Winemaker Notes
Dense ruby-purple color. Intense, intriguing nose of high class cigar tobacco intermixed with smoke, minerals, black currants, and vanilla. The palate is dense, medium- to full-bodied, with superb richness, purity, and overall harmony.
Excellent with game, red meats and aged cheeses.
Blend: 90% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Sangiovese, 5% Merlot
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
A polished, blackberry- and black currant–infused red, with accents of wild herbs and spice, this is both saturated, intense and racy. All the elements are in the correct proportions, this just needs time to express itself fully. Cabernet Sauvignon, Sangiovese and Merlot. Best from 2020 through 2033.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Wines from the Castello dei Rampolla property show an impressive and especially chiseled quality that gives them a very direct and immediate quality. These are frank and honest wines that stay true to the identity set forth years ago at this historic estate. They stay the course, so to speak. The 2013 Sammarco is Cabernet Sauvignon with Sangiovese and Merlot that tastes nothing like the many blended Bordeaux-inspired reds you find in this part of Italy. Instead, the wine is all-Tuscan in its appeal, with sun-drenched cherry, Mediterranean herb and a pretty balsam note that recalls the thick underbrush and woods of the Chianti Classico countryside. This vintage soars in intensity and beauty.
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James Suckling
A complex wine with cherries, strawberries, black currants and hot stones. So clean and precise. Full body, firm tannins, high acidity and a long and fresh finish. Tight. Still needs some time. Better in 2019.
Legendary in Italy for its Renaissance art and striking landscape, Tuscany is also home to many of the country’s best red wines. Sangiovese reigns supreme here, as either the single varietal, or a dominant player, in almost all of Tuscany’s best.
A remarkable Chianti, named for its region of origin, will have a bright acidity, supple tannins and plenty of cherry fruit character. From the hills and valleys surrounding the medieval village of Montalcino, come the distinguished and age-worthy wines based on Brunello (Sangiovese). Earning global acclaim since the 1970s, the Tuscan Blends are composed solely of international grape varieties or a mix of international and Sangiovese. The wine called Vine Nobile di Montepulciano, composed of Prognolo Gentile (Sangiovese) and is recognized both for finesse and power.