Chianti Classico’s future is a three-letter word: UGA

Chianti Classico Collection 2023 – Stazione Leopolda, Firenze

Deconstructing Unità Geografiche Aggiuntive, getting around with Masnaghetti, what about 2021? and 245 tasting notes from the 2023 Chianti Classico Collection

When the Consorzio Vino Chianti Classico officially announced the launch of their UGA project in June of 2021 a profound new journey had begun. Making that right choice at the right time has paid quick and decisive dividends because the producers, media and yes, consumer have all been quick to embrace these 11 precisely defined sectors. History will show how original and profound an idea this really was. Unità Geografiche Aggiuntive offers an opportunity to officially tell the world about location, sense of place and how estates fit into the complex puzzle of the greater territory. In Chianti Classico this fundamental approach looks at sangiovese and its Gallo Nero progenitor as fastened individuals in a community, no two exactly the same and consumers deserve to know what separates but also unites one to another. The insistence that a general public does not care is both a disservice and an insult to their ever increasing wine intelligence. Each of the 11 Chianti Classico UGAs is possessive of a set of defining characteristics and though opinion is surely varied on pinning down those exact annotations, it gives us something to work towards. What is the defining feature of Castelnuovo Berardenga? Why does Castellina express the most classic red fruit? From where does Gaiole get those specific savoury notes? Who are the sangiovese of Greve? How do we describe the perfume of Lamole? Where do the specificities of Montefioralle originate? What is the impetus for Panzano’s silky textures? What makes Radda so fresh? Why is San Casciano so unique? How is it the wines of San Donato in Poggio so often remind of red citrus? What is the definition of a Vagliagli sangiovese? The answers to these questions are as complex as the whole of Chianti Classico is beautifully mysterious. Chianti Classico’s future is a three-letter word: UGA.

On the surface UGA as a concept or construct may not seem an original idea but consider the other famous instigators. In Bourgogne the wines are organized by burg with every Premier and Grand Cru connected by association to their Villages. In recent times additional geographical mentions have been conceived though they too fall under the auspices of the distinction. In Barolo, Barbaresco and Roero the single most important identifiable feature of those wines are what the Langhe regions refer to as MGA (Menzione Geografica Aggiuntive). The key initial is the first, that being menzione, translated to English as “mention,” a word that refers to adjunctive label notations and by extension how wines are deliberated in conversation. Cru is the real operative and in numerous cases upwards of 10 or more producers will make nebbiolo indicated by a single menzione. The UGA system is dramatically different because it is neither restricted to cru or to village. While it may incorporate aspects of both what it really does is draw geographical lines, 11 of them to be precise, that delineate and organize sets of wines that share a studied, consciously calculated and common connective tissue or traits. For the first time in the history of Chianti Classico there is now a system to charter wines produced from out of a specific geographical area to now be appraised in similar light. Looking at it deeper there can also be groupings imagined, of like-minded producers and in turn shared viticultural plus winemaking practices, in other words, wines that have something in common by virtue of extension from their pinpointed places of origin. In the beginning the aggiuntive was “Classico” and now that the next Chiantishire box has officially been opened – there is no turning back.

Chianti Classico UGA

As a reminder, the recent (June, 2021) 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. 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.”

With Alessandro Masnaghetti

Related – Forever in Chianti Classico

Much of the UGA studies and findings were completed with the priceless help of cartographer and Chianti Classico scholar Alessandro Masnaghetti. Masnagthetti’s recent publication of his volume titled L’Atlante dei Vigneti e delle UGA (The Complete Atlas of the UGA Vineyards) is the first true opus dedicated to the Chianti Classico. His dedication to the territory is felt in the most palpable of ways, in fact he begins by dedicating the volume in a most philanhropic way. A chi ha sempre ceduto nel Chianti Classico e a chi in futuro ci crederà. “To those who have always believed in Chianti Classico and to those who will believe in it in the future.” I have written and spoke this many times before, that Chianti Classico is the future and what this region, its people and their wines have instilled in me is a passion for study, education and forward thinking not committed to any other Italian denomination, nor anywhere outside of Italy for that matter. Like Masnaghetti I always look and think ahead, to what is coming next and Chianti Classico always abides. No other place in Italy continues to grow, expand its horizons and evolve like this territory.

‘Cuz he’s the Map Man, yeah, he’s the Mapman

What about 2021?

Telling it like it is, 2021 is a vintage for the ages when we speak of Chianti Classico wines. There have been terrific years in the last 10 or so and each for different reasons but I for one have never witnessed these kind of tannins, this peculiar excitement of tension, the clarity of vernacular of post-modern structure. As a community the wines are suggestive of culture, natural selection and suitability, sustainability and the cumulative movement towards organics. The ’21 Chianti Classico Annata make use of traditional materials and resources and more than any recent vintage open a window into what kind of Riserva and Gran Selezione will arrive when the Chianti Classico Collection 2024 is shown. It just feels like we know how special those wines will be. It is true that a good deal of Classico level 2021s will be released to the markets this year but it has been a while since the adage “sangiovese needs time in bottle” has been as more important as it is from this particular vintage. On the surface these sangiovese can be understood by anyone but there are layers to peel away, nuances and graces to uncover, but most of all they are the sort to seek secondary character and will amaze when that stage is reached. At the collection and in the weeks since I have spoken with many producers and asked for their vintage assessment.

Alessandra Casini Bindi Sergardi – Bindi Sergardi, Vagliagli

Alessandra Casini Bindi Sergardi – Bindi Sergardi, Vagliagli: “A colder than normal Spring quarter, characterized by late April frosts, was followed by a hot summer and autumn, with the exception of October, which had typical temperatures. The most significant anomaly was observed in February, with a deviation of +2.1 °C compared to the average climate. Precipitation patterns also deviated from the norm: January and December were unusually rainy, while March, the summer quarter, and the September-October period experienced dryness. In 2021, the climate pattern was more consistent, with slightly lower temperatures and a bit more rainfall during the spring. This allowed for a longer and extended growing season. As a result, the grapes had more time to fully ripen, leading to wines with greater complexity and improved preservation of freshness. These wines exhibit a balanced acidity and, at the same time, a pronounced structure and a complex, well-defined fruit profile.

Principe Duccio Corsini – Villa Le Corti, San Casciano

Duccio Corsini – Principe Corsini – Villa Le Corti, San Casciano: “Just drank some Le Corti Chianti Classico 2021. The wine is very good, may be the best made at Le Corti in the Annata category. Very much terroir of San Casciano. In one word Goloso or “digest.”

With Federica Mascheroni

Federica Mascheroni – Volpaia, Radda: “The winter was not too cold and without much rain. In April we had a very cold few days and a small frost hit us. As you know usually the frost hit more of the lower altitude vineyards, but in that moment the much higher vineyards, because of the high temperature of the previous weeks, and the plants were much farther in growing compared to the one on the bottom of the hill. Anyhow the damage was not to high maybe around a two percent. In the last few years the season are quite dry and the rain come down in a crazy way :-(, because of this (and the high temperature) we keep the vineyard with grass: Cover crop (erba medica, inerbimenti vari) and we try to don’t take out the leaf from the plant and we do smaller number of cimature. We had very strong and extreme temperature, we reached 38° C.”

Volpaia Precipitation 2021

Chianti Classico Rainfall 2021

Chianti Classico Harvests 2018-2021

“Luckily we were able to have a long harvest to reach a good level of sugar and acidity, it was a little bit longer compared to the normality around 10 days, a nice rain helped us to have a good product in the cellar :-). The last vintage has been quite different compared to the others. It is difficult to make a comparison with a past vintage.”

Giovanni Manetti – Fontodi, Panzano

Giovanni Manetti – Fontodi, Panzano: “2021 was amazing in Panzano – a really great vintage. A good amount of rain between the winter and the Spring perfect to build a reserve of water in the soil. Quite cold in the week after Easter after the budding out that caused a delay in the growing the vegetation. Beautiful weather in June and July with mild temperatures and very sunny and warm in August but never too hot. A thunderstorm on August 28 provided a good rehydration and cooler temperatures during the night after that. Zero pressure of fungus during the growing and ripening season. The harvest for sangiovese started after Sept. 20th starting from younger vines and the best grapes have been picked between Sept. 25th and Oct. 10th. The wines are rich, complex , well structured with high quality tannins and a good acidity. All my wines are still maturing in oak and they taste wonderful.

With Iacopo Morganti – Il Molino di Grace, Panzano

Iacopo Morganti – Il Molino di Grace, Panzano: “I have my note about the climate and from this you can understand the vintage (I think) ! The winter 2021 was not too cold, but rainy until the end of March. Regular budding perhaps a little anticipated, the vines then slowed down the vegetative cycle due to a rather dry and cold April. In fact, on April 13th and 14th the temperatures dropped drastically, after an Easter with mild temperatures of 22/25 gradi celsius, and winter temperatures of -4 to -6 gradi celsius with difficult consequences for those who do our job, losing 50% of the production annual! Cazzo! (call it natural selection). The months of May and June were regular and not too hot or too cold with some rains which allowed good flowering. The summer as always very hot and dry especially July and August, but this is normal, Excellent ripening of the grapes in September and October thanks to some rains at the end of August beginning of September and also to an ideal climate with cooler temperatures at night, ventilation and sunshine during the day. All this has allowed an excellent harvest which for us began in early October, all very nice except for the quantity and for the Covid season. From my phone I would like to send you some fire made at 4 AM from my self and the pictures of the consequence of the frost after two days. Believe me it was hard but the result is incredibly elegant quasi signorile I can’t translate. We still have all wines in oak, small production means incredible quality different from 2020 specially from the color (less) and the elegance and finesse. 2020 is more fruity and fresh more dark colour my be more easy to drink young.2021 will be a great vintage, again for me.”

Laura Bianchi – Castello di Monsanto, San Donato in Poggio

Laura Bianchi – Castello di Monsanto, San Donato in Poggio: “The summer was dry with only some sporadic rain in August, but the water reserves accumulated in the spring made it possible to avoid the stress of the plant. As for temperatures, the trend of the summer months was fairly regular without excessive heat waves. Furthermore, starting from the end of August the temperatures, while remaining quite high during the day, dropped considerably at night. This important thermal excursion has, in general, allowed an optimal completion of the ripening of the grapes. The harvest ended late on Oct. 18^th. Wines with very important structure and complex aromas, rich tannins and evident acidity, another vintage that will be able to age very well. Similar to 2019.”

Winemaker Manfred Ing – Querciabella, Greve

Manfred Ing – Querciabella, Greve: “2021 was a game of two halves. Abundant rainfall in winter was followed by ridiculously “unseasonably” warm weather in February and March, which got the vines excited and woke them up a little bit earlier than “normal”… whatever “normal” means ;). I remember clearly our first post Covid trade visitors were Canadians who came over for the early date of Chianti Classico Collection (which was moved to a later one) and they were nearly all in short sleeves after leaving Canada at minus 15C or whatever and coming over to 15C+ of gorgeous sunshine at Ruffoli. This warmth was followed by an icy cold week in April where temperatures dropped to well below zero in some parts of the valley below us. This all at a time when unfortunately some of the early ripening varieties had already burst. At the time it looked like the Chardonnay may have received a “tickle up” but it recovered well. Our reds were saved due to their higher altitudes but we did have significant losses on the coast in the Maremma. Spring was then followed by a warm, dry summer and this warmth resulted in smaller bunches and lower yields, something we have all come to get used to in these parts. Over the years of experience with these conditions we have learnt to manage our canopies and soils well to achieve perfect ripening. A small blessing from the season was the fact the vines were a little bit behind in development so there was no rush to start picking… A trap many fall into in a warm vintage! We were very fortunate as we were able to wait and wait and be patient and start to pick the Chardonnay only on the 13^th of September, the latest we have ever started picking the Chardonnay at Querciabella! We got all the whites in within a week but again patience and experience told us to wait for the reds. We were then blessed with amazing rainfall at the end of September. Again, we still we waited for the Sangiovese! The biggest indicator for me was on the first of October there was still no water in the rivers and still nobody was out in the forests picking mushrooms, so we knew there was zero disease pressure and our Sangiovese would be perfectly healthy out there. So we continued to wait further, tasting regularly to get the picking dates just perfect. We started picking Sangiovese in that first week of October! It was incredible! With precision picking we made our way through the different villages from Greve, Radda, back to Greve, then back to Radda, then over to Gaiole, finishing off in our high altitude Casole terraces in Lamole on the 20^th of October- so again incredibly late but with exceptional quality.”

Michael Schmelzer – Monte Bernardi, Panzano

Michael Schmelzer – Monte Bernardi, Panzano: “It was a great vintage, love the fruit aromas and the quality of the tannins plus the overall balance. I also think 2021 was also a perfect illustration of a vintage of the difference between perceived climate change problems versus poor choices in viticulture. In Panzano we had 800-plus mm of rain from January to May, nearly twice our annual rainfall (~450mm). After May, very to little rain until harvest. If it wasn’t for a frost in five of our hectares we would have had a near record crop in 2021. We still had an abundant crop despite these five hectares bringing our average down. We had beautiful fresh aromas and quality tannins because our vines did not go under extreme stress, our viticultural choices made the difference, keeping the important leaves over our bunches, preventing them from being over exposed or burned, preserving important acidity.”

Monia Piccini – Il Palagio di Panzano

Monia Piccini – Il Palagio di Panzano, Panzano: “In winter it rained a lot, almost double the average. In terms of temperatures, the winter was slightly warmer than average. Spring 2021 as a whole recorded thermal values below average and rainfall 20 percent below average. There were extraordinarily high temperatures such as on March 31st with values close to 30°C and at the same time very low temperatures around March 20th and April 6th-10th with a strong frost. In the low hills below 250m there was severe frost damage, while in Panzano the damage was very much less than in the valley floor. Temperatures continued throughout April and May below the average by about 2°C, causing a strong delay in the vegetative restart after the frosts. At the beginning of June the vineyards had a strong vegetative delay, with flowering starting about 10-12 days later than usual. In June, temperatures recovered immediately with two small heat waves while July was only slightly warmer than average. The real heat wave of the summer occurred between 10 and 16 August, with temperatures close to 40° with sporadic burns on the leaves and uncovered bunches. The summer continued very dry, the third driest since 1955 with a rainfall deficit of over 60%. Under these conditions, the plants soon made up for most of the initial delay, but soon went into water stress as early as mid-August. The maturation went very slowly due to the lack of rain and only towards the end of September some storms allowed the plants to reach an acceptable maturity. The climatic trend favoured the production of healthy grapes. The production in our case was lower than the average for the years by a good 20 percent, in any case higher than in 2020, but in the lower hilly areas there were drops of 60-70 percent. The harvest was delayed compared to previous years in the hope to have a better maturation while waiting for rains, but the lowering of temperatures and the state of the plants prompted us not to postpone the harvest too much to avoid drying of the grapes and sugar levels that were too high. At the harvest the grapes were perfectly healthy, with high sugar values, higher acidity than usual but with good skin ripening thanks to the lower grape load compared to previous years. The new wines have very clean aromas, very ripe fruit, very high colour intensity, remarkable almost concentrated structures, dense but not dry tannins (thanks to a different vinification protocol) and marked acidity, high alcohol content.”

Sebastiano Capponi – Villa Calcinaia, Montefioralle

Sebastiano Capponi – Villa Calcinaia, Montefioralle: “The weather pattern in Chianti for 2021 was characterized by a rather cold and rainy January and February but at the same time by a very dry March with temperatures decidedly above the seasonal average, especially in the last decade, which favoured the start of budding of the vines. Unfortunately, this early spring was followed by a very cold beginning of April characterized by two-night frosts, on 7 and 8 April, which drastically reduced the number of productive buds on the plant. The thermal shock suffered by the vines and the climatic trend of the months of April and May, particularly cold and rainy, led to a delay in flowering which took place after the first ten days of June. The vegetative explosion due to the sudden increase in temperatures in June caused many difficulties in the management of the canopy but the rather dry climate in the summer months and the timeliness of the interventions did not allow the downy mildew to develop. On the other hand, the fight against powdery mildew was more problematic, also due to rather frequent ventilation which, in addition to conveying the spores of the fungus, contributed together with the absence of rain to dry out the soil. Temperatures in the summer months have always remained average with a good excursion between day and night until the days around August 15th when the African subtropical anticyclone, called Lucifer, arrived and caused severe damage to the grapes of the younger vines, which normally have a less developed canopy and a root system more sensitive to drought, especially those planted on plots with western and southern exposure where the afternoon sun has hit the most. Due to the combination of the frost in April, the sunstroke in August and the summer drought, the production was very small in quantity and the harvesting time went back to ancient times when Sangiovese was rarely picked before the month of October. The lack of water in the soil, which certainly led to a physiological slowdown of the vine, in certain vineyards the veraison of Sangiovese was completed in early September, and the persistent absence of rain in September and October in the Val di Greve combined though with an optimal thermal excursion between day and night favored a rather balanced maturation even if slowed down by the drought. Our harvest began on 23 August with the harvest of Sangiovese grapes to produce our sparkling Mauvais Chapon and ended for the red grapes on 6 October with the last Sangiovese vineyard and on 26 October for the white grapes with the Tor Solis vineyard located at 720 meters above sea level. Thanks to a meticulous and painstaking selection in the vineyard we were able to eliminate almost all the grapes dried out by the August sun. Musts, in fact, are generally characterized by a fairly high sugar content, but lower than those of 2017, and by a nice freshness, a non-trivial element to obtain and maintain in a vintage like this.”

Related – Chianti Classico is the future

The highlight of the Chianti Classico Collection took place at the for the premier screening of La Leggenda del Gallo Nero, “The legend of the Black Rooster.” Al canto del gallo, corri veloce cavaliere. Domani la guerra sarà finita e il vino abbonderà nei calici. Avete già visto il nostro film sulla storia del Gallo Nero? Vi sveliamo la leggenda! “At the crowing of the rooster, run fast knight. Tomorrow the war will be over and the wine will abound in the glasses” Have you already seen our film on the history of the Black Rooster? We reveal the legend to you!”

Click on the link to watch the film “La Leggenda del Gallo Nero” then scroll down for 245 tasting notes for wines tasted in February 2023 at the Chianti Classico Collection and visits with estates.

Godello’s 25 top wines from the Chianti Classico Collection

Annata

Castell’in Villa Chianti Classico DOCG 2019, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Leave to Castell’in Villa to do not just the right thing but carry the weight of necessity and hold back Annata to a point where it can be tasted and assessed with the respect it so richly deserves. Though this Castelnuovo Berardenga estate and their historic vineyards are equipped to create magic in the most challenging of vintages, well when a season like 2019 is gifted then the magic turns to the supernatural. Fruit is everything, as it must be and the aspects of climate, fermentation, maturation and all the accruements of seasoning add up to a speciality as no other Chianti Classico will create. This is a very special vintage of Castell’in Villa and one to rival any Riserva or Gran Selezione made in this vintage. Will live in infamy. Drink 2025-2038. Tasted February 2023

Castello Monterinaldi Chianti Classico DOCG Vigneto Boscone 2019, Radda

The single vineyard sangiovese never touches wood, only concrete, in fermentation and also aging. It is the highest expression of Monterinaldi and so it will always be a cru Classico. If a Gran Selezione were to be made in the future it would be a different or rather a new label. This is not yet in bottle though it is a finished wine, so despite its anteprima positioning the wine can be assessed, for the most part at least. Thirty-one year old block at this stage, heavy in Alberese, 3.5 tonnes per hectare in yield, intensity and tension at the fore of what this wine just is. That said the 40 days of skin contact makes for beauty up front no matter the structure afforded. “Cimento” aging means captured freshness and there is truly no thought of either tannin or spice not arriving to set this sangiovese up for a long life ahead. This will be special. Drink 2025-2034. Tasted February 2023

Fattoria Cigliano Di Sopra Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, San Casciano

Behold yet another precocious and shockingly generous Annata from the team of Matteo and Maddalena at Cigliano di Sopra. That and an intensity of things intangible despite the very tangible, credible and knowable parts of this wine. So very singular and stand alone for San Casciano and yet a style but more so a way of being that just feels like the future. Too young to really know but it seems like this duo has learned how to keep their ferments from flying away and also from getting away. The professionals are in the house. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted February 2023

Fontodi Chianti Classico DOCG Filetta Di Lamole 2020, Lamole

Filetta di Lamole does not hold back or skimp on the perfume and is at once a consistent wine connected to the vintages that have come before. Would not express 2020 as a sangiovese that stands up too be counted but more so one that speaks in calmer, gentler and more hushed tones. Yet the fine swarthiness is always present and it works to characterize Filetta in ways that Panzano from Fontodi does not seem to do. More low and slow personality from 2020 and longevity will likely become its middle name. Drink 2024-2031. Tasted February 2023

Isole E Olena Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, San Donato In Poggio

All the schist-bled, favourable exposure gratified and experiential positioning has conspired to raise spirits for the season from Isole e Olena’s standard bearing and load carrying Annata. Hard to find a more exacting example for the cuvée style in which a few varieties in higher percentages than the increasing norm are gathered for what a Chianti Classico can and to be frank, should be. The most sapidity is expressed by way of a Paolo de Marchi Classico and few roll off the tongue like an Isole. As good as it gets for 2020. Drink 2024-2032. Tasted February 2023

Monte Bernardi Chianti Classico DOCG Retromarcia 2021, Panzano

Retromarcia from Michael Schmelzer is as pure and unadulterated a sangiovese as he has ever made, in fact it resides at the top of the heap in terms of such clarity for any in the territory. That includes his smack dab in the middle of Panzano location and my if he did not figure it all out with this 2021. Well, relatively speaking of course as compared to what came before and things surely changed again the next time he laid his winemaking hands on that recent 2022 fruit. This sheds the trials and tribulations of statism, but more importantly the experiments and errors of stalky, chalky and swarthy. Avoids the potential for cumbersome 2021 by expressing the simplicity of beautifully clean and stay at home fruit. Drink away. Grande Michele! Drink 2023-2029. Tasted February 2023

Podere Poggio Scalette Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Greve

It takes but a second to recognize the Chianti Classico excellence in this 2021 from Jurji Fiore and his Poggio Scalette from Greve’s Ruffoli hill. The levels are all high, mighty and intense in a wine with acids and fruit so inclining but you will not find a finer example of white limestone soil scintillant than what is wildly expressed from this wine. An Annata of major importance, educational and something from which to understand what happens in specific places of this complex territory. My, oh my. Drink 2025-2034. Tasted February 2023

San Giusto A Rentennano Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Gaiole

Extreme youth for a Fattoria San Giusto a Rentennano Annata and while this is a barrel sample truth is Luca Martini di Cigala’s offers up more fodder for assessment than many. This will be a most important vintage for two reasons. The first is quality and the second a matter of education, a view to master interpreter taking water (of Gaiole) and transforming it into wine. Not just Gaiole but a little peninsula between the arms of Vagiagli and Castelnuovo Berardenga on a promontory specific to San Giusto. Fine lines, angles and waves continually sweeping make this a most impressive Annata and one to savour for the next 15 years. Drink 2025-2035. Tasted February 2023

Villa Di Geggiano Chianti Classico DOCG 2019, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Geggiano must have time in a bottle, “ticking the moments that make up a dull day,” to come away later on, expressive of the Alberese soil (mainly) and deliver what has to be this place. Castelnuovo Berardenga that is and yet this valley with its ridges to the east and west is like no other place because winds, rain, sun and air flow differently, acting upon pure sangiovese to create wines like this. What this is exactly can’t be precisely said but this 2019 is the irrepressible essence indivisible to the history of the past. Also the present, right here in this glass, prescient, pure, persistent and built to last. Sangiovese from Geggiano is the future. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted February 2023

Mocenni, Bindi Sergardi, Vagliagli

Riserva

Bindi Sergardi Chianti Classico Riserva Calidonia DOCG 2019, Vagliagli

Calidonia, Calidnoia, my what a beautiful wine you have become, with three-plus years got behind your acids are softening and tannins fleshing, above and beyond their original anhydrous moments. Calidonia from the Casini/Bindi-Sergardi clan is purely Vagliagli and a 100 per cent sangiovese expressive of vineyards where Galestro and Alberese each impact upon vines. This is Riserva my dear readers. This is Riserva, from Vagliagli’s Craigie Dhu, a.k.a. Mocenni. “Oh, but let me tell you that I love you. That I think about you all the time, (Caledonia) you’re calling me and now I’m going home.” Drink 2023-2033. Tasted February 2023

Castello Di Volpaia Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2020, Radda

Here the textbook is written on producing Riserva from 100 per cent sangiovese out of vintage as humid as they will come. Done so by making the most of vineyards at elevation in a cool location, that being Radda and selecting top level phenolic berries worthy of this place on the Chianti Classic pyramid. A sangiovese that slides and glides both across the palate and through the stages of its presentation. Seamless and teachable. Learn Riserva 101 right here. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted February 2023

Gagliole Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2019, Panzano

Like the Classico this is all sangiovese but in Riserva the fruit is only Panzano and the selection is the second choice of the ripest and tops of the harvest, but also the quality of tannins involved. Mainly from the vineyard beyond the terraces and a couple of blocks purchased from Le Cincole. This is pietraforte territory along the ridge above the Conca d’Oro that falls to the southeast, finishing at the vineyard where Fontodi’s Flaccianello is made. Harvested late, into October and the soil makes a requiem for Riserva quite square in style, with high acidity and lower pH. Savoury as well but in an herbal liqueur way, like a steep of sage, fennel and rosemary, anti-amaro if you will and structured though not the kind of sangiovese that jolts or rocks your palate. The sub-structure, positioning and stature are all impressive. Last tasted February 2023

Nothing scents like a Gagliole and nowhere in Chianti Classico does this sense of fruit compaction, timed and tidy acidity and then fineness of sweet, evolved and intelligent tannins co-exist. Herbal yet delicately so, dripping and oozing of terroir, spice infiltrate of every zone, pocket and pore. Not sure there can be recalled a Riserva with this much personality and oomph but here it is in all glory. Also not sure there has been an example that needs as much aging time as this generously structure ’19. Don’t touch and return five years forward. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted March 2022

I Fabbri Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2019, Lamole

Riserva from Susanna Grassi’s I Fabbri reaches the phenolic height of heights from a vintage of few peers. While 2015 and 2016 were surely apex seasons there may be an argument made in seeing 2019 as exceeding the ripeness of those very good years. The Lamole herbology in perfume will not be denied and yet there are berries and red stone fruit not nosed before, to mix with the citrus and sweet roasted nightshades. This is next level Riserva, all senses piqued and finding moments from which sweet, sour, salty and umami all manage to coalesce. Will be somewhat past prime and yet I am looking forward to tasting this is 2035. Drink 2024-2032. Tasted February 2023

Istine Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Levigne 2019

Levigne is Angela Fronti’s way of conjoining Radda and Gaiole, of stacking the variegate fruit of Istine, Casanova dell’Aia and Cavarchione, to create a Riserva layering, circuitous and in beautiful swirl. Swagger too, some attitude and grip that speaks to Alberese, Raddese acidity, Gaiole savour and the exuberance of La Fronti. How can you know, intuit and also feel the emotion of the vineyards, the passion of the maker and the near perfect pitch off the various gatherings of fruit? You can because they are as one. Not Gran Selezione because it’s a selection from several places but for all intents and purposes, not to mention quality, it may as well be. Drink 2024-2033. Tasted February 2023

La Montanina Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2020, Gaiole

My what a lovely Riserva! Fruit succulent and sweet and swirled so effortlessly into equally mouthwatering acidity of pitch perfect tone. Yes there is Gaiole savour and it’s presence is as a seasoning, with chef’s ability, emotion and touch. As for 2020 well this from La Montanina delves into passion and the aforementioned emozione as well and as much as any Riserva in the Classico area. Brava, Oretta Leonini. Grande Gaiole! Drink 2024-2032. Tasted February 2023

Fattoria Pomona Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Bandini 2019, Castellina

Bandini are bandits and yet some might define the Italian word as “the quality of being impenetrable, maculation or imperviousness.” Monica Raspi’s 2019 is anything but and its tannins do nothing of the sort but they are proper. Riserva is possessive of the most clarity and precision, not to mention grace in the cleanest sangiovese of them all, reeling in and through the years. Lovely swirl of berries and essential oils, elements and vitamins, bled from stone, beauty everywhere. “People can you feel it, love is everywhere.” Drink 2023-2030. Tasted February 2023

