Rocca delle Macie 1787 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano 2019 - Tuscany, Italy

Bronze - Vironelli
Bronze - Natalie Mclean (2011 vintage)
Bronze - Heather Wall (2011 vintage)
91/100 - Natalie Mclean (2008 vintage)
90/100 - Natalie Mclean (2006 vintage)

Organic - currently undergoing certification

Natalie Mclean ''Very pleasant and full-bodied with generous dark fleshy fruit, dark spices and smoke. Superb craftsmanship in this DOCG wine. It finishes with smoke and dried herbs. Try it with prime rib tonight''

Vinello "This Italian wine delights with its elegantly dry taste......offers aromas of plums, blackberries and violets, rounded off by other fruity nuances."

Natalie Mclean ''Vintages Wine Panel: The nose suggests raspberry, spice and strawberry with a minty herbal tone. Very well made, dry, round and balanced, this medium bodied wine has medium tannins and acidity, with lovely soft cranberry, spice and floral flavours. Juicy, crisp and with a lovely full finish. Try it tonight. My note: Very pleasant and full-bodied with generous dark fleshy fruit, dark spices and smoke. Superb craftsmanship."

Natalie Mclean "Very pleasant and full-bodied Italian red wine, although somewhat past peak, so drink now. Fruit is fading. Dark spices and smoke. It finishes with smoke and dried herbs. The Sangiovese and Canailo grapes that comprise the blend in this robust red wine are grown in vineyards with the most advantageous orientation on the estate.''

Heather Wall ''This medium-bodied red wine is pale garnet in colour with aromas and flavours peaking now. Blackcurrant leaf, cassis, horse saddle, clove, eucalyptus and earthy. The wine is dry with polished tannins."

Rocca delle Macìe was established in 1973, when film producer Italo Zingarelli – of Ettore Scola’s “We All Loved Each Other So Much” fame, and also the wildly popular series of films featuring comedy duo Bud Spencer and Terence Hill (including “They Call Me Trinity” and “Trinity Is Still My Name”) – decided to realize his lifelong dream by acquiring the “Le Macìe” estate – extending across 93 hectares (230 acres) in all, of which only two were under vine – in order to create a winery in the heart of the Chianti Classico zone.

The company estate now extends to more than 500 hectares (1250 acres) with, in total, more than 200 (500 acres) used as vineyards and 22 (54 acres) as olive groves, subdivided across the company’s six estates: Le Macìe, Sant’Alfonso, Fizzano e le Tavolelle in the Chianti Classico Area, in addition to the Campomaccione and Casa Maria estates in the Morellino di Scansano Area (Maremma).

Tuscany is Italy's third most planted region (behind Sicily and Apulia) but it is eighth in terms of output, reflecting both the poor soil of Tuscany and deliberate efforts to limit yields and increase the quality in the wine. After Piedmont and the Veneto, Tuscany produces the third-highest volume of DOC/DOCG wines. More than 80% of the regions' production is in red wine, with the Sangiovese grape being Tuscany's' most prominent grape. Trebbiano is the leading white variety of the region.

The history of viticulture in Tuscany dates back to the Etruscans in the 8th century BC. From the fall of the Roman Empire and throughout the Middle Ages, monasteries were the main purveyors of wines in the region. As the aristocratic and merchant classes emerged, they inherited the share-cropping system of agriculture known as mezzadria. Many Tuscan landowners would turn their half of the grape harvest into wine that would be sold to merchants in Florence. Following the end of the Napoleonic Wars, Tuscany returned to the rule of the Habsburgs. Chianti, Chianti Classico, Brunello di Montalcino, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and Super Tuscan are Tuscany’s best known wines."The history of viticulture in Tuscany dates back to the Etruscans in the 8th century BC. From the fall of the Roman Empire and throughout the Middle Ages, monasteries were the main purveyors of wines in the region. As the aristocratic and merchant classes emerged, they inherited the share-cropping system of agriculture known as mezzadria. Many Tuscan landowners would turn their half of the grape harvest into wine that would be sold to merchants in Florence. Following the end of the Napoleonic Wars, Tuscany returned to the rule of the Habsburgs. Chianti, Chianti Classico, Brunello di Montalcino, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and Super Tuscan are Tuscany’s best known wines.

Vino Nobile di Montepulciano is a red wine with a Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita status produced in the vineyards surrounding the town of Montepulciano, Italy. The wine is made primarily from the Sangiovese grape varietal (known locally as Prugnolo gentile) (minimum 70%), blended with Canaiolo Nero (10%–20%) and small amounts of other local varieties such as Mammolo. The wine is aged for 2 years (at least 1 year in oak barrels); three years if it is a riserva. The wine should not be confused with Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, a red wine made from the Montepulciano grape in the Abruzzo region of east-central Italy.

Sangiovese (or Nielluccio in Corsica), a dark-berried vine, is the most widely planted grape variety in Italy. Virtually synonymous with the red wines of Tuscany, and all the romanticism that goes with the territory, Sangiovese is the core constituent in some of the great names in Italian wine. Italy's love affair with Sangiovese – and indeed the world's – is generations old, though recent grapevine research suggests the variety is not as ancient as once thought.