Rocca delle Macie, from cowboy movies to wine which is a symbol of Tuscany

Terra & Gusto

January 30, 2017

From Spaghetti westerns to a wine which is a  symbol of ‘Made in Italy’. The entrepreneurial history of the Zingarelli family, of Roman origin and today a symbol of the Tuscan wine and oil, evokes the myth of King Midas. Italo Zingarelli’s father bought it in 1973, the Tenuta delle Macie, with 3,200 acres of vineyards in Castellina in Chianti, after having made a fortune as the youngest film producer at Cinecittà during the good times. Former stuntman, Italo had the courage to buy the rights to a western movie rejected by all the producers, "They Call Me Trinity." And the sequel “Trinity is STILL My Name” with Bud Spencer and Terence Hill, “Trinity Is STILL My Name”, is still today holds the record for number of tickets sold said Sergio Zingarelli in a press conference in Rome.

But the Zingarelli family does not stop to live on the income and proceeds of its acquisitions, even in Castellina in Chianti Tenuta St. Alphonsus (5,000 acres) and then the Fizzano estate (6,500 acres), a village of 11^th century now tied in with a Tuscan restaurant. And then new real estate acquisitions in Chianti Classico with the estate's Tavolelle, and a new winery in Maremma, the Campomaccione estate, with 8,000 acres of vineyards and DOC Morellino di Scansano and bianchista production with Vermentino of Casamaria Farm (6,000 acres).

Sergio Zingarelli, who also holds the post of chairman of the Chianti Classico Wine Consortium, declares he is now ready for new challenges that perceive the quality achieved by the Sangiovese. "We will provoke the market - he announced - with the bottling of 2014, a difficult year in which we will do very little but bottle an amazing reserve and will not make the IGT. We were the first to come out with it" Great Selection "for the top of the range, 10 thousand bottles of "Sergio Zingarelli." I am not a fanatic of native grapes but that was not possible with pure Sangiovese which we can do today. We are witnessing a qualitative accelerated growth thanks to investments in research, the pruners that we consider them as real surgeons, investment and consultancy of a local winemaker Lorenzo Landi. A well-perceived quality in the US market first, followed by Canada and Germany. From 18 months - has finally matured - we are growing in Italy and drive sales for high end bottles".