Gran Selezione

Carpineta Fontalpino Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Vigna Dofana 2018, Vagliagli

Carpineta Fontalpino is located in Castelnuovo Berardenga but their Dofana cru is a matter of Vagliagli, sibling UGA within the two-winged commune. Vigna Dofana, special place for the Cresti family, deliverer of Vagliagli as only this place can within the most complex and also yet fully understood UGA. Dofana now graduated or better said migrated to Gran Selezione as a subtle, shadowy sangiovese, like chiaroscuro where fruit and acid are light and also dark, yet with time one will become the other. The constant is Dofana and yet now the label speaks in territorial terms, appellative as Gran Selezione, something new and accepted by Cresti siblings Gioia and Filippo. Benvenuto ragazzi. We look forward to discussing this 10-15 years down the road. Drink 2024-2032. Tasted February 2023

Castello Di Monsanto Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Vigneto Il Poggio 2018, San Donato in Poggio

There can be little doubt that Gran Selezione is the wine to explain style from a place within a place, that being Monsanto’s Il Poggio Vineyard inside the UGA of San Donato In Poggio. Il Poggio is four things; famous, respected, stunning and structured to design formidably age-worthy sangiovese. Stylistically speaking this Gran Selezione is so very different than Riserva because older-school austerity and unrelenting tannic structure keep fruit locked in tight while also interpreting place with pinpoint precision. But 2018 is a warm and accumulating vintage and so all things being equal there are strong determining factors for the fate of this place. Highly aromatic, tripping with light, energy and the science of the soils, of Galestro and schisty fragments that must be a part of the make up, from stones through vines and vines to fruit. This Monsanto Selezione smells like the place’s dust kicked up by heels and hands dragged through the dirt. With 2018 in bottle there could be an argument that San Donato in Poggio’s are some of the richest of all the UGAs, but this is Monsanto where destiny is all. Drink 2025-2037. Tasted February 2023

Conti Capponi/Villa Calcinaia Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG La Fornace 2019, Montefioralle

Incredibly youthful for a Gran Selezione and “the furnace” will surely always ensure to wrap a sangiovese tight, keep it from gregariously expressing itself when this young. The tannins are lined up in a long and unbreakable chain, the fruit set in a well below, textural juice not yet scooped and heaped upon the palate. This structure like karst from bedrock plus acids in skein formation hold flesh not yet put meat on these bones. These parts are all there above sangiovese lying patiently and resting in waiting. La Fornace is recited in refrain after verse after refrain with so many stanzas to come, chanted in canto over time and across decades ahead. Drink 2026-2037. Tasted February 2023

Il Molino Di Grace Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Il Margone 2019, Panzano

Comparisons and contrast are considered side by side with 2020 and so as with Riserva there is a marked difference with 2019 Il Margone. That said I find more consistency with the following 2020 then was noted between the two vintages at both the Classico and Riserva levels. Here a darker and more concentrated fruit set stays true to the Gran Selezione appellation but also with respect to elevated acidity and fineness of tannin. Yes 2019 is a more “elegant” vintage but at this level the intensity, polish and game are all set to impressive levels. The structure is finer and less rustic in 2020 and so one vintage’s loss is another’s gain, and vice versa. Choosing one over the other is splitting hairs, like picking a favourite child. Can’t go there. Drink 2025-2031. Tasted February 2023

Il Poggiolino Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Le Balze 2019, San Donato In Poggio

Le Balze (formerly Toscana IGT) is a finely composed and structured Gran Selezione from San Donato in Poggio yet is apposite to so many from the UGA, stylistically speaking. More of a blue to even purple fruit profile, nearly blueberry and what strikes so poignant about this 100 percent sangiovese is its level of calm, poise and even restraint. It never crashes in waves, nor makes any threatening tannic demands, but does its work in subtleties, through seamless transitions and ultimately with precision and focus. Very impressive. Drink 2025-2036. Tasted February 2023

Isole Delle Falcole Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2019, Panzano

The project of Emanuele Greatz, exporter of Roberto Voerzio, Il Molino di Grace, San Fillipo (Roberto Gianelli) and Barbaresco’s Russo. This is the early fruition of Emanuele’s dream, renting Panzano land in 2016 to eventually purchase and a first vintage in 2017. The land is officially Emanuele’s now. The name of the Conca or amphitheatre actually shares an affinity with the Conca d’oro, in shape, orientation and yet there is much more forest and also higher elevation. Total of four hectares planted, 1.2 up on the hill facing south at 420m and roughly two below the house, both set in Montefioralle. The final 0.8 for the Gran Selezione is in Panzano right next to Montefili and so Graetz calls it Montefili – internally.” It will be called Il Falcole. Gran Selezione 2019 is solo sangiovese sent to 30 months in big barrel combination of French and Slavonian. Purely Panzano through a Selezione of a pinpointed place and to be honest the fruit is a bit deeper and darker than many Panzano ‘19s. That said there are layers and layers to unfold, unfurl and open with high acidity from the high elevation vineyard up at 520m. Where else is Panzano (other than Montefili and Cenattoio) will express this elevation in this wild-eyed and excitable way? A harbinger of the future and initialization of the realization of Emanuele’s dream is in this glass, from this bottle. Wait three years to understand just a bit more and figure things out for 10 more thereafter. Drink 2026-2034. Tasted February 2023

Le Fonti Di Panzano Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2019, Panzano

As always at this appellative level Le Fonti’s is 100 percent sangioivese and as with Annata but also Riserva the house style chooses fruit over wood and seasoning over toast. The warm vintage finished with late season daytime highs juxtaposed against nighttime lows and this Gran Selezione emerged with glaring clarity, instrumental precision and parts on point. From fruit through structure round fits into round and square into square, nothing awkward, sharp or out of place. An aromatic sangiovese while the palate is an experience and a half. Selezione ’18 is a prepared one, to withstand oxidation and develop supplementary character so that it may age well into the next decade. Drink 2024-2032. Tasted February 2023

Rocca Di Montegrossi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Vigneto San Marcellino 2018, Gaiole

The next San Marcellino Gran Selezione is a big one, strong willed and big-boned, laced with trace schisty-marl-Galestro elements and minerals from a vineyard capable of structuring wines like no other. This is Monti in Chianti, of all the red, blue and black fruits, coming away violet purple and speaking about a season. A warm one, all the way through to October and the phenolic ripeness here is off the proverbial charts. Wow. Drink 2025-2037. Tasted February 2023

The AIS Sommeliers of the Chianti Classico Collection

Acquadiaccia Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2019, Panzano

A blend of 90 percent sangiovese and (10) canaiolo of a purity that is Panzano incarnate, straight away. Glycerin in stride, chalky tannin liquified and just the faintest hit of green astringency. So close to acceding the beauty of idealism yet still a really lovely wine in almost all regards. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted February 2023

Antinori Gran Selezione Chianti Classico DOCG Badia A Passignano 2020, San Donato in Poggio

Classic dried herbs and brushy Badia a Paassignano style, here with the accessibility of 2020 though the fruit is pure red cherry with almost no darkening moments. Cool, almost minted with a creosote and cooling coals warmth through the chill of the air. This Gran Selezione is imagined as a perfect meditation in late fall, in a cabin in the woods, by a fire, dimly lit room and silence. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted February 2023

Marchese Antinori Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Marchese Antinori 2020, San Donato In Poggio

Precisely what must be expected and frankly demanded from Antinori’s San Donato in Poggio Riserva and that would be a perfectly executed cuvée of sangiovese complimented by varieties that speak to exactly that. Glycerol and viscosity in a silken thread sewing fruit with the kind of acidity and tannin of the utmost professional kind. Nothing out of place and the window has officially opened. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted February 2023

Arillo In Terrabianca Chianti Classico DOCG Sacello 2021, Radda

Intense sangiovese while also drying and tannic with potential to travel far and yet this is certainly not the early beauty of what came from 2020. More so a sangiovese of classicism that must have some time in the bottle before we know what will come. Great length here so there will be a future, that much is guaranteed. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted February 2023

Badia A Coltibuono Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, Gaiole

As per the Stucchi-Prinetti plan (which arguably dates back to 1846), the Classico is consistent through the vintages and what feels like epochs as well. There is this swell of sangiovese fruit made complex and curious by what Badia a Coltibuono marks as 10 percent other grape varieties, each making a statement in multifarious manifesto. Searing Annata, part strike and part pierce through the red chalky-cherry originality of these Gaiole hills. There is more going on here than most and year after year this represents benchmark material for the UGA. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted February 2023

Badia A Coltibuono Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2018, Gaiole

A Riserva from Badia a Colibuono is pretty much a Selezione matter and yet, not so much. The emotion is there if not the pack mentality and so Riserva is just Coltibuono. Almost startling to begin with but that is simply the acidity of place talking, distracting and exacting its power over a field blend-like gathering of varieties led by sangiovese. Riserva acts on behalf of and in the ways of the abbey and surrounding vineyards, were they personified would surely speak. Like the paintings along the cloister corridors and the ocupants whose truths, history and tradition are what you need to hear. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted February 2023

Bertinga Chianti Classico DOCG La Porta Di Vertine 2020, Gaiole

As expected, lithe and here from Gaiole also verdant, influenced by UGA, commune and forest. A tart and also taut while pure sangiovese with some Alberese chalkiness in the tannins. Quite well made and supremely indicative of where it comes from. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2023

Bibbiano Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, Castellina

Still firm, grippy and liquid peppery, not in a reductive sense but the tannins (while sweet) are dusty as well. Classic Bibbiano, of two sides by soil and micro-climate, layered continuously upon and with one another, to create an always stylish and focused Annata. Really pure Sangiovese, as always, clean as it gets, tidy, orderly and succinct. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted February 2023

Bibbiano’s is at the forefront of youthfulness in that there is a closed aromatic launch and some reduction needing to blow off before the hounds of charm can be released. Head straight to the palate to be graced with the interspersions of texture and structure, first liquid Castellina chalky, then wound around the body of this wine. Sangiovese needs the bottle and with eyes closed those words of Tommaso Marrocchesi Marzi play in refrain over and over again. Be patient and kind to his wine and in turn you will be kindly rewarded. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted March 2022

Bindi Sergardi Chianti Classico DOCG La Ghirlanda 2020, Vagliagli

Everything about La Ghirlanda is Bindi Sergardi in Vagliagli as it always must be, natural fruit red and pure, transparent and through the looking glass of precision for family and location. Curious how there is some tannin here, fine grained structure and while the wine is very accessible there is no doubt it will live longer than many of its ilk. This is a very, very good Annata, luck and fortune all in. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted February 2023

Cantine Bonacchi Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Vagliagli

Basic and vintage relatable as 100 per cent sangiovese in rustic Vagliagli style. Not the most freshness in fruit, some salumi and certainly a way that is older schooled and recognizable. Tradition dies hard. Truly. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted February 2023

Borgo La Stella Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, Radda

Fine example of combining place (Radda) with vintage and appellative level. This is an exacting 2020 as Annata with fine acidity and food-matching capability. Grippy as needs though never vivid, herbal yet not herbaceous. Well-balanced and ideal for three-plus years ahead. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2023

Borgo Salcetino Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, Radda

Quite cool, minty, brushy and herbal to represent Radda in the most clear and knowable way. The level of tannin here is notable, markedly elevated for 2020 Chianti Classico and it is apparent that Radda at heights did not ripen at a level much above seven or 7.5 on the scale of these things. Quite a searing example for the season. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted February 2023

Borgo Scopeto Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, Vagliagli

Perfectly round and normal, dictionary entry sangiovese with softness and intensity of hue, by colouring and merlot as a friend of sangiovese. Tart and just tight enough to hold on for a few years but for the most part this is meant to be consumed in the first two. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted February 2023

Brancaia Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2020, Castellina

The Brancaia from Radda is expressly three things. First and foremost a matter of 2020, secondly Castellina of temperament and more than anything a Gran Selezione to speak of the current epoch of Brancaia. As far as vintages are concerned these 2020s are a thing of great beauty and accessibility, with respect to UGA the acidity and cool mentality are at the height of heights and finally, the transparency and see through honesty is exemplary of the current Brancaia world order. Fine, fine Selezione, drinkable and cellar-able. Do as you please. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted February 2023

Brancaia Riserva Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, Radda

A Riserva from Brancaia is Riserva in a nutshell, of startling professionalism and also emotion. The acidity of place begins in dissertation, leading sangiovese with 20 per cent merlot in the ways of vineyards translated through high execution to personify just what it means to be, act like and exist as Brancaia. Silky smooth, liquid chalky, finely chiseled and structured, able to age long. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted February 2023

Buondonno Chianti Classico DOCG Podere Casavecchia Alla Piazza 2021, Castellina

High glycerin, notable alcohol and structure as well. A big wine as always for Gabriele Buondonno for several reasons, namely elevation and solar radiation but also the intangible of conversion rates and things just being natural, the way they simply have to be. Some vintages are bigger and greater than others and for sangiovese in varietal purity this out of 2021 will equivocate with superior strength, balance and trenchant intensity. Count on it. Drink 2025-2031. Tasted February 2023

Buondonno Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Casavecchia Alla Piazza 2020, Castellina

To taste and think upon Buondonno as Riserva from as recent a vintage as 2020 is to engage in an almost fruitless exercise. This because the level of fruit, acid and tannin in cohorts is so immovable that without time in the bottle it’s hard to gain any real traction. This from 2020 carries more weight and energy than so many, especially from this triad of a location where Castellina, Panzano and San Donato in Poggio nearly converge. Gabriele Buondonno’s is like a stacked ferment of grapes, place and vintage needing three years to flesh and release some charm. Three more to be in the zone. Drink 2025-2031. Tasted February 2023

Villa Cafaggio Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2019, Panzano

Always important for a sangiovese to act and project as Riserva when choices are made for fruit to be this way. Cafaggio’s is exactly that and this 2019 resides at the top of the echelon for Riserva made by this Panzano producer. The fruit is exceptional and the structure a fine matter of acid and tannin intertwine. Still some grippy matter to resolve so expect this to drink at peak in another 12-18 months. Aerate now for positive results. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted February 2023

Cantalici Chianti Classico DOCG Baruffo 2020, Gaiole

A surprisingly tannic and overtly structured Annata from Cantalici out of 2020. From Gaiole and seems to bring more grip and drying herbal feels than most UGAs from this vintage. Not the quietest or most amenable sangiovese but one needing time and that speaks for place more anything else. Barrel as well which also needs more time in bottle to melt and settle. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2023

Cantina Tuscania Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Effige Nera 2018, San Donato In Poggio

Unequivocal and unmistakable as being a sangiovese from San Donato in Poggio for one reason alone and that is the blood orange perfume so bloody (pun intended) typical of this westerly UGA. Here as Riserva and from 2018 with its purity of red fruit so citrus is origin, fine grained though now liquefying tannin and from a vintage picked in late September yet balanced in alcohol, and ripeness ahead of a strange 48-hour spell cast by temperatures running daytime high and nighttime low. Really fine Riserva in the window at this very moment but will stay this way for three to four years easy. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted February 2023

At Caparsa with Paolo Cianferone, John Szabo MS and Mona Haugen-Kind

Caparsa Chianti Classico DOCG 2019, Radda

Different fermentations are involved, tank and especially concrete, very much a matter of Raddese acidity, fruit sharp and über cherry in linear sangiovese. Needs another year to soften just that much more though these are quite nurturing tannins and the wine does really choose to please. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted February 2023

Caparsa Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Caparsino 2019, Radda

Aged in the big barrels, determined by a selection of higher quality berries and the cask size. How does Paolo know which are the best bunches? “I just know,” he says. “For more than 20 years I know where the best grapes live.” Might be where the cinghiale eat, where the clay is wet or not, in dry weather. More of a Riserva vintage for Caparso, added richness a bonus and without any wood distraction this glides and glistens, slices and dices across the palate. Solid sangiovese with a cerebral twist. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2023

Caparsa Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Caparsino 2018, Radda

Mature aromatics, chewy red fruit, all the leathery plum and liquorice that can be packed into a Chianti Classico Riserva. Developed to the drinking stage, earlier as a vintage than many, hot one mind you and showing that right now, and more. Some mineral and chalk to the structure but pretty much good to go. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted February 2023

Caparsa Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Caparsino 2017, Radda

A vintage with no Doccio Matteo made because the grape quality and also quantity was not up to Radda par. “The wine is a mirror of the land, the people and the weather, like a dog.” The grapes here are from both Riserva selections and so quality reaches above par as only one of two, our two in one were produced. Severe at its moments and yet there is much concentration and compact elements, especially chalk and tension in this grippy 2017. Wait on it – the acids are also there to act as the fruition reaching catalyst. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted February 2023

Caparsa Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Caparsino 2010, Radda

Just 2,600 bottles were produced and only eight, well now seven remain of the vintage. “Some wines get you down, some make you talk a lot and some make you drunk. I want a wine that will make you think,“ explains Paolo Cianferoni. “In 2010 I lost 75 per cent of my production and I don’t know why but when I have a glass it makes me think. Maybe what was left on the vine received the love that was left.” A sip and left to think about things because not only is this sangiovese perfectly aged but it is right in the balanced zone. Also the mystery zone and places we’ve never been. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted February 2023

Caparsa Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Doccio A Matteo 2019, Radda

Single vineyard sangiovese with just two percent of colorino raised in 1000L botti, 12-14 months, just like the Classico. Doccio Matteo is the name of an old spring in one of the oldest vineyards, highest in elevation (450m) where the winds blow hardest. “Doccio” is a shower in Italian and Matteo refers to San Matteo. More tannin and tension here, especially as compared to Riserva (Caparsino) and needing an extra year to integrate. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted February 2023

Caparsa Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Doccio A Matteo 2018, Radda

Single vineyard sangiovese with just two percent of colorino raised in 1000L botti, 12-14 months, just like the Classico. Doccio Matteo is the name of an old spring in one of the oldest vineyards, highest in elevation (450m) where the winds blow hardest. “Doccio” is a shower in Italian and Matteo refers to San Matteo. Just as tannic and full of tension as per 2019 Doccio Matteo but also Chianti Classics Riserva and yet the ’18 Caparsino DOCG is beginning to fade. Not this former IGT with the potential to become Gran Selezione and which rages with energy plus drive. Let it ride. Come back in two years. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted February 2023

Caparsa Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Doccio A Matteo 2016, Radda

The 2016 Doccio a Matteo is the first sangiovese (in this line-up) from Paolo Cianferoni that’s actually ready to drink, in fact it’s very much there with some drying tannin mixed with dried fruit happening. Full and caky wine, rich and substantial. Must have salty protein to show best and for the win. Last tasted February 2023

A single-vineyard Riserva from the plot above the smaller second house called Caparsino and filled with all the soils; argile, Galestro and Alberese. Surely an absolute about face expression with higher volatility and a high, near and nigh potential for advancing porcini notes. A deeper and darker black cherry. Characterful and mature in such a different way, The acidity is uncompromising even while the wine acts oxidative with more wood than the other Riserva. Drink 2021-2026. Tasted February 2020

Caparsa Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Doccio A Matteo 2015, Radda

A fresher and more spirited sangiovese as compared to 2016, energy still running full and yet you can drink this with the right amount of air. Chewy liquorice, some tar, iodine and soy. Chocolate, lots of the dark stuff. The wines showed more wood back in these vintages. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted February 2023

Caparsa Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Doccio A Matteo 2012, Radda

Eleven years old, a vintage of high quantity which also means that the wine is a fatter and softer one. Fully resolved now and drinking with lovely grace and elegance. Last tasted February 2023

Lovely bit of development from a vintage of great fortitude and possibility though seemingly only recently softened. Now smooth tannin and yet so, so very sangiovese. The red fruit carries a liquorice note not noted in later wines and here the complexities are blooming, changing and renewing their vows. Lovely look back and easy on the volatility scale. Drink 2020-2025. Tasted February 2020

Carpineta Fontalpino Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Wow the energy from 2021 Carpineta Fontalpino is off the charts, ergo there is this wide open sensation from Castelnuovo Berardenga that will not be denied. Fruit swells and impresses with its gingered-crimson beauty and the advances of egress by structural demand. While too youthful and awkward for all parts to hook up they will, in time, for all the right reasons and with zero regret. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted February 2023

Carpineta Fontalpino Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Vigna Montaperto 2018, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Apposite to Dofana for Vagliagli is Montaperto of Castelnuovo Berardenga, the grippy, forceful and tannic one. The immovable and unbreakable sangiovese so very linear, gripped by strength, of skeletal structure and needing time. Give it. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted February 2023

Carpineto Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Greve

Perfectly reasoned, seasoned and fine dusted Annata here from Carpineto, consistently contrived from year to year with 2021 being no exception to the rule. Good fruit and loins, strong bones, robust and trim. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2023

Carpineto Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2020, Greve

There is nothing about this Gran Selezione that is not Carpineto and so kudos to the Greve estate for unyielding consistency, no matter the time or place. In fact this also represents a look through the mirror of a vintage, never overbearing or overpowering and just a snapshot of cool, herbal and brushy, like taking a long walk though a dry forest, air crisp with fresh air. The 2020 GS has matured some already so drink this while some others work through their issues. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted February 2023

Casa Di Monte Chianti Classico DOCG Le Capitozze 2019, San Casciano

There will never be denying the savoury elements and earthy nature of a sangiovese from San Casciano and Le Capitozze by Casa di Monte is not the exception. The acids in this 2019 Annata are quite incredible and there is plenty of fruit, red and ropey fruit to stand with the tart and tight wind that constitutes true style. Crunchy Annata with spirit and energy, a charcoal, tar and candied rose compliment, seasoning and all that can make a Chianti Classico thrive. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted February 2023

Casa Di Monte Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Le Capitozze 2017, San Casciano

A few years have seen this Riserva travel forward and the source is a hot, dry and exceptional vintage. And still a great freshness persists even if the sangiovese is ready to be enjoyed. The tannins are more than half resolved and their work in progress is just what the fruit requests but also deserves. This is nothing if not a lovely and joyous swell of Riserva, aged with ideal practice and wood execution, nearly come to fruition, always in maintenance of balance. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted February 2023

Casa Emma Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, San Donato In Poggio

The 2021s are being shown because many will indeed soon be released yet examples like this from Casa Emma are way too young and unresolved to really speak the language of its ancestry. But my what hides behind the curtain is so real, vivid to the point of acting out a passion play of psychological sangiovese thriller. An Annata with canaiolo and malvasia that twists and winds, sidles and turns through the sangiovese to aerate and intensify. All this said there are years needed to coordinate and allow Casa Emma to become the wine it wants to be. Even at Annata level. Always at Annata level. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted February 2023

Casa Emma Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Vignalparco 2019, San Donato In Poggio

Great depth noted straight away but then back to reality because perfume rising draws the aromatics and extends them stratospheric. This is exceptionally gifted as it pertains to perfume, violets nearly and most certainly roses. A sangiovese that might make a sort of taster to think nebbiolo were this tasted blind, though one so modern as to make a heart ache. Then a natural sweetness, wood abided and elasticized with texture and then spice. Much gastronomy here and with a few years melt the ooze will become amenable to match with complex preparations. Seeing this on a restaurant list. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted February 2023

Chianti Classico Collection Design

Casale Dello Sparviero Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, Castellina

One of the few (of maybe a dozen) producers using pugnitello to augment sangiovese and here the five percent matters for the Annata from Casale dello Sparviero. Helps to distract from the barrel but then it seems the overall sentiment is wood and seasoning because the aridity is truly felt at all points on the palate. Needs time and yet the fruit will struggle to survive. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted February 2023

Casaloste Chianti Classico DOCG 2019, Panzano

A little bit (10 per cent) of merlot goes along way to soften and textualize sangiovese with 2019 as the main catalyst for a high quality Annata by Casaloste. Big wine to be sure, fruit driven, structured with great demand and acids sweeter than many. There is quite a wealth of character happening in this wine just getting started on its long journey ahead. Has markedly improved in the past year. Last tasted February 2023

Notable ripe fruit and also a verdant austerity makes for a wine of two positions, angles and disparate emotions. A sangiovese of floral and also avian display while in delivery of liquorice and bitter herbs. Almost Riserva in style, glycerol and concentration at the fore, the rest waiting in the wings. Needs time. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted February 2022

Casina di Cornia Chianti Classico DOCG 2019, Castellina

Plain and simple this is Castellina in Chianti yet one climbing the tight and structured hill though not the ripest of sangiovese ever developed. That said this is 2019 fruit and it’s about as phenolic driven as there has ever been. Really drying, brushy and most intense. Glaring and demanding. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted February 2023

Castagnoli Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Castellina

High octane red fruit with a decidedly higher acid drive puts this sangiovese in fine speed with trailing vaporous emission. Very young and this vintage of 2021 seems to need more time than most any looking back just about a decade of time. Yes a good deal will be released to the markets this year but it has been a while since needing time in bottle is more important than this particular vintage. Great length here on Castagnoli’s 2021 to speak of greater things yet to come. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted February 2023

Castellare Di Castellina Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Castellina

A wealth of cherry red fruit in the classic idiom and quite frankly a Chianti Classico 2021 Annata more forward than most from the structured vintage. Solid bones though fruit is most up front and herbals season the wine with sweetness, Different set of circumstances for the wood in how it’s noted to be drying out at the finish. Solid effort for this Castellina house. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted February 2023

Castelli Del Grevepesa Castelgreve Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, San Casciano

Clearly too young to fully know the ultimate direction but there is some blood orange set against a dried herb backdrop in an Annata of clear and present San Casciano character. This is in fact the cooperative of Castelli del Grevepesa’s less sizeable cuvée and one with more singular character and sense of place. Very well made that shows the potential of 2021. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2023

Castelli Del Grevepesa Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Clemente VII 2019, San Casciano

Firm and grippy Riserva for 2019 and a Clemente VII speciality from sources drawn, blended and made whole. Professional sangiovese to a great degree, silky smooth and ready for food. Acids are just as sweet and tannins just a bit brittle. Ever so slightly and yet the wine finishes with an upwards lilt and twirl. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted February 2023

Podere Castellinuzza Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, Lamole

A firm and herbal sangiovese with splashes of canaiolo and malvasia nera for extra seasoning, texture and most of all sapidity. This is Lamole in a nutshell, of those herbs with cereals, nuts and a textural feeling in lieu of acidity or rather in compliment to what structure demands. Lovely 2020, accessible yet grippy enough to mean business. Last tasted February 2023

Big but not dense and for Lamole a heady sangiovese from the not so magnanimous Chianti Classico vintage. More than anything it is essential and encouraged to concentrate on the floral aspects of this wine, perfumed to the hilt with that Lamole commodity. Like all the bushy herbs in bloom, of purples and pinks, scenting the air at dusk even if one fails to brush on by. Lovely texture in 2020, mildly glycerol and giving the impression of almost gelid but surely sweet sangiovese fruit. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted March 2022

Castellinuzza E Piuca Di Coccia Giuliano Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, Lamole

At five per cent it is canaiolo that lowers the Lamole acidity just enough to introduce sapidity and make this 2020 Annata drink with some proper scorrevole. Challenging vintage for this label, tight and racy even, definitely Lamole of origin and heeded in design. Will develop porcini and tartufo when it hits next age business three or four years on. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2023

Castello Della Paneretta Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, San Donato In Poggio

How could we not intuit this as being a sangiovese from San Donato in Poggio? The signs are obvious from the start, blood orange and tart acidity but also a canaiolo influenced sapidity that aids in weights and balances for a 2020 Annata that benefits from such cuvée styling. The colouring too, for tradition and classicism. A touch of weight at the finish and a slight botanical tonic to add complexity if also minute astringency. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted February 2023

Castello Di Albola Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2021, Radda

Quite a pure red cherry fruit and simply structured Albola with early accessibility from a vintage much restricted in such matters. This is clearly designed to be purchased and cracked with haste to seek immediate gratification. Simple and proud. Well made. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted February 2023

Castello Di Ama Ama Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Gaiole

Ama by (Castello di) Ama is a richly textured and high glycerol Annata with all the wealth and generosity from the vintage captured, pressed and patented for a stamp of quality and guarantee of success. Crunchy red fruit and limestone strike, not quite high-toned but rising and ethereal as far as Classico is concerned. So well made and a harbinger for Gaiole within the greater territory for 2021. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted February 2023

