Rocca delle Macie Moonlite 2015
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James
Suckling
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Excellent alone, particularly well-suited to light appetizers, seafood, soft cheeses, and white meat dishes. Serve chilled.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Firm and fruity with lemon and pineapple aromas and flavors. Medium body. Crisp finish.
Other Vintages
2014-
James
Suckling
For well over 40 years the Zingarelli family has dedicated themselves to Tuscany's Rocca delle Macìe, crafting the finest wines, providing meticulous attention to the vineyards, and championing Chianti Classico DOC. One of the most successful producers of Chianti Classico in the world, Rocca delle Macìe is a family-owned winery with family values.
When the late Italo Zingarelli, a successful film producer best known for his popular spaghetti westerns, bought Rocca delle Macìe in Tuscany's Chianti Classico district in 1973, he embarked on a new career as one of Tuscany's more unlikely wine producers. Working closely with his son Sergio, Zingarelli set about restoring the property that Sergio, together with his wife Daniela and their two children, now call home.
Today, the Zingarelli family, led by Sergio, aims to produce elegant wines that are always expressive of their unique terroir. Sergio, a two-time chairman of the of the Chianti Classico Consorzio, is a strong advocate for the terroir of Chianti Classico and the Sangiovese grape; Rocca delle Macìe is one of the few Tuscan wineries with a DOCG at the very top of their quality pyramid.
With hundreds of white grape varieties to choose from, winemakers have the freedom to create a virtually endless assortment of blended white wines. In many European regions, strict laws are in place determining the set of varieties that may be used in white wine blends, but in the New World, experimentation is permitted and encouraged. Blending can be utilized to enhance balance or create complexity, lending different layers of flavors and aromas. For example, a variety that creates a soft and full-bodied white wine blend, like Chardonnay, would do well combined with one that is more fragrant and naturally high in acidity. Sometimes small amounts of a particular variety are added to boost color or aromatics. Blending can take place before or after fermentation, with the latter, more popular option giving more control to the winemaker over the final qualities of the wine.
One of the most iconic Italian regions for wine, scenery and history, Tuscany is the world’s most important outpost for the Sangiovese grape. Tuscan wine ranges in style from fruity and simple to complex and age-worthy, Sangiovese makes up a significant percentage of plantings here, with the white Trebbiano Toscano coming in second.
Within Tuscany, many esteemed wines have their own respective sub-zones, including Chianti, Brunello di Montalcino and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. The climate is Mediterranean and the topography consists mostly of picturesque rolling hills, scattered with vineyards.
Sangiovese at its simplest produces straightforward pizza-friendly Tuscan wines with bright and juicy red fruit, but at its best it shows remarkable complexity and ageability. Top-quality Sangiovese-based wines can be expressive of a range of characteristics such as sour cherry, balsamic, dried herbs, leather, fresh earth, dried flowers, anise and tobacco. Brunello, an exceptionally bold Tuscan wine, expresses well the particularities of vintage variations and is thus popular among collectors. Chianti is associated with tangy and food-friendly dry wines at various price points. A more recent phenomenon as of the 1970s is the “Super Tuscan”—a red wine made from international grape varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Syrah, with or without Sangiovese. These are common in Tuscany’s coastal regions like Bolgheri, Val di Cornia, Carmignano and the island of Elba.