Chianti Classico goes to eleven

New Chianti Classico UGA (Ùnita Geografiche Aggiuntive) Map

In a press release issued one week ago today the Consorzio Vino Chianti Classico made a significant and potentially profound announcement: The Chianti Classico UGA project is now under way. The Assembly of the Chianti Classico Wine Consortium has confirmed that the Gallo Nero‘s (Black Rooster) Additional Geographical Units (Ùnita Geografiche Aggiuntive or UGA) plan has been approved by a very large majority. “A project to modify the production regulations of the historic appellation, which includes two important innovations. In order to show the name of the village on the label.”

These last several years have seen the rise of Associazione Viticoltori or Vignaioli in zonazione, places of interest where microclimates and shared geologies bring land and producers together. Up until 2019 there were nine communes and then eight, but their significance was measured in geographic terms. Going forward there will be eleven zones with the ability to label using a menzione (mention) as the geographic marker that is aggiunta (added) to the primary appellation. Back in 2018 I asked these two questions. “Will 2019 usher in a new era of Chianti Classico bottles noted by villages and crus on the labels? Will the Gran Selezione category seek 100 per cent sangiovese status?”

So yes, more than anything else this new sub-dividing of the territory will allow producers to list their sub-zone of origin on the front label of their Chianti Classico wines. In addition to the UGA, going forward the new regulations for the Gran Selezione category at the top of the Chianti Classico pyramid will be (a minimum) 90 per cent sangiovese with support by only native grapes. Current rules for Chianti Classico in all three appellative levels; Vintage (Annata), Riserva and Gran Selezione draw on the same ampelographic base: 80-100 per cent sangiovese and up to a maximum of 20 per cent of authorized native and/or international red grapes. According to the Consorzio “the exclusive use of native local grape varieties has been approved as complementary to sangiovese, since they are more expressive and representative of the production zone and of traditional Chianti wine-growing.”

Chianti Classico Topographical Map Published by permission and (c) of Alessandro Masnaghetti

When asked when the new regulations will come into effect, the Consorzio’s Silvia Fiorentini had this to say. “We expect to be able to use the UGAs on the label next year, hopefully, but we cannot say yet which will be the first new vintage to carry the UGA names on the bottle. 2020 and 2019 could carry the UGA names if a winery can demonstrate the origin of the wine through the cellar register. The 90 per cent sangiovese and the prohibition of using international varieties will become compulsory only from the fifth year after the approval of the new production by the qualified authorities (as in the ministry of agriculture). This is meant for the few estates that cannot comply with the new ampelographic base and need to replant vineyards.”

Ùnita Geograpiche Agguintive has been many years in the making for a territory with many significant sub-zones, micro-places with uniquely diverse soils and of particular micro-climates. They are the frazioni, collective growing sites often associated with and carrying the same name as a specific village, while other UGAs may refer to the commune in which they are located. The new Chianti Classico map covers 11 total UGAs; Castellina, Castelnuovo Berardenga, Gaiole, Greve, Lamole, Montefioralle, Panzano, Radda, San Casciano, San Donato in Poggio and Vagliali. The latter is the former western “butterfly wing” of the large Castelnuovo Berardenga commune; Lamole, Montefioralle and Panzano are each a uniquely situated frazione within Greve; San Donato in Poggio is a frazione and village within the commune of Barberino Tavarnelle, formerly the two communes (before 2019) of Barberino Val d’Elsa and Tavarnelle Val di Pesa. In the new UGA it will also include the area of Poggibonsi.

Sangiovese, Panzano in Chianti

Related – Grande, Chianti Classico

Just eight years after the Gran Selezione were first introduced in 2013 this development begins a new chapter and movement forward. Gran Selezione is now produced by 154 wineries for a total of 182 labels and represents about 6 per cent of the entire production of Chianti Classico. While it has always been the idea and wish of Consorzio President Giovanni Manetti to establish the Gran Selezione as 100 per cent sangiovese, this first step “compromise” effects the move towards that probability. The change eliminates the usage of international grapes like merlot and cabernet sauvignon from the GS, something many producers had already begun to do. In conjunction with the UGA breakdown it also sets up greater potential for having the top wines become those drawn form a single-vineyard, or at the very least wines produced with specific grapes identified by an additional geographical denomination on the label. While for now the new UGA designations only apply to the Gran Selezione category, ultimately speaking this will help the consumer drill down and further understand the notion of terroir (or acclimazione sottosuolo and genius loci) in Chianti Classico’s top tier wines. Just one step but it sets the region up for a long term plan where all of its DOCG wines will carry the promise of additional geographical notations on their labels.