Castello Di Ama Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Montebuoni 2019, Gaiole

Quite the aromatic lift and high-toned entry for a 2019 Riserva that must be pushing generosity of ripeness and also alcohol. Warm and floral, viscous and layered. High octane flavour profile, generous of juicy red berry fruit and also barrel. Quite classic in a modern vernacular for a sangiovese (with five per cent merlot) that has come to pass and be recognized for more than two-plus decades now. Last tasted February 2023

“Direct descendant of Castello di Ama Riserva in a return to the appellation with this being the second such vintage. Falling somewhere between the Ama Annata and San Lorenzo Gran Selezione, Ama’s Montebuomi is so very Calcari, regardless of the level of appellation, intensely woven, idealized and structured. Such mineral virtuosity at the Riserva level captured however, linear, vertical and compact. A compression exists by dint of those vineyard soils and also the living and breathing Gaiole terroir. Drying for now, fleshing to come, settling in later. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted March 2022

Castello di Ama Chianti Classico DOCG Vigneto San Lorenzo 1990, Gaiole

A grand old sangiovese from Ama, likely made by Lorenza Sebasti’s father and predating the winemaking work of Marco Pallanti. A wine twenty years before it would become one of the territory’s first Gran Selezione and an original Chianti Classico cru. Feels like some merlot mixed into this 33 year-old, or not but softness is a virtue. More truffle than porcini, creamy and holding well. Acids are indelibly stamped while tannins have all but disappeared. Beautiful old soul with a chocolate finish to reminisce about the wood involved. Good showing. Drink 2023-2024. Tasted February 2023

Castello Di Bossi Chianti Classico DOCG C. Berardenga 2020, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Amazing purity of naturally sweet fruit and surely the priority in Bossi’s Annata 2020. If beautiful and amenable sangiovese straight out of the shoot is what you wish to drink then Bossi’s of clear and present Castelnuovo Berardenga account is just perfect. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted February 2023

Castello Di Bossi Berardo Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2019, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Pure, clear and transparent purity of sangiovese, exquisite by fruit and in construction, well structured to hold back the years and make us understand the best is yet to come. Crisp, fresh and crunchy now, surely to become chewy later, with braised fennel and liquorice, tar and roses. The professionalism and intent are noted with palpable concern, the wine clearly destined to show well five-plus years down the line. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted February 2023

Castello di Cacchiano Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2019, Gaiole

Castello di Cacchiano’s wines are made by Federico Cerelli, he of Gabbiano and Poggio di Guardia (of amongst other estates of reputation) and this Riserva speaks to a Monti in Chianti (within Gaiole) location. A pure example indeed, viscous and high in acid retention but also a blue to grey Galestro soil. A tad dusty yet plenty juicy and very much a traditional style of Riserva in stylishly retro clothing. Not old school, just classic. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2023

Castello di Fonterutoli Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2020, Castellina

Castello di Fonterutoli’s 2020 is Gran Selezione like looking in the Castellina mirror because the purity of red, red, red fruit is the crux and at the core of what this wine wants to say. Hyper indicative of the vintage, clear and transparent, never too weighty or adamant and Fonterutoli puts everything in its rightful place. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2023

Castello Di Gabbiano Chianti Classico DOCG Cavaliere d’Oro 2020, San Casciano

Big production and from 2020 a sizeable wine for Gabbiano’s San Casciano Annata though do not be afraid to aerate and get at it in this calendar year. The fruit is up front even while some wood seasoning persists and assists in creating a classic sangiovese effect. Concrete helps to keep the freshness. Good linger so this 2020 will drink well for a few years to come. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted February 2023

Castello Di Gabbiano Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2019, San Casciano

High glycerol, as per the vintage no doubt and a bleed from chalky Galestro with a nod to Pietraforte for Riserva of suave style and chic demeanour. The professionalism and faux fructose-pectin texture is like pure berry cream, without lactic or milky feels. Modern and so stylish. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted February 2023

Castello Di Meleto Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Gaiole

Very curious 2021 from Castello di Meleto, almost a sticky effect, like a savoury hard candy dissolving on the palate to reveal new character with each melting moment. Textural sangiovese with five percent merlot, one that works through aeration and on the palate then instigates the mind to imagine many developing possibilities. Sweet acids and tannins too, wanting to integrate but the wine is far too young to involve such foolery. Be patient, it’s sangiovese. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2023

Castello Di Monsanto Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2019, San Donato In Poggio

One of the more famous, unwaveringly consistent and highest of quality to quantity ratios just has to be this from Monsanto in San Donato in Poggio. Five per cent each canaiolo and colorino complete the endemic local blend, in sapid swings and also hue, also in good humour with just enough tension involved to keep things so very real. Despite the generosity this is a pretty tightly wound Riserva from Laura Bianchi and one to cellar with the best of a long, winding and storied history of producing some of the territory’s most structured wines. Drink 2024-2032. Tasted February 2023

Castello Di Monsanto Chianti Classico Riserva Il Poggio DOCG 1970, San Donato In Poggio

Talk about an OG. One of the few Classico (Riserva) truly deserving of a place in that category as it pertains to cru identified vineyards. From 1970 there is perhaps less lingering fantasy and age-worthy decades long penetration but truth is only Monsanto and a handful of others can make a wine drink with status (and also grace) 52 years into its tenure. The ’68 and ’69 tasted in 2018 and 2022 respectively were better representations of the storied block and this ’70 emits a nutty and sharp pecorino cheese note, but also fennel and caramel for an overall umami arrangement. San Donato in Poggio umami of another era, sweetly savoury, inviting and subtly sour. Truly fascinating sangiogsee. Tasted February 2023

Castello Monterinaldi Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, Radda

The 2020 Classico is currently on the market while the soon to be bottled ’21 shows as an anteprima though that vintage, as firm and grippy as it may be will entice and delight sooner than most. In fact the 2020 is in nearly the same kind of place and so this tells us that. Monterinaldi’s position in Radda and microclimate produce wines like no other. Their wines move like the turtle, aging low and slow, even if they showed up ready and willing from the start. For Monterinaldi there was no hydric stress and the growing season delivered a consistent and constant five month phenolic development. This was a 35-40 day skin-contract maturation without worrying about extracting green tannins. Only six to seven months of aging in wood and this all adds up to doing things differently than many neighbours and other UGA positioned estates. Last tasted February 2023

No other 2020 seems to scent like this from Monterinaldi and so it is more than worth commenting on the sense of place that is their southwestern Radda location. Herbal and dried flower potpourri but also something unknowable, intangible, even mysterious. Yes there is some early reduction but it can’t suppress the open-air meets underbrush perfume. Equanimity between maceration and fermentation makes this a candidate for top mid-term aging Annata, in other words begin drinking soon and make great use for three to four years thereafter. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted March 2022

Castello Monterinaldi Chianti Classico DOCG Vigneto Boscone 2019, Radda

The single vineyard sangiovese never touches wood, only concrete, in fermentation and also aging. It is the highest expression of Monterinaldi and so it will always be a cru Classico. If a Gran Selezione were to be made in the future it would be a different or rather a new label. This is not yet in bottle though it is a finished wine, so despite its anteprima positioning the wine can be assessed, for the most part at least. Thirty-one year old block at this stage, heavy in Alberese, 3.5 tonnes per hectare in yield, intensity and tension at the fore of what this wine just is. That said the 40 days of skin contact makes for beauty up front no matter the structure afforded. Cimento aging means captured freshness and there is truly no thought of either tannin or spice not arriving to set this sangiovese up for a long life ahead. This will be special. Drink 2025-2034. Tasted February 2023

Castello Monterinaldi Chianti Classico DOCG Vigneto Boscone 2018, Radda

The 1988 planted vineyard at more than 450m on most excellent Alberese soils is the signature, Classico or whatever other appellate label you would wish to put upon it. Boscone knows what it must be and a long maceration (40 some odd days) plus only cement fermentation/aging makes sure to create a sangiovese of finesse and zero distraction. Nothing external, no wood to cake on any make-up, a wine as naked as the grapes were hanging on the vines. Higher acidity, yet another apposite occurrence in spite of the hot vintage because this place cools when necessary to gift saltiness and also sapidity, equal and opposite, also with thanks to the age of the vines. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted February 2023

Castello Di Monterinaldi Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2020, Radda

For Monterinaldi Riserva resides between Classico and Classico Vigneto Boscone and picking happens between the two, though Boscone is an entity all on its own. This fruit usually comes from middle elevation. Riserva sees Botti and it’s just so obvious because there is more texture and compaction, not necessarily concentration but certainly tight grained layering because of the use of wood. So curious that even with wood this feels less barrel affected than most so Riserva. Monterinaldi’s is still a fresh and sapid sangioivese. Crunchiest Riserva in the territory, bar none. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted February 2023

Castello Di Monterinaldi Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2019, Radda

The time in 30 hL French cask is approximately 30 months and it must be said again that Riserva by Monterinaldi is the crunchiest of the area, far and wide, crisp and fresh, so clear and finessed. There is more concentration form 2019 to be sure and also fair because the purity but also longevity is just a perfect guarantee. As good as 2020 is as Riserva there can be no denying the next level success that this prime vintage brings to the table. And yet cooler vintages are usually long-lived ones – but at Monterinaldi they all are. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted February 2023

Castello Di Querceto Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Greve

As far as 2021s are concerned there is great youth and an unrelenting wall of structure in this sangiovse (with eight percent canaiolo) from Dudda Valley in northeast Greve. Too much wood noticed at this early stage and so the tart, tight and sapid red fruit is held in tight, closed and yet to sweeten, flesh out or fatten for that matter. Wait at least 18 months more. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2023

Castello Di Querceto Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2019, Greve

Mainly sangiovese with eight per cent canaiolo to keep a proper level of pH and therefore sapidity with no rapid or hasteful maturation from 2020 Dudda Valley. Moderate alcohol, scents of salumi skin and roasted nightshades, viscous mouthfeel in a generous wine from Greve without gratuity and surely never taken for granted. Quantity is high for the vintage and appellation for a very promising wine. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted February 2023

Castello Di Radda Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Il Corno DOCG 2017, Radda

Though six years old there is still a wall of structure for Castello di Radda and a single vineyard Gran Selezione that’s far from showing its best and releasing the charm. Dries at the finish but when the wood and tannin subside that sensation should release. Two more years it would seem. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted February 2023

Castello Di Selvole Chianti Classico DOCG 2019, Vagliagli

Quite resinous, herbal, tart, tannic and full of tension. A challenging wine that should have softened by now. Wait another year and see what happens. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted February 2023

At Castello di Verrazzano, Greve with Maria-Sole and Luigi Cappellini, Michaela Morris and Caterina Mori

Castello Di Verrazzano Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, Greve

Oh, ah, the perfume of Verrazzano. Not just aromas from a wine producing estate but the complex aromatic weave of a veritable and traditional fattoria, of olive trees, gardens and forest. Not an Annata of structural potency but more so one of evident spezzatura, of superior phenolics and balance. The first half of the wine is sapid, the second turns and finishes salty. In that sense indicative of bordering Montefioralle and yet the mix of strong red fruit plus savour is purely Verrazzano. Returns full circle to strength of perfume. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted February 2023

Castello Di Verrazzano Chianti Classico DOCG 2017, Greve

Tasted from a gravity-filled system without pumping by machine to see what then effect on the wine might have, if any. Well if the exercise has any real consequence it would be on the energy and vitality of this Annata. The wine is full of pulse and life while structurally immovable and in no rush to mature. There is more precision on the nose and the palate as well. I’d say a good choice for bottling if not the most efficient way to produce your wines. Last tasted February 2023

Such a unique aromatic expression here from Castello di Verrazzano and the pattern is becoming a thing of great consistent beauty. The judgement is sound if nearly spot on from a challenge and so the structure supporting makes for a resounding drink of sangiovese speciality. Very impressive for the year. Drink 2021-2027. Tasted February 2020

View of the Greve Valley from Verrazzano

Castello Di Verrazzano Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2018, Greve

For Luigi Cappellini some similarities are noted with what will come forward from 2020 (Annata) in that the fruit is of a similar ilk if also a compatible level of spezzatura. The ’18 Riserva used this warm vintage with mitigated assistance from the elevation of this northwestern part of Greve. Vineyards ranging from 250 to 480m quantify a keen effect on slower phenolic development. There is fruit maturity here and this won’t live as long as some other top structured vintages but as Riserva the savoury elements are heightened, the Grandi Botti effect on texture guaranteed and the Verrazzano perfume pops with every swirl. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted February 2023

Castello Di Verrazzano Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2004, Greve

There is much power and strength to 2004 in a Riserva more than holding the fort and the castle without showing any kinks in the armour or signs of decline. Even after 18 or 19 years there is very little development in this ’04 and I for one must applaud not just how slow it has evolved but also how little the Botti show up on the palate. A wine of fruit, spezzatura and savour more than chocolate or balsamic, start to finish. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted February 2023

Castello Di Verrazzano Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Sassello 2017, Greve

Sassello comes from the vineyard on the hill behind the Borgo at the highest elevation and while ripeness development will be slower there can be no doubt that 2017 was better here than most warmer and lower locations in Chianti Classico. The Sassello of this vintage is still stuck in first stage youth, quiet, dense and volumetric. The wine has moved but barely an inch, it speaks in fulsome texture and while yet to flesh out there is a roundness that will see it drink so well for years to come. The best of which will be two looking ahead and ten after that. Drink 2025-2035. Tasted February 2023

Castello Di Verrazzano Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Sassello 2013, Greve

The nose on 2013 is remarkably fresh but also open and generous, as fruity as it is filled with knowable Verrazzano perfume. There is a sanguine aspect to this ’13 but also a tar and roses section to put it in a place of its very own. Maybe even a sweetly herbal moment, middle plane minty with more than average structure still very much in charge. One of the bigger 2013s in the region, holding strong and going everywhere with all the time in the world. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted February 2023

Castello Di Verrazzano Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Valdonica 2017, Greve

Valdonica is both lighter and more linear as compared to Sassello with more classic speazztura and Verrazzano aromatics. Also a chalkiness and barrel induced texture but without the volume in Sassello. Valdonica is more straightforward, not as intense in terms of substantial fruit and also more available at this early stage. Saltier finish as well, more in line with Annata while Sassello seems akin to Riserva. Notable balsamico in Valdonica. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted February 2023

Castello Di Verrazzano Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG San Bartolo 2017, Greve

A single block Gran Selezione with the idea to make a more precise sangiovese (with some merlot) that expresses itself with great tension. Well first and foremost San Bartolo is a wine of fruit, big fruit and very generously so. The tension arrives halfway through the tasting experience as you realize a vice grip of tannin of intense expression has taken hold of the senses. The nervous nature of sangiovese combined with a single vineyard of elevation near 480m puts this Gran Selezione is a very specific place. These things supersede the dry and hot vintage in fact they lead at every stage. More chocolate by the Botti on the finish here than the other two Gran Selezione. Drink 2024-2031. Tasted February 2023

Castello Di Volpaia Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Radda

Of all the 2021s to taste and assess there is no shock that Volpaia’s is just about as young and immovable as any. This is not major news for a vintage of great structure matched by upbringing for classic Classico. These are children of manners and respect, knowing their place in history, they being sangiovese, reticently expressive, necessary patient, with this Volpaia as experienced and abiding as any. The substance is that of a layered and complex weave with five per cent merlot involved to soften but also pull verdancy from a very tannic example. Bigger than recent vintages, weightier and potentially far more profound. Time will tell. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted February 2023

Castello di Volpaia Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Coltassala 2019, Radda

Full and expressive Coltassala with smoulder and sneaky tannins behind a wealth of dark cherry red fruit. Seasoned yet the wood is gentle, beautifully integrated and while this is not the biggest, boldest or baddest of the Gran Selezione, by Volapia’s standards it is a munificent one. Shows off Radda’s acidity, especially at elevation and coupled with high level ripeness the chance to enjoy a bottle will come sooner than the average. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted February 2023

Castello Di Vicchiomaggio Chianti Classico DOCG Guado Alto 2021, Greve

Guado Alto is the name assigned to Castello Vicchiomaggio’s Annata and solo sangiovese is the game. The fruit is about as honest and also forthright as it gets for the vintage and yet this smaller production (just 20,000 bottles) is the more focused of the estate’s wine at this appellative level. Really getable and manageable at this time which is something so many 2021s are yet to do. At the price this usually comes in at there can be only a few wines from this vintage offering equal and rarely better early drinking value. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted February 2023

Castello Vicchiomaggio Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Agostino Petri 2020, Greve

Talk about the passion, and the classics, in Riserva from Castello Vicchiomaggio the wonder is always present, accounted for and delivered through the name of Agostino Petri. No absence of these ideals from 2020, despite the challenge and the idea that this vintage is a Riserva vintage continues to be conceived. These things take time, wines especially built on sangiovese while here softened and made fruitier by ripe cabernet sauvignon. Spot on, generous and giving. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted February 2023

Cecchi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Valore di Famiglia 2018, Castellina

Solid, weighty, tense and taut sangiovese here from Cecchi in the highest level on the appellative pyramid. Wound tight and will take five years to unwind, just as it has already been nearly five to wind up into this intense present character. Might dry out a bit and the seasoning will be peppery strong as the fruit subsides. The next few years will see the best moments for this Gran Selezioine. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2023

Cinciano Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, San Donato In Poggio

Lovely 2020 from Cinciano, to no surprise with fruit and more fruit at the fore while support is effortlessly provided by both acid and tannin, equally, unequivocally and with hand held outstretched. Some more tension than quite a lot of 2020s but again the fruit does well to stay in line and for the ultimate purpose of balance. Another year will improve the situation. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted February 2023

Colle Bereto Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, Radda

The most exotic perfume emits from Colle Bereto’s Annata in 2020 and there are none like it. Like cinnamon and coriander, pine and cedar, the forest and the spice cupboard fully involved. A truly structured and formidable wine, especially for 2020 and needing several years to resolve. That said the purity and quality are unwavering. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2023

Colle Bereto Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2019, Radda

Big and brawny wine from Colle Bereto for Riserva and 2019 though of a concern with fruit cast in balance against structure lined up for low, slow and carefully curated development. And maturity with pure sangiovese raised and never braised, surely to be exulted and ultimately praised. Loving the acids within that structure and the chalkiness in smart ratio these vineyards seem to procure. Bravo Bernardo. Certamente. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted February 2023

Colombaio Di Cencio Chianti Classico DOCG Monticello 2020

The fruit is quite dark here and this has occurred in isolated frazione but more so pinpointed vineyard locations here and there from 2020 in the territory. Parts of Panzano and Radda but also here from Gaiole and yet the wine is soft, mature and accessible. More about sweet acids in structural terms so don’t think too much nor wait too long to drink this palatable wine. Last tasted February 2023

Colombaio di Cencio presents a Gaiole herbology that’s always indicative and distinctive, sometimes by way of faintly sweet Amaro liqueur. That’s the first and then recurring feeling coming from this 2020, chalky and with acids that slide along with the red fruit speckled with fresh and also dried herbs. The tannins follow the latter with some pretty austere aridity. This will drink well in a few years, that much is certain, but unfortunately the bottle will not get any lighter. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted March 2022

Conte Capponi/Villa Calcinaia Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Vigna Bastignano 2019, Montefioralle

More than promising vintage for this single vineyard Gran Selezione from Sebastiano Capponi and that is the operative word because Vigna Bastignano is beholden to time. From 2019 the one that suffices is such a structured sangiovese with broad shoulders with most substantial Montefioralle fruit to go the distance. More than suffices. Basti dire che. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted February 2023

Dievole Chianti Classico DOCG Petrignano 2020, Vagliagli

Petrignano is a newer label for Dievole and in Annata form it’s a most forward thinking and drinking example from the Vagliagli estate. This from 2020 doubles down on the ideal with fruit sweet like candy, naturally and without any undue stress or tension in the glass. Easy, clean and getable. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted February 2023

Dievole Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2020, Vagliagli

Here comes yet another bit of professional brilliance from Dievole at the Riserva appellative level, mainly with sangiovese plus two or three points of supportive and original territory DNA by canaiolo and colorino. Fruit swells straight away, up front and centre, equidistant from all parts connectable, structural and conceptual. Fruit is an apex predator that feeds on acid and tannin for survival. Dievole owns all the tools and gets it correct. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted February 2023

Fattoria Della Aiola Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, Vagliagli

Aiola’s 2020 Annata is place and vintage driven raised in big casks and on promises, ready and willing to please when spring arrives, just around the corner. It’s really that close to having settled in and deliver the grace and charm expected. Quite a lovely, lithe and red citrus vintage right here of great specificity. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted February 2023

Fattoria Di Lamole Paolo Socci Chianti Classico DOCG Castello Di Lamole 2016, Lamole

Tart and volatile, a truly swarthy and natural sangiovese from Lamole. Both chewy and with some formaggi, a wine so very Lamole but more so this label within the UGA. Extremely parochial and idiosyncratic behaviour. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted February 2023

Fattoria Di Valiano Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, Vagliagli

Sizeable case production and a sangiovese with some softening merlot out of the southerly Vagliagli UGA. Straightforward, of peppery plum and red citrus, currants and a dustiness about the overall feel. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted February 2023

Fattoria Le Fonti Chianti Classico DOCG 2019, San Donato In Poggio

Juicy, fruity, glycerin, simple and needing to be consumed. Drink 2023. Tasted February 2023

Fattoria Le Masse Chianti Classico DOCG 2019, San Donato In Poggio

Pure and ready, amenable and readable Annata here from Le Masse’s San Donato in Poggio vines, treated with utmost respect and for all the right reasons. This is textural sangiovese and quantities are so low you should count yourself lucky to secure just a bottle or two. Grace, understatement and charm are what this feels like are the things that comprise its beauty. Last tasted February 2023

“To me, one of the best years for grapes,” tells winemaker Claudio Gozzi and the wood tank used for fermentation and now aging makes this noticeably a year wiser (than 2018) and so much more suitable to making this 100 per cent sangiovese. Even without tasting you can tell there’s a refinement, a calm and a settling that 2018 does not have. Cleaner, much more precision and seamless behaviour. Perfect volatility, sweet acidity and long, fine chains of tannin. Pure and honest, exacting, readier and will be just ideal with another year or so of time. Approximately 7,500 bottles produced. Drink 2022-2028. Tasted October 2021

Fattoria Di Montecchio Chianti Classico DOCG 2019, San Donato In Poggio

Purely San Donato in Poggio, red fruit of red citrus as gelid texture with a coolness and a fineness that speaks directly to 2019. The tannins are quite resolved and yet the wine has much to give and life yet to live. Look ahead five plus years and imagine the changes to come, but best to drink in the freshness for now. Last tasted February 2023

The Annata of Montecchio always express a deeper San Donato in Poggio, classically citrus and red fruit meeting salumi cure, but there is always more. To the story and the point, Annata from 2019 gives earth, juice bled through stone and clay. If other UGAs are akin to Santenay than this Barberino Tavarnelle could be compared to say, Volnay. In sangiovese of course and Montecchio accedes to a Villages level, here in their suitably hyperbolic Annata. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted February 2022

Fattoria Montecchio Chianti Classico DOCG Primum 2018, San Donato In Poggio

From Montecchio’s Premium Line in the squat half magnum bottle and from warm 2018 a mainly sangiovese with five percent cabernet sauvignon that smooths the angles and curves all the lines. Rounded, well-rounded at that, with really mature fruit, as if in a slow-cooked stew, braising liquid fine and viscous. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted February 2023

Felciano Chianti Classico DOCG 2019, Panzano

Dusty and herbal, quite the savoury expression, especially for Panzano and a wine of place above all else. Full and not lacking for fruit from a palate that does so much more in terms of impression and what this wine is capable of becoming. Still quite youthful so return in two years to see what will become. Last tasted February 2023

Fèlsina Berardenga Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Panzano and 100 per cent sangiovese, without a shadow of a doubt on either front, chewy and fulsome fruit, lots of sun and ripeness, chalky Galestro and perhaps even Pietraforte-induced structure. Acids are quite high for 2019 but then again it’s all sangiovese so why be surprised. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted March 2022

Firm yet fair Annata from Fèlsina and one off the harbingers not only for Castelnuovo Berardenga but surely Chianti Classico as a whole. The 2021s are a formidable group, like 2019 Barolo in certain structural and yet immovable respect. Though this entry is but an indicator, instigator and liquidator it does so with all possibilities and probabilities intact. Classic Fèlsina of a broad spectrum to speak on behalf of a wide breadth of fruit sourced out their many vineyard blocks. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2023

Fèlsina Berardenga Rancia Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2020, Castelnuovo Berardenga

There is a perfume, a scent of the earth and also Castelnuovo sky that creates au aura about Rancia for Riserva. The vineyard looms over the land and the fruit always marries with the earth to give away its character as it defies logic and does just this for the vintage. Each and every one actually, yet 2020 is warm and full, with pine and spice at the apex of Fèlsina’s usually aromatic display. A liqueur of macerating cherries season while more spice wakes and covers the palate, lingering and leaving memories behind. I will remember this Rancia, forever and always. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted February 2023

Fietri Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, Gaiole

Express Gaiole savour, a verdancy unlike any other Chianti Classico commune or UGA. Crunchy red fruit like crusted cherries and of an intensity that has yet to dissipate, nor has this pure sangiovese softened in any way. There are layers to peel away and although the ripeness is not like 2019 it really doesn’t need to be. Speaks for the vintage and for Gaiole in correct ways, without apology and for longevity. Upper echelon 2020 Classico. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted February 2023

Fontodi Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, Panzano

Definitely richer and also more overt structure from Panzano when you look at Fontodi’s Annata side by side with (Filetta di Lamole) and yet the vintage kinship is organized like cousins with familial ties. Finding high acid from 2020 and so all together there are many parts to put this vintage in the arena of long age-ability. Apt and ample viscosity makes for a mouthful of sangiovese and the variety always remains at the heart of a Classico by Fontodi. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted February 2023

Gagliole Chianti Classico DOCG Rubiolo 2021

Rubiolo is 100 per cent Sangiovese and Panzano fruit from 400-plus meters of elevation above and to the west side of the Conca d’Oro. Expressive of the two factions of Panzano character, texture and savour. Silky smooth liquidity and more accessible than what might have been pre-conceived though there is surely no lack of grip emanating through the cool ooze of this wine. Really quite fine. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted February 2023

Gagliole Chianti Classico DOCG Rubiolo 2020

All sangiovese from Castellina (40 per cent), Panzano (45) and a small amount from Badia a Passignano (in San Casciano). “A regular season, warm but not like 2022,” explains agronomist Giulio Carmassi and so ”maturation was corchato (shorter)” and harvest was compressed in to five or six days. Rains came late in September, causing a nervous and quick pick. A good vintage though not considered top and yet the purity of red fruit is present. Saw a 20-22 day maceration time in stainless with aging for eight months, half in old barriques. Sent to concrete and blended. A firmness and still some moments of tension about this Classico with a push-pull posit tug between freshness and maturity expressed as salumi, skins too and two-toned fruit; dried currants and fresh pomegranate. For early drinking in any case, starting six months from now. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted February 2023

Gagliole, Panzano

Gagliole Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2020, Panzano

Fulsome and chewy Riserva for Gagliole with 100 percent Panzano sangiovese part beautiful and part structured, by Galestro and Pietraforte soils. This fruit comes from the heart and epicentre of Chianti Classico Pietraforte with a warm 2020 delivering waves of fruit and mineral, alternating, integrating and soon to be evolving. This 2020 feels like a Riserva quite close to reaching its peak, likely in two years but the wealth of fruit means the door will open sooner rather than later. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted February 2023.

