Italy · Chianti Hills

Castello dei Rampolla

A family estate in Panzano in Chianti with land held since 1739, making biodynamic Chianti Classico and two IGT reds from Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot.

The producer

The Di Napoli Rampolla family has held the land at Santa Lucia in Faulle since 1739. The wine estate is more recent: in the mid-1960s, Alceo di Napoli Rampolla decided he wanted to make a serious wine from this particular corner of Chianti Classico, in the Conca d'Oro valley south of Panzano. The first Chianti Classico bottles came in 1975. Working with consultant Giacomo Tachis, Alceo introduced Cabernet Sauvignon to his vineyards and blended it with Sangiovese; in 1982, Sammarco was released, one of the earliest wines of its type from the Panzano zone. Nine years on, Alceo planted Vigna d'Alceo, a high-density block of Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot trained as alberello on a south-facing slope. The biodynamic conversion that began in 1994 has been the farm's baseline ever since.

The range runs from Chianti Classico, rooted in Sangiovese and shaped by the DOCG, through Sammarco, a Cabernet Sauvignon and Sangiovese blend, to d'Alceo, the flagship IGT red from Vigna d'Alceo. The cellar works with concrete vats, macerations of 25 to 30 days, gentle pressing with a peristaltic pump, and barrel ageing of 12 to 18 months. Annual production is approximately 90,000 bottles.

Known for

Biodynamic Chianti Classico and the IGT flagship d'Alceo, a Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot wine from a south-facing alberello vineyard planted in 1991.

Notable facts

The story

A vineyard named for the man who planted it

In 1991, Alceo di Napoli Rampolla chose a specific south-facing slope on the estate and had it planted to Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot at high density, trained as alberello, each vine staked low to the ground rather than run along wire. He called the vineyard Vigna d'Alceo, his own name given to the land. The wine that came from it took his name too: d'Alceo, bottled as an IGT Toscana, began its life as Alceo's clearest statement of what he thought this particular slope could do. What is unusual is the directness of the claim: not a cuvée named for the estate, the village, or a medieval tower, but for the man who walked the hillside, decided the exposure was right, chose the grape, chose the training, and put his name on the outcome. That vineyard is still planted exactly as he left it.

From the atlas

Castello dei Rampolla

At A Glance

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

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.

Soil And Site

The estate sits at Santa Lucia in Faulle in the Conca d'Oro valley. Vigna d'Alceo occupies a south-facing slope, giving the Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot full afternoon sun across the growing season. The alberello training keeps each vine low and compact, concentrating energy into a small cluster load and exposing the grapes to more reflected warmth from the soil surface.

Parcel-specific soil data is not confirmed across the estate. What is established is that the south-facing exposure and high-density planting of Vigna d'Alceo are the two site decisions that most directly shape d'Alceo's character.

Story

In the mid-1960s, Alceo di Napoli Rampolla wanted to create a great wine. He began in the mid-1960s with that ambition and spent a decade learning the land before the first Chianti Classico bottles appeared in 1975.

Working with Giacomo Tachis, Alceo introduced Cabernet Sauvignon to his vineyards and blended it with Sangiovese. In 1982, Sammarco was released: one of the earliest Sangiovese-Cabernet Sauvignon blends to come from the Panzano area. Because it fell outside the rules of Chianti Classico, it was labelled as an IGT wine, part of the group that would later be called Super Tuscans.

Nine years on, in 1991, Alceo planted Vigna d'Alceo, a dedicated high-density block of Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot on a south-facing slope. The vineyard was his most deliberate act: a choice of place, variety, training method, and density, made with the expectation that the resulting wine would carry his name.

Biodynamic conversion began in 1994. Synthetic treatments gave way to copper, sulphur, and propolis. Grass was left or sown between the rows to shade the soil, hold moisture, and limit erosion. Green manure was brought in to rebuild fertility. These changes were not a single season's decision but a decade-long shift in how the land was managed, and they have been the farm's baseline ever since.

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.

The concrete-and-barrel approach is suited to Sangiovese's naturally high acidity and to the firm tannin that comes from long skin contact with Cabernet Sauvignon. Long maceration builds colour, tannin, and depth; the peristaltic pump preserves the wine's texture through pressing; and barrel ageing softens without masking.

Wines

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.

d'Alceo (IGT Toscana): Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot from Vigna d'Alceo. The Petit Verdot adds colour depth, aromatic intensity, and a firm tannin that the Cabernet Sauvignon alone would not produce. Maceration runs the full 25 to 30 days; the wine is then aged in barrel for 12 to 18 months. This is the most extracted, most age-forward wine in the range.

White IGT: The range includes a white IGT wine. Sourced information on this wine is limited.

In The Glass

The Chianti Classico opens with the savory, dried-cherry character Sangiovese gives on hillside sites: tart red fruit, some dried herb, and a firm acid line that keeps the wine moving across the palate. The tannin is medium-weight, the finish clean and direct.

Sammarco is fuller and darker. The Cabernet Sauvignon pushes the fruit toward blackcurrant and plum; the Sangiovese underneath it holds the acidity and prevents the wine from becoming broad. The tannin is firmer and the finish longer than in the Chianti Classico. There is more weight through the mid-palate and more grip on the close.

D'Alceo is the most concentrated of the three. Reviews of the 2019 vintage describe dark fruit, dense but integrated tannin, freshness that cuts through the weight, and a finish with length and texture. The Petit Verdot contributes to that density: it darkens the colour, deepens the aromatic register, and adds a tannin firmness that requires time in bottle to open. This is a wine that takes several years to show what it intends.

A Bottle To Understand It

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.

In the glass, d'Alceo is dark, firm, and concentrated, with the freshness that biodynamic farming tends to preserve in warm sites. It is not a quick drink. Open it two hours before dinner, or better, lay it down for five to eight years. D'Alceo undergoes three months in concrete vats, 12 to 15 months in tonneaux or barriques, and 18 to 24 months in bottle.

Anecdote

In 1991, Alceo di Napoli Rampolla chose a specific south-facing slope on the estate and had it planted to Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot at high density, trained as alberello, each vine staked low to the ground rather than run on wire. He called the vineyard Vigna d'Alceo, his own name given to the land. The wine that came from it took his name too: d'Alceo, bottled as an IGT Toscana, began its life as Alceo's clearest statement of what he thought this particular slope could do. What is unusual is the directness of the claim: not a cuvée named for the estate, the village, or a medieval tower, but for the man who walked the hillside, decided the exposure was right, chose the grape, chose the training, and put his name on the outcome. That vineyard is still planted exactly as he left it.

Final Word

Castello dei Rampolla has held the same land since 1739 and has been making wine with the same south-facing hillside logic since 1991. The estate is not large, not loud, and does not lean on fashion. What it does, biodynamic farming on a warm Panzano slope with long macerations and no shortcuts in the cellar, produces wines with depth, tannin, and the kind of freshness that comes from land managed carefully over decades. D'Alceo is the reason to seek this estate out. Sammarco is the reason to stay.

Sources

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