Driving through Chianti is almost overwhelming in the best possible way. Vineyards roll across the hills between olive groves, wooded slopes, and old stone hamlets.

I was leaning out of the car window, taking photographs as quickly as I could, when I captured one of the most beautiful views of the trip. A moment later, we realized we had arrived at Rocca delle Macìe.

We had been drinking and enjoying their wines for nearly a decade, so being invited to the estate for an interview felt like coming full circle.

The winery’s name translates roughly as “fortress of the stone heaps.” Standing among the Tuscan hills, it did feel like a place from a film.

That seemed fitting. Rocca delle Macìe began with an Italian film producer who decided to write a new kind of story.

Italo Zingarelli’s second act

In the early 1970s, Italo Zingarelli was known for producing popular Italian films, including Spaghetti Westerns. But he had another dream: to restore a neglected Tuscan estate and make wine.

In 1973, he purchased the Le Macìe estate near Castellina in Chianti. The property included a forgotten fourteenth-century hamlet and a small vineyard.

According to the family story, Italo first visited the property with his wife and two friends on a rainy Sunday afternoon. They expected to stay only a few minutes. His wife and friends did not even leave the car.

Italo returned with a purchase agreement.

The decision changed the direction of the family. He began restoring the hamlet, caring for the land, and developing the winery. The film producer had found a new subject: the landscape, people, and wines of Tuscany.

The official winery describes the estate as a vision that began with Italo and continues through the Zingarelli family today. Rocca delle Macìe now includes multiple estates across Tuscany, with the family still involved in vineyards, production, hospitality, and the future of the business.

Rocca delle Macìe - “fortress of the stone heaps”

A family story, not just a family business

Italo’s son Sergio joined him in the 1980s. Today, Sergio, his wife Daniela, and the third generation continue the work.

Giulia leads hospitality at the Fizzano estate, while Andrea works alongside his father in viticulture and production. Their roles are different, but the connection between them is clear: Rocca delle Macìe is not simply a winery owned by a family. It is a family shaping the winery together.

Our host, Georgeta, spoke about the Zingarelli family with genuine affection. She described them less like distant owners and more like people with whom she had built a life.

That spirit extended to our visit. We were welcomed around Sergio and Daniela’s family table for lunch with members of the leadership team.

The meal was generous, warm, and unhurried. It was the kind of hospitality that makes you want to stay longer, not because you are being sold an experience, but because you feel included in one.

The Zingarelli family is deeply connected with those who work alongside them

The Chianti Classico Riserva that brought us there

We had been drinking Rocca delle Macìe’s Chianti Classico Riserva for nearly a decade. It had become one of our trusted bottles and easily belonged among our top five wines.

Visiting the estate helped us understand the wine differently.

The Riserva draws fruit from the family’s different estates, each with its own soils and exposures. That blending gives the wine a broader sense of Chianti Classico, combining earthy and vibrant qualities with notes of leather, spice, cherry, plum, and fig.

It is a useful lesson for anyone choosing a Chianti Classico. A familiar bottle can still have layers that are not obvious until you understand where the fruit comes from and how the producer works across the region.

The Riserva remained a wine we already loved. But the visit revealed another level of the estate’s work.

Two Gran Selezione wines that changed the conversation

At Rocca delle Macìe, we also tasted two small-lot Gran Selezione wines.

Il Crocino, from the sandy soils of Tenuta Fizzano, was elegant and earthy, with long, fine tannins.

The Sergio Zingarelli, made from grapes grown on marl and loam-rich terraces below the winery, was fuller, darker, and silkier.

The difference between the wines was not simply a matter of quality. It was a demonstration of how vineyard site can change the expression of Sangiovese.

We could not choose between them, so we did what seemed most sensible: we took both.

The amazing single vineyard Gran Selezione expressions: Il Crocino and the Sergio Zingarelli

Why Rocca delle Macìe is worth visiting

Rocca delle Macìe is a useful stop for anyone exploring Chianti Classico because it brings together several sides of Tuscan wine: the history of a family estate, the importance of place and vineyard site, the evolution of a winery across generations, the relationship between wine and hospitality, and the difference between an established Riserva and small-lot Gran Selezione wines.

The official estate now offers visits, tastings, hospitality, and food experiences in the heart of Chianti Classico. Check Rocca delle Macìe’s current visit and tasting options before planning a trip.

For readers who want to explore one of the wines we tasted, check current availability through the estate’s wine club and shop, which lists the Sergio Zingarelli Chianti Classico Gran Selezione. Retailer inventory and vintage availability may change.

Rocca delle Macìe is one of the Tuscany stops in our guide to the most important wine regions in Italy.

Italo Zingarelli once said he was more excited to see his wine on a table in a New York restaurant than to see hundreds of people waiting outside a theater in Milan to watch one of his films.

That may be the clearest description of his second act. His greatest story was not written for the cinema. It continues in the vineyards, cellars, and family tables of Chianti Classico.

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