1999 Rocca delle Macie Ser Gioveto ® Toscana, 75% Sangiovese, 15% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, $38.99, 13.5% alc.: Named for Sergio Zingarelli (son of the late boxer, spaghetti western producer and Rocca delle Macie owner Italo Zingarelli), this dark garnet isn’t showing a lot on the nose when first poured, but gives nice, earthy dried sour cherries with subtle sticky undertones in the mouth, being medium full bodied, with a nice Tuscan personality. No flash or extracted characteristics here, just a solid, well balanced, substantial wine that shows more earth and sticks with air, and that’s a good thing. From the Rocca delle Macie Le Macie and Sant’Alfonso estate vineyards, with soil composed of calcareous limestone. Grapes are destemmed and softly pressed; fermentation is completed on the skins at 75º - 79ºF, with malolactic fermentation occurring in the spring. Aged 6-12 months in small 225L barriques made of French oak, and then further maturated in the bottle for about nine months prior to release.
2000 Rocca delle Macie Chianti Classico Riserva di Fizzano, 85% Sangiovese Grosso, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Merlot, $28.99, 13.5% alc.: Produced exclusively from Rocca delle Macie’s Fizzano vineyard, this dark garnet grudgingly gives up some reticent licorice and black fruit on the nose, but on the palate, it’s much more generous, with its sleek, lovely dried cherry, blackberry and black currant flavors, accented with earth, sticks and licorice and a nice, long finish. The good structure promises a nice future, but this wine is sexy already; excellent Chianti Classico Riserva, and its best days are still ahead. This wine is only made in “exceptional years;” after the traditional fermentation, it is matured in French oak barrels for over two years, and then spends close to a year in bottle before release.
2000 Rocca delle Macie Roccato ®, 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 50% Sangiovese Grosso, $45, 13.5% alc.: Like the other Rocca delle Macies tasted here, this dark garnet doesn’t give much on the nose on this occasion, but it delivers plenty of earthy, sticky black currant, dried sour cherry and dark chocolate flavors that are dense and concentrated, but not over – extracted. It shows impressive structure (tannins show most on the long finish), and even with extended air, it’s obvious that this is a big wine whose best days lie well ahead of it. While it’s approachable now, and likes food to bring out its best, it really needs to be left alone until at least 2010, and probably well beyond. Sourced exclusively from the Rocca delle Macie estate vineyards in Castellina, in Chianti, and only made in the best vintages; the wine undergoes traditional maceration of the must for 15 days at 86°F, followed by 12 months in small 225L French oak barriques, and about one year in the bottle before release.
Imported by Palm Bay Imports, Boca Raton, FL
- From 5 From Palm Bay
Reporting from Day-twah,
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