Rocca delle Macie Chianti Classico is a fabulously affordable expression of Tuscany’s great Sangiovese grape, which makes up 95% of the blend here with 5% Merlot providing a softness and supple texture to the wine as well as adding smooth plummy flavours.

This is a savoury little number with bright acidity adding freshness and length to every sip. This is a tasty little number for drinking now or in the next couple of years.

THE CHIANTI CLASSICO APPELLATION

Chianti Classico is the heart of the wider Chianti production zone and its wines are distinguished by a trademarked black rooster on their labels. The wines of Chianti Classico arehigher in quality and noticeably so in taste than wines labelled Chianti, which come from a broader area in Tuscany. The wines taste better because the vines are planted on hillsides with a higher degree of iron rich soils and a greater diurnal temperature range, which provides more powerful, riper fruit flavours, which are balanced by higher acidity thanks to the cooler night time temperatures.

The Sangiovese grape must make up 80% of all wines labelled Chianti Classico compared to 70% Sangiovese for wines labelled Chianti.

Chianti was first defined as a wine producing sub region within Tuscany in 1716 by the Grand Duke of Tuscany Cosimo III, whose wanted to protect the integrity of the wines and prevent fraud. The Chianti Classico Wine Consortium was formed in 1924 with the distinctive Black Rooster trademark chosen to feature on the labels.