Castello dei Rampolla: Library Releases

BY ANTONIO GALLONI | OCTOBER 07, 2024

These library releases from Castello dei Rampolla offer fascinating insights into one of Italy’s most innovative estates and wines.

Castello dei Rampolla is a reference point in Chianti Classico. The estate occupies a striking position in Panzano’s fabled Conca d’Oro opposite Fontodi, just on the other side of this stunning amphitheater of vineyards. Alceo di Napoli dreamt of planting Bordeaux varieties using high-density spacing, something that was virtually unheard of in Chianti Classico in the 1970s and 1980s. In 1988, di Napoli started clearing land, then planted with olive trees and housed the property’s stables. Importantly, this site had never been farmed for grapes before, so it was virgin land. The first terraces were planted with Cabernet Sauvignon in 1991. Sadly, di Napoli passed away later that year and did not see the planting of two additional terraces, one in 1992 and another in 1994, that includes some Petit Verdot, along with the creation of D’Alceo, the estate’s flagship wine that bears his name.