The Cream of Tuscany’s Crop
- 97 pts Vinous97 pts Vinous
- 97 pts James Suckling97 pts JS
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2011 Castello dei Rampolla d'Alceo Toscana IGT 750 ml
- Curated by unrivaled experts
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- Temperature controlled shipping options
- Get credited back if a wine fails to impress
Collectors’ Double 97-Point Dream
Collectors’ Double 97-Point Dream
Collector Alert: The magnificent dual 97-point Castello dei Rampolla d’Alceo is Super Tuscan power and grace at its best. Antonio Galloni called it “pure pleasure,” as it outpaced other legends on his 2011 Super Tuscan Honor Roll. James Suckling agreed, dropping a matching 97 points, while Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate said this Cabernet-Petit Verdot blend’s “intensity and purity is what sets this wine part,” pinning on a cool 95 points. Darkly concentrated, rich, and sleek, this will cellar effortlessly for over a decade.
The giants of Italy — Sassicaia, Castello dei Rampolla, Tignanello, and Ornellaia — compete vintage in and vintage out for Super Tuscan supremacy. In 2011, the Castello dei Rampolla’s lavish “d’Alceo” stood above them all.
The name sends shivers of pleasure down the spine of any serious collector. The d’Alceo cuvée dates back to 1965, when Alceo di Napoli converted the di Napoli farmlands in the Conca d’Oro (“Golden Basin”) of Chianti — family-owned for nearly three centuries — to vineyards. He planted a terrace of Cabernet Sauvignon in 1990, followed by Petit Verdot.
Alceo passed away in 1991, and his son and daughter, Luca and Maurizia, now honor their father with each bottle from this 14-acre vineyard. Thanks to Alceo’s pioneering high-density approach, each plant produces sublimely concentrated fruit — fruit that has driven the wine’s mythical status.
Luca believes that rigorous biodynamic farming methods and reluctance to stress the land are behind d’Alceo’s success, and the wines’ ability to enliven anyone who drinks them. The 2011 had Antonio Galloni feeling outmatched: “Words feel utterly useless in describing just how profound and magical these elixirs are,” he wrote in his barrel tasting.
Luckily, numbers step up where words fail.