Mario Macciocca Monocromo #3 Rosato 2022

Mario Macciocca is a natural wine producer based in the Piglio area of Lazio, working four hectares of biodynamic vineyards on the slopes of Monte Scalambra along the Simbruini mountain chain in the province of Frosinone. His background is as unlikely as it is appealing: he was a professional footballer who played at national level in Italy, later studied physics without completing his degree, and worked as a barman at the historic La Palma club in Rome. Around 2000, he returned to his family's land and committed to making wine in the most natural way he could.

The four hectares are planted to roughly three hectares of Cesanese and one hectare of Passerina and Malvasia Puntinata. The Cesanese vineyards occupy parcels called Pila Rocca and Carmine, with south and west exposures that benefit from a sheltered, moderately temperate microclimate protected from the coldest winds by the surrounding mountains. Soils are red volcanic clay and limestone-marl at altitudes of around 380 to 400 metres. Farming is biodynamic throughout — no herbicides, no synthetic fertilisers, no pesticides, with copper and sulphur used sparingly for disease control.

The Monocromo range — the name suggests a single-colour, single-variety approach to winemaking — represents Mario's entry-level, everyday expression of Cesanese. Each cuvée in the Monocromo series (numbered rather than named) is a different expression of the grape: red, white, and rosé, all made with spontaneous fermentation, native yeasts, and aging in stainless steel or concrete without any oak influence. The wines are bottled unfined, unfiltered, and without added sulfites. Mario also makes more ambitious, single-parcel Cesanese cuvées, including the Civitella red, which is aged in large barrels.

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The Cesanese appellations of Lazio occupy a compact zone in the foothills of the Simbruini and Ernici mountains in the province of Frosinone, southeast of Rome. Three DOC and DOCG designations cover the principal Cesanese growing areas: Cesanese del Piglio DOCG (the most prestigious), Cesanese di Olevano Romano DOC, and Cesanese di Affile DOC. Together they account for a modest total of around 250 to 300 hectares under vine — a very small footprint that reflects both the historical marginalisation of these wines and the growing but still limited number of producers working seriously with the grape.

The landscape is dramatic. The vineyards sit on hillsides and in wide mountain valleys at elevations ranging from around 300 to 500 metres, protected on several sides by the peaks of the Simbruini chain, which reach over 2,000 metres. This geography creates a sheltered microclimate — warm and sunny during the ripening season but with significant cooling at night — that is particularly well suited to Cesanese's tendency toward high natural acidity and complex aromatics. Soils vary across the zone but are predominantly red volcanic clay in the Piglio area, a reflection of the ancient volcanic activity of the Colli Laziali and the deeper geological heritage of central Italy.

Cesanese is an ancient variety with documented presence in the Lazio hills since at least the Roman period. It produces wines of unusual aromatic range — floral, fruity, and spiced — with naturally high acidity and moderate tannins that have led some critics to compare it to varieties like Sangiovese or even Nebbiolo when grown from low-yield old vines. For decades the variety was associated with semi-sweet, heavy, and undistinguished wines. A revival since the early 2000s, led by a small group of dedicated and biodynamically minded producers in Piglio and the surrounding communes, has demonstrated the variety's genuine potential for serious, terroir-driven natural wine.