2011 D'Alceo

My most recent visit to Rampolla was one of the most memorable, as I had a chance to taste every vintage of Sammarco back to 1981. We will publish notes from that vertical soon. In the meantime, Rampolla fans will find much to admire in these current releases. Luca di Napoli describes 2013 as a warm year, but without excessive heat, that resulted in grapes with thick skins. Rain arrived towards the end of August and early September, which is a bit later than normal. The first two wines Rampolla has released from 2013 are quite intense. In 2011, the key was picking early, as the season precocious and dry the whole year. The two 2011 flagships - Sammarco and d'Alceo - have shut down hard since I tasted them just before bottling. That is hardly a surprise, given how structured these wines can be. Bottles opened today will only show a fraction of their potential. Where possible, a bit of patience is advised.

This complete vertical of Castello dei Rampolla's d'Alceo was remarkable for many reasons, most importantly the absolute brilliance of the wines across vintages of all kinds.

Castello dei Rampolla is located in Panzano's famous Conca d'Oro or ‘golden basin,' an amphitheater of striking, pristine hillside vineyards. Rampolla's neighbors include Fontodi, La Massa and Villa Cafaggio. The di Napoli family has owned the property since 1739. Alceo di Napoli inherited the estate in 1965. Shortly thereafter, di Napoli planted Canaiolo, Malvasia, Trebbiano and Sangiovese. At the time, Rampolla was essentially a summer residence. Wheat, olive trees and other mixed crops were cultivated, but there were no vineyards. In the early days, Rampolla sold their fruit to Antinori. In 1975, Rampolla began making their own wines under the guidance of legendary oenologist Giacomo Tachis.

Alceo di Napoli dreamt of planting high-density vineyards with Bordeaux varieties, something that was unheard of in Chianti Classico at the time. In 1988, di Napoli started clearing the land, which at the time was planted with olive trees and housed the property's stables. Importantly, this land had never been farmed for grapes before, so it was virgin land. The first terraces were planted with Cabernet Sauvignon in 1990. Petit Verdot followed in 1991 and 1992. Sadly, Alceo di Napoli passed away in 1991, but his children Luca and Maurizia stepped-in to run the family estate. In 1994, Rampolla converted to biodynamic farming, the d'Alceo plots have essentially been farmed biodynamically since the beginning, as they had no real previous history to speak of, nor conventional farming regime from which to adjust.

All of the wines in this tasting were frankly stunning, including the inaugural 1996. A stylistic change towards greater finesse is evident beginning in 2001, which coincides with the seventh year of biodynamic farming, one of the first inflection points for followers of that school. By 2004, d'Alceo is even more elegant and polished than just a few years prior.

Today, d'Alceo is 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Petit Verdot. The first vintages spent about 18 months in French oak barrels. Since 2007, d'Alceo spends 10-12 months in barrel, with only 10-15% new barrels, a decision Rampolla took to preserve more freshness and reduce the flavor impact of oak. In truth, I did not detect any significant or overbearing presence of oak, even in the early years, although the wines are clearly shaped texturally by aging in small barrels. More recently, Rampolla has moved increasingly towards larger 500-liter tonneaux. For more on the history of d'Alceo, readers might enjoy this short video I shot with proprietor Luca di Napoli just after this tasting. Di Napoli discusses biodynamics and other aspects of his approach to viticulture and winemaking here.

Brother and sister team Luca and Maurizia di Napoli continue to take Rampolla to even greater heights. Running a world-class estate with a brilliant track record of success after success isn't enough for the di Napolis, who seem to have their sights set on even loftier goals. Over the last few years, the di Napolis have been experimenting with terra cotta amphoras, which they are using for a new series of wines that will become a full-fledged range of small bottlings with the 2012 vintage. The wines I tasted from terra cotta are nothing short of dazzling. Those four wines will soon be bottled, with no SO2 and be made available in select markets. As spectacular as those wines are, I must caution readers that wines bottled with no SO2 can show significant amounts of variation and are hugely sensitive to poor storage and/or handling. I hope the trade will treat these wines as a highly perishable product, which they are, and suggest readers only buy the wines from the most reputable sources. As for the dual flagships Sammarco and d'Alceo, they are both alive and well. A recent vertical covering every vintage back to the inaugural 1996 showed the late Alceo di Napoli's fundamental instinct for this land was spot on. Today, his children are making the most of the treasure they inherited. Any way you look at it, this is a spectacular set of wines. Rampolla fans can look forward to notes from the d'Alceo vertical and two videos with Luca di Napoli in the coming weeks.