Rocca di Frassinello

5 retailers

Rocca di Frassinello

Maremma Toscana

5 retailers

£35.00

4 retailers

Maremma Toscana DOC Le Sughere di Frassinello Rocca di Frassinello

Maremma Toscana

4 retailers

£18.00

£20.00

4 retailers

Maremma Toscana DOC Ornello Rocca di Frassinello

Maremma Toscana

4 retailers

£17.20

£18.11

4 retailers

Rocca di Frassinello "San Germano"

Maremma Toscana

4 retailers

£69.00

£81.18

2 retailers

Maremma Toscana DOC Bianco Rocca di Frassinello

Maremma Toscana

2 retailers

£54.00

2 retailers

Rocca di Frassinello Bianco Vermentino

Maremma Toscana

2 retailers

£14.90

1 retailer

Maremma Toscana DOC Rosato Rocca di Frassinello

Maremma Toscana

1 retailer

£21.90

Explore Cabernet Sauvignon

About Rocca di Frassinello

Paolo Panerai made his name with Castellare di Castellina in Chianti, his since 1979. In the Maremma he wanted to do the opposite: blend Tuscan and French grapes on one estate. He bought 500 hectares between Gavorrano and Roccastrada and found a partner in Baron Eric de Rothschild of Château Lafite. The hill sits beside the old Aurelia road, where a constant sea breeze funnels up from the coast. It dries the air and softens the climate in winter and summer, and that is why the partners chose it. The first vintage was 2004, about 130,000 bottles. The vineyards now cover nearly 90 hectares, half planted with Italian varieties and half with French ones.

The winery is the work of Renzo Piano, a friend of Panerai's whose own father made Dolcetto. It is the only winery he has designed. He chose the hill from a helicopter. Commissioned in 2001 and built from 2003, the winery opened on 30 June 2007. Its red walls and tower echo the old fortresses of the Maremma. The heart of it is underground: a barrel room 40 metres square with no columns, dug into the rock, where nearly 2,000 barrels sit on stepped rows like an amphitheatre. Daylight reaches them through mirrors in the tower. Grapes are picked by hand and come down chutes from the roof terrace, so no pumps touch them. That terrace, which Piano called the sagrato, is a sheet of terracotta of more than 5,000 square metres. Beside it stands a glass pavilion for tastings, where a work by the American artist David LaChapelle is on show.

The Etruscans made wine on these hills 3,000 years ago. Their tombs turned up on the estate, and digs with the University of Florence and the Tuscan archaeology service uncovered the San Germano necropolis. Eight of its burial mounds have been restored and can be walked to. Jars from the tombs still held traces of wine. Since 2018 the winery has housed the Etruscan Documentation Centre of Gavorrano, laid out by the architect Italo Rota, and every visit includes it.

The estate makes six reds, two whites and a grappa. Sangioveto, the Sangiovese clone selected at Castellare, meets Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon in most of them. Poggio alla Guardia Vigne Alte is the everyday red, kept out of small barrels. Ornello adds a fifth of Syrah and is named after the butteri, the cowboys of the Maremma. Le Sughere di Frassinello reached Wine Spectator's Top 100 by its fifth vintage. Rocca di Frassinello is the grand vin, joined in 2022 by San Germano from the vines above the necropolis. Baffonero is pure Merlot from the vineyard below the winery, made in small numbers and pitched by the estate as a rival to Masseto. There is a Vermentino, a richer Bianco from the best Vermentino grapes kept ten months on its lees, and a Sangioveto rosé.

Tours run by reservation, every day, and start on the terrace with its view over the hills to the sea. They take in the barrel room, the tank room and the Etruscan finds, and end with a tasting in the pavilion. Longer versions add a sommelier-led lunch, a Maremma cooking class, an e-bike ride through the vines, or a tasting of the group's top wines. The guest house occupies a wing of Piano's building: four double rooms and two apartments with floor-to-ceiling windows over the estate, breakfast included, and no light pollution at night. The last kilometre is a dirt road.

Editorial · ItalianWines.co.uk

Plate I · TUSCANY

Rocca di Frassinello on the Tuscany wine atlas

Anchored in Maremma, the editorial heart of Tuscany.

Loc. Poggio alla Guardia, Giuncarico Scalo, 58023 Gavorrano (GR)

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Visit & Experiences

4 bookable experiences at Rocca di Frassinello

4 tastings, checked by our editors. From €35.

At a glance, editorially verified

Tastings 4 bookable Tours 2 bookable

Accommodation Not bookable here

Booking Required in advance

Tasting & Tour

Classic Experience

1h 15 From €35 per person

An hour to immerse yourself in the heart of the Tuscan Maremma, discovering the wines of Rocca di Frassinello. The guided tour starts from the majestic terracotta terrace, with a 360° view of the Maremma hills, continues in the suggestive Barricaia dug into the rock, where up to 2 thousand barriques rest in the darkness; it continues in the vat room and then in the adjacent rooms, where the Etruscan Documentation Center is located which displays the finds found in the Necropolis of San Germano discovered within the estate. The experience includes a guided tour and guided tasting of 4 Maremma Toscana DOC wines in the modern Pavillon.

