Rocca di Montegrossi San Marcellino Chianti Classico Gran Selezione 2015
Winemaker Notes
Critical Acclaim
All VintagesMarco Ricasoli’s grandfather planted the San Marcellino vineyard in 1966, and the vines range in age from 20 to 50 years. They impart a deep concentration that feels especially rich and layered in the warm 2015 vintage. The wine opens with bold cherry and blackberry flavors that take on nuances of tobacco, black olive and dried thyme. The tannins are ripe and chewy, holding the flavors firmly together as the wine progresses to a long, elegant finish.
A broad, dense red, with ripe plum, black cherry and blackberry flavors, framed by vibrant acidity and burly tannins. Earth, sanguine and tobacco accents chime in. All the components are proportioned correctly, but this will take some time to integrate fully. Fine length and freshness.
A balanced, refined red with plum, cherry and chocolate character, as well as walnut. It’s medium-bodied with juicy fruit and a savory finish. Complex and pretty.
Rocca di Montegrossi is located in the heart of Chianti Classico – just outside Monti in Chianti, about 7 kilometres from Gaiole. Marco Ricasoli-Firidolfi, is a descendant of the historic winemaking family that can be credited with having put Chianti on the map of the world’s best wines. The winery, whose restoration and modernization were completed in 2000, is located near the Romanesque Church of San Marcellino.
Marco Ricasoli-Firidolfi’s passion for vineyards and fieldwork drives his entrepreneurial spirit. Indeed together with consultant agronomist Dr. Stefano Dini, Marco personally oversees all the operations in the vineyards; his goal is to reach the perfect balance between growth and production through daily care of the vines, from short pruning to reduced carefully reasoned fertilization, from the planting of ground cover to the various kinds of green pruning, including bunch thinning, crown pruning, and defoliation a few weeks prior to the harvest. At Rocca di Montegrossi harvest is manual, into small baskets and is carried out in three phases to guarantee that the grapes are selected and picked only when they are perfectly ripe.
Rocca di Montegrossi's cellars have been designed to allow Marco Ricasoli-Firidolfi and Attilio Pagli, the consulting enologist, to handle the grapes from the estate's vineyards in the best possible, ecosustainable manner. In keeping with the organic cultivation of the vineyards, the cellars are environmentally friendly; some of the energy necessary to run them is produced by solar panels on the roof, while the remainder is exclusively from renewable sources (per the RECS International certification).
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.
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.