The Rocca di San Gimignano is the municipal Center for the documentation and tasting of Vernaccia wine and local products. Created by the San Gimignano Denomination Consortium, the center brings together all the producers of Vernaccia di San Gimignano DOCG wine, Italy's first Denomination of Origin in 1966, and protects and promotes the area's wine production.
The Rocca wants to be the place of direct experience of wine, which means not only tasting, but also knowledge and emotional contact. In Tuscany, it represents a unique and original experiment; it is the first producer-run reality to use the most modern technological and multimedia means to offer visitors an immersive experience.
Sipping a glass of Vernaccia di San Gimignano in front of one of the most evocative landscapes in Tuscany is an extraordinary experience.
On the ground floor of The Rocca's structure, it is possible to enjoy the direct experience of tasting: at the tasting area you can taste numerous labels of Vernaccia di San Gimignano DOCG and Vernaccia di San Gimignano DOCG Riserva. It is also possible to taste the San Gimignano DOC wines in the three types Red, Rosé and Vinsanto, the Chianti DOCG wines and Toscana IGT wines, to offer visitors the entire production of the territory. The labels for tasting are constantly changing since there are more than two hundred wines from all the producers in the territory.
The tastings - which must be booked in advance - are scheduled with the assistance of expert sommeliers, who can provide visitors with both basic notions for those approaching the wines of the territory for the first time and in-depth information for those who are more experienced. It is also possible to organize seminars during which all the information about the wines of the territory is provided and some pairings with local products are proposed.
For information about the reality of production, visitors will find a touch screen with a list of Vernaccia di San Gimignano wine companies, their wines, how to find and contact them, as well as news about all the typical products of the territory, the saffron of San Gimignano PDO, the extra virgin olive oil Toscano PGI, the Tuscan ham DOP, the finocchiona IGP (a fennel-flavored sausage).
On the second floor of The Rocca, visitors who book the Top Masterclass - a tasting of as many as six local wines to learn about the different expressions of four Vernacce - have the chance to experience the reality of the San Gimignano territory through an immersive and emotional experience.
Each room has its own theme: the centuries-long history of the Vernaccia di San Gimignano, its poets, the territory, agriculture, the grape harvest and the winemaking process, told through images, lights, sounds, voices, videos, holograms, and viewers with 360-degree films.
Wine is not just a beverage, wine is culture, and a glass of Vernaccia di San Gimignano encompasses centuries of history, traditions, agronomic and oenological practice, art and the territory understood as a community of men who act on their land, design it, guard it and pass it on: it is memory of the past and continuity towards the future, it is a moment within an evolutionary process that began in the Middle Ages and will continue for centuries.
For information and hours: vernacciasangimignano.it
