Castello dei Rampolla

The land on which the Castello dei Rampolla farm stands has been owned by the family since 1739, and until 1965 it was cultivated by farmers under a sharecropping system. The wine company's story starts in 1965, when Alceo di Napoli Rampolla inherited the farm, called Santa Lucia in Faulle, from his father and, with his wife Livia Borgia and their four children, set out towards a modern company. The first vineyard was planted in 1968. In 1975 the first bottles of Chianti Classico bearing the name Castello dei Rampolla were produced. Alceo then decided, with winemaker Giacomo Tachis, to plant Cabernet Sauvignon and blend it with Sangiovese, which the estate says made him the first in the area to do so.

• 1739: the family's ownership of the land begins
• 1965: Alceo di Napoli Rampolla inherits the farm, Santa Lucia in Faulle, from his father
• 1968: first vineyard planted
• 1975: first bottles of Chianti Classico under the Castello dei Rampolla name

D'Alceo represents a union between the estate's two generations: Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot as the late Alceo di Napoli Rampolla wished, and biodynamic as his children Luca and Maurizia wished. As of May 2020, Maurizia di Napoli ran Rampolla with her older brother Luca, who was then the estate's sole winemaker. Giacomo Tachis, Alceo's close friend, was the winemaker with whom Sammarco was created.

• Maurizia di Napoli: ran Rampolla with her brother Luca (as of May 2020)
• Luca di Napoli: the estate's sole winemaker (as of May 2020)
• Giacomo Tachis: winemaker with whom Alceo created Sammarco

Santa Lucia in Faulle lies in the valley of the Conca d'Oro, south of Panzano in Chianti. The name means “Golden Basin,” and the valley's southeast and southwest exposure once made it ideal for wheat. The Conca d'Oro sits on the western slope of the Panzano UGA, in the extreme southwestern part of the commune of Greve in Chianti. As of 2020 the farm covered 300 acres, nearly 80 of them under vine. The only treatments used are based on copper, sulphur and propolis; grass is left to grow and sometimes sown, and green manure has reduced the need to work the land. By 2011, 90% of the vineyard machinery was lightweight and partly electric, and in 2019 treatments with orange peel began to reduce the use of sulphur. Work in the vineyard and cellar follows the lunar calendar. The family refuses organic or biodynamic certification.

• Conca d'Oro valley, south of Panzano in Chianti, with southeast and southwest exposure
• 300 acres, nearly 80 under vine (as of 2020)
• Conversion to biodynamic agriculture began in 1994; treatments based on copper, sulphur and propolis
• Uncertified: the family refuses organic or biodynamic certification

The range runs to seven wines. D'Alceo, the first biodynamic wine in 1996, is Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot from the Vigna d'Alceo, a high-density planting in a south-facing position grown as alberello and begun in 1991; average production is 6,000 to 12,000 bottles. Sammarco is Cabernet Sauvignon blended with a percentage of Sangiovese and Merlot, at 8,000 to 25,000 bottles depending on the weather. Liù, introduced in 2018, is 100% Merlot with an average production of 6,000 bottles. The Chianti Classico is Sangiovese with variable percentages of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, at an average of 25,000 to 40,000 bottles. Sangiovese di S. Lucia is 100% Sangiovese fermented in terracotta amphorae without added sulphites, at 1,500 to 5,000 bottles. Bianco di Santa Lucia, from Trebbiano, Chardonnay, Traminer, Sauvignon Blanc and Malvasia, is usually made without added sulphites, at approximately 1,000 bottles. Vinsanto del Chianti Classico is made primarily from Malvasia and Trebbiano and aged in 125-liter caratello barrels. Wine Spectator wrote in 2020 that the estate seldom produces a wine scoring less than 90 points in its blind tastings.

• D'Alceo: Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot; first biodynamic wine, 1996
• Sammarco: Cabernet Sauvignon with Sangiovese and Merlot; first vinified 1980, first bottles released 1982
• Liù: 100% Merlot, introduced 2018
• Chianti Classico, Sangiovese di S. Lucia, Bianco di Santa Lucia, and Vinsanto del Chianti Classico complete the range

The estate sums up its cellar approach as “We create the Best Conditions and then we let Nature do its Job.” All cellar operations are geared to preserving the original quality of the grapes. Harvest is manual. The grapes go into concrete vats for a maceration that generally lasts 25 to 30 days, 7 to 8 of them alcoholic fermentation; the wine is drawn from the skins with gentle pressing and a peristaltic pump and aged in barrels for twelve to eighteen months, depending on the wine. Experiments with amphorae from nearby Impruneta began in 2008, and Clavier and cocciopesto followed as inert wine containers between 2011 and 2016. The estate describes D'Alceo as “intense, warm, refined and elegant” and Sammarco as “a very fresh wine with fine aromas of woodland undergrowth and a deep, intense colour.” Maurizia di Napoli told Wine Spectator in 2020 that “Cocciopesto is better; it’s more inert.”

• Manual harvest; maceration in concrete vats of 25 to 30 days
• Barrel ageing of twelve to eighteen months depending on the wine
• Amphorae from Impruneta since 2008; Clavier and cocciopesto introduced 2011 to 2016
• Vineyard and cellar work follows the lunar calendar

Primary sources (producer's own site): https://www.castellodeirampolla.it/en/, https://www.castellodeirampolla.it/en/history/, https://www.castellodeirampolla.it/la-storia/, https://www.castellodeirampolla.it/en/santa-lucia-in-faulle/, https://www.castellodeirampolla.it/en/the-vineyard/, https://www.castellodeirampolla.it/en/the-cellar/, https://www.castellodeirampolla.it/en/our-wines/, https://www.castellodeirampolla.it/en/dalceo/, https://www.castellodeirampolla.it/en/sammarco/, https://www.castellodeirampolla.it/en/liu/, https://www.castellodeirampolla.it/en/chianti-classico/, https://www.castellodeirampolla.it/en/sangiovese-di-santa-lucia/, https://www.castellodeirampolla.it/en/bianco-di-santa-lucia/, https://www.castellodeirampolla.it/en/vinsanto-del-chianti-classico/. Secondary sources: https://www.winespectator.com/articles/chianti-classico-s-eccentric-aristocrat, https://www.chianticlassico.com/en/territory/uga/panzano/. Where the producer's site and a secondary source disagree, the producer's site governs. Last verified 2026-10-12.