In every Italian town and city, history reaches out to you. But, when travelling in the hills of Chianti Classico this 'history' is not so apparent until arriving at Rocca di Montegrossi, where history even transcends the small Romanic church dating back to the 11th Century, situated next to the winery. A written document housed in the Vatican Library in Rome records “Plebs in Santi Marcellini in Kiantis” (referring to the people in the church in San Marcellino in Chianti). This is the first written document where the name “Chianti” appears to refer to this area.

The present incumbent is Marco Ricasoli-Firidolfi, a man that can trace his family tree back to the 7th/8th centuries when the Longobards (568-774 AD) ruled most of what we know as mainland Italy. They were a Germanic people and established a 'Lombard' Kingdom later named Regnum Italicum or Kingdom of Italy.
What has that brief history reference got to do with the present Rocca di Montegrossi?
The answer is: Geremia the founder of the Ricasoli-Firidolfi family, who established a fortress (a Rocca) at Montegrossi in the 7th Century AD.
In 1141 AD, Castello di Brolio passed into family ownership and the Ricasoli entered into the wine business. A final historical wine fact concerns Bettino Ricasoli, who created the 'recipe' for Chianti wine in 1872 based on Sangiovese 70%, Canaiolo 15% and Malvasia Bianca 15%.
Moving onto more recent history, the San Marcellino vineyard was planted in 1966 by Alberto Ricasoli whose tragic passing in 1972 brought his wife Elisabetta to run the production of wine for twenty years to international acclaim. Their son Marco took over the reins in 1994, adding a new cellar in 1999, and in 2006 commenced the process of converting to organic viticulture and achieved certification in 2010.

Today the estate encompasses 100 hectares of which 20 hectares are planted with vine at elevations between 340 and 510 metres above sea level.
Vineyards on the South and Southeast facing hillsides are composed of limestone and marl stone that are rich in calcium, in addition to loamy soil showing sandstone and clay in equal proportions.

The primary varietal is Sangiovese,13 hectares, followed by Merlot, 2.5 hectares and the remaining 4.5 hectares are made up of Canaiolo, Colorino, Cabernet Sauvignon, Malvasia Bianco and Pugnitello.
Pugnitello deserves a special mention: this ancient and rare red grape variety was widely abandoned in the last century due to its impossibly low production of sometimes only 350-450 grams of berries per vine!
Pugnitello means 'little fist' (which describes the small tight bunches of berries it produces) and was added to the San Marcellino estate’s Sangiovese from 2006. Marco believes this improves structure, texture, aroma, colour and roundness ...... but at a cost!

It would be remiss of me not to mention the close and constant relationship between Marco Ricasoli-Firidolfi and his consulting enologist Attilio Pagli a partnership not to be underestimated in the final outcome of these outstanding wines.
Tasting notes

Rocca di Montegrossi Rosato Toscana IGT 2017
Pale amber pink in colour,100% Sangiovese 'on the skins'.Fresh, fruity. On the nose, a mixture of blood orange and pomegranate. Medium bodied. Smooth.
Points 92 TW
Rocca di Montegrossi Chianti Classico DOCG 2016
Deep garnet red. Fresh floral and black cherry bouquet, backed up with plum, leather and spice wth a fine undertone of minerality.
Points 92 TW
Rocca di Montegrossi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Vigneto San Marcellino 2013
Deep dark red ruby colour. Wonderful bouquet. Serious structure. Dark cherry and black plum, clove and cinnamon, leather. This is utterly glorious. Needs 3/4 years to evolve some of its complexity. Do not miss this. Wow!
Points 97 TW
Rocca di Montegrossi Geremia 2014
Merlot 72% Cabinet Sauvignon 28%
Vigorous. Great structure and texture, beautifully crafted. Black fruits, plum, spice, leather and slate. Seamless with a long finish. Needs a couple of years bottle age. Great wine.
Points 95 TW
Rocca di Montegrossi Vin Santo del Chianti Classico DOC 2013
So much pride and effort goes into this wine that I have decided to return later in the year, when the bunches are hanging on the nets and give a review solely based on this remarkable and much maligned and misunderstood wine.


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