Roccato Toscana "Super Tuscan" Cabernet Sauvignon 2020 - Tuscany, Italy

93/100 Wine Enthusiast
90/100 Wine Spectator
93/100 James Suckling (2019 vintage)
93/100 Raffaela Vecchione, Wine Critic (2019 vintage)
92/100 Wine Enthusiast (2019 vintage)
91/100 Falstaff (2019 vintage)
90/100 Robert Parker (2019 vintage)

Organic - currently undergoing certification

Wine Enthusiast "The nose is primarily savory, with notes of cured meat, topsoil and graphite, but undertones of sour cherries and tart berries provide some buzz. The ebb and flow of earthiness and astringency continues on the palate, while insistent tannins and lively acidity provide structure for that interplay."

James Suckling "Lots of blackcurrants, licorice and mint with some graphite on the nose. Medium to full body with integrated tannins and a very long, fresh finish. Rather open already. Another year or two will make it even better. Pure cabernet sauvignon." (2019 vintage)

Raffaela Vecchione, Wine Critic "...shows notes of black plums, blackberries, crushed tobacco, and coffee. Medium-bodied, well-extracted fine-grained tannins, and a moderately progressing finish." (2019 vintage)

Wine Enthusiast "With a nose that's intensely woodsy, this Cabernet Sauvignon feels like a stroll through the woods on a winter's afternoon. Aromas start with roots, underbrush and soil and then pass into dark berries and bramble. The palate turns chocolaty and dense with blackberries and currants." (2019 vintage)

Falstaff "Medium ruby with brightening edges. Dark savoury nose, cedar, liquorice and some spruce resin. Rich palate notion, crisp acidity, clear dark berry fruit, well-integrated wood, subtle vanilla note, stout, a bit restrained on the finish." (2019 vintage)

Robert Parker "The full-bodied Rocca delle Macìe 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Roccato (with 6,500 bottles released) shows sweet fruit, dark cherry, toasted almond and milky cinnamon cream. Fourteen months of barrique aging plays a big role in the intensity and textural support of this wine. It feels rich over the palate and thick around the middle."

Winemaker "Very intense ruby red tending to garnet with aging. Broad and persistent, with hints of red fruits and spices ranging from cacao, to vanilla to coffee. Warm and well balanced, with a dense network of tannins that well support and sustain the long aromatic
persistence.

100% Cabernet Sauvignon

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 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).

The Chianti region in Italy's Tuscany wine growing region is split between Chianti and Chianti Classico. Accordingly, two separate DOCG designations apply to wines from the Chianti region: the Chianti Classico DOCG for the heartland of Chianti, and Chianti DOCG for all other Chianti regions. (In 1984, the Chianti region was promoted from DOC to DOCG - Italy’s highest classification - and in 1996, Chianti Classico - the historic heartland of the region - DOCG was created, which gave autonomy to that region. In the last 20 years, a consortium of Chianti Classico producers have researched new Sangiovese clones, replanted vineyards, updated cellar practices and generally made Chianti Classico DOCG a world-class appellation. Chianti Classico must contain a minimum of 75% Sangiovese. In the 2014 edition of its annual compendium of wine ratings, Gambero Rosso noted that Chianti Classico DOCG wines were noteworthy for their “significant return to a more defined style, true to tradition.” The typical Chianti Classico wine is a ruby-red, Sangiovese-based wine with aromas of violets and cherries and a hint of earthy spice.

The Chianti DOCG designation covers wines from six Chianti sub-zones (Colli Pisane, Colli Fiorentini, Colli Senesi, Colli Aretini, Montalbano and Rufina) as well as all other Chianti wines. The Chianti Classico DOCG is located in the very center of Tuscany, between Florence and Sienna."
"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.

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.

Cabernet Sauvignon is one of the most famous red wine grape variety on Earth. It is rivaled in this regard only by its Bordeaux stablemate Merlot, and its opposite number in Burgundy, Pinot Noir. From its origins in Bordeaux, Cabernet has successfully spread to almost every winegrowing country in the world. It is now the key grape variety in many first-rate New World wine regions, most notably Napa Valley, Coonawarra and Maipo Valley. Wherever they come from, Cabernet Sauvignon wines always seem to demonstrate a handful of common character traits: deep color, good tannin structure, moderate acidity and aromas of blackcurrant, tomato leaf, dark spices and cedarwood.