Winemaker Notes
Deep ruby red. Bouquet is fruity, intense, and with a long persistency and a touch of spices. Warm and velvety with a very good balance and elegant finish.
This wine is particularly suited for red meat dishes, game, and hard cheeses but it can be enjoyed by itself to better appreciate its qualities.
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
Full of rich red fruits with a super nose oozing immense charm. Bags of dusty red currants, herbs and integrated oak on the rich, textured and powerful palate. This is perfect for the lunch table and has the X-factor.
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Wine Spectator
This shows richness and breadth, featuring notes of plum, coffee, iron and leather, punctuated by cherry hints and tangy acidity. Finishes firm and dense, with a fresh feel.
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James Suckling
This red shows red plums, raspberries and hints of light cedar. Medium to full body, soft and juicy tannins and a nice finish.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The team at Rocca delle Macìe hits an impressive stride with the 2014 Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Sergio Zingarelli. This was not an easy growing season, but a commitment has evidently been taken here to severely limit fruit selection to only the best clusters. The wine opens to dark fruit tones of dried cherry and blackberry with spice, leather and tar. You also get that unique aroma of crushed stones that is so specific to Chianti Classico.
Among Italy's elite red grape varieties, Sangiovese has the perfect intersection of bright red fruit and savory earthiness and is responsible for the best red wines of Tuscany. While it is best known as the chief component of Chianti, it is also the main grape in Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and reaches the height of its power and intensity in the complex, long-lived Brunello di Montalcino. Somm Secret—Sangiovese doubles under the alias, Nielluccio, on the French island of Corsica where it produces distinctly floral and refreshing reds and rosés.
One of the first wine regions anywhere to be officially recognized and delimited, Chianti Classico is today what was originally defined simply as Chianti. Already identified by the early 18th century as a superior zone, the official name of Chianti was proclaimed upon the area surrounding the townships of Castellina, Radda and Gaiole, just north of Siena, by Cosimo III, Grand Duke of Tuscany in an official decree in 1716.
However, by the 1930s the Italian government had appended this historic zone with additonal land in order to capitalize on the Chianti name. It wasn’t until 1996 that Chianti Classico became autonomous once again when the government granted a separate DOCG (Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita) to its borders. Ever since, Chianti Classico considers itself no longer a subzone of Chianti.
Many Classicos are today made of 100% Sangiovese but can include up to 20% of other approved varieties grown within the Classico borders. The best Classicos will have a bright acidity, supple tannins and be full-bodied with plenty of ripe fruit (plums, black cherry, blackberry). Also common among the best Classicos are expressive notes of cedar, dried herbs, fennel, balsamic or tobacco.