Singolarità, qualità, diversità. Gallo Nero

Related – Chianti Classico is the future

“The decisions are based on such criteria as oenological recognizability, historical authenticity, renown and significance in terms of volumes produced. The intent of the UGA to represent the excellence of the territory, thus competing, in a more incisive way, with the greatest wines in the world.”

“The watchword is to continue along the path of enhancing the distinctive characteristics of Chianti Classico,” notes the Consorzio. “A path that, in recent years, has brought the Black Rooster appellation ever higher in the international rankings of quality wines, increasing its fame, prestige and popularity on tables all over the world. The project, made possible by a concentrated effort by the Board of Directors over a number of years, responds to the need, arising from within the membership itself, for an increasingly far-reaching enhancement of the characteristics that distinguish the Black Rooster appellation and make it unique.”

Gallo Nero Lounge, Chianti Classico Collection 2020

National and European regulations do in fact allow DOP wines to refer to additional geographical units, identified within the production area of the denomination. “One of the objectives of the proposed amendment is to strengthen communication of the wine-territory combination, increase quality in terms of identity and territoriality, allow consumers to know where the grapes come from and, last but not least, stimulate demand by differentiating supply. The introduction of the name of the village on the label will serve to intercept and satisfy the interest of consumers who, in increasing numbers, wish to deepen their knowledge of the relationship between Gallo Nero wines and their territory of origin.”

Chianti Classico Consorzio President Giovanni Manetti

“The phrase the territory makes the difference has always been one of our favourite mottos,” says Giovanni Manetti, President of the Consortium. “Chianti Classico is a truly unique territory, two-thirds of which is covered by woodland and only one-tenth of which is devoted to wine-growing. More than 50 per cent of this now follows the dictates of organic farming (52.5 per cent of the area under vine). As I have often said in my three years as President, wine reflects the territory like a negative photographic image, and this is why it is so important to preserve its environmental context and landscape, and be able to tell the consumer about it, in all its various facets, also through the label.”

Good to go!

godello

Chianti Classico UGA

Twitter: @mgodello

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Meyer-Näkel, Ahr Valley, March 2017

Jun3

The village of Dernau, Ahr Valley

The Ahr Valley is one of Germany’s furthest northern wine regions (out of 13), more so than the Mosel. The total area is 150 hectares (of 100,000 total in Germany). Meyer Näkel is a young winery by Ahr standards, now at the fifth generation, with sisters Meike and Dörte Näkel at the helm. Before that there was a winery (Meyer) and a restaurant (Näkel). When the grandparents (Paula Meyer and Willibald Näkel) married the entities merged. In 1982 Meike’s father and mother (Werner and Claudia) took the winery and her uncle the restaurant. Started with 1.5, now there are 15 hectares under vines. Meike interned at the Dr. Heger winery in Baden and later with Weingut Fürst in Franken.

With Meike Näkel, Ahr Valley March 2017

The slopes are ridiculously steep. So difficult to work. Dangerously steep inclines, contours, weathered (in some cases blue) slate and greywacke define the grape-growing. “In our case it is both the shape and stone of the valley,” tells Meike. The Ahr runs west to east as a deep valley, creating canyon like topography. Just the southern part is planted to vines. Dark slate warms and conserves heat, returning it to the air very slowly. It’s a glass house in essence. The focus of the tasting was the varied ways in which Meyer Näkel makes use of spätburgunder, in sparkling, rosé and pinot noir varietal wine. I visited with Meike Näkel after attending the Prowein wine fair in March 2017. These were the nine wines she poured and my notes.