Book this tour

via Winalist

Tasting & Tour

Premium Experience

1h 15 From €55 per person

An hour to immerse yourself in the heart of the Tuscan Maremma, discovering the wines of Rocca di Frassinello. The guided tour starts from the majestic terracotta terrace, with a 360° view of the Maremma hills, continues in the suggestive Barricaia dug into the rock, where up to 2 thousand barriques rest in the darkness; it continues in the vat room and then in the adjacent rooms, where the Etruscan Documentation Center is located which displays the finds found in the Necropolis of San Germano discovered within the estate. The experience includes a guided tour and tasting of 5 Maremma Toscana DOC wines in the modern Pavillon, accompanied by a selection of typical Tuscan cured meats and cheeses.

Book this tour

via Winalist

Food Pairing

Light Lunch Experience

2h 30 From €75 per person

A unique experience that combines a passion for wine, history, and gastronomy! Our Light Lunch Experience begins with a guided tour of the winery, designed by the renowned architect Renzo Piano, an extraordinary example of architecture that perfectly integrates with the surrounding landscape. During the tour, you will also have the opportunity to discover our Etruscan museum, which tells the millennia-old story of one of the most fascinating civilizations in our territory. At the end of the tour, we invite you to enjoy a convivial lunch in our technical room. 2 courses plus dessert with typical Maremma recipes, respecting the seasonality of the products. Everything will be accompanied by four of our prestigious wines, for a complete sensory experience.

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via Winalist

Tasting

Grand Cru Experience

1 hour 30 minutes €150 per person

A tasting of the best wines from the Domini Castellare group, the family of estates Rocca di Frassinello belongs to. Like every visit here, it takes in the Etruscan finds kept inside the winery. About 90 minutes, booked online on the estate's own page.

Book this tasting

on castellare.it

Accommodation

Stay in the guest house

Four double rooms and two three-bedroom apartments in a wing of Renzo Piano's winery. Big windows over the estate, wifi, air conditioning and breakfast. No restaurant, pool or front desk. Booked by email or phone with the estate, which also sells a one-day Wine and Stay package online.

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Plan your visit

castellare.it/en/rocca-di-frassinello/

Loc. Poggio alla Guardia, Giuncarico Scalo, 58023 Gavorrano (GR)

+39 0566 88400

[email protected]

What Rocca di Frassinello makes

Rocca di Frassinello's current bottle selection is easiest to understand through Merlot and Sangiovese.

Key grapes

Merlot is a red grape with a serious Italian footprint.

Region Tuscany

Tannin

Body

Explore Merlot

Sangiovese (san-jo-vay-zeh) is the undisputed king of red wines in central Italy.

Region Tuscany

Tannin

Body

Explore Sangiovese

Cabernet Sauvignon is a red grape born in Bordeaux, and it reshaped modern Italian wine.

Region Tuscany

Tannin

Body

Syrah is the dark, structured red of the northern Rhone.

Region Tuscany

Tannin

Body

Explore Syrah

Vermentino (vair-men-TEE-no) is an aromatic white grape variety.

Region Tuscany

Acidity

Body

Explore Vermentino

Common questions

On the hill of Poggio alla Guardia facing Giuncarico, in the Gavorrano area of the Maremma, southern Tuscany. Take the Giuncarico exit of the SS1 Aurelia coast road and follow the signs for about 6 km. The last kilometre is a dirt track.
Yes, and every guided tour is booked ahead, on the estate's booking page or through Winalist. The estate opens from 10 to 1 and 2 to 7 in spring and summer, and until 6 in autumn and winter. The basic tour lasts 75 minutes. Longer versions add a lunch, a cooking class or an e-bike ride.
Renzo Piano, the architect of the Pompidou Centre in Paris and the Shard in London. It is the only winery he has designed. It opened in 2007. The barrel room is underground and built like an amphitheatre, and the roof terrace is a sheet of terracotta he called the sagrato.
Yes. The guest house sits in a wing of the winery itself, with four double rooms and two three-bedroom apartments, breakfast included. There is no restaurant, pool or reception desk, and the estate says the night sky is free of light pollution. Book by email or phone with the estate. It also sells a one-day Wine and Stay package online.
The estate's top wine. It is a pure Merlot from the Baffonero vineyard at the foot of the winery, made in small amounts. The estate calls it a challenger to Masseto, the famous Merlot from the Tuscan coast.
The Etruscan necropolis of San Germano lies inside the estate. Eight burial mounds from the seventh and sixth centuries BC have been restored and are open to visitors. Finds from the tombs are shown in the documentation centre inside the winery. They include a painted Athenian wine vase from about 480 BC. Every tour includes the centre.

Plan a visit

Ask us to arrange your visit to Rocca di Frassinello

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