Why it matters
The producer
The Di Napoli Rampolla family has held the land at Santa Lucia in Faulle since 1739. The wine estate is a more recent ambition: in the mid-1960s, Alceo di Napoli Rampolla decided he wanted to make a serious wine from this particular corner of Chianti Classico. The first Chianti Classico bottles came in 1975. Seven years later, Sammarco, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Sangiovese, told the wider wine world what Alceo had in mind.
D'Alceo, the estate's flagship IGT red, comes from Vigna d'Alceo, a vineyard Alceo himself chose, planted, and named. Its two grapes are Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot, grown at high density on a south-facing slope using the alberello training method, each vine staked low like a small bush rather than strung along wire. The estate farms biodynamically, uses no synthetic treatments, and works the cellar with concrete vats and long macerations.
Place and vineyards
Where the wines begin
Panzano in Chianti sits near the southern edge of Chianti Classico, the DOCG zone between Florence and Siena. The Conca d'Oro, the golden basin, is a natural amphitheatre of south-facing hillside vineyards cupped by ridges on three sides. The valley name refers to the quality of light and warmth the bowl collects: it is one of the warmer pockets within the appellation, and that warmth is what made Alceo's gamble on Cabernet Sauvignon plausible. Sangiovese is the required grape for Chianti Classico, and it grows well across the zone. Cabernet Sauvignon needs longer, more reliable ripening than much of Chianti Classico can offer; the Conca d'Oro's facing and shelter provide it.
The estate's IGT wines, Sammarco and d'Alceo, carry the broader Toscana designation rather than Chianti Classico because they fall outside the DOCG's varietal requirements. That label choice is a direct consequence of Alceo's decision to work with Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot alongside Sangiovese.
In the cellar
Vineyards and cellar
The estate has farmed biodynamically since 1994 and uses copper, sulphur, and propolis as its only vine treatments. Grass grows freely between the rows, and is sometimes sown deliberately, to shade the soil surface, retain moisture through the dry summer months, and hold the slope against erosion. Green manure has gradually rebuilt soil fertility to the point where the land needs less mechanical cultivation than it once did. Lightweight machinery is used where it is used at all.
Grapes are harvested by hand. In the cellar, maceration takes place in concrete vats for 25 to 30 days, of which 7 to 8 days are active alcoholic fermentation and the remainder is extended skin contact. Pressing is done gently with a peristaltic pump, which moves the wine in a slow, rolling action that avoids breaking the seeds or extracting harsh tannin. Barrel ageing runs 12 to 18 months depending on the wine.
Wines to know
The range in view
Chianti Classico: The estate's original wine, first bottled in 1975, is Sangiovese-rooted and shaped by the DOCG rules of the appellation. It is the most directly regional wine in the range, carrying the tart cherry fruit, brisk acidity, and firm mid-palate grip that Sangiovese produces on the hillsides around Panzano. It is the least expensive wine here and the clearest expression of what this appellation asks from Sangiovese.
Sammarco (IGT Toscana): First released in 1982, Sammarco blends Cabernet Sauvignon and Sangiovese. Cabernet Sauvignon brings darker fruit, fuller body, and a different tannin profile from the Sangiovese underneath it; Sangiovese keeps the acidity high and the mid-palate from going heavy. The blend was among the earliest of its type from the Panzano zone, and it sits in the middle of the range by price and weight.
A useful way in
A bottle to begin with
D'Alceo is the wine to start with. It comes from a single vineyard Alceo planted himself in 1991, trained as alberello on a south-facing slope, and it is where every significant decision the estate has made, biodynamic farming, long maceration, careful pressing, barrel ageing, comes together in one bottle. The grape combination, Cabernet Sauvignon with Petit Verdot, is not the standard Tuscan blend; it is a choice that reflects what the Conca d'Oro can ripen and what this particular south-facing slope does with that heat.