Meyer Näkel Rosé 2016

A 100 per cent pinot noir, one of two Rosés allowed under German law, no longer called weissaste, in which you need to use 100 per cent of that variety to say it on the label. Despite the old-school reputation (like the old aunt drinking sweet sherry) so the word Rosé gives credibility towards dictating quality. Intensely floral and full of strawberry essence there is also something very stony and certainly some sweetness. Summer refreshing with such capable acidity. Flavours promise citrus and candied flowers. It’s also just a bit crunchy. Success is not predicated on a stark and dry expression. The acidity sees to the balance and the energy. Just bottled too weeks ago. De-stemmed, crushed and two hours skin contact. Only stainless steel. RS 7.9 g/L ABV 12.5 TA 7.0. Drink 2017-2019. Tasted March 2017

Meyer Näkel Spätburgunder Blanc De Noir “Illusion” 2016

Spätburgunder Blanc de Noir “Illusion” is obviously not Rosé like, but just a hint though not even Vin Gris. Half is made saignée, then 10-15 per cent is removed. The second half is crushed bunches of pinot noir. If just saignée the lack of tannins would lead to a tannin-less, potentially dull wine. Ten per cent in new barriques. Bottled two weeks ago. It just smells viscous, beyond berries and into peaches. You can imagine toasty and creamy notes on the palate, even if those notes are not yet present. Just an illusion, “looking over your shoulder.” Just hints at effervescence but it’s more like an analgesic tingle on the tongue. The citrus is like pure lime with acidity inward and intense. Very long and should really develop with two years of concentrating, fleshing time. The lack of bitters when you consider how much pure lime and tight acidity is a factor of the dual process, two connecting systems, blending acumen. An illusion because it had to be sold as table wine for eight years, but today it’s fine to call it and sell it as Blanc de Noir. A perfectly cleaner version of a Jean-Pierre Frick. 7 g/L RS and TA. 13 ABV. Drink 2018-2022. Tasted March 2017

Ahr Valley slope

Meyer Näkel Spätburgunder Ahr Valley 2015, Deutscher Qualitätswein

The entry-level pinot noir was bottled in the summer of 2016, after a hot season and dry elsewhere but in the Ahr it rained and it was cool overall. Picking was actually late and the aromatics show off the long, cool, floral temper. De-stemming and fermentation is immediately initialized but the maximum fermentation is 10 and usually six days. The pips are just a quick doo-wop to keep both green and bitter away. A focus on fruit, an absence of tannin and a pure varietal expression. Red trumps green, large wooden casks (15-20 years) also impart no tannin so the finality is simply cherry. That said, this carries some almond pit and green strawberry on the palate. It’s really what basic German spätburgunder is and expected to be. Nicely balanced and in at 13 per cent alcohol. Drink 2017-2019. Tasted March 2017

Steep grade of Ahr Valley vineyards

Meyer Näkel Spätburgunder Blauschiefer 2015

Spätburgunder Blauschiefer is from blue slate, from the steepest slopes with highest percentage of slate in the earth, to get it in the glass. A collection of all the blue slate sites in the two villages, this and the sister neighbour. “The stale gives us the specific micro-climate to grow grapes up here,” tells Meike Mayer, at 50 degrees of latitude, but also in the Rheingau and parts of the Mosel and the Nahe. “In our case it is both the shape and stone of the valley.” The Ahr runs west to east as a deep valley, creating canyon like topography. Just the southern part is planted to vines. Dark slate warms and conserves heat, returning it to the air very slowly. It’s a glass house in essence. Glass Houses. Billy Joel. Needs to be on the label. As a thank you and to tell the people. A niche wine locale and yes, there is this metal feel on the nose and even more so on the palate. It’s an intense impression, deep and mined. Vinified by a de-stem, followed by three days of cold soak, then heat and 18 days skin contact. Just new barriques, two to four years old. The tannins are long and indeed elegant with the stones imparting a constant warming blanket across the palate. This goes cool and warm then back again. Idiosyncratic and highly drinkable pinot noir. Drink 2018-2022. Tasted March 2017