I Fabbri Chianti Classico DOCG Lamole Olinto Grassie E Figlio 2020, Lamole

A fine and lithe Annata from Susanna Grassi out of 2020 and yet without a doubt equipped with the fineness and beauty of eternal Lamole perfume. In a wonderful place right now, ease of fruit sliding on a corrente e snello scale, fine liquidity with a streak Of salinity. So apropos for Lamole and the varietal sangiovese it breathes. Spot on and restrained. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2023

Il Molino Di Grace Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, Panzano

“I don’t know why, but you will never see wines as dark as the 2020s,” tells Iacopo Morganti. Though truth is Il Molino Di Grace has never made less quantity and so concentration is as high as ever. Aside for hue this is “a nice Chianti Classico to drink now – my prelim is I don’t have enough,” says Morganti. Indelibly floral and stamped with quality approval, heady and yet elegant, forceful and elastic. Fine Galestro chalk of tannin and grip by Pietraforte. A different vintage and why shouldn’t it be? Happened during a pandemic and did its very own thing, without interruption and for all the right reasons. Magdalena Vineyard plays a big part in this level of appellative wine. These are simply grapes made into wine after all. Pure and real IMDG though with lower acidity and though big it’s easy to drink. Hyper real. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted February 2023

Molino Riserva

Il Molino Di Grace Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2020, Panzano

In line with the Classico yet with better quality material chosen there is higher acidity and that matters greatly. Tannins are finer as well, yet that same darkness of pitchy and perfumed fruit is consistent with tighter and stronger grip. Must be granted another year in bottle to settle the strongholds and the score. The barrel has much to say right how, noted in grains running through the veins of the sangiovese. Older vines including Il Bosco are Riserva bound. The linger and length on this is infinite, at least in Riserva terms. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted February 2023

Il Molino di Grace, Panzano

Il Molino Di Grace Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2019, Panzano

Not just because of the extra year in bottle but also the kind of year, fruit more in red tones, effusive spoken language and elegance are what 2019 surely is. Acidity runs higher than 2020 and the wine while settling is still working through youthful energy. Still there are some bursts, fits and spurts from such a wine of vitality. Linear, less elastic but neither stringent nor too intense. Never vivid or glaring because it knows itself and what it wants to be. This will live long, that much is clear. Well, everything is very clear. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted February 2023

Il Molino

Il Molino Di Grace Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Il Margone 2020, Panzano

Fine tannic presence from Gran Selezione for 2020, several steps up from Riserva with less pitch and grab but still overt dark fruit. More diversity and complexity in perfume, notable violets and rose but really what stands out here is how the tannins allow the fruit to stay up front. There are no perceived grains or sand-papery textures involved, neither is Il Margone soft or fluffy. There may only be 8,000 or so bottles available at this quality and so a rare and must have wine it most certainly will be. Iacopo Morganti explains it well. “It’s not easy too make three different levels of Chianti Classico. You need to understand the vintage and the differences, especially when you have less quantity.” Drink 2025-2032. Tasted February 2023

Il Palagio Di Panzano Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, Panzano

As far as 2020 and Panzano are concerned there is a great deal of concentration and substance coming three ways from Il Palagio di Panzano’s Annata. Fruit, acid and tannin, all set to high intensity, each sucked and layered upon one another. A Classico in the great sense of the word and the appellation, pure and remarkable, not a sangiovese of any stringent notes despite how much has been pulled from these grapes. Juicy, no dustiness whatsoever and liquid running in soft waves. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted February 2023

Il Palagio Di Panzano Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2019, Panzano

Panzano Riserva in glycerin and unction, substantial fruit and long cask aging, macerate juices swirling and compounding in complex flavours. Some verdant notes that are earthy-savoury driven, pine tree and needle, fern and allium. Complex weave of saline and sapid elements with a toasty oak component yet having fully settled in. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2023

Isole Delle Falcole Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2018, Panzano

Only sangiovese and from a vintage where the final days of September saw crazy spikes in heat with nights at freezing. So the fruit was picked on the 28th and here the first Gran Selezione of Emanuele Graetz’s young tenure. Chewy sangiovese with so much palate feel, mouthfeel and texture. Again a Chianti Classico that you will not have ever tasted before. Leathery and fruit-centric with fine tannins though not the kind that will see this age the way the 2019 surely will. The flavours here however are complex and their linger is seemingly never-ending. A remarkable wealth of precociousness and purity, almost as innocent as a wine can be, lucky and wholly professional all at once. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted February 2023

Istine Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Radda and Gaiole

Angela Fronti’s Annata is an expression of several vineyards, where rocks are such an important matter, in soils of Galestro plus Alberese, but also elevation and slope. The Classico’s grapes come mostly from Radda vineyards (Istine and Casanova dell’Aia) but also Gaiole (Cavarchione, Tibuca and Le Noci). Though a child of cool, calculated and mysterious ’21 there is quite a rouse of joy and untamed energy coming straight out of this pure sangiovese. Fronti has done well to coax pleasure with little tension or pain and as such you could very much have a glass as soon as you wish. Barrel sample or not and so when it does find its wine into bottle this 2021 will drink well from the start. Tasted February 2023

La Sala Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, San Casciano

With the oenological help of Stefano di Blasi it is this sangiovese from La Sala del Torriano that speaks in clear tones and terms. In San Casciano vernacular that translates as herbals and savour of the silkiest and sweetest kind. Like a dry Amaro, a chew of Australian liquorice and a lick of fine Maldon salt. Maybe some chocolate by the barrel at the finish. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted February 2023

La Vigna Di San Martino Ad Argiano Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2020, San Casciano

Tiny production of Riserva here from La Vigna di San Martino ad Argiano in San Casciano and a curious example at that. Good ripeness and glycerol yet spiced, capsicum spicy and chalky within the context of pretty darn chewy fruit. All sangiovese and a wine certainly worth investigating to potentially really getting to know. Would like to put a few aside and see where they go. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted February 2023

Le Cinciole Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, Panzano

Spiced aromatics, biscotti to ginger cookies, an eastern Panzano original, fresh and dusky, like the Frazione’s evening air. Tight and focused sangiovese, even more so Panzano on the palate, lightly glycerol and just so perfectly tart. Though a two-plus year old Annata this is really just about as fresh as it gets. Elevation contributes to the ideal, at 450m and near to the wines from Casole. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2023

Le Cinciole Chianti Classico DOCG 2019, Panzano

Aromas will remain consistent in 2020, first of a baked amaretti or ginger cookie, a lovely toasted cereal but with an extra year in bottle this Annata expresses more brushy savour, a dried fennel character and yet plenty of freshness persists. The dusty quality is consistent from vintage to vintage and speaks to sangiovese needing time in the bottle to unwind and express its true to Panzano fruit. This is sangiovese of silky tannin but the same thing cannot be said of the mouthfeel. There is more savoury grip involved. Time will continue to help. Track record shows this possibility will become probability. Last tasted February 2023

The Panzano work of Valeria Viganò and Luca Orsini travels from strength to strength and while this ’19 Annata was only bottled one month ago it shows the best freshness and right kind of crunchiness here at the Chianti Classico Collection. Indelibly stamped with Le Cinciole and Panzano terroir, a combination of earth and fruit showing as well as any these days. Can’t help but relish the level of tart and eye-popping flavours with an immediacy of early drinking possibility. Terrific Annata in every respect. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted March 2022

Le Cinciole Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Aluigi Campo Ai Peri 2018, Panzano

Aluigi’s fruit is darker than the Annata, its tannins are just as silky and as for mouthfeel there is more smooth consistency and character than in the other Le Cinciole wines. A much bigger wine from a bigger vintage in part because it was hot and also when the last two days of September produced high level degrees of temperature by day but also low to near zero by night. This means a big Aluigi with high level acidity captured and kept to be a catalyst for dark fruit to shine and age. Age well this will though it will always be a wine of depth and heft. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted February 2023

Vicky Schmitt Vitali – Le Fonti di Panzano

Le Fonti Di Panzano Chianti Classico DOCG 2019, Panzano

Classic Le Fonti and I mean what else but classic, as expected from fruit and producer so intrinsically connected it’s as though there is no separation between people and land. At this stage a maturity post reduction and locked in full freshness without steps taken towards the secondary. Spot on salt and pepper seasoning and a truly gastronomical sangiovese with soft merlot roundness plus hue-instigative colorino. Well blended and enjoyable in every respect. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted February 2023

Le Fonti Di Panzano Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2019, Panzano

From 2018 there is the most crystalline clarity, purity and natural fruit sweetness from Le Fonti’s Riserva, this in spite of high level accumulated warmth and alcohol conversion rates. The merlot helps to smooth and silken the texture so that a seamless transition confirms the goal of invitation, to ideal phenolics and maximum pleasure. What this means for Vicky Schmitt-Vitali and Guido Vitali is a Riserva that speaks in their particular heart of Panzano language with a sangiovese so honest and direct, in every respect. Beautiful wine. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted February 2023

Le Fonti Di Panzano Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2018, Panzano

Bigger wine in 2018, even more so than ’19, not because of stylistic choice or bigger dreams but simply because this part of Panzano experienced late season heat. Also cold nights and so Riserva’s acidity drives stride for stride with fruit, alcohol and tannin. Picking late ensured multi-toned ripeness and fully realized sangiovese dreams. An extreme vintage but one so well managed at Le Fonti because these custodians of Panzano are pragmatic survivors who can do nothing but fashion the most hospitable and nurturing Chianti Classico. It is the proprietors’ heritage, imperative and humanity. This is a wine of intensity and concentration, perhaps less fresh than 2019 but one that just may outlast that vintage in its own special way. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted February 2023

Le Miccine Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2020, Gaiole

Barrel sample. Very taut, acids still running amok and wood very much in control. Blue to black fruit with a stop at purple, Gaiole savour and a whole mess of everything happening at once. Needs a minimum two years to settle in but there is plenty of stuffing to see brightness ahead. More than a bit early to make any lasting assessment. Tasted February 2023

Le Palaie Chianti Classico DOCG 2019, Montefioralle

A new look at Montefioralle and a tiny production for Chianti Classico of perfectly timed maturity. Though there is a simplicity about the character of this 2019 it is nothing if not a lovely glass of wine. The 20 percent mixing in of merlot and cabernet sauvignon just pushes the point further to understand that this is about here and now. Drink up CC lovers. This is a basic gateway drug. Drink 2023-2024. Tasted February 2023

Diego Finnochi and Elisa Arretini – L’Erta di Radda

L’Erta Di Radda Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2020, Radda

Barrel sample. Only Diego Finocchi presents sangiovese in Riserva this way. With grace and fluidity, liquid sapidity and Raddese acidity. No canaiolo in 2020, solo sangiovese and the balance shows, the major grape able to create the push-pull of posit salty to mineral tug without problem. There is tension mind you, but no issues to report on. There never are. Still it’s simply too early for full disclosure or assessment. Tasted February 2023

Lornano Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, Castellina

Tasting and assessing Lornano from 2020 at such an early stage feels unprecedented yet here we are and try we will to see the forest for the trees. Some tart angles and more than ample tannin yet clear and sweet they are in surround of fruit we just know will become fleshy and expansive. Again, this is sangiovese and time is of the matter. Patience for Lornano and their corner of Castellina. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted February 2023

Losi Querciavalle Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, Castellina

As with some other well known Chianti Classico producers that hold back Annata longer than most this feels strange to be tasting a 2020 from la Famiglia Losi. A most glycerol Castelnuovo Berardenga and one of impressive fruit though wood is very much a factor, imparting a floral and vanilla waft through the bones of the wine. That and what Alberese will instigate makes us understand that this sangiovese with sapidity catalyst canaiolo is not yet done what maturing it needs to do. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted February 2023

Fattoria Di Luiano Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, San Casciano

More than markedly youthful Annata by Alessandro Palombo from a 2021 vintage we are still years away from figuring out. Reductive and coiled tight with acids proper wrapped around substantial fruit. Neither pepper nor rubber but simply fruit, structure and youth. Need to revisit a year from now to see what it’s all about. Judgement is a tad reserved. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted February 2023

Fattoria Di Luiano Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Ottontuno 2019, San Casciano

Not simply stuck in a black hole of structure but this 2019 San Casciano Gran Selezione is of an immovable infrastructure that defines positioning and appellate category. Big boned and more of an impression left as opposed to expressiveness, at least now and likely for five more years. Needing the toasty wood and dense tannins to dissipate, things that will take quite a bit of time. Drink 2025-2031. Tasted February 2023

Marchesi Frescobaldi Tenuta Perano Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, Gaiole

You can always feel the white soil of Tenuta Perano and nowhere more so than from Annata level Chianti Classico. More than sangiovese with 10 percent merlot and (5) cabernet sauvignon for a silky smooth 2020 that wants to share its impression as early as it can. Cool and sappy, easy to understand and professional as they come. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted February 2023

Marchesi Frescobaldi Tenuta Perano Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2019, Gaiole

Perano glides as Riserva, smooth and suave, sangiovese ripe as necessary and just a few splashes of merlot tossed in for the good measure of sweet seasoning. Quite an easy drinking Riserva of 2019 generosity, the least amount of savoury elements possible as it pertains to Gaiole and these white calcareous soils of the Tenuta. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted February 2023

Maurizio Brogioni Chianti Classico DOCG H’Amorosa 2021, Montefioralle

Barrel sample. A smallest of small production for Annata determines the effort and fate of this Montefioralle 2021. Just a touch of verdant behaviour touches the back end but this is poignant and proper for 2021 of classic and traditional Annata style. Tasted February 2023

Maurizio Brogioni Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2020, Montefioralle

A small lot and still peppery reductive sangiovese as Riserva from 2020. Quite toasty, smoky even and lots of green running around. Needs time and yet it will be hard to imagine these roasted and smouldering notes ever fully falling away, or melting in. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted February 2023

Monte Bernardi Chianti Classico DOCG Sangió 2021, Panzano

From a property purchased in September 2018 above the village of Panzano, direction Volpaia. One of 10 hectares planted to the MB33 clone with this being the third vintage and first time shown at an Anteprima. There was 800mm of rain ahead of the growing season and the vineyard’s elevation attracts high solar radiation juxtaposed against cooler night time temperatures. Also less rot than at Monte Bernardi with similar soils of Galestro and Pietraforte. Michael Schmelzer refers to hedge trimming as the way to maintain composure. From a viticultural standpoint 2018 is a vintage that separates the wheat from the chaff, with no rain during the season. “If you have different clones, say 420A and/or do not hedge trim, you can’t complain about irrigation,” says Schmelzer. “You’re throwing away water.” Not Michael and the early results of his new frontier vineyard determine a sangiovese bright-eyed, bushy-tailed, enthusiastic, happy and full of energy. What else can you say? MB33 is part of the fabric of Chianti Classico’s future. Drink 2024-2031. Tasted February 2023

Monte Bernardi Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2020, Panzano

Unexpectedly tannic vintage and also for what it means to be a Monte Bernardi Riserva. Less showy and forward than 2018 though the immediacy gained is again from a long 45 day post-fermentative maceration with higher than many stem inclusion. Higher than 2019 and 2021 in that regard. “I’ve reasons for what I do,” explains Michael Schmelzer. “My decisions are like my cooking instinct. I don’t follow the hard rules of a laboratory. I work on fundamentals, not relying on numbers.” Riserva is a matter of knack and intuition, salt and pepper seasoning, a Monte Bernardi style and best case scenario. Though grippy as a vintage there is haute and high caste toothsome piquancy in this 2020 and it may just fool us all by outliving the rest. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted February 2023

Greve from Montefioralle

Montecalvi Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, Greve

Barrel sample. Showing every minute not yet gained as a sangiovese with a few percentage points of various complimentary grapes (3) canaiolo plus (2) altri vitigni creating a push pull of saline-sapid notations. A bit swarthy and volatility needs to settle but a little bit of sulphur at bottling will do the trick. Tasted February 2023

Montefioralle Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, Montefioralle

Lorenzo Sieni’s 2020 Annata is just perfectly Montefioralle, succulent through savoury and back again, acidity running up the sides of the palate and fruit round throughout. Never tries too hard nor demands too much, of itself or us, the willing and abiding tasters. Lovely Annata and perfectly expressive of time and place. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted February 2023

Alessandra Deiana and Michele Braganti, Monteraponi, Radda

Monteraponi Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Radda

Ripe red fruit to the nth degree and a most natural feeling emitting from Michele Braganti’s 2021 Annata with a readiness ahead of many. A sweetness in the plums and citrus expressed as pure sapid tang with perfect help made to slide across the palate. This is a restrained and fine acid example with sneaky structure laying low, much like Beaune pinot noir, albeit in Chianti Classico. “You just have to wait,” shrugs Braganti. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted February 2023

Monterotondo Chianti Classico DOCG Vigna Vaggiolata 2020, Gaiole

Good and plenty fruit with a twist in that additions of canaiolo and malvasia nera bring seasoning and spice. Travels well beyond salinity into aromatics and flavours from the spice rack and sapid sensations accrued. A crisp and crunchy Annata for 2020, spoken as Gaiole through the name Vaggliolata. Settling in nicely at this point and drinking really well. Savoury without overt greenness or toast. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted February 2023

Azienda Agricola Mori Concetta Chianti Classico DOCG Morino 2021, San Casciano

Quite a compliment of other endemic grapes not only aid and abet but work so properly too create cohesion and define this special Classico from San Casciano. The breakdown of 80 percent sangiovese, (10) canaiolo, (5 each) pugnitello and colorino is essential and creates a balanced 2021, of less tension than some but also pure without greens or greys mired in the void. A very successful and textured wine of silk and chalkiness for seven to ten years ahead. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted February 2023

Azienda Agricola Mori Concetta Chianti Classico DOCG Morino 2020, San Casciano

A singular Chianti Classico and also San Casciano expression with an almost San Donato in Poggio-like blood orange of red citrus expressiveness. Also textural, of glycerol and the savoury elements that while present are less what we think of when we consider San Casciano. Plenty of machinations in this 2020, of 80 per cent sangiovese, (10) canaiolo, plus (5 each) pugnitello and colorino. Stands apart from the pack. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted February 2023

Nardi Viticoltori Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, Castellina

Traditional in so many respects and also a sangiovese plus five percent each endemic canaiolo and colorino for a doubling down of abiding respect to Castellina and all of Chianti Classico. Expertly tart and liquid chalky, a year away from integrating structure through the wine, to be followed by three to five years of fine drinking. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2023

Piemaggio Chianti Classico DOCG Le Fioraie 2019, Castellina

Most curious aromatic 2019 from Piemaggio with Chinese five spice all over the waft. That and preserved strawberry, tar and roses. Quite nebbiolo like in some respects with different tannins of course. Cool and savoury, notable evergreen and mint, finely designed and amply structured. Good example of red Castellina while setting its own course of style. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2023

Podere Capaccia Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, Radda

The fineness of red fruit in layers and made to express breathes of fresh air in fine sprit by elevation in Radda sets this Podere Capaccia up for great success. Charming, graceful and yet grippy enough to stand up, defend its territory and survive for quite a stretch of time. Fine work from Alyson Morgan and team. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2023

Podere La Cappella Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, San Donato In Poggio

Graceful and charming sangiovese with smoothness and texture added poignancy by 10 per cent merlot puts this 2020 in great vintage standing. Yes it is so very San Donato in Poggio but it’s also Podere La Cappella in a nutshell. The Rossini wines always express and taste this way, like bleeds from white limestone and a ripeness befitting this place. Also freshness by winds from the sea running through as a relish and a vim that keeps your hold of the palate. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted February 2023

Podere La Cappella Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Querciolo 2018, San Donato In Poggio

Very pretty 2018 Riserva, reddest of red fruit with that omnipresent streak of white Colombino limestone running through. Great and substantial fruit, high level acidity and my what fine tannins. A perfectly reasoned and seasoned Riserva for drinking 10 years. Easy. Drink 2024-2032. Tasted February 2023

In Riserva form Podere La Cappella really sees a long developed through late picking sangiovese come to full fruition. Beautiful flesh and texture, fulsome fruit and sweetening acidity. Very fortifying with that blood orange to limestone bleed in great hyperbole. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted February 2022

Fattoria Poggerino Chianti Classico DOCG Nuovo 2021, Radda

One thing you can count on is for Piero Lanza’s sangiovese to come out ripe as any in the territory and 2021 would surely not be an exception to the rule. The fruit is remarkable and the structural parts equally formative and formidable so I’m not sure Lanza has made such a wine in quite some time. Years are needed to settle the pieces, parts and puzzles of this magnanimous affair. Don’t care that Annata is the appellation. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted February 2023

Fattoria Poggerino Chianti Classico DOCG Nuovo 2020, Radda

Once again why should there be any surprise to find Piero Lanza’s sangiovese from Radda in this state of heightened grace and exactly and correctly what it’s interpreted to be?Where else would a wine so big seem so balanced? How else to explain conversion rates at this level so ideally suited to vineyards that ripen to a point and then begin again? It’s a matter of listening to wind, grains of wood and sand, essence of minerals and elements, spoken through stone. This is Poggerino, anew and reborn, year after year. Nuovo. Last tasted February 2023

Piero Lanza’s 2020 is a bright, effusive and luminescent version of itself in that there seems to be a lightness of being and avoidance of rich density. Quite the aromatic lift this early and time around, floral, like roses, hibiscus and fresh tar, not unlike some Tortonian raised nebbiolo. As sangiovese there is sneaky structure in quantifiably knowable admonition and that is said in the most complimentary of ways. Radda chalk, sand and whole bunch verdancy bring complexities and the struggle is real. Disregard the appellative concept of Annata in part, because this should go long. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted March 2022

Poggio Al Sole Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, San Donato In Poggio

Lovely 2020 Annata from San Donato in Poggio though quite mature and resolved at this early juncture. Acids are still hopping and popping while the wood has done little melting into the overall feel of the wine. Seems like two parts are involved and integration may never fully happen. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted February 2023

Fattoria Pomona Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, Castellina

Monica Raspi’s Pomona Annata is simply a beautiful expression of 2020 Castellina. Spiced and seasoned, just such correct tart and tang, crisp and pure with a swath of beautiful and natural swarthiness through the finish. When this finishes its journey the pieces will all have fallen into place and nothing will distract from pleasure. Kudos to Raspi for exulting the vintage to rise above the rest. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted February 2023

Principe Corsini Villa Le Corti Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, San Casciano

Firm and apropos of maker and location, reddest of red San Casciano fruit developed with purpose in vineyards graced by river stones of vines in the path of beneficial marine winds. You can feel the breathability and even a shade of saltiness streaking through the red berry aromas. Crisp, crunchy and then chewy as the wine fleshes across the palate. Duccio Corisini gets better and better at making wines of clarity and profundity. Grande Principe! Drink 2025-2033. Tasted February 2023

Querceto Di Castellina Chianti Classico DOCG L’Aura 2021, Castellina

Proper and well raised sangiovese but also conceived as Annata with trenchant purpose is the state of Jacopo di Battista’s most correct L’Aura. There is a sweetness of fruit and acidity rolling as one without much structural distraction though there is some underlying strength in subtlety to see this open with furthered aromatic style. A direction is taken and these are wines to try. If you have not yet joined the watch the time is now. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2023

Quercia Al Poggio Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, San Donato In Poggio

Purely, allegedly and unequivocally San Donato in Poggio here from Quercia al Poggio and an estate that writes the book on frazione definition. Sweetly natural red fruit from plum and citrus, tight and tart acidity but also warmth if kept fresh by breezes blown through. Another quality sangiovese from Vittorio and Paola with spicy bits and accents contributed by four supporting indigenous varieties. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted February 2023

Querciabella Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, Greve

New directions, adjustments and mediations take Querciabella’s Annata into ever developing progressions and investigative accessing of new territory. Here from 2020 winemaker Manfred Ing finds new texture or next level mouthfeel for an Annata increasingly becoming and speaking on behalf of Greve and especially the Ruffoli hill. This vintage is not asked to over deliver and the statement made is one of drink-ability but also impression over expression. Top examples don’t try to impress – they simply do what’s necessary and so a deep impression is ultimately made. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted February 2023

Renzo Marinai Chianti Classico DOCG 2019, Panzano

Just a beautifully silky, suave and smooth Annata from Renzo Marinai in 2019, expertly blended and having now matured into a great place at this stage of its evolution. Red fruit captured to what just has to be the most ripeness in phenolic terms, with tannins so sweet they melt at first contact with the palate. Gentle in every respect including woolliness, liquid pepper and verdant finishing notes. That’s where the 10 percent cabernet sauvignon makes its appearance. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2023

Renzo Marinai Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2019, Panzano

A fine and suave Riserva from the Panzano selection of Renzo Marinai, as much a Gran Selezione as many peers, open and fragrant, liquid swirl of sangiovese liqueur but also Cassis by 10 per cent cabernet sauvignon. Amenable and beautiful, handsome and sleek. Fine, fine wine. Drink 2023-2030. Tasted February 2023

Ricasoli Brolio Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Gaiole

A clear and purposed Ricasoli Annata, standing on edge, pointed and direct to tell a story of tradition and five soils across many hectares of expertly managed vineyards. Grippy and firm, needing six months to a year in bottle, fine and expressive being the actions of the future. Hoping to see this released in the fall of 2023 in Ontario. That would be the right time to begin enjoying this wine. Impressive interpretation of Gaiole considering 600,000 bottles are made. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted February 2023

Rocca Delle Macìe Famiglia Zingarelli Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2020, Castellina

Dark fruit as per very specific locations in Chianti Classico and a Riserva of depth to be sure. The well is full of macerating cherries, fresh leather and wood spice for tradition kept but modernity acceded to install confidence in what today’s Riserva in many instances has become. Fulsome wine from Rocca delle Macìe, to no surprise. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2023

Rocca Delle Macìe Gran Selezione Chianti Classico DOCG Tenuta Di Fizzano 2020, Castellina

The classicism of a Famiglia Zingarelli Gran Selezione from a single estate and a much smaller sku than most would expect. Just 26,000 bottles made and a top pyramid expression at a most affordable price for very specific markets, including Ontario which should be thankful for the gift. Crunchy and conversely chewy, wood a factor in vanilla plus chocolate, acids sharp and on point. Will live gracefully for a few years yet. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted February 2023

Rocca Delle Macìe Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Sergio Zingarelli 2019, Castellina

It just feels as though a Famiglia Zingarelli sangiovese will always act, emit and taste this way, that were this wine poured blind we would know the origin and the appellation. That being Gran Selezione and with 2019 the glare and obvious beautiful red mess of Castellina fruit is right there. The tops for substantial fruit as far as this GS is concerned and possessive an aging potential long and great. Should become one of Zingarelli’s finest. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted February 2023

Rocca Di Castagnoli Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Gaiole

It seems that only Rocca di Castagnoli unearths this very specific kind of red fruit in Gaiole and it must be attributed to location but also elevation. Less herbal and savoury than almost all the rest of Gaiole but surely startling and vital in its very own way. This from 2021 is firm yet fair, chalky tannic but seemingly not a fortress unbreakable or formidable to gain access. A well characterized and nurtured Chianti Classico that will give back. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2023

Rocca Di Montegrossi Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Gaiole

Surprising grip and structure here from Rocca di Montegrossi’s 2021 Annata, well not exactly shocking but this is a vintage wine quite far from readying towards release. Tannins are fine chained, grained, unbreakable and of a saltiness really connecting the mineral dots of this wine. Some canaiolo and colorino bring added seasoning and so sapidity is a thing. Crunchy for Gaiole and less herbaceous than most. Should begin to open in 18 months or so. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted February 2023

Ruffino Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Riserva Ducale Oro 2018, Castellina

Suave and smooth, nary a tannic moment, easy drinking Gran Selezione. Not the most structured 2018 and very little tension but you can enjoy the wealth of fruit, wood and savour for three to four years while you wait for others vintages to settle in and open their doors. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted February 2023

San Fabiano Calcinaia Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Castellina

Sangiovese with 10 percent canaiolo and colorino from the warm vintage down in quantity due to the April frosts, a year-plus spent in tonneaux followed by six months in bottle before release. That quantity was two-thirds of a normal production and concentration is surely above the norm in this 2021. Great acidity, highest level of the stuff and the fruit is ever-bearing ripe on the nose while tannins are overtly grippy and the wine needs another year in bottle to truly show its stuff. That said this will surely be the finest Annata from San Fabiano Calcinaia. Drink 2025-2031. Tasted February 2023

San Fabiano Calcinaia Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Cellole 2019, Castellina

Mainly Sangiovese with some colorino and a few splashes of merlot “that speaks Chiantigiana.” Also a 500m elevation for most of these grapes, the sangiovese planted in the 80s and converted to organic in the 90s. A stony Galestro soil opposite to the sandy clay and calcari, i.e Calcinaia around the borgo and winery. Only Cellole delivers this cool, liquid peppery swarthiness that the Classico does not show and also a combination of verdant but also distinct minerals notes. Tannins are exceptionally taut with at least two to three years remaining before they begin to truly integrate. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted February 2023

San Fabiano Calcinaia Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Cellole 2015, Castellina

