals from Chardonnay to Cabernet Sauvignon, it is their sweet wines that have me all tangled up with excitement. Not only are they both truly fantastic but also offer incredible value for money.
To start off with we have the 'Dindarello'. 100% Muscat, or Moscato as the locals call, which provides heady aromatics of orange, golden raisin, peach and grapefruit granita. It has a zesty appeal to it which is gorgeous but unlike many a sweet wine which can appear too unctuous to drink, this is almost too approachable. Not a bad thing. It has the perfect balance of fruit ripeness, sweetness, and acidity to make it a real gem.
The 'Torcolato' is it's older brother. This is made from a rare autochthonous grape to the Veneto: Vespaiola. Immediately this has a lot more going on on the nose with an extra layer of complexity. Where the Dindarello was the beginner, the fruity one, the Torcolato is the after-eight, the elder. It has candied orange, pickled peaches and apricot jam to boot. It has ruby grapefruit curd and toasted hazelnuts as well as clove and allspice. It is truly wonderful beyond compare.
I urge you to give the Maculan family a try. Don't be afraid to try something new!