The weathered slate and greywacke of Ahr strata

Meyer Näkel Spätburgunder “S” 2015

The good problem to have is that as you grow and buy up land the accumulated hectarage become disparate, spread apart and generally all over the Ahr. Small pieces of land owned by older growers who stopped farming. The holdings are not contiguous. These small parcels need to be gathered and made in cuvées or blends. The plots are just too small for single-vineyards but the “S” is made from those tiny disparate plots. Also from some fruit “stolen” or bled from the three single-vinyard GG blocks, especially from fruit taken from younger vines. Small barriques and 40 per cent new oak after 21 days skin-contact maceration. You can’t write Selection on the label so you use the letter “S”. The nose shows tonic and cherry and a beautiful inhalant/liqueur. The fruit is made darker and more unctuous by the barrel but that fruit was clearly classified to begin with. The first pinot noir with true tang is here in this “S” so this and the wise Ahr bitters design the structure with long lasting intent. Drink 2018-2024. Tasted March 2017

Meyer Näkel Spätburgunder Sonnenberg GG 2013

The VDO follows the Bourgogne cru system, looking for the climats of highest quality. Ostensibly Granc Cru, known as GG (Grosses Gewächs). Sonnenberg is a single vineyard from the “sunny mountain,” in the lower part of the Ahr Valley. From steep slopes though not the most, the underbelly is rock, with loess-loam aboard. That top layer of earth brings the fruit to mix with the minerality. Ice age, glacial pinot noir, fertile and for the first time, a Burgundian presence, if only because of the sweet extract concentration. Five to seven days of cold maceration, followed by a slow warming for seven days and 23 days maceration. Barriques, 75 per cent new oak. It carries that barrel with remarkable ease, like the vintage, ripe, easy phenolic development ensured and by picking. Drink this at your whimsy. Drink 2017-2021. Tasted March 2017

The cemetary in Dernau

Meyer Näkel Spätburgunder Pfarrwingert GG 2013

From the high part of the valley, on Grauwacke slate, a highly decomposed slate (in the area known as Fabrigatte) easier to crush so the soil is filled with fine pieces of this stone. There is so much break down that the soil becomes loose, like sand. A crunchy, crispy and fragmented pinot noir, in acidity at least. Means “church vineyard,” of the local dialect in origin. Once belonged to the Catholic church. More mineral, less fruit, a touch more oak then the Sonnenberg, spice but less so with thanks to the quicksand soil work in the development of this wine. Once again the sweetness created by extract from a top quality vineyard is impressive. Drink 2019-2024. Tasted March 2017

Meyer Näkel Spätburgunder Kraüterberg 2013

Kraüterberg meaning “herbal mountain,” going back to the Romans who created the terraces and began the wine making processes. The thought is that the reference is in to gardens where herbs were planted along with vines. In the upper Ahr, very steep old terraces, this seems a combination of the first two but more body, with thanks to an increase of clay to go along with the stones. Complexity is a step above, as is fleshy, ripe and elegant character. There is a medicinal quality which is the herbs speaking and a texture as silky as the Ahr is long. It’s a beautiful wine, from 80 per cent new oak but I really do think that the terroir will speak louder with a bit less oak. Drink 2019-2025. Tasted March 2017

Meyer Näkel Spätburgunder “SR” 2013

A “Selection Reserve” made from one selected barrique, not made in every vintage. Looking for plants which suffer blossom loss, plants that only produce small bunches of the smallest berries. Mostly skin, small pips and very little juice. Not possible every year and the concentration is really noted on the nose. Again it can’t be called Selection Reserve so “SR” is the moniker. The first vintage was 2009, then 2012 and now here in ’13. Sees 24 months in a new barrel, a total of three years aging and now just released. Very creamy, pretty ambitious and likely costs double to make what it sells for. This shows oak way more (and in the tannin it delivers) because there just isn’t the juice to support it. It’s certainly ripe though the wood makes it seem so sweet. Drink 2018-2022. Tasted March 2017

Good to go!

godello

The village of Dernau, Ahr Valley

Twitter: @mgodello

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a wine processor

Monthly Archives: June 2021

Chianti Classico goes to eleven

Meyer-Näkel, Ahr Valley, March 2017