Rocca di Montegrossi Chianti Classico: ‘This is a sublime wine’

Rocca di Montegrossi, one of Chianti’s brightest stars

Marco Ricasoli-Firidolfi describes his Rocca di Montegrossi as 'a young winery'; he struck out on his own and made his first vintage in 1995. Yet in those thirty years Marco has established Rocca di Montegrossi as one of Chianti's brightest stars, and his Chianti Classico is a true benchmark of the style. The Montegrossi vineyards are located near Monti in Chianti, in one of the finest stretches of Chianti Classico. The distinctive white albarese soils, a mixture of limestone and chalky sandstone, lend themselves to high-acidity, structured, mineral-driven Sangiovese. It works; reviewing the 2023 Chianti Classico for vinous.com, Antonio Galloni has written, 'This is a sublime wine'.

Montegrossi may be a 'young' winery, but Marco has Chianti in the blood. The Ricasoli family have owned land here for over a thousand years. Marco's great-great-great grandfather Baron Bettino Ricasoli found time in between being Prime Minister of Italy (twice) to draw up the rules governing Chianti. It is no surprise that Marco is keen to uphold the best traditions of winemaking here, and he looks after his vineyards with an eye to future generations.

Alongside the Chianti Classico, Marco makes a top-tier Chianti Classico Gran Selezione using the best grapes from the estate’s original San Marcellino vineyard. Geremia is his IGT Merlot/Cabernet blend; it turns in high scores year after year, proving (again) the affinity between Tuscan soils and Bordeaux varieties. And Ridolfo, which Marco calls 'a marriage of internationality and tradition', is only bottled in magnum. It is a 50/50 blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Pugnitello, the latter being an almost-extinct, hard-to-farm but high-quality Tuscan variety. /NT

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