Unequivocal Cellole profile, woollen and natural, earthen and full-bodied. The more this 2015 ages the more it smells and tastes like Cellole, the place. It simply exaggerates and hyperbolizes with each drop in tannin, each integrate connection between maturing fruit and those once über grippy tannins. Classic Calcinaia acidity bar none. Last tasted February 2023

Cellole is San Fabiano Calcinaia’s top tier Chianti Classico from Guido Serio out of Castellina in Chianti. There is always a curious and distinguishable aromatic profile in all their sangiovese but especially from the Gran Selezione. Part hematic and part natural in origin that is split between land and cellar. As for the vintage the sweetness of fruit and the thick texture it bleeds is the plasma and the oxygen that gives it breath. Expressly Castellina in deep red fruit and with a particular San Fabiano chalky twist. Opens and breathes some more with air and time. Well-framed and positioned at the price point for a good seven or eight year run. Drink 2020-2027. Tasted May 2020

San Fabiano Calcinaia Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Cellole 2010, Castellina

The third to last bottle of said vintage is opened for this tasting and what a treat to have a moment with this inaugural vintage of the Cellole as Gran Selezione. Showing its age in aromas to be sure and yet the palate is vibrant while oak flavours and spice are intrinsically pronounced. The swell is filled with soya, iodine, black cherry and a sanguine flood throughout. Tannins persist in a chalkiness as well but what is most fascinating is this gastronomy of a Gran Selezione. It just tastes like Tuscan cuisine and though a finger can’t be put on exactly what that is, well there is a gaminess, from dry-aged bistecca to picciona that makes this wine taste like it does. Then arrives the porcini, tartufo and orange zest. Complexities abound and all are pleased. Last tasted February 2023

San Fabiano Calcinaia Vin Santo Del Chianti Classico DOCG 2006, Castellina

A small amount of sangiovese joins trebbiano and malvasia bianco for Vin Santo from what is considered a top appellative vintage. Clocks in at 15 per cent after more than 10 years in caratelli, emerging as nutty and finely golden toasty as any in the biz. Hazelnut namely but also this gelid lemon and gingered orange crème brûlée flavour that lingers forever. As savoury as it is sweet so don’t confine this to dessert wine times. Begin the night with an ounce or two alongside the antipasti, preferably of a pâté, parfait or rillettes kind. Drink 2023-2036. Tasted February 2023

San Felice Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Annata or anything else by San Felice can only act like a child and a rebellious one at that when tasted so early in its tenure. Barrel and tannin are far from ready to relent and allow their wine its due. There is a fortress door to open and the substance behind the gates lies in waiting to be free. Two years methinks before that becomes reality. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted February 2023

San Giusto A Rentennano Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Le Baròncole 2020, Gaiole

Barrel sample and the youth of this San Giusto wine is something too behold. A fortification equal to both Siena and Firenze combined. Le Baròncole is serious, stone-faced and impressive. My goodness. Score and full assessment reserved to a much later date. Tasted February 2023

Tenuta Carobbio Chianti Classico DOCG 2018, Panzano

Then comes along Carobbio with a wine older than almost any other Annata in the collection and yet even from 2018 this sangiovese has yet to hit its stride. Dark fruit of baritone voice and depth puts this in unique territory and it would seem the grapes were mainly picked later, after the two day heat spike at September’s culmination. That said low nighttime temps kept the acidity and so 2018 from Carobbio should age as well as any Riserva and many Gran Selezione from the vintage. Drink 2024-2032. Tasted February 2023

Tenuta Casenuove Chianti Classico DOCG 2019, Panzano

Fruit quite mature of 90 percent sangiovese with five each merlot and cabernet sauvignon, a focused expression and very much the warmest of (western) Panzano style. You can taste the Bordeaux grapes in here, with a Cassis for sure but also some desiccation of small berries. Minty and a cherry stone bitterness on the palate with drying tannins. Give an hour of air and drink over the next three years. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted February 2023

Tenuta Casenuove Chianti Classico DOCG 2018, Panzano

Fruit quite fresh for 2018 and in a way more so than the following 2019, here again from a consistent blend of 90 percent sangiovese with five each merlot and cabernet sauvignon. Juicy Panzano expression, ready and willing to please, tannins softening now and acidity captured with truth. Raspberry and blueberry, fruit captured at peak and here an Annata with silky tannins, everything in line and ready to roll. Last tasted February 2023

Crunchy Panzano Annata here from Tenuta Casenuove, peppered as opposed to peppery, as if with freckles or micro-sized bits of earth. Plenty of salt and pepper seasoning but again nothing sharp or spicy about it and fruit so very berry red. Tasted March 2022

From the southwest corner of Greve in Chianti, southwest of Montefioralle and close to Panzano. Modish and modern for 21st century sangiovese is just this, stylish, chic and highly motivated. Quite fully developed and felt red fruit of glycerin, pectin and mouthfeel but you want more and more. Impressive magnitude in bringing so much fruit into the mix. Not overtly high in acid or tannin so use this early and often. Drink 2020-2022. Tasted twice, February 2020

Purple shales where the three UGAs of Montefioralle, Panzano and Greveconverge

Tenuta Casenuove Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2019, Panzano

Riserva is 100 per cent sangiovese, a bit dusty and reserved, acids and tannins very much in charge. Crisp and crunchy for Riserva with notable fennel and balsamic notes with a nuttiness that is a palate extension from palate sweetness. A factor of new and used barriques with baking spice that in conjunction with full on ripeness to the edge creates a feeling of sleepiness. Enervating sangiovese. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted February 2023

Tenuta Casenuove Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2018, Panzano

A Riserva quite consistent with the ’18 Annata, than the 19s, fruit captured at a more harmonious induced state and ultimately juicier as a result. Tannins silky with plenty of glycerol in a Riserva of dark western Panzano caramelization. Would not wait to drink this 100 percent sangiovese because maturity is fully happening already. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted February 2023

Tenuta Di Arceno Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Castelnuovo Berardenga

A vintage for which merlot at 15 per cent does wonders to install calm and roundness into San Gusmé sangiovese of dusty, drifty and instigative tannin. There is a swirl of red to purple berry liqueur in this high glycerol content of an Annata to take Castelnuovo Berardenga into another stylistic and one not often reached. Modernized, renovated and refurbished. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2023

Tenuta Di Carleone Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, Radda

All in with sangiovese from Radda and the term in purezza rings true on so many levels. First by grape variety, second by commune/UGA from which acidity is expressly Raddese and finally for an Annata of superior clarity. Quality too, guaranteed and obvious as witnessed by a wine both getable now yet structured for longer than most would postulate and mistakenly choose the under to pontificate. The lines and ascension are perfectly incremental and Tenuta di Carleone will rise with the finest of the 2020s. Drink 2024-2032. Tasted February 2023

Tenuta Di Lilliano Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Castellina

There are many, not all mind you but a great number of 2021 Chianti Classico in delivery of this silken, glycerol and so very modern character. That and a firm grip with high level acidity captured. A big wine this time from Lilliano, stylish, chic and strutting. Fruit set and connectivity are well aggregated though this won’t be one to age indefinitely. Drink in the near term. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted February 2023

Tenuta San Vincenti Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, Gaiole

Soft, getable, smooth and silken sangiovese, made more so in this way by 20 percent merlot for a drink as soon as possible example for the vintage. A 2020 of fine style, simple, functional and professional. Relatively speaking this is a small lot Annata (at 20,000 bottles) and worthy of your attention. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted February 2023

Massimo and Cosimo Bojola – Squarcialupi, Castellina

Tenute Squarcialupi La Castellina Chianti Classico DOCG Cosimo Bojola 2021, Castellina

Squarcialupi farms 33 Castellina hectares plus 10 in Maremma. Massimo Bojola’s is the only cellar in the village of Castellina. His father in law purchased the land, building, enoteca, restaurant and aging cellar in 1980. From 2020 all the wines are organic. Aged in amphora for 11 months, all sangiovese on skins, the label hand drawn by Cosimo himself. The only Chianti Classico DOCG for which 100 percent comes out of amphora and Cosimo’s is anything but light and yes it’s a different style but there is nothing idiosyncratic about this wine whatsoever. Blood orange, tar and roses, just sticky enough to solicit palate attention and really just a pure expression of sangiovese. A melt of sweet clay, very Galestro mineral. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted February 2023

Tenute Squarcialupi La Castellina Chianti Classico DOCG Squarcialupi 2020, Castellina

The label is a of a painter in the Squarcialupi Palace, drawn by Cosimo Bojola. Just over a year in medium sized cask, same vintage as the Amphora Chianti Classico yet darker of fruit which seems counterintuitive to this not remaining on skins for 11 months – as with the Cosimo Bojola. It’s the colorino, even at five percent doing the hue-mans work. Rich and unctuous, high acid tang, intense and a bit vivid. Stays its course all the way through, never wavering or being led to distraction, neither by overly aggressive tannins or astringencies. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted February 2023

Tenute Squarcialupi La Castellina Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2018, Castellina

All sangiovese, subjected to a prolonged capello sommerso maceration for up to two months. Spends two years in smaller wood, 10 and 14 hL sizes and going forward there will be at least some amphora aging for this wine. Much meatier and marbled than both Annata with Cinta Senese muskiness and peppery finocchiona spice. Complex Riserva in so many respects, plenty of fruit substance with minerals popping in and out at every turn. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted February 2023

Tenute Squarcialupi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2016, Castellina

A 100 percent sangiovese made from the sace vineyard as Riserva, of same prolonged maceration a la Capello sommerso. Aging in small Tuscan barrels made near Rufina, barriques and tonneaux of size. Adds a tougher and grippier feel to sangiovese, unlike the softness of French barriques. This Selezione has settled well and the fruit is remarkably fresh. All parts of this ’16 are in order, in symbiosis repeated and layered, folding back upon itself again and again. Ready to drink, wholly enjoyable, now and for a few more winters. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted February 2023

Terra Di Seta Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Vagliagli

Dense and fulsome, as always with generous barrels exaggerating the macerate pool in which thick and viscous sangiovese with five percent cabernet sauvignon swims. An intense example, especially at Annata level and though the tannins are a bit hard and drying there is ample to substantial fruit to handle the realities of this wine. Wait two years. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted February 2023

Terreno Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, Greve

Mainly stainless steel fermentation plus some open top fermenters, followed by 16 months in large (30 hL) botti. A mix of the younger plantings from all three vineyard sites; Terreno, Montefioralle and in some vintages also Sillano across the valley from Terreno up against the Monti del Chianti. Makes up approximately 35-40 percent of the total (80,000 bottle) production. The 2019 is the Annata on the market and this will likely be released later in the Spring. Approachable like many 2020s of darker fruit and a roundness making this ready as soon as anyone would wish to drink it. Already at this stage the freshness and generosity meet at a point of open amenability. Good flesh on the bone and also like biting into red stone fruit. Clarity and purity. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted February 2023

Terreno Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2018, Greve

Sangiovese plus 10 percent cabernet sauvignon, (5) colorino and mainly Bonnille Vineyard across the valley from Terreno, of eight hectares on Alberese soil purchased in the 90s to add to the existing seven at Terreno. Similar altitude upwards of 350m and a warm vintage leading to 14.5 percent alcohol. Open top fermenters called Mastella are used for the fermentation, introducing oxygen and yet keeping a cap above for a wet journey through to the transfer for aging in big barrels. A Riserva of sanguinity and also animale, a lovely salumi and also raw meat muskiness that speaks to making an appellative wine from a very specific place. Good structure here as well, showing signs of life to live until the end of the decade. Really good work here from the vintage. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted February 2023

Terreno, Greve

Terreno Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Asofia 2019, Greve

Asofia is only from the oldest vines planted in 1980 and 2019 i the first vintage labeled as Gran Selezione. Previous it was a single-vineyard slash cru-designate, 100 percent Chianti Classico. A much more pinpointed and focused wine as compared to the Classico, aromatically charged with Alberese and clay as the soil source abutting the Chianti Mountains. A maturity and concentration of fruit as per the old vines that lend experience and fullness. Picked on the 4th of October and it shows in the phenolic quality, upwards of let’s say 8.5, pushing nine out of 10 on that hypothetic scale. Brush and cooler climate from the surrounding woods lends a savoury element to this wine and in Greve terms there is an almost Lamole at elevation and perfumed aspect of this hyper specific sangiovese. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted February 2023

Terreno Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Sillano 2019, Montefioralle

One of two Gran Selezione and harvested almost a week later on October 10th, referring to the place and little church near the village of Montefioralle. From 500m on calcareous soils (Essentially Alberese), not Formazione di Sillano as might have once been supposed because of the name of the place. No barriques or tonneaux, aged 24 months in 12 and 24 hL oak, finishing at 13.5 percent, much apposite to 2018 that finished at 15 percent. This is purely Montefioralle, exquisitely so, cool and fresh, elegant and if this isn’t an ideal vintage for the UGA then I for one will have no idea what is. Purity of parochial red fruit and a temperate state of being, calm and relaxed. The tension lies hidden in the shadows of this wine, non-explicit and as a result the sangiovese seems non-plussed. The tannins are upright, timely yet taut. All this to say that Sillano will be ready just a bit later than Asofia and will also live just that much longer. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted February 2023

Tolaini Chianti Classico DOCG Vallenuova 2021, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Lovely aromatic swirl emanates from the Vallenuova 2021 and the capture is pure Castelnuovo Berardenga, regardless of how ubiquitous that may sound, or seem. This is the sangiovese of great and wide open space, of crisp air and therefore freshness but also dusty qualities that speak to grape and place. Wait a year and drink for three to four thereafter. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2023

Tolaini Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Vigna Montebello Sette 2019, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Hard to pick a better vintage from which to create a Montebello for the ages. Here a pure Castelnuovo sangiovese that sings, in warm weather and were it to rain, happily anyway, structured and built to last a lifetime. This is Tolaini’s success, their benchmark at the top appellative level, so right, correct and true. Bravo. Drink 2024-2033. Tasted February 2023

Vallone Di Cecione Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, Panzano

It just feels like a wine from Vallone di Cecione and the amazing thing is you only need to taste one or two wines, three or four years running to recognize the gentle breeze of sapidity running through the subtle swarthiness of their sangiovese. With canaiolo too, for that sapid streak cutting into acidity, extending the character of complexity and yet the unction of Panzano is the final call. This 2020 is exacting for VdeC. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted February 2023

Villa Trasqua Chianti Classico DOCG 2019, Castellina

Classic Trasqua lightning, purity of red fruit for Castellina incarnate, well matured being from the ideal 2019 vintage. Yet as with the tradition of Trasqua time is the essence to define how this sangiovese (with four other grapes mixed in), they being five percent each merlot, cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc and (3) alicante bouschet. Together all will travel, take it easy and in another year culminate at peak. Not sure this producer has crafted a better Annata in recent times, or ever for that matter. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted February 2023

Viticcio Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, Montefioralle

Well matured and by now ready to rock and roll sangiovese with just a few splashes of merlot to deliver an herbal dissolve through black cherry fruit and high acidity. A fine vintage for the Montefioralle estate, silken and cool, almost tarragon-minty and as stylish as it comes for the UGA. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted February 2023

Pruning at Il Molino di Grace, Panzano

Il Molino Di Grace Gratius 2019, IGT Toscana

Choosing not to compare Gratius to Chianti Classico at any level, let alone Gran Selezione, is wise and for several reasons. For one thing the blending in of canaiolo and colorino changes dynamics by setting and settling acidity, elevating pH and stabilizing colour. For more reasons check out the manual but here are the Coles notes. Gratius delivers two-toned liquorice, more direct solar radiated brightness, finer and yet less immediately understood structure and a chewiness that sets it apart. What matters is here is that Gratius is the representative for the single San Francesco vineyard and so it is a profound IGT ready, willing and able to become a wine graced with the Gallo Nero and labeled as Panzano. Two new Austrian casks will conceive 3,900 bottles going forward and the future is all about DOCG quality at the highest appellative level. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted February 2023

Il Molino Di Grace Gratius 2018, IGT Toscana

Feels like 2018 Gratius is in a bit of a dumb phase, like what can happen with pinot noir, especially from Bourgogne. This is not Iacopo Morganti’s favourite vintage of Il Gratius but this is the misunderstood child and it will bloom late, or again. While it feels a bit sleepy now (some would say old) it should be looked at in the light of mature and experienced. A prime sample of a single vineyard made in low quantities for what the land needs to say. Last tasted February 2023

Bottled just before the Chianti Classico 2019, so just three weeks ago. A blend of sangiovese with canaiolo and colorino, as it’s its nature and privilege. The sangiovese is taken from the vineyard on top of San Francesco’s hill, adjacent the canaiolo and colorino vineyards. A limited (3-5,000 bottle) production, a wine that’s all about selection (from two vineyards) and elevating craft to the highest of Il Molino di Grace levels. Still sees some barriques but going forward the plan should be to age only in large casks. The chewiest and most textural of the wines, with sapidity and colour matching salinity, acidity and savour. Drama but one in complete control, that is Gratius. Drink 2023-2030. Tasted February 2022

With Giulio Carmassi and Cosimo Soderi at Gagliole, Panzano

Gagliole 2019, IGT Colli Della Toscana Centrale

Could be labeled as a Gran Selezione but it began in 1993 as a Vino da Tavola with 10 percent cabernet sauvignon mixed into the Castellina sangiovese, changing in 2013 to only Panzano and as of 2018 it has been 100 per cent sangiovese. Comes from the Pietraforte soils but also some Galestro involved and in turn the balance comes about in a sangiovese round and at other moments squared. Accessible and conversely agreeable, more well rounded ultimately speaking and less about tension or grip. The kind of structure that is both sneaky and stretched so that time can only improve the experience. Two more years will really see it all come together. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted February 2023

Gagliole Pecchia 2016, IGT Colli Della Toscana Centrale

Called Pecchia since 1999, from a Castellina vineyard of the same name and a second block (closer to Fonterutoli’s Siepi). The name remains the same and yet since 2013 the sourcing is all estate grown Panzano, from a block at the top of the property on pure Pietraforte soil. Here from a most beneficial 2016 for a sangiovese that has matured quite a bit and yet the acidity is intense, the tannins solid as the hard rock of the vineyard and the ability to keep changing will surely be a thing of many more years to come. The mix of tension and resolution is quite there. An IGT of wisdom and also potential, stiff and solid yet singing with feeling based on experience and years under oath. Most intriguing wine that will become a Gran Selezione as of 2018. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted February 2023

Isole Delle Falcole Vecchia Vigna 2020, Toscana IGT

An apposite vintage to 2018 for this unparalleled field blend of sangiovese, colorino, canaiolo, ciliegiolo, malvasia bianca and trebbiano though since 1948 much has changed and more sangiovese planted means less interruption or intrusion from the gaggle of other grapes. Just as juicy and gregarious while also vertical and filled with old school tension but also charm. Mid-weight and also alcohol, approximately 14 percent but this is a valley of elevation and woods so freshness just fills the air. This is very special. The 2018 was just a bit loose by comparison. Tannin on the back end suggest waiting two years. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted February 2023

Isole Delle Falcole Vecchia Vigna 2018, Toscana IGT

The plot was originally planted in 1948 to sangiovese, colorino, canaiolo, ciliegiolo, malvasia bianca and trebbiano. Hard to find a field blend like this anywhere. Twenty plus percent is original vines and the rest planted, but also restored in 1982. Emanuele Graetz re-planted 1,000 (sangiovese) plants in 2022. Spends 18 months in older wood and yes, this is what you would expect, though how could you possibly know what to expect? Produces only 6,000 bottles from nearly two hectares and the purity is so real, with verticality, some leathery maturity but much more so a juiciness that determines the true spirit of the wine. Is this ready? No, not quite but man you want to drink it. Clean, honesty and remarkably focused despite the potential for tohu vavohu. Picked on the 24th of September. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted February 2023

Isole delle Falcole Merlot 2020, Toscana IGT

Will be called Auré which stands For Maurizio and Loretta, owners of the property who have sold to Emanuele and are responsible for planting the merlot in 1978. Just six rows making 1,200 bottles maximum and one of the few old vines examples gone solo in the Classico area. I mean you have to taste this merlot to believe. Plenty of fruit but red with no tar, char or smokiness. Instead all perfume, picked a week ahead of sangiovese, nothing drying or leathery but just the sweetest textures, aromas and tannins. A great site and yes merlot is special for where it comes. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted February 2023

Castello Di Monsanto Sangioveto 2017, Toscana IGT

As a reminder Sangioveto’s vineyard is called Scanni, sangiovese planted in 1968 by Laura Bianchi’s father Fabrizio and first harvested in 1974. Not sure these adept and adroit grapes have ever experienced a vintage like 2017 and yet Sangioveto defies the vintage’s absurd levels of aridity and heat by expressing freshness and exceptional acidity. Hard to believe how the essence of Monsanto’s San Donato in Poggio could be secured but ’17 succeeds with core clarity and tolerance. There is some caramel in the flavours but that’s only after the uncanny scent of prosciutto, salty and sweet, peppery and herbal. The vintage delivers purity and layers of fascination for the palate to absorb. High gastronomy Sangioveto indeed. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted February 2023

Castello Di Monsanto Sangioveto 1990, Toscana IGT

When you reflect upon Sangioveto 1990 as a sangiovese 22 years post original planting and 16 after first vintage then you understand it was already an experienced sku. Consider 1990 as a great vintage in the Chianti Classico territory and now this original standard bearer of San Donato in Poggio quality becomes something deserving of your highest attention. Laura Bianchi’s father Fabrizio foresaw the best of the best from this block and to follow both 1988 and 1989 meant serious business. This particular bottle is nominally advanced, with earthy tones while affirmed of Sangioveto’s haute acidity and formidable structure. Tart fruit, citrus included, persistent intensity and salumi musk are all there. Though this bottle is not fully indicative of 1990’s quality it’s parts are brilliant, even if they don’t add up to the expected whole. Tasted February 2023

San Fabiano Calcinaia Cerviolo 2020, Toscana Bianco IGT

A blend of 50-50 chardonnay and trebbiano, honeyed in hue both by some days of skin contact and some advanced maturation at nearly three years of age. Only sees stainless steel. Can’t miss the terpenes and orange pekoe tea while acidity is quite prominent in delivery of lemon and orange through promiscuous flavours. An absolutely unique take on Toscano Bianco that startles with its freshness and how expectation turns to incredulousness. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted February 2023

San Fabiano Calcinaia Cerviolo 2019, Toscana IGT

Cerviolo Rosso is composed from cabernet sauvignon, merlot and petit verdot, an ironic name for a wine considering how many grapes these little deer will consume in any given given vintage. Raised only in tonneaux and one of the few IGTs with no sangiovese though before 2012 there was some in the mix. The idea was to separate from Gran Selezione when that appellate category became part of the portfolio. This dates back to 1986 and here from 2019 the tannins are fierce, the fruit black and the connection thick as thieves. Man does this need years to resolve though the ripeness is light years ahead of the recent past and the style is all Calcinaia. Drink 2025-2031. Tasted February 2023

San Fabiano Calcinaia Cerviolo 2014, Toscana IGT

Same blend (as seen going forward to 2019) of cabernet sauvignon, merlot and petit verdot just a few years after sangiovese was removed from the mix. This from what was seen at the time as a disastrous vintage and yet time has been kind because first the lowest of low quantities due to stringent selection meant that only top berries were used. Second, time has helped in ways it just can’t effect after the warmest of seasons. This is settling in nicely with a recent relent of tannin but the swarthiness is purely Calcinaia and so with age there is a most obvious connection noted between this Bordeaux blend and the Cellole Gran Selezione. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2023

Tentute Squarcialupi Galaverna Metodo Classico Dosaggio Zero

The name refers to the ice that forms on the leaves of trees in winter. First sparkling wine for Squarcialupi made from malvasia bianca, two months on the fine lees in tank followed by 18 more in bottle. No dosage ”an experiment 100 percent because you don’t find sparkling wine made from malvasia in Chianti,” says Cosimo. Dry and delicious, of great fruit matched by equal and opposing acidity. Picked a month ahead of when it would be were it used in table wine with a potential alcohol of 10.5, translating to approximately 12 percent (minimum) at the end. Straight citrus, linear and richer than might be imagined. Impressive first effort leaving lime and tonic at the finish. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted February 2023

Tenute Squarcialupi Chardonnay Rugiada 2021, Toscana Bianco IGT

From a vineyard at 600m, the highest of Squarcialupi’s 33 hectares, made with two different selected yeasts. First a non-Saccharomyces strain, then after there days a Saccharomyces is added. Goes through malolactic and then stays on lees for three months, in tank. Snappy, green apple style chardonnay, grippy, linear and of a fine citrus line, namely lime. You really feel the calcari at the finish. A difficult place to cultivate because of the Alberese but more so the Colombino, less yellow and much harder ock predominating a limestone soil. Fantastic length. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted February 2023

Tenute Squarcialupi Dama d’Ambra Vinificazione in Amphora 2021, Toscana Bianco IGT

A varietal malvasia aged in amphora, normally picked in the second half of October, less fresh and spirited as compared to chardonnay. Fermentation happens after de-stemming and crushing, in amphora with skins for six months. White balsamic, lemon curd and “for us it’s a white wine not just for fish but antipasti and pasta with white ragù,” tells Cosimo. “It’s a light red wine.” This is the third vintage, no longer just an experiment but now a going concern. Fine bitters, savoury botanicals, dry tonic, fino, green olives and a perfectly pleasant balance. Very well made. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted February 2023

Caparsa Rosato Di Caparso 2020, Toscana IGT

A selection of 100 per cent sangiovese, 48 hours on skins, no saignée, only run-off juice. Feels so pure and natural, sour tart, candied rose to sweet basil with a pause at pink grapefruit. Far from your dry and pale Provençal style but arid and intense in its own special way. Drink 2023-2024. Tasted February 2023

Caparsa Rosato Di Caparso NV, Toscana IGT

The most basic of Paolo’s sangiovese, non-vintage here but in reality it is mostly 2019. Some years there is more blending involved, especially if a cold vintage is at the centre. Seasoned and a little bit spicy, simpler drinkable and finishing at herbs, both fresh and dried. Drink 2023-2024. Tasted February 2023

Caparsa Amphora Di Caparsa 2022, Toscana Bianco IGT

Direct from amphora, trebbiano and malvasia, fermented and rested together for five month to six months, unfiltered, bottled with sediment. A tisane of lemon grapefruit and pekoe, so very tannic and of a salve texture though slippery, sliding away and not leaving its paste trailing and sticky behind. Still so young and not really in any real charming stage. Promising. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2023

Caparsa Amphora Di Caparsa 2021, Toscana Bianco IGT

A Bianco from amphora, made with trebbiano and malvasia, fermented, aged together for up to six months, unfiltered, bottled with sediment. Always a tisane, now a year in bottle showing as a honeyed lemon and orange lozenge, decreasingly tannic, settled and ready. A finer vintage as compared to 2022, seamless, graceful, silkier and alluring. There is fantasy and emotion in 2021. Perhaps 2022 will develop a similar personality with a year in bottle. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted February 2023

Caparsa Bianco Di Caparsa 2019, Toscana IGT

A mix of trebbiano and malvasia but just fermented on skins for a few hours, pre-dating the amphora methodology. Apple and lemon jelly, simple, fresh somehow still and far less interesting than the amphora whites that will follow. Drink 2023. Tasted February 2023

Mimma 2019, Toscana IGT

Mimma could have been Chianti Classico, it could be Gran Selezione, dedicated to “all the girls of the area,” says Paolo in all earnest seriousness, hand-picked grapes by Paolo’s wife Gianna and daughter Fiamma. This is the flagship, small production less than 2,000 bottles, grapes from all over the vineyards, picked in the middle of harvest, during the second pass. There is a restrained intensity in this sangiovese and it does indeed make you think. That’s important, It means Gianna and Fiamma get it. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted February 2023

Filippo Bianco Frizzante Metodo Classico

Made by Paolo Cianfiero’s son Filippo of 100 percent sangiovese, oxidative, energetic, citrusy and pretty fucking delicious. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted February 2023

Castello Di Verrazzano Sassello 2000, Toscana IGT

Like the 2004 Riserva there has been less evolution in 2000 Sassello, the sangiovese that will eventually become the first of two Gran Selezione for Verrazzano. There is certainly more concentration and compaction but the freshness is astounding and the generosity so appreciated 22-plus years forward from vintage. Top quality acidity season bar none. How can we not envision up to five more similar and ten full years of good drinking from this Sassello? Drink 2023-2028. Tasted February 2023

Terreno Professore (Screw Cap) 2020, Toscana Bianca IGT

Terreno Professore (Cork) 2020, Toscana Bianca IGT

Made with petit manseng and roussanne (90 percent), plus (10) malvasia bianca and trebbiano, harvested mid-September and aged in wood for 11 months. An experiment to look at screw cap versus cork that Sofia and Giacomo are hoping will answers questions. Well – what can you say because the wine under screw cap is corked while the wine under cork is singing. Filtration issue? Cap problems? Bottled at the same time however so the issue must be with the cap somehow. In any case this is a most curious and frankly delicious white blend, rich and viscous with just a hint of barrel induced flintiness. White flowers and honeysuckle with a glycerol aspect to make it seem richer than it is in terms of residual sugar, so let’s say 2.5-3 g\L. Lovely mineral-metallic finish with lime and tonic. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted February 2023

Good to go!

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WineAlign

Twenty-two mind-blowing wines of 2022

Dec22

Godello in the Stellenbosch heather, Reyneke Wine Estate

We are who we are and we choose to live in a world according to wine. Within its walls are endless permutations and revelations, of the dark moments and the light, the romantic entanglements and the failures. We witness cycles of passion, highs and lows, endless accounts of quirky little episodes that reveal how grapes really live under the circumstances of a vintage. How they survive and thrive, eventually turning into the wine they become. A wine’s history is a lovely aside accompanied by a recorded and constructed account through the lens of someone who observes its transformations. We are messengers who take the land, plant and maker into consideration and always abide, recounting the story to those who would choose to listen. According to WineAlign I reviewed more than 3,000 wines in 2022, which means I tasted at least 3,500, if not more. In order to surmise this final list from a shortlist of more than 100 mind-blowing wines it meant another 2,900 are not even in the running and yet surely no less than a quarter are exceptional wines in their own right. That is how difficult, personal and stringent an exercise this annual choosing has become. I find it near impossible these days and yet somehow feel compelled to continue the drill.

Godello in Chianti Classico

The year 2022 afforded multiple opportunities to get back on the road in search of great wines in places across the ponds and beyond. To Tuscany in both February and March, for the for the Chianti Classico Collection and also as chaperone to La Squadra Canadese for a week of exploration throughout the 11 UGAs of the territory. Forever in Chianti Classico included a masterclass presented by Italian wine expert Filippo Bartolotta and Consorzio President Giovanni Manetti titled Il Chianti Classico in 9 Decadi. This year-end summary includes one of those Chianti Classico wines dating back to 1949 but a few more could been here as well, including the fascinating Badia A Coltibuono Chianti Classico 1958. At Laura Bianchi’s estate the Castello Di Monsanto Sangioveto 1986 was one to blow my mind, as did Luca Martini di Cigala’s San Giusto a Rentennano Percarlo 2018 and VinSanto del Chianti Classico 1998. As a proud, card-carrying Ambasciatore there are dozens upon dozens of Classico and affiliate sangiovese that move me each and every calendar year. Il Molino Di Grace Gratius 2018 is an example and just one of many.

After that Tuscan adventure I moved on to Sicily for a five day exploration of The five estates of Planeta earth and my stay turned into two weeks. Covid-19 had caught me and yet the humanity of Alessio Planeta, Patricia Tòth and several winemakers aboard L’Etna turned a challenging test result into many days of discovery and deeper volcanic understanding. In fact L’Etna and Parco Statella saved my Sicilian quarantine. So many producers’ wines could and should be on this list: Azienda Agricola Sofia, Calcagno, Donnafugata, Eduardo Torres, Feudo Pignatone, Girolamo Russo, Graci, Scirto, Tascante, and Vigneti Vecchio. Oddly this was not a year for nebbiolo with likely the least amount of opportunities made available and yet a month from now I will spend 10 days in Piemonte to make up for the absence in 2022. That said there can be no forgetting Réva Barolo Cannubi 2018, from which impartiality is off the table because if you do not fall in love with this Barolo then you are not setting your palate free.

Travels in June and Abruzzo in four-part harmony included a bucket list visit with Emidio Pepe where I found that an unwavering commitment to land is everything that matters in making exceptional and memorable wine. It’s not only what you do but also who you are. Ahead of that trip I had tasted La Valentina Montepulciano d’Abruzzo DOC Bellovedere Riserva Terre Dei Vestini 2017, and there can be little doubt that it is a wine that resides at the top of the montepulciano food chain because this Riserva hails from a most specific and important terroir. After Abruzzo and then Rome I moved on to attend the first ever Anteprima for Simply Red: Rosso di Montalcino where the Brunello were set aside for one day only and the 2020 vintage of Rosso got directly under my skin, including Lorenzo Magnelli’s mind bending Le Chiuse Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2020. Dieci Anni di Rosso di Montalcino (Ten Years of Rosso di Montalcino) and Selezione di Rosso di Montalcino (Rosso di Montalcino Selection) showed wines of age-ability and purpose; my if Alessandro Mori’s Il Marroneto Rosso Di Montalcino DOC Jacopo 2019 did not blow my mind. A visit with Violante Gardini Cinelli Colombini meant a pour of Donatella Cinelli Colombini Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Io Sono Donatella 2015 for the most profound barrel expression of Le Donne’s Brunelli.

Menfi

In October the Cape Wine congress resumed after a four year absence and now more than ever this is what I have to say. South Africa is the most exciting and mind-expanding wine universe alive today. There are no less than 40 Western Cape wines from two dozen or so producers tasted in 2022 that could have made this list: A.A. Badenhorst, Alheit, Beaumont, Boekenhoutskloof, Crystallum, David and Nadia Sadie, Hamiilton Russell, Huis van Chevallerie, Kanonkop, Ken Forrester, La Motte, Leeu Passant, Klein Contsantia, Meerlust, Momento, Mullineux, Old Road Wine Company, Porseleinberg, Raal, Raats, Radford Dale, Restless River, Reyneke, Savage, Sijnn, Storm and The Sadie Family. To name but a few. Other southern hemisphere wines were killer in 2022, namely Torbreck Grenache Hillside Vineyard 2019, a special Barossa block to be sure.

With John Szabo MS and Rosa Kruger at the Old Vines Project tasting

In November a return to Montalcino for Benvenuto Brunello 2022 meant a look at the 2018 vintage but also the Riserva of 2017. At Col d’Orcia the Conte Francesco Cinzano Marone and his son Santiago led yet another vertical tasting, this time on the 8s and it was Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Poggio Al Vento 1988 that stood both out and also the test of time. From Montalcino it was on to Vienna and then a Wagram-Traisental discovery tour that was both too short and mind-expanding – A return must and will happen soon. Meanwhile a tasting at home in the WineAlign office showed this Rheingau gem to the crü. Leitz Berg Schlossberg Grosses Gewächs Riesling Trocken 2019 is grand Rüdesheim indeed.

These are the wines that blew my mind in 2022

Most of all 2022 was a year when associates, colleagues, wine professionals and especially friends reunited to break bread and taste great wines together. At a birthday party I had the opportunity to taste the following in one evening; Château Lafitte 1986, Château Mouton-Rothschild 1986, Chave Hermitage 2010, Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Turque 1999, Paul Jaboulet Aîné Hermitage La Chapelle 1990, Dom Perignon 2000, Veuve Cliquot La Grand Dame 1995 to name just seven of 20-plus icons. Bordeaux made several prominent appearances in ’22; Château Margaux 1989 (and 2004), Château Haut-Brion 2012 and Château La Mission Haut-Brion 2012. More importantly in 2022 we shared bottles of all ilk, pedigree and origin, not only the expensive and famous labels but all the great wines, big and small. Thank you to every person who poured, for every sip and taste, with heartfelt thanks. These are Godello’s 22 mind-blowing wines of 2022.

Markus Huber Grüner Veltliner Berg 1ÖTW 2021, Traisental, Austria

Highest and coolest vineyard of the Traisental Erste Lage because by three or four pm the forest casts shade over the vineyard. Limestone based soil as well, upwards of 380m and the only portion that has iron rich red elements in the earth. Actually finding a richness in this, surely vintage related and that is unexpected but it’s also the most savoury, minty cool, eucalyptus accented, or the like. Curious by comparison to Alte Zetsen and Zwirch, in what is assessed as almost dark, smoky, spicy volcanic-simulate stuff. Brings whole and utter meaning to grüner veltliner at the Grand Cru level. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted November 2022

Godello with Charla Bosman

Sijnn White 2019, WO Malgas, South Africa

Up above the Breede River there are vines of chenin blanc, viognier, roussanne and verdelho, varieties that have been working towards a common goal, to eventuate at something great. Then 2019 comes along and the world changes. This is the vintage from which David Trafford, Sijnn and winemaker Charla (Hassbroek) Bosman take full reign of their collective charge. To be truthful the agriculture, winemaking and face of the brand is Bosman and were I in the market to hire someone of her passion, ability and professionalism I could not help but remunerate her like a top European footballer. But lucky we all are that she and Sijnn are together because she is at one with this impossible yet absurdly beautiful environment where wines like this White Blend are made and will blow your proverbial mind. They attach themselves and get so close to that personal part of you. Imagine Châteauneuf though I’d much rather consider Malgas because that is what this is. Rich and perfectly viscous, spicy, structured and fine. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted October 2022

Girolamo Russo Etna Bianco DOC San Lorenzo 2020, Sicily, Italy

From the single vineyard at 730-740m of elevation and vinified in tonneaux. The 2009 was the first vintage of San Lorenzo Bianco for a wine that leads amongst the 80-90 thousand total bottles made by Giuseppe Russo from 18 hectares. A strong selection from the plants of carricante with cattaratto and grecanico. The carricante are the oldest and they provide the breadth in the mouth, the texture in unction and the presence that really makes you feel the vineyard. The difference between it and Nerina is really in the selection of the grapes. Giuseppe wants his whites to speak for his territory, here to be a bit more generous and 2020 obliges first because it was easier and second because it is such a vintage specific to the white wines. Such beauty and emotion is purity and life. No stress and a wine you want to drink. Drink 2022-2028. Tasted March 2022

David And Nadia Sadie Wines Plat’Bos Chenin Blanc 2021, WO Swartland, South Africa

At a tasting where everything is Old Vines Project certified there must be something extraordinary about a wine to stand out from a crowd of greats. David and Nadia Sadie are in fact turning heritage vines chenin blanc (amongst other varietal explorations) into content born of context harboured though never paraded. They are rhythmic and scientific with just enough fantasy and romanticism, but never too much. Plat’Bos stands above Skaliekop and Hoë Steen because 2021 asks it to do so, not because it is better or more important, but it is surely chenin blanc profound. The 1981 Swartland planting is in the steady zone, shed of the mercurial and in ’21 so very linear yet salty of the earth in its sombre-sepulchral tone. There is reduction here because the poor soil nutrients demand that this chenin begins this way. The levels of tension and intensity are most elevated, sufficing to say as high as any from the Western Cape. Attention is paid unwavering to detail, sequencing is in order, purity incarnate, grape and place together pristinely kept. In Plat’Bos 2021 the palate is taken down to the whipping post by a wine built to endure. Given time there will be calm, healing and reward in the end. Drink 2024-2036. Tasted October 2022

The Sadie Family Die Ouwingerdreeks Mev. Kirsten Wyn Van Oorsprong Stellenbosch Die Sadie Familie Wyne 2021, Stellenbosch, South Africa

The vines that supply Mev. Kirsten Wyn are the oldest chenin blanc in the country, out of Stellenbosch and planted in 1905. In 1947 every second row was pulled out to make room for tractors and the configuration still exists this way. “If South Africa has a true apex white Grand Cru vineyard then this is it” insists Eben Sadie. Facts are facts are you just can’t accede these levels of power, concentration, extract and tannin anywhere else. The nose communicates as an intoxicant of sublime forces and these grapes bestow chenin blanc 2021 are those that transcend fruit, deliver ethereality and a heightened sense of awareness. An awakening from necessary tension, crisis and personal freedoms, existential off the charts, poetic and epic. One hundred and sixteen stanzas recorded, in the books and the finest verse written right here in the most recent vintage. If enlightenment is to be gained from chenin blanc in the Western Cape, Mev. Kirsten would provide the fodder. “The grail. End of fucking story” concludes Sadie. All hail. Long live the queen. Drink 2025-2040. Tasted October 2022

Iconic Bourgogne

Domaine De Bellene Vosne Romanée Premier Cru Les Suchots 2020, AC Bourgogne, France

“Suchots” originates from “souches,” the name given to the woods before the land was prepared to house these vines. Les Suchots is but a small 13 hectare part of the larger 220 in total for Vosne Romanée and was first planted in 1937. La Romanée and Saint Vivant are the closest plots, south of Echezeaux, north or Richebourg and though just six per cent of the appellation it is actually the largest Premier Cru Climat therein. The vineyard is divided in two by a road. The eastern part below lays just above the cemetery and the village terroir called Hautes Maizieres. The top part is located below Les Beaux-Monts. The 2019 was a dream, crème de la crème and yet 2020 seems to embrace the powerful vintage with a most extraordinary level of perfume. That and fruit concentrated to a maximum degree without falling into any of the trappings associated with hyperbole. The concept of pinot noir reaching regional levels like this seems counterintuitive to the variety-appellation contract but the balance and harmony at the top is something the likes almost never seen. This will surely be one of the wines that explain with hyper clarity what 2020 is as a vintage. Drink 2026-2040. Tasted May 2022

Graci Etna Rosso DOC Arcurìa Sopra Il Pozzo 2017, Sicily, Italy

Sopra il Pozzo describes a special portion of the signature Arcurìa vineyard (and contrada of the same name), a block “above the well,” 100 per cent nerello mascalese picked in the last week of October. Treated to the same maceration and elévage as the Rosso for the same spontaneous style and time as Feudo di Mezzo. However Sopra il Pozzo’s “refuse” soil composition is different and requires patience in the name of time, due to its alternating layers of decomposed volcanics in stone and coarse sand. This is a section of recast material and the corresponding mascalese is both emasculated and chivalrous. The degree to which layers of fruit, mineral and umami incorporare and completare is finite and contiguous yet also lengthy, scorrevole and endless. There is rare Etna glycerin texture and perfectly timed acid tang. Tempismo perfetto. Grande. Drink 2024-2032. Tasted April 2022

Elisabetta Foradori

Foradori Granato Teroldego 2019, IGT Vigneti Delle Dolomiti, Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy

Granato from Elisabetta Foradori resides at or near the peak of the Trentino-Alto Adige wine chain, a Dolomite force of varietal nature, richness incarnate and cragged to gain your full attention. Fruit comes at a great premium, not by absence of the heart but because so much site, land and space speak louder than words. A static red stuck in a state of cryogenic freeze, immovable and surely able to handle immobility and also time. Will drink beautifully for a decade and a half, or possibly more. Drink 2024-2034. Tasted February 2022

Garage Wine Co. Truquilemu Vineyard Lot 97 Dry Farmed Old Vines Field Blend Carignan 2018, DO Maule Valley, Chile

The eastern facing side of the Coastal Range where the old vines grow, in places where you had to make wines for the Catholic Church, “to save souls.” The most aromatic of Derek’s wines, a true field blend with a je ne sais quoi of varieties bursting off of dry farmed bush vines. Showy with that combination of outright juiciness juxtaposed against iron-fisted structure. A wine that comes from a place where the farmer worked to break up the “los camellones”, strange diagonal lines drawn and a framer who shows how to separate the land so that making great wine is easier. This is a remarkable example of old, bush and real. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted July 2022

Barone Ricasoli Castello Di Brolio Chianti Classico 1949, Tuscany, Italy

Tasted as part of “Il Chianti Classico in 9 Decadi” led by Filippo Bartolotta with Giovanni Manetti at Stazione Leopolda in Florence at the Chianti Classico Collection. The oldest wine in the flight. apropos and just when you consider the Ricasoli heritage and lineage. A mineral layering which instinctively mimics the compaction of argiloso, macigno and calcari from Brolio’s soils, no longer feeling the separation or mille-feuille effect but now just all morphed into one and the same. There were surely some white wines in this mix, as per the formula written decades earlier by Bettino Ricasoli. Probably helped keep the freshness for some time and while this is now all earth and stone the wine is very much alive. There’s even some sweetness and citrus showing, indicative of blood orange some 73 years later, finishing with a trebbiano and malvasia Vinsanto tang. Tasted March 2022

Isole E Olena Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2016, Tuscany, Italy

“I did not like Gran Selezione, I did not have anything against Gran Selezione but the discussion about UGA (sub-zones) was already underway so why not wait for this next change to the appellation?” The thinking for Paolo de Marchi was more about the wines that did not qualify for the appellation becoming wines that now qualified, the issue being a new rule could not apply to only 30 or so producers. So what is needed for that to happen? “All grapes born here should be able to travel with a passport.” If it is more complicated than that then there is much more to discuss. A Chianti Classico from a long, linear and fortifying vintage delivers equally appropriate and extending tannins, gripping the composition while proposing to become elegant and fine. The seamlessness and never wavering focus keeps on keeping on, in the ways of emotion in motion. Will remain in bottle one year more before being released to the market. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted February 2022

Canalicchio Di Sopra Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Vigna La Casaccia 2018, Tuscany, Italy

Great anticipation to taste La Casaccia and Montosoli side by each from a vintage carrying no option but to act out the passion play through the glaring clarity of a sense of place. There are facts involved and there is no hiding the truth formed by these plots of sangiovese in this vintage. By now it is understood how 2018 exists on its own accord at one with nature though Francesco Ripaccioli will tell you there are similarities with 2013, if only because that vintage was greatly ignored and is drinking well at this time. La Casaccia in the località of Canalicchio is the wildcard of Montalcino and tasting several wines from the frazione reveals a collective affinity supplied by the year’s gifts. Nothing was portioned or taken away from the ’18 Annata and yet this Vigna sings with even more range and depth than that wine. The acids are simply out of this proverbial world, the linear aspects drawn with precise architectural or even, in Old English speak, a Cutter’s line. Remarkable reserve in concentration and forward slicing finesse. Forever long. Forever young. Drink 2025-2038. Tasted November 2022

Biondi Santi Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2016, Tuscany, Italy

Riserva 2016 is the 42nd such vintage since 1888 from estate vineyards and the oldest parcels therein. Meanwhile olive trees and other compatible local species grow in those places and there always seems to be lower pH and higher bright acidity coming off the grapes. The Federico Radi team seeks to broaden biodiversity with unlimited scope and more vineyards would benefit by following such a plan. When Biondi-Santi gets to their next position we can expect even more refined and higher quality wines. Meanwhile the harmony and extant abilities in this ’16 Riserva are almost impossible to believe. A Riserva of fruit termed as the locus of the points drawn at an equidistant from the centre. Sangiovese of no stops and starts existing on a special kind of ellipse in which the eccentricity is zero and the two foci are coincident. Simple descriptors like crunch, chew or crust are not in the lexicon nor do service to speak about the texture of this remarkable sangiovese. Subtlety and strength, a dappling of early morning light, patterning and shimmering as if on water. The phenolics are spot on, coherent and the connection with both palate and tannins perform as an unbreakable bond. A canvas flooded with colour and while there is a level of transparency there are no white spots. Everything is filled in. Clocks in at 14 per cent abv. Drink 2025-2040. Tasted November 2022

Fontodi Flaccianello Della Pieve 2001, IGT Toscana Centrale, Tuscany, Italy

Youthful is the proverbial understatement, zesty and full of Panzano life the other. A sangiovese in strike of ideal accord, freshness captured in bottle and development low, easy and slow accrued. Just like the season, stress-free, never too hot, never too wet. Stellar autumn of warm days and retentive cool nights. A late harvest and full phenolic character. It all shows in this 20-plus year-old Flaccianello, singing a ballad, verse after verse, refrain post refrain. After 20 minutes a sweet porcini perfume emits and one wishes for a 50 day dry-aged Chianina Fiorentina. What fortune! Along with the special effects of smoky rosmarino and wild fennochio. Drink 2022-2029. Tasted February 2022

Sassicaia 2019, DOC Bolgheri, Tuscany, Italy

Priscilla Incisa’s Tenuta San Guido is located one hour south of Pisa, going back many generations. The surface area covers 2,500 hectares in a “classic Tuscan agricultural estate, of vines, olive oil, cereals including wheat and feed for thoroughbred horses. There are 500 hectares towards the seashore dedicated to a wild life refuge “paradise” free from hunting and for migrating birds coming from northern Europe and heading to Africa, especially because a good part of the land is covered by water during the winter. Before 1994 the appellation was Vino da Tavola. The grand vin Sassicaia is always a minimum 80 per cent cabernet sauvignon (as per the appellation) with cabernet franc. The youthful perfume of Sassicaia is really something other, an invitation to the plume of a great and mighty bird that will soon migrate or not be seen or heard from until another season. The fruit is both wound taut and also layered, a mix of liquids, gasses and decomposed mineral, turning on its axes, literally the earth itself. The effort put in speaks volumes about the quality and yet the seamless transitions are as if there are no transitions at all, only one contiguous entity. Will release in Ontario as an Online Exclusive by lottery on October 20th. Drink 2025-2034. Tasted September 2022

Emidio Pepe Montepulciano d’Abruzzo DOC 2002, Abruzzo, Italy

The subtle and gentle elegance of 2002 is almost mystifying, if at least a surprise that kinda hypnotizes. Memory serves up a case of conflict and adversity, if also vintage envy for the bookends of 2001 and 2003. And yet the cool of the night prevails to elongate a montepulciano for our pleasure and make it sing 20 years later. It was also decanted to reduce the lees sediment and then re-corked for our benefit. Words cannot express what a beautiful place this 2002 EP is found to be. It is a treat to taste and also behold, exactly as of right now. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted June 2022

Planeta Santa Cecilia 2005, DOC Noto, Sicily, Italy

Finding oneself in a state of utter disbelief upon nosing an older Santa Cecilia has just happened with thanks to this 2005 and the unthinkable aromatics it possesses. There have been some older examples like 2007, 2008 and 2011 which all showed morphological magic but this, this is something other. The state of perfumed preservation is impossible, the floral emanations and fruit continuance implausible and in suspension of belief. The 2005 is almost perfect, dark berries and red citrus alive, acids in perfect condition, wood dissolved, resolved and walked straight out the door. The life and vitality reside in the arena of the flawless, faultless and achievable. This is what nero d’avola, Santa Cecilia, Noto and Planeta can be, at its collective finest. Will drink this way (and also that) for five more years and with ease. Drink 2022-2027. Tasted April 2022

Château Cheval Blanc 1998, Saint-Émilion Grand Cru Classé, Bordeaux, France

The 24 year-old 1998 has been argued and predominantly defended as a Right Bank vintage, especially for merlot based wines, which the 1998 Cheval Blanc happens to be. Clocks in at 65 percent plus (35) cabernet franc and the two combine for hypnotic aromatics to put mind and palate in an immediately dizzying and gratifying tizzy. Dark, dark fruit of the “cimmérienne” kind yet of a grace and genteel manner shared by other profoundly distinguished red wines. Thoughts can wander and wonder as a result of tasting this blind and considering the depth it is nebbiolo that is imagined. Only for a moment because the numerous dual-toned vibrations direct towards knowing this to be a blend and so Right Bank combinations lead by their impression. Both of ’98 Cheval Blanc’s are blessed of ripenesses, acids and structural bones all having peaked at a shared summit. The conclusion can only be a two-part perception, of balance and beauty. Drink 2022-2042. Tasted November 2022

Mullineux Schist Syrah 2019, WO Swartland, South Africa

Vines planted in 1999, mature if still 12 years away from being classified as “Old Vines.” Schist is the home Brownstone Vineyard, shallow and rocky of less than 20 cm of soil. An extreme site in which vines attempt to grow, but so much comes down to the where and how. Rows are close together and planted in an almost race track configuration within an amphitheatre. The roots spread and dig deep within the stripes of schist interspersed with iron and the grapes are harvested plant by plant to create two apposite cuvées. Visually these are small vines with smaller leaves and an airiness – physically speaking. The skeletal backbone here is upright, towering and commanding, the juiciest of varietal fruit hanging as flesh, taut and muscular upon these bones. Unyielding yet never brooding nor astringent, but bountiful and beautiful. Drink 2024-2032. Tasted July 2022

Penfolds Grange 1981, South Australia

Poured blind and easily recognized as a wine of great depth with at least two decades of maturity. Either older or hastily advanced but there are indicators to the former, namely high tones, substantial crunchy acids and full on perfume. There is a touch of Brettanomyces but only a feathery tickle and the wine still has something left to give and also to prove. Great depth is provided by wood notes, of soy, balsamic, wild fennel and all together now a reduction keeping its form, a foxy liqueur, once Cassis but now Amaro, finishing with flavours bloody and gamy. The reveal as Grange 1981 explains that while shiraz is always the game and king it had been a season for which the cabernet sauvignon portion exceeded 10 percent. Winemaker John Duval felt that ’81 was a tannic one but they left the building long ago. Both Barossa and McLaren Vale were involved and so this look back at blending expertise matters in the context of all Aussie blends being tasted today. Being present to be poured a taste of Grange represents good fortune and from 1981 there abides a full and fair suck of the sauce bottle. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted November 2022

Donnafugata Ben Ryé 2019, Passito Di Pantelleria DOC, Sicily, Italy

Ben, as in “son of” and Ryé, a Sicilian riff on the concept of making strong mocker from the wheat grass. Think of grapes instead, in this case zibibbo (muscat of Alexandria) grown off the southwestern coast of Sicily on the Island of Pantelleria. Passito di Pantelleria DOC is one of the world’s great sweet wines, found only on this windswept promontory where the grapes concentrate, drink in the sea and express a view to which only this place commits. The warmest of vintages develops and comprises these particular sugars into something surreal. Extraordinary orange-ginger crème brûlée, perfectly embittered and made viscous in the most natural of ways. Layers of dedication and spice, health affirming herbs, respiratory fixing drops and sweetness captured, effortlessly and to gift plaisir. Apricots ripe and glazed, zen zero limone, giusto intenso. Nearly perfect. Drink 2025-2039. Tasted April 2022

Vintage Port (c) Sarah Goddard/WineAlign

Niepoort Vintage Port 2019, DOP Douro, Portugal

Expect top concentration in Vintage Port from what Niepoort calls a “return to balance in the vineyard” type of season. Summer was unseasonably cool and the timely rainfall on the 26/27th of August was invaluable, allowing fruit maturity to go to completion. A recall to 2008, of natural, acid driven, balanced musts. Foot trodden in circular granite lagares with 100 per cent stems, racked soon after harvest, aged in “tonéis” (large oak vats) in the Douro over the winter, and then moved to the cellars in Vila Nova de Gaia in the Spring of 2020. Acid vintage indeed, fruit caught by circumfuse so as to be surrounded, ignited and eventually dispersed for decades of slow release power. The liquid chalkiness of tannin is so fine-grained you swirl and mull over just how hypnotizing it is. Truly great Vintage Port will act out this passion play. Drink 2025-2048. Tasted October 2022

Good to go!

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WineAlign

Forever in Chianti Classico

May18

Gallo Nero at the Chianti Classico Collection 2022, Stazione Leopolda, Firenze

An ambassador’s return, Chianti Classico Collection 2022, 4 LCBO videos, 11 UGAs, 37 estate visits and 450 tasting notes

The story of two hats

The last pre-pandemic supper in Panzano takes place in the Officina della Bistecca at Dario Cecchini’s Antica Macelleria Restaurant on the 19th of February, 2020. Little could any one of the revelers that night have any inclination what lay ahead. Who could foresee less than a week later there would be a Casablanca-esque slipping out of Faenza in the middle of the night, heading to Firenze for a flight out of Italy before first light. A funny thing happens in between. Tutti Matti Chef Alida Solomon from Toronto is already feasting at the long Bistecca harvest table when the party Canadese arrives. A wonderful surprise save for the fact that Tuscany is actually her home. That night the writer surreptitiously leave his Sienese cappella in the officina and the next day no one at Cecchini is able locate it. Hat vanishing act. On route to Montalcino a necessary stop is made in Siena, specifically the Piazza del Campo, for a Spritz and the purchase of a new hat. Borsalino is closed so Cappelleria Bertacchi is the next best option and a brand new, similarly styled hat is procured. The following day, while sitting upstairs tasting Brunello on the terrazza of Caffè La Fortezza in Montalcino who walks in but Solomon, tosses up the aforementioned and abandoned hat, nothing is spoken and away Chef goes. This is the story of being the owner of two hats.

Tasting with Michaela Morris at Il Consorzio Vino Chianti Classico, March 2022

A prodigal ambasciatore‘s return

This may be considered an inflated way to refer to one’s self in the third person but truth is that third person recounts with the fondest of memories 10 pre-pandemic Tuscan excursions in four years before the world shuts down to travel. The restart launches in October 2021 with the first of four more over the course of six ’21-’22 abridging months. There are extroverts and introverts but there are also ambiverts, those who exhibit tendencies in roughly equal proportions. Some are in the middle or on the fence when it comes to Chianti Classico wines. If one is to refer to oneself as a proud ambassador for said wines then there must be synergistic feelings of belonging. There will be connectivity with the wines, territory and a most profound connection with the people. In October of 2021 a rebirth takes place in the guise of travel renascence, a re-entry for the first time in 20 months made available by the most erudite, generous and hospitable folks at Gambero Rosso. An ambassador who sits not on a fence has zero trepidation in making a decision to fly first to Firenze for three days of arranged visits in the Classico zone to precede the Tre Bicchieri’s festivities in Rome. When a month later a special edition of Benvenuto Brunello is organized it makes super sense to follow that up with three more days of visits in the territory shared by Firenze and Siena. To see great Consorzio friends and colleagues again restores faith in this world. Car rides, lunches, dinners, tank, barrel, latest release and archived tastings, caffès and chats in the sun. Grazie tantissimo to Giovanni Manetti, Carlotta Gori, Silvia Fiorentini, Christine Lechner and Caterina Mori, as always, sempre e per sempre.

Chianti Classico Education in Toronto

The UGA designation, LCBO videos and continuing Chianti Classico education

In June of 2021 the Consorzio Vino Chianti Classico announces the shift to 11 additional units of geographical designation to carve out new parameters and progressiveness for the territory. These Ùnita Geografiche Aggiuntive allow producers to make mention on labels of Gran Selezione wines. A first step towards full disclosure across all Chianti Classico wine labels in the future. This information comes to the writer on the heels of keeping busy during lockdowns and pandemic restrictions that sees the proliferation of tastings and education via platforms like Zoom. Connecting producers with sommeliers and prospective agents is key to continuity and Godello obliges whenever the call to duty arrives. The return in person late in 2021 and through the first four months of 2022 sees restaurant education sessions reach dozens upon dozens of sommeliers, front of house and back of house staff, denizens of Toronto’s restaurant industry eager to resume their absorption of wine information, especially as it pertains to tasting sangiovese. The filming of four educational videos for the LCBO is particularly gratifying, capped by a win of an LCBO Elsie Award for said videos. In three weeks time the producers will arrive in Toronto to participate in the WineAlign critic and Ambasciatore‘s Masterclass. They will also pour their wines at both trade and consumer walk-around tastings. The Toronto Island Chianti Classico Cup happens on Tuesday, May 31, 2022 and “Experience the Wine, Olive Oil & Food of Chianti Classico,” Monday, May 30, 2022 at The Globe and Mail Centre.” Click on the link for more information. Forever in Chianti Classico, even while at home.

Filming Chianti Classico videos for the LCBO, at Praise Bottle Shop, Toronto

End of season reaction to the April frost of 2021

For Luca Martini di Cigala of San Giusto a Rentannano the first vintage when he realized something was not right was 1998, when the skin of the berries were burned by the sun. Climate change, events and extremes are not something that just popper up in the past few years.

Paolo de Marchi does not so much look at yields before high density but rather yields that are a quotient of each square metre as a function of bunches per plant. In a frost year like 2021 Guyot produces more fruit from secondary buds. Paolo makes use of a selection of clones but more importantly a massal vineyard. “This is how you get rid of vines that are not good and replicate those that are. Bud break is often so early and we will never escape the frost anymore. The real problem starts with earlier winter and Spring.”

UGA in reverse, Chianti Classico Collection 2022, Stazione Leopolda, Firenze

At Casa Emma Paolo Paffi admits to a 35 per cent loss in 2021 due to the April frosts, a vintage when even problems occurred even in the higher reaches. “You would have to go back to 1995 to find another vintage where this happened,” tells Paffi. At Villa Le Corti Principe Duccio Corisini and Oenologist Claudio Giglioni noted that in 2021 the single vineyard Guliae, nicknamed the Figo, produced seven tonnes per hectare. It remained safe from the frost, perhaps because of biodynamics, perhaps because of Guyot training, perhaps because of position. Maybe all three but regardless it was not caught in the April frost zone.

At Il Molino di Grace in Panzano their particular frost zone resulted in a 50 per cent reduction in yields. There was a good quantity of water in the winter, a cool spring, warm and ideal summer, rain in the second half of August. “A perfect situation for quality and quantity,” had the frosts not come. Says Iacopo Morganti, “we need to build artificial lakes.”

Chianti Classico Experience in Toronto

Fontodi and Consorzio President Giovanni Manetti owns over 20 hectares of over 40 years. He explains that even if there are 20-30 days separating the picking from start to finish in a vintage there is always a marker, especially with sangiovese. “And with old vines they are not nearly as susceptible to stressors,” says Manetti. “Vigna del Sorbo will succeed even with all of what is mentioned here.” At Bindi Sergardi I Colli is where Alessandra Casini Bindi Sergardi was born and grew up. Built in the 1400s for the family, lower in elevation (350m) as compared to Mocenni (500m), still rich in Alberese but also high in iron content across the road in the Chianti Colli Senesi. Some frost kill but not significant enough to mention. For Angela Fronti of Istine, “this year 20-25 per cent less, part frost and part cinghiale, qualcosa nell-aia.” Something in the yard.

Alone with Chianti Classico Sangiovese, rooftop terrace, Hotel Plaza Lucchesi, Firenze

Roberto Bianchi of Val delle Corti: “It’s been a difficult year and we’re very lucky to be in Radda. We did not fear the frost. Most Radda producers escaped loss due to frost but the animals are another matter all together. Drought pushes the animals (wild boar, deer the size of cows), out of the forest and grapes are there biggest resource recourse.” Bianchi is still looking higher and a few years ago planted Malpensa Vineyard upwards of 650m. As did Fedecrica Mascheroni of Volpaia. Their new vineyard is planted at 650m, using five clones of sangiovese from Il Puro with two chosen for planting as half of the small (one hectare vineyard) and also malvasia and trebbiano for Vinsanto. It was finished in the Spring of 2021.

Educating the LCBO Buyers, February 2022

What about Canaiolo?

“Canaiolo is an underestimated variety,” insists Isole e Olena’s Paolo de Marchi. “It ripened so early this (2021) season and was picked before the chardonnay. It just may be the future” While that may sound like sacrilege in a land where sangiovese is the (literal) life blood of the wines, de Marchi is not the only one focusing extra energy on the endemic variety. L’Erta di Radda’s Diego Finocchi sees canaiolo as essential to blending into sangiovese because of its higher level of pH, a catalyst for balancing not only the high acidity of sangiovese but also helping to temper and even hide alcohol in warm and dry vintages. Both Robin Mugnaini and Claudio Gozzi of Fattoria le Masse would surety agree. Their Timeo is a 100 per cent canaiolo from 60 year-old vines (planted in 1961), picked in late September but before the hottest final days. A wine that is truly a matter of pH waving over the palate.

Learning with Paolo de Marchi, Isole e Olena, San Donato in Poggio

Angela Fronti of Istine in Radda has planted some canaiolo and malvasia nera, the latter replacing cabernet to return to roots and grow what is meant for this part of the territory. Salt and pepper if you will also to have more diversity going forward into the ever-changing climate change unknown. Canaiolo is more vigorous and so can add some good balance, both more quantity and for freshness in warmer vintages. At San Giusto a Rentennano 15 of 30 hectares are on tufo soil, not exactly volcanic but the left over from a receding ocean that left a mix of sand and pebbles of six or so inches over a bank of clay. This plus many large fossil shells makes for sangiovese of medium hue, specific mineral saltiness and a very specific Chianti Classico profile. Canaiolo is not a factor here.

Estate Vineyard, Monte Bernardi, Panzano

Old is the new agriculture?

There was a profound and at time controversial but always enlightening discussion with Monte Bernardi’s Michael Schmelzer. Michael talked of green harvest, rootstocks, Pietraforte, whole bunch fermentation and instincts. Standing in his Retromarcia Vineyard on a cool but perfectly blue mid-November day I asked him about climate change and what needs to be done about it. Can’t say his answers were what I expected. He began with the concept of dropping fruit. “We haven’t dropped since 2007. We have to think like the old farmers thought. The new way was to have you reduce fruit to make better wine. It’s like losing nutrients in the ground. I look at the wine bunches as on a scale, they’re not unripe, they’re just less ripe. They help me come up to 55 quintali per hectare. I still get acidity and sapidity. For me the concept should be re-examined and re-thought. I look at everything as an asset. You should be using your fruit. What other industry drops 30 per cent of their produce? We should be seeing 30-35 year-old vineyards going to 50-55 years. Overall we’ve lost more than we have gained.”

New Fontodi vineyard, Lamole

Schmelzer continues onto the idea of choosing 110 Richter, instead of the commonly used 420A rootstock, showing how internodes should be the size of a fist and canes as pencil thinness or bigger. “People are compromising because they’ve chosen the wrong rootstocks,” he explains. “Granted we’re picking earlier than before but mid to late September is not extreme. We haven’t seen anything yet.”

“The only thing I don’t like is people telling me how to make my Riserva,” are the words of a winemaker who has seen his fair share of rejection. Perhaps I encourage the minor rant because there are two sides to every story. Maybe it’s the fault (or the advantage, depending on your perspective) of the rocks. “Brenna Quigley (Napa Geologist) came and made a study of all the famous soils of Chianti Classico and Monte Bernardi was identified as the plot with the hardest Pietraforte of all.” Sa’Etta Vineyard was planted in 1968, now 53 years old (similar to both Monte Bernardi and Tzingana) and trained in double (doppio) Guyot. For Castello di Monsanto’s Laura Bianchi the constant posit tug is Guyot vs Sperrone and both exist in a vacuum where necessity is the mother of invention.

Macigno di Marne, Lamole

In terms of stems Schmelzer’s decisions are essentially instinctual, like that of a cook. “I don’t look at numbers. I feel as a winemaker it’s important to free yourself from technicalities and use your instincts. If you follow numbers you will always make a mistake that has to be later corrected.” As for barrel use, “if there is wood in a wine I want it to be so subtle. (Again) thinking like a cook. I’ve more stems, for longer, in post and of course also during maceration. Natural tannins come from the stems in that post-maceration state.” The conclusion lies in how stems are catalysts for the polymerization of tannin, without a trace of humidity. Completely secco.

Wines of Lamole

Nowhere is the “old is the new agriculture” refrain spoken with greater clarity than in the Greve frazione and newly minted UGA of Lamole. The spectacular amphitheatre is home to high elevation vineyards of a particular geology where Macigno del Chianti, schist and marl gift a most specific perfume to the sangiovese. Lamole is home to I Fabbri, Lamole di Lamole, Podere Castellinuzza, Castellinuzza e Piuca, Le Masse Di Lamole and Castello di Lamole. The UGA also houses one of Chianti Classico’s most famous vineyards, Paolo Cocci’s Vigna Grospoli Antico Lamole, from which several producers have rented fruit to make über-Lamole scented wines. Still others are looking to the frazione to expand on their portfolios, including Podere Poggio Scalette (of Jurij Fiore) and Querciabella from the Ruffoli hill in Greve. It is well known that Fontodi’s Giovanni Manetti produces Filetta di Lamole from his cousin’s vineyard but the latest project will take Lamole to an entirely new and different level. Manetti’s new plantation on Macigno di Marne, a wholly singular marine sandstone geology, will be a game changer.

Conzorzio President Giovanni Manetti and Filippo Bartolotta presenting Il Chianti Classico in 9 Decadi at the Chianti Classico Collection 2022, Stazione Leopolda, Firenze

Estate visits, the Chianti Classico Collection and Il Chianti Classico in 9 Decadi

This is the author’s most comprehensive Chianti Classico report to date. Nearly half of the wines chosen to taste were Annata and this is because there were numerous opportunities during estate visits to recall “lost” vintages as a result of the pandemic, along with the newer 2020s and 2019s presented at the collection. In February 2020 the Ambassador Ad Honorem from Canada organizes and acts as chaperone to nine compatriots (plus one favolosa Americana) for five days of exploration throughout the 11 UGAs of the area. Casa Chianti Classico, President Manetti, the Consorzio and the producers host La Squadra Canadese of sommeliers; John Szabo MS, Nadia Fournier, Scott Zebarth, Kristi Linneboe, Joris Garcia, Caroline Beaulieu, Hannah Egan-Lee, Natalie Pope and Paige McIntyre. A memorable trip. A month later on day two of the Chianti Classico Collection a masterclass is presented by Italian wine expert Filippo Bartolotta and Consorzio President Giovanni Manetti titled Il Chianti Classico in 9 Decadi. Chianti Classico wines dating back to 1949 are poured during a most fascinating presentation and study, replete with historical images on screen depicting political, religious, cinematic, pop cultural, artistic and iconic scenes of Italian heritage, civilization and society. There are moments of white grapes mixing with their counterpart reds, old wines gifting scents and textures as if by Vin Santo and others so clearly a product of when they were made. That the wines show incredibly well owes to the longevity of sangiovese and its perseverance in the poise of Chianti Classico. More on this tasting will be shared through a separate article in the coming days.

The producers with Filippo Bartolotta and Il Chianti Classico in 9 Decadi at the Chianti Classico Collection 2022, Stazione Leopolda, Firenze

Over the course of the four trips to the region in October, November, February and March, 34 estates are visited; Bindi Sergardi, Cantalici, Casa Emma, Carpineta Fontalpino, Castell’In Villa, Castello di Monsanto, Castello di Radda, Castello di Volpaia, Cigliano di Sopra, Fattoria dell’Aiola, Fattoria Le Masse, Fattoria di Pomona, Fattoria San Giusto A Rentennano, Fontodi, I Fabbri, Il Molino di Grace, Il Palagio di Panzano, Isole e Olena, Istine, La Sala, Le Fonti di Panzano, L’Erta di Radda, Monte Bernardi, Montecalvi, Podere Capaccia, Quercia al Poggio, Querciabella, Rocca delle Macìe, Rocca di Montegrossi, San Felice, Tenuta di Carleone, Val delle Corti, Villa Calcinaia – Conti Capponi and Villa Le Corti – Principe Corsini. During the coming weeks further reports in greater detail will appear on Godello concerning several of these visits.

Walk-around tasting at the Chianti Classico Collection 2022, Stazione Leopolda, Firenze

Over two days at the 2022 Chianti Classico Collection more than 650 different wines from 180 gallo nero estates are made available to journalists and trade; 364 Annata, 161 Riserva and 125 Gran Selezione, along with 39 barrel samples from the 2021 vintage. Sales of Chianti Classico wines continue on an upwards steady trend. In 2021 the growth is plus-21 per cent versus 2020 and plus-11 relative to 2019. Through February of 2022 the increase is plus-seven per cent over the same time period of 2021. Grape prices are up 20 per cent, the United States holds strong at 33 per cent sales while Canada sits in third place with their 10 per cent share. A prediction towards 11 per cent by the end of 2022 holds strong. The great emergence is South Korea where sales have doubled and quadrupled relative to 2020 and 2021. Not surprising Seoul-based journalist Jung Yong Cho becomes the latest appointee as Chianti Classico Ambassador for 2022.

Godello in Firenze

The structure of the tasting notes remains consistent in terms of running through the three appellative levels but here for the first time each listing includes a mention of the associated UGA. Without attempting to review wines that would result in equal footing there is a good level of equanimity in that all 11 UGAs are well documented. The following 450 tasting notes are broken down as follows: Castellina (48); Castelnuovo Berardenga (32); Gaiole (59); Greve (30); Lamole (18); Montefioralle (10); Panzano (39); Radda (55); San Casciano (28); San Donato in Poggio (34); Vagliagli (25) and IGTs (72). By appellation the number of reviews are: Chianti Classico (201); Chianti Classico Riserva (113) and Chianti Classico Gran Selezione (59). By vintage the breakdown is Chianti Classico 2020 (46); CC2019 (110); CC2018 (24); Older vintages (20). Chianti Classico Riserva 2019 (15); CCR2018 (45); CCR2017 (10); CCR2016 (10), Older vintages (33). Chianti Classico Gran Selezione 2019 (2); CCGS18 (24); CCGS17 (12); CCGS16 (13); Older vintages (9). Vin Santo del Chianti Classico (7). Finally there are sangiovese from 137 estates reviewed in this report, the largest number covered to date.

Chianti Classico Collection 2022, Stazione Leopolda, Firenze

Chianti Classico DOCG 2020

Arillo In Terrabianca Chianti Classico DOCG Sacello 2020

Radda

Open and fragrant, south Raddese acidity on display, light and breezy with no oak interference whatsoever. Sacello in località Terrabianca is a sangiovese joy to sip, so long as someone else is lifting the heavy bottle and pouring your glass. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted March 2022

Banfi Chianti Classico DOCG 2020

Castellina

Banfi is another semi-closed and reductive 2020, not uncommon for the vintage and also surely caused in part by just how little time the wine has been in bottle. Cherry fruit and the mild bitterness of the pit dominate the aromas (at this early stage) while texture is pectin and glycerin, strawberry smoothie and a few drops of blood orange bitters. Not getting a real sense of location, perhaps herbal like Gaiole and red fruit centric like Castellina though savoury as if by San Casciano. Take your pick. Regardless of vineyard place this is so very sangiovese, acids et al. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted March 2022

Bertinga Chianti Classico DOCG La Porta Di Vertine 2020

Gaiole

Gaiole savour in all its woods and brush comes clear into aromatics and view through this ’19 Annata, almost vividly so. Deep well of varietal fruit, über sangiovese but more so Gaiole. Good and sweet ’19 tannins are plentiful and there is some green astringency as they pass over the palate. Wait a year and then drink for two more after that. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted March 2022

Cacio e Pepe on a perfect February day in Firenze

Bibbiano Chianti Classico DOCG 2020

Castellina

Brancaia Chianti Classico DOCG 2020

Radda and Castellina

Brancaia 2020 takes the torch from 2019 in so many ways and then again, not in every way. Same fruit exposition and multi-site expression but deep and soulful for 2020, as opposed to bright and airy. More texture and crunch in 2020 while also finest of fine acids. A bigger wine and yet things travel consistently from one vintage through to the next. The new era continues for Barbara Widmer and team. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted March 2022

Cantine Guidi Chianti Classico DOCG 2020

San Donato in Poggio

From Poggibonsi and a 2020 showing stewed fruit and oxidation. Tasted from two bottles, each showing the same problematic notes. Tasted March 2022

Artichokes, San Casciano

Carpineto Chianti Classico DOCG 2020

Greve

Carpineto’s Greve sangiovese is both unmistakable and akin to wines from another time, of thyme and incense, acids and innocence. You might swear this wine is wearing bell bottoms and preaching about peace and love. Love for the territory and especially the land underfoot. This smells like things that grow, of herbs and tea, resins and saps. Light and with a fluid glycerol feel. Lovely and herbal vintage for the Zaccheo team. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted March 2022

Casa Emma Chianti Classico DOCG 2020

San Donato in Poggio

Distinctly Casa Emma from their corner of San Donato in Poggio though a bit deeper and darker of a blood orange sanguinity in 2020. Not the lightest or brightest vintage interpretation and really quite smooth, round, even lower in acid. One bottle shows this calm quality and surprising ease but a second bottle exhibits more acid, sharpness and clarity. Still there is a density of fruit and settling that’s a bit inconsistent with previous vintages while the tannins do take charge at the finish. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted March 2022

Castagnoli, Castellina

Castagnoli Chianti Classico DOCG 2020

Castellina

A reminder that Jacopo di Battista is sitting on one of the most striking properties and vineyard at elevation in Castellina so proximate to both Radda and Panzano. Here a striking Annata, sharp and also weighty, reductive behind which florals clearly lurk. Rich, luxurious even and with sour acids that infiltrate the drupe. Lots going on here and surely needs tome to settle in. Strange perhaps, misunderstood to a degree and yet all will fall into place. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted March 2022

Castellare Di Castellina Chianti Classico DOCG Castellare 2020

Castellina

Dusty, high acid, crunchy and lightly acetic sangiovese, not unusual for Castellina and Castellare, especially when the wine is so young. Tart is the understatement and tight the over, while some sweetness in the structure indicates there will be some fine push pull moments not too far way. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted March 2022

Castelli Del Grevepesa Castelgreve Chianti Classico DOCG 2020

San Casciano

From the cooperative in San Casciano and their Castelgreve label, new and improved and a darker if more extracted version for the vintage. Not so much the light and bright example but one extracted, juicy, variegated of several points of acidities and really quite dense in texture. Gravity has a gain on Castelgreve and this will drink earlier than many. A touch of green and grey is already showing. Drink 2022-2024. Tasted March 2022

Castelli Del Grevepesa Clemente VII Chianti Classico DOCG 2020

San Casciano

The San Casciano cooperative’s knowable and most recognizable bottle is this Clemente VII, who incidentally was Giulio Zanobi di Giuliano de’ Medici, head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from November 19, 1523 until his death on September 25, 1534. The wine has not been made quite that long but it is one of the territory’s elder sangiovese statesmen and the 2020 version is a heady and fulsome one indeed. Higher in alcohol than some, concentrated to the fullest extent of the year (and Papal law if you like) with silky texture and sour acids. Classic really. Drink 2022-2024. Tasted March 2022

UGAs of the Chianti Classico Collection 2022, Stazione Leopolda, Firenze

Castello Di Ama Ama Chianti Classico DOCG 2020

Gaiole

A sign of the vintage is at first the declared alcohol (13.5 per cent) but also more than that a dichotomous relationship between lightness of actionability and creeping structural accountability. Castello di Ama’s Gaiole sangiovese exhibits these push-pull traits with both dictionary and thesaurus reality. A chiaroscuro Chianti Classico if ever there was, dappling of light against a darker shaded background, fruit swelling in the foreground with chalky grains liquifying throughout and behind. Time is essential and this wine has plenty of time. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted March 2022

Castello Di Meleto Chianti Classico DOCG 2020

Gaiole

Moving from strength to strength here we arrive at 2020 with a fruit-centric Castello di Meleto although like many recently bottled of the vintage there is some reduction to blow through. That said there is a depth to Meleto’s ’20 that holds attention for quite a stretch of time. Full and with palpable intensity in a desirably structured sangiovese. Also recognizable as Gaiole in origin, in a nutshell and so exemplary for the UGA. The clarity and understanding of changes are more than evident. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted March 2022

Castello Di Querceto Chianti Classico DOCG 2020

Greve

No shocker that Castello di Querceto’s Dudda Valley location has produced a light and open-knit sangiovese from the less than round 2020 vintage. Like many others however there is a sly and crafty set of structural circumstances happening and running through this low alcohol (13 per cent declared) wine. Dare it be said old-school Chianti Classico but with modern clarity and charm. Could drink this every day of the week. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted March 2022

Castello di Vicchiomaggio Chianti Classico DOCG San Jacopo 2020

Greve

San Jacopo is a Vicchiomaggio understudy, staying at the ready to step in, an Annata that knows all the parts and lines of the estate with it’s range of lead wines. This is straightforward and sure as sangiovese Annata, sturdy, solid and playing a perfectly reasonable support role. Well seasoned but never a wood-driven wine, salt and pepper got just right. The appetizer. Drink 2022-2024. Tasted March 2022

Castello di Vicchiomaggio Chianti Clasico DOCG Guado Alto 2020

Greve

Guado and Alto, meaning “a shallow crossing-place in a river” and “high” which seems like an oxymoron but allow me to explain. This second and arguably more important of two Annata by Vicchiomaggio is an über fresh one, lightly carbonic and juicy as a medieval quench from the Greve River. Tart and pulsating, oddly reminding me of poulsard. All this to mean Guado Alto is high-toned while creating a horizontal stretch of Chianti Classico openness. Drink 2022-2024. Tasted March 2022

With Federica Mascheroni, Volpaia, Radda

Castello Di Volpaia Chianti Classico DOCG 2020

Radda

Freshness incarnate exudes from Volpaia’s 2020 Annata and in fact the wine seems like it has barely achieved its alcohol and malolactic fermentation. In fact at a realistically labeled 13.5 per cent this from Radda is as beautiful and honest as it gets. Modern as well, stylish, of great attitude and delicious. The Raddese acidity is of course present and accounted for but that fruit. My. Oh My. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted February 2022

Castello La Leccia Chianti Classico DOCG 2020

Castellina

Castello La Leccia’s Castellina location close to Macìe is northerly yet halfway between Lilliano and Fonterutoli. Certainly a Galestro soil happenstance and with 2020 that geology stands out. Classic and that is meant with the most complimentary commune and UGA commentary, blessed by perfectly local, parochial and conventional wisdom. Red to hematic blueing and blackening fruit, quite firm and grippy, tart, nearly searing and really driven. Needs time and when it arrives should persist for three to five proper drinking years. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted March 2022

Castello Monterinaldi Chianti Classico DOCG 2020

Radda

Colombaio Di Cencio Chianti Classico DOCG Monticello 2020

Gaiole

Famiglia Nunzi Conti Chianti Classico DOCG 2020

San Casciano

So young and impressionable, hematic, red blood of sangiovese while fresh, nervy and exciting. Also deep and concerned, dusty brood of San Casciano fruit, sottosuolo and fully nuanced earthy flavours. Big, big wine that needs to be looked at again a year forward because the youthfulness distracts from the potential. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted February 2022

With Michaela Morris, Matteo Vaccari and Maddalena Fucile, Cigliano di Sopra, San Casciano

Fattoria Cigliano Di Sopra Chianti Classico DOCG 2020

San Casciano

The emergence of 2020 is real, right now and while who knows for how long going forward, perhaps with luck and fortuitous execution, the suiting could be seemingly forever. What transpires here is nothing short of an epiphany and even perhaps a Chianti Classico miracle. How the most precociousness and hard work can conspire to make such a beautiful wine is beyond comprehension. But it does not matter because it has happened. Grande Maddalena. Bravo Matteo. Last tasted March 2022

Will be bottled in December so essentially a finished wine. From 10 plots (of 11, one is merlot) facing southeast to southwest. Includes a small part of Vigneto Branca, the name of the fattoria and of who was working there. Here the fifth vintage for Matteo Vaccari and Maddalena Fucile is not only mature from a perspective of energy but also both succulence and sapidity that comes from changes, risks and learning what is possible. A bit oaky at this time but really showing what all these plots can effect, with solo sangiovese. No longer about precociousness but instead two winemakers who have arrived. “We don’t care about perfect phenolic maturity,” explains Vaccari, “when we feel the bitterness is gone, the tannins are good, then let’s extract.” Extract away young phenoms. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted November 2021

Viola Meacci and Alessandro Polombo, Luiano, San Casciano

Fattoria Di Luiano Chianti Classico DOCG 2020

San Casciano

Classico San Casciano as a notion of fresh and aromatic hillside reality, a purity of localized perpetuity through a glass of light and shadow, dappling, chiaroscuro. Wood creaming the red to black cherry, swirling, making it gelid. Stylish sangiovese in every respect, suave and instructive. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted March 2022

Fattoria Poggerino Chianti Classico DOCG Nuovo 2020

Radda

Fèlsina Berardenga Chianti Classico DOCG 2020

Castelnuovo Berardenga

Notably dusty and structured right of the top, feeling the wide open Castelnuovo airiness, sunshine and tart red fruit substantiality. Poised and restrained by extraction and pressing yet the Annata is a very taut and tight wine when assessed this young. Fèlsina always needs time and 2020 is far from the exception to that rule. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted March 2022

I Collazzi I Bastioni Chianti Classico DOCG 2020

San Casciano

Dark if high-toned sangiovese, not atypically San Casciano with first a musky note. Rich and filled with wood salve, creamy and textured, liquid chalky and sweetly tannic. Early signs of soy and tar so drink this early before the fruit turns to earth and mulch. Drink 2022-2024. Tasted March 2022

Angela Fronti, Istine, Radda

Istine Chianti Classico DOCG 2020

Radda and Gaiole

Just bottled last week, One hundred per cent sangiovese, “a wine to be drinkable,” insists Angela Fronti, “like my grandfather did in the past, at lunch.” A wine of freshness and acidity but also one that can age 10-12 years. Istine was planted in 2000, Cavarchione in 2010 and Casanova dell’Aia just a few years ago. All contribute to this Annata and all play a prominent role. If a bit (bottle) shocky no matter because Fronti, whether by purpose or promise manages to coax the best of all her fruit sources. What is showing early is this sort of herbaceous cabernet franc in sangiovese reality character, fleeting for sure and soon to come into a beautiful place. A reminder that 2020 was THE Covid vintage and so Angela was able to spend every waking moment with her vineyards and the season was neither hot nor cold but just perfectly somewhere in between. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted February 2022

Campione da Botte, L’Erta di Radda

L’Erta Di Radda Chianti Classico DOCG 2020

Radda

From a sample labeled campione da botte, in other words a tank sample. Freshness abounds, Radda style, from the breath of the woods, the cool of the stones and the rise of the hills. Herbal like fresh Genovese basil, spicy that way with a hint of anise and cinnamon. A co-fermentation of sangiovese and canaiolo (five per cent), the latter adding le forma, volume and expansione, all of which are self-explanatory. An opposite of linearity, not roundness but a sapid expanse across the palate and in the mouth. This is the harmony pulled and coaxed from the ’20 Annata in a wine that makes you feel but more importantly exists by the dint of how it feels. Full. Not yet bottled but will be soon and truth is while the wine is tight the aromatics and mouthfeel are good to go. Worth a full review. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted March 2022

Maurizio Brogioni Chianti Classico DOCG H’Amorosa 2020

Greve

H’Amarosa as in “a love affair” or perhaps “I have a lover,” which could be sangiovese, perhaps Greve in Chianti or in a more broader sense, Chianti Classico. Can’t help but think about Jackson Browne, ballads, a splash of merlot and what’s happening these days. In 2020 that would be truth, openness and clarity with respect to the wines which are the storytelling by the producers. Brogioni’s is forthright, specific, real and for everyman. Juicy and in touch with both reality but also emotions. “I had a lover, I don’t think I’d risk another these days, these days.” Drink 2023-2027. Tasted March 2022

Monte Bernardi Chianti Classico DOCG Retromarcia 2020

Panzano

Michael Schmelzer’s 2020 takes up right where everything he had been working on and through in 2019 left off. That is to say full on agricultural indemnity with all fruit all the time in use and winemaking that is afraid of nothing. The silky swarthiness of his ’20 Retromarcia endorsement and structural surety combine for freedom, exception and security. This Retromarcia ushers fruit in waves, oscillations, acetic sweeps and swells, coming at the palate with the full force of laws provided by nature. What happens at Monte Bernardi stays at Monte Bernardi, where calculated inventiveness experiences living life on the edge. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted March 2022

Alessandra Deiana and Michele Braganti, Monteraponi, Radda

Monteraponi Chianti Classico DOCG 2020

Radda

Monteraponi from Michele Braganti breathes in the high elevation Radda air and exhales with clarity, not to mention exclusivity. Yet another reductive 2020, albeit mildly so and not difficult to coax out of its savoury candied shell. While tart and even intense there is something mysterious and shadowy in the recesses of this sangiovese’s temperament and intelligence. Something guarded and misunderstood but time will make it all work out right. Keep this away and allow it to soften as it slowly gets to know you. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted March 2022

Montesecondo Chianti Classico DOCG 2020

Gaiole

A baritone beginning, low held Gaiole notes below with red to black fruit above. Not closed yet not expressive or generous either, reticent even and holding out because the tannins are in charge. Fruit quality and fleshiness are substantial, as is the wood and so the malic, creamy and sheathing sensation will need to settle before integration opens up the wine. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted March 2022

Podere Castellinuzza Chianti Classico DOCG 2020

Lamole

Podere Poggio Scalette Chianti Classico DOCG 2020

Greve

There can be no surprise that Jurji Fiore’s 2020 is one of the more transparent and striking scintillants of sangiovese to emerge from out of the verifiable and veritably airy 2020 vintage. Sharp and pointed red limestone fruit off of the Ruffoli hill, rich undercurrent of currants red and also some black, intensity of right bank Greve acidity and tannins to carry this Annata longer than most. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted March 2022

Quercia al Poggio, San Donato in Poggio

Quercia Al Poggio Chianti Classico DOCG 2020

San Donato in Poggio

The combination of definable and deliverable San Donato in Poggio terroir mixed with vintage compaction makes for this solid, chewy and fulsome Annata. Liquorice and blood orange, a deeper sentiment that for some reason seems to be a frazione thing for this vintage because this consistency of full emotive and textural sentiment runs through many of the wines. Look to San Donato in Poggio for more of everything in 2020. The wines are bigger than some of the other UGAs. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted March 2022

Querceto Di Castellina Chianti Classico DOCG L’Aura 2020

Castellina

This is not a Riserva, that is made quite clear from a 100 per cent sangiovese that used to include some merlot. Now a matter of picking and choosing plots from the steep and sloping vineyard starting from the bottom at 450m and rising up to 510. Sees 12 months in 3rd and 4th passage French wood. L’Aura is Iacopo Di Battista’s mother, as in the “aura of Laura” and a label produced since 1998. Not red but ochre-purple limestone literally begets and becomes this Annata, a.k.a fully completely Alberese soil. What comes from 2020 is a doubling down, regardless of appellative level, a wow factor of laser sharp stone cut by even sharper acidity. Edgy balsamic tannins increase the seriousness of this wine. Sell it now if you must but this Annata needs time. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted February 2022

Riecine Chianti Classico DOCG 2020

Gaiole

Riecine from Gaiole is the most radiant and glycerin version of itself, clean and concise, grippy yet available almost whenever you find yourself ready and in the sangiovese mood. Not a tart or intense Riecine by any stretch of the imagination, nor is there any real tannic demand. This is meant for now and should be embraced that way. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted March 2022

Rocca Delle Macìe Chianti Classico DOCG 2020

Castellina

Incorporates five per cent merlot into the sangiovese, the grapes coming from all four Rocca delle Macìe estates. Essential, consistent and knowable for Castellina and especially a style that is unwavering as Rocca delle Macìe. A wine of layered commune earth, deep and even a bit brooding, so very sangiovese and with real Annata depth. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted February 2022

Rocca Di Castagnoli Chianti Classico DOCG 2020

Gaiole

Young, taut, impressionable, high-toned and bright red fruit Gaiole Annata, rich in 2020 polyphenols and thiols, quite vibrant and intense. Less herbal than many of its locale and even past iterations of itself while the fruit concentrates and works through the earliest stages of its youth. Fine and meshing the way Annata should and offering beauty above all else. Will drink at peak next year and for four after that. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted March 2022

Marco Ricarosli Firidolfi, Rocca di Montegrossi, Gaiole

Rocca Di Montegrossi Chianti Classico DOCG 2020

Gaiole

Always 90 per cent sangiovese, here with (8) canaiolo and (2) colorino. “Quite a regular growing season, warm but never too much,” says Marco Ricasoli, “and very cool nights.” The main character is first colour in a Classico never stressed by heat and so fruit freshens, with acidity sure to follow. A crunchy Annata, not too hard and not too soft. Picked in the last week of September, late enough for full maturity. Monti (in Gaiole) is a warmer area and while the alcohol checks in at 14 per cent it’s a well-managed and balanced wine all the way through. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted March 2022

Ruffino Chianti Classico DOCG Santedame 2020

Castellina

Always a different and purposefully designed Annata from Ruffino, so very cherry liqueur, thickened by soil chalk in liquid varietal form. Here sangiovese with help from smoothing international varieties makes for a consistency of Chianti Classico to draw a crowd. Just a bit reductive and hypo-fresh, tart and sour-edged. Not edgy though and smooth as silk. Very professional wine and a good vintage from which to make that happen. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted March 2022

San Felice Chianti Classico DOCG 2020

Castelnuovo Berardenga

A blend of sangiovese, pugnitello and colorino, the same dating back to 2009. Yet another warm vintage though with great changes in agricultural practices this Annata now shows great juicy freshness, especially from 2019 and now through this 2020. The acidity is more than maintained, the wood kept well in the back and this is just up front, accessible and on point. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted February 2022

Tenuta Di Campomaggio Chianti Classico DOCG Campomaggio 2020

Radda

Raddese from the start, acids singing, zinging and slinging the lightning red fruit to the fore. In youth clearly dusty while a clarity and purity exists in a vacuum where lightness mixed with barrel make for a truly spirited Chianti Classico. Expressly and dutifully Radda sangiovese. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted March 2022

Terra Di Seta Chianti Classico DOCG 2020

Castelnuovo Beradenga

From Castelnuovo Beradenga and the Pellegrini farm where the wines are constructed with strict adherence to Glatt Kosher rules. Tart and chewy red fruit with a toasted and roasted quality, in other words cooked but with a light touch and sense of sangiovese gastronomy. As fas as Kosher for Passover wines are considered this Terra di Seta should reside at the top of anyone’s list. As for Chianti Classico it is real and exemplary of place albeit needing food alongside to tame the tannins and prepared food quality of the wine. Drink 2022-2024. Tasted March 2022

Tolaini Chianti Classico DOCG Vallenuova 2020

Castelnuovo Berardenga

Vallenuovo from Castelnuovo Berardenga’s Tolaini is an extracted, generously macerated and humorously concentrated 2020. There is just something about Tolaini, an aromatic potpourri specific to this wine in great hyperbole. A bit reductive as many are so early in this vessel and yet agitation really does release the charm. A really well constructed Chianti Classico that will appeal to those who look for fullness, especially through the texture and the finish. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted March 2022

Pizzeria Lo Speso in Il Ferrone

Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

Azienda Agricola Mori Concetta Chianti Classico Morino DOCG 2019

San Casciano

Purely, expressly and properly San Casciano, structured woolly and snugly wrapped around fruit kept warm and nurtured in a blanket of care. Fragrant with fine tannins, “legno,” as it is said. A touch of green that is San Casciano because of the particular kind of savour and temper. Some minor austerity and demand in these tannins but mostly a sangiovese of land and air to express where it comes from. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted February 2022

Badia A Coltibuono Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

Gaiole

Immediate attention is paid to the herbs and resins in the aromas of Badia a Colibuono’s 2019. From the outset this is clear and present Gaiole sangiovese, local, parochial and a sign of the time. No question the fruit is healthy and substantial but the vinoso quality of all that surrounds is just too blatant to ignore. As are the crisp acids and finely austere tannins. Transparent clarity is a given, as is a structural belief that this Chianti Classico Annata will live long with the best of them. Last tasted March 2022

A distinctly herbal Annata from Badia a Coltibuono out of 2019, so very Monti with herbs and brush of all iterations. Notably rosemary with undertones of sage, cypress and gariga. The fruit keeps up with the greens but there is no mistaking the minty and pine forest behaviour of this wine. Super herbal, tart cherries and good fruit ripeness. Well managed tannins but those herbs! Drink 2023-2027. Tasted February 2022

Belvedere Campòli Conte Guicciardini Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

San Casciano

Again it is San Casciano that opens up the select savoury gates in an openly fragrant and knit sangiovese that is clearly and unequivocally 100 per cent just that. With thanks to a generous vintage and what is clearly a site that ripens ahead of many, the wine comes out smooth, itself also quite generous and even what could be called morbido. As easy as varietal Classico gets and ready to go. Drink 2022-2024. Tasted March 2022

Bibbiano Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

Castellina

Bibbiano’s Annata moves to the rhythm of infinite wisdom, coagulation, conjoining and come together, of dual terroirs, bright red fruit alighting with stern, edging to austerity tannin. The vintage rebelled against is one from which Tommaso Marocchesi Marzi sticks to his guns and creates an Annata of undeniable estate conviction. Needing time and yet smiling that Castellina smile, finishing with that spicy Bibbiano spice. Can’t think of more than three other Classico at this price that are equal in representation to pour by the glass. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted February 2022

Bindi Sergardi, Vagliagli

Bindi Sergardi Chianti Classico DOCG La Ghirlanda Tenuta Mocenni 2019

Vagliagli

Exuberant Mocenni perfume and one could not help but to be fully cognizant of how expressively floral and stone cool it is. For Annata it gets neither more concentrated nor more in tune with a vineyard than this. So transparent and connected to Mocenni which is how and why Annata’s naked character is so important to explain an estate’s riches and what is possible with the other elevated, concentrated and investigative appellations. Wood is ambitious and justified in such a case, even at this Annata level, for later on. As for now or just around the corner, well that works as well. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted October 2021

Bindi Sergardi Chianti Classico DOCG Ser Gardo 2019

Vagliagli

Taken solely from the I Colli Estate’s vineyards in the UGA zone of Vaglialgi at the western edge of Castelnuovo Berardenga commune, adjacent the Chianti Colli Senesi, 10 kilometres from Mocenni Estate, 15 minutes house to house. Makes for an antithetical Classico expression to what comes from the Mocenni amphitheatre. The difference is dramatic, higher in pH, lower in acidity, velvety, easier, readier. This 2019 vintage is a prime example, lush, 100 per cent sangiovese ripe, aged no more than six months in used barriques. Picked near to the last week of September, without exception, a week before Mocenni. Just a hint of phenolic chalkiness repeated on the back palate. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted October and November 2021

Borgo Salcetino Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

Radda

Radda in 100 per cent sangiovese kicks into high acid and elevated tones, lifted and placed in the air above. Quite tart and also tannic, drying over the palate, feeling arid, dusty and enervating. Not a tired wine per se but one that makes you feel this way. Drink 2022-2023. Tasted March 2022

Borgo Scopeto Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

Vagliagli

Vagliagli is the UGA and a 10 per cent combination of same-same colorino and merlot bring some colour and also softness to Borgo Scopeto’s sangiovese face. Crunchy sangiovese that is, well developed from the happy vintage though not without some austerity and grip in the tannin. More so than many vintages for this western Castelnuovo estate and the interest lies in how they will integrate and resolve. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted March 2022

Cafaggio Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

Panzano

Cafaggio so beautifully and comfortably represents Panzano from 2019, fruit at the front, mild structure settling in easily at the back. A pure frazione expression of sangiovese and from a vintage that laid such possibility out on a silver platter. Cafaggio clearly heeded the call and jumped on the opportunity. Finest Annata from the estate in quite some time. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted March 2022

Cantalici Chianti Classico DOCG Baruffo 2019

Gaiole

Full on Gaiole from Baruffo in 2019, unsurprising and in effect expected from an estate that looks for fullness, wellness and acceptance from their generous wines. All sangiovese and nothing but the great red hope in desire for Cantalici and Chianti Classico. Crisp in fact, well seasoned while noticeably tannic yet there is a feeling that you are requested to drink this as soon as possible. Find some Prosciutto di Parma, Fennocchiona and Pecorino for best results. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted March 2022

With Filippo and Gioia Cresti, Carpineta Fontalpino, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Carpineta Fontalpino Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

Castelnuovo Berardenga

“A wonderful harvest for us and for the farm” tells Gioia Cresti. In terms of UGA this is Castelnuovo and as a broad expression this Annata is a micro-version captured in bottle, of wide open space and air. There are three vineyard locations, 10 hectares in Castelnuovo near to the winery, seven in Dofana (Vagliagli) and three in Montaperti. So fresh, 20 (normal) days on skins and the sweetest tannins available, even for a Carpineta Annata. Linear and long, elastically fleshy and just well, perfect. Yes, Gioia Cresti is a very good winemaker. Drink 2022-2027. Tasted November 2021

Casa Emma Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

San Donato in Poggio

A ninety per cent sangiovese with five per cent each canaiolo and malvasia nera, fermented in stainless steel and concrete vats, aged one year in tonneaux (500ml), yet 40 per cent remains in barrel. An ideal and balanced vintage, slower to ripen than ’18 with no rush too fast to “fruitiness and complexity.” Also because the sub-zone of San Donato in Poggio performs better in warmer vintages. Great freshness, blood orange and intense red fruit but it’s just uncanny how this could be nothing but Casa Emma sangiovese. Tannins are denser, longer and impressive, the overall feel one that tells us this Annata can go deep. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted October 2021

Casaloste Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

Panzano

Ristoro di Lamole

Castagnoli Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

Castellina

Castagnoli procures a deeply satisfying and fulsome Annata, ripe and at the ready through a coupling to acidity and a tripling because the tannin is fully engaged. Tripped and let loose more like it in a sangiovese of swirls, thrills and intensity. Feels like Castellina at elevation with serious Galestro effects for an eventual date with elegance. Five years down the road from vintage it would seem. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted February 2022

Castellinuzza E Piuca Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

Lamole

Clearly, unequivocally and unmistakably Lamole because that perfume jumps from the glass to gain your immediate attention. Part Macigno and part Calcari, so much vinous resin and a walk through a pine forest. Cool Lamole liqueur, fine capture of 2019 and really just an ideal vintage for e Piuca of Castellinuzza lineage in their native Lamole habitat. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted March 2022

Castello Dei Rampolla Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

Panzano

Highest level of Panzano richness, depth of fruit and Pietraforte infiltration, allowed to emanate in natural highlights throughout. All these elements are together exhibited in great co-conspiratorial desire. Full on push-pull of sliding scale piques and roundness in a sangiovese that wants to be both and have it all. Caky too with merlot plus cabernet sauvignon for surety and fruit explosiveness. Substantial and even if some vintages include petit verdot methinks not this one. A “clean” one for Rampolla, as it is said, international in the best possible way. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted March 2022

Castello della Paneretta, San Donato in Poggio

Castello Della Paneretta Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

San Donato in Poggio

From the San Donato in Poggio property with 404 years of experience behind this upstanding, generous, careful and thorough Annata from the 2019 vintage. The blood orange, red currant and chalky Galestro-Alberese chime can only be from this additional geographical unit, a frazione so distinctive, like the 11:30am Sunday bells that ring through Florence. A perfect time to taste by the way, refreshing, affirming and ready to set one on their way. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted February 2022

Castello Di Bossi Chianti Classico DOCG C. Berardenga 2019

Castelnuovo Berardenga

Clear, ernest and caressing fruit is captured from the open generosity of the 2019 vintage. This Castelnuovo Berardenga example shows what 100 per cent sangiovese of warmth and substance can effect for über drinkable Chianti Classico. Bossi’s is readier than many, seasoned by spice more than it exhibits qualities urged on by structure. A slight drying finish indicates a few years of life lay ahead. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted March 2022

Castello Di Cacchiano Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

Gaiole

Really parochial and specific, a Monti in Chianti Galestro gifted CC, aromatic yet wound quite tight. Sheds some perfumed Gaiole light on the state and possibility in this mainly sangiovese wine that receives minor support from endemic and pH supporting roles provided by canaiolo and malvasia nera. Good promise may just result in better fortune should you give this and the austere tannin some time. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted March 2022

Castello Di Gabbiano Chianti Classico DOCG Cavaliere d’Oro 2019

San Casciano

While Gabbiano produces large volumes of other denominational wines it needs reminding that their Chianti Classico numbers are significantly lower and the attention paid to these wines spares no emotion, attention or expense. Economies of scale allow for bargain pricing and the wines over deliver at all appellative levels. Case in point the Cavaliere d’Oro 2019, fragrant and graceful, salutary acids riding shotgun to promising fruit like a well orchestrated pack with Galestro-driven tannin. Everything together, delivering the goods and for the money. Almost unbeatable. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted March 2022

Castello Di Meleto Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

Gaiole

With 763 years existence and experience behind this 2019 Annata you just know someone has a distinct territorial advantage. Castello di Meleto’s is quite rich, luxe and creamy for Annata and especially Gaiol, but is comes replete with great and preserving parochial acidity. That and sweet herbs, brushy savour and long strides. Solid, fresh for the vintage and the estate. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted February 2022

With Laura Bianchi, Castello di Monsanto, San Donato in Poggio

Castello Di Monsanto Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

San Donato in Poggio

A vintage with more Riserva in a five to one ratio (to Annata) when usually the numbers are four to one. Of course more savour and grip than 2018 and long-chained tannins. The length is not merely outstanding in fact it resonates through all the senses, including there at which the quotidian and fantastic converge. Drink 2021-2024. Tasted October 2021 and February 2022

Castello Di Radda Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

Radda

Mainly sangiovese with 10 per cent colorino and canaiolo, from a diplomatic vintage, promising of quality and generous of quantity. For estate director Stefano Peruzzi it is harmonious and very much like 2016. Such a professionally composed and pragmatically styled Chianti Classico, not what could be called luxe or lush though clearly balanced in its fruit to acid compendium. Delivers a purity of citrus crunch and is surely a design of tradition and place. While you feel a slight malo creaminess this is not a question of texture but one that speaks in fresh sangiovese tones specific to these lower hills of Radda. Last tasted March 2022

A fine vintage here for Castello di Radda with their well-judged, sweetly sumptuous and succulent sangiovese. Shows a level of consistency in place that may have or would not have been possible just ten years ago. Warmer vintages and dedicated agricultural concern elevate the year after year game. In 2019 the acids and spices merge, unite and fixate on the fruit for a lovely circular swirl of freshness, vim and flavour. Really fine in nine. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted October 2021

Castello Di Verrazzano Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

Montefioralle

Really sweet perfumed Montefioralle entry from Verrazzano’s endemic and impartible Annata, mainly sangiovese with five per cent “other” autochthonous varieties. One of the most cherry red Chianti Classico in every respect; hue, aroma and flavour, then finishing with the slightest bitter pit. Just that touch of green in the tannin mixed with the purity of acidity makes this really sing. A song for Montefioralle. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted March 2022

Castello Di Volpaia Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

Radda

No doubt that Chianti Classico will always be fresh and spirited from Volpaia but it somehow finds a way in every vintage to become increasingly fluid, silky, clear and beautiful. The upper vineyards are helping more and more every year, plus a team working the vines and the wines together for more than 20 years. Yet this vintage still shows some backbone while overall much of the story remains to unfold and be told. Re-visit next year and the one after that for the emergence of the full story. Drink 2022-2027. Tasted October 2021

Filippo Bartolotta presents Il Chianti Classico in 9 Decadi at the Chianti Classico Collection 2022, Stazione Leopolda, Firenze

Castelvecchi Chianti Classico DOCG Capotondo 2019

Radda

Lovely textured vintage for the Capotondo in full capture of rich and ripe fruit. Some grip in tannin but mainly acidity that elevates and perches the substantial sangiovese up where it belongs in the Radda ether and with 2019 as the backdrop. Great work for the vintage. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted February 2022

Cinciano Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

San Donato in Poggio

An ancient sea salty and airy western Chianti Classico sangiovese from Cinciano does Poggibonsi/San Donato in Poggio proud if in just a bit of its owns speacial and ulterior way. Always that silky, glycerol and substantial fruit ahead of all else. Beauty and purity, ease and such drink-ability. At the height of that ideal from 2019. Drink 2022-2024. Tasted March 2022

Colle Bereto Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

Radda

So very Radda from Bernardo Bianchi’s ’19 Annata, fruit and acid structure in the arena of the cool while plenty of both preside. Only a small percentage of colorino shades the sangiovese from red to further red and the palate is simply sangiovese. There are parts iron and others blood orange out of 2019, fruit sorted to optimum purity and the least amount of bitters pressed into the hull of the wine. Quite structured and as always, impressive. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted March 2022

Concadoro Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

Castellina

Concadoro is Castellina on the western front, quietly aromatic and shilling the high toned, almost acetic style from the western edge of the central valley. Quite tart and astringent, more parts that make this tough and out of balance. Drink 2022. Tasted March 2022

Conti Capponi/Villa Calcinaia Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

Montefioralle

Fine and far from presumptuous Annata here from Il Conte, exemplary of a Greve, digging a bit deeper into Montefioralle sangiovese. Firm of dark and even dusty fruit, antsy and a bit racy while still this youthful, unsettled and needing time. Firm and grippy for the vintage, absolutely Calcinaia in style and a true representation of the multifarious estate soils. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2022

Dievole Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

Vagliagli

From the geographical zone of Vagliagli in the western section of Castelnuovo Berardenga commune and a sangiovese augmented by seven per cent canaiolo plus (3) colorino grown at 335m. Spends 13 months in 41 hl (untoasted) French oak barrels. Classicism incarnate for the territory with a Vagliagli twist, über savoury, youthful and fuelled by stone-strewn Alberese (limestone) vineyards. Creates a tannic austerity and a request for allowing this sangiovese Annata time to flesh out and settle in. Two years minimum, after which the very cherry fruit will act more aromatically expressive. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted December 2021

Dievole Chianti Classico DOCG Petrignano 2019

Vagliagli

Petrignano is what Dievole assigns the lede of “a nuova voce del Chianti Classico,” a new voice, especially at the Annata level. The Gran Selezione is from Vigna Sessina and here 2019 is spoken through the younger vines and more precocious if not fully yet understood vineyard of Petrignano. Certainly a fresh and savoury Annata, sour citrus chalky and very primary. Almost nouveau but without the carbonic yet still this is as light and potentially sumptuous as it gets. Drink 2022-2023. Tasted February 2022

Matteo Vaccari and Maddalena Fucile, Cigliano di Sopra, San Casciano

Fattoria Cigliano Di Sopra Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

San Casciano

This the fourth vintage of Maddalena Fucile and Matteo Vaccari’s Chianti Classico takes the next step, with a level of sweet acidity that really moves your palate and also because decreased wood does less to distract as much as in ’17 and ’18. Also de-stemmed by hand (as opposed to a new machine that will do a much better job in 2020), so here there is also some crushing. While there is some efficacy and esculente essence in the tannins there is also a delicate nature about this San Casciano sangiovese. Very good energy, very river stone, sand-felt and also by a little bit of Galestro rolled into one fine and lengthy Chianti Classico. Good tannin management is executed with precocious acumen with help from adding the previous year’s lees in the bottle. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted November 2021

Fattoria della’Aiola Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

Vagliagli

Mainly sangiovese with 10 per cent merlot and colorino aged in large botti plus stainless steel. Pitchy purple, Galestro meeting Macigno silk, mid-weight compaction and concern. Tannins are equalizing with the wood making a textural statement in a Vagliagli with good linger. Not a flashy Chianti Classico but one entrenched in the UGA soil. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted February 2022

Fattoria Di Montecchio Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

San Donato in Poggio

Fattoria La Leccia Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

Castellina

Beautifully blood orange sangiovese from Castellina’s La Leccia, fully equipped with red citrus, even some pink grapefruit. Then the structure and the verdancy take charge, especially on the palate, with some tannin unresolved and yet other structural parts that will work overtime to make the grade. Wait a year or two in any case. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted February 2022

Claudio, Cristina and Sole, Fattoria Le Masse, San Donato in Poggio

Fattoria Le Masse Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

San Donato in Poggio

Fattoria Poggerino Chianti Classico DOCG Nuovo 2019

Radda

Fulsome and so purposefully developed sangiovese from Piero Lanza’s roll and sway of a Radda vineyard. Gelid yet tumbling and even a bit cumbersome while this youthful but what Poggerino is given is what Poggerino gives back. Strength over power, headiness over density, reality over headlines. A full and satisfying Chianti Classico with so much integrity in correct alignment with this place. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted February 2022

Fattoria Pomona Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

Castellina

Yet another Pomona Annata pretty in pulchritude, handsome in heavenly sangiovese and grande by the goodness of grace. The blood orange by jove of sangiovese juiced for success. Trust when you hear that Monica Raspi’s cloudy ferments look like they will never clarify, purify and deliver the message of her Castellina vineyards but they have and they do. There is risk and leaps of faith in her work but she is a true scientist with artistic style and merit. She makes great Annata and more with 2019 being a new launching pad to prove the point. Last tasted February 2022

The flesh and full palate address continues where 2018 left off though there is an openness to ’19 that speaks to more warmth and a weightiness of developed tannin. Of comports in structural components, polymerizing commotions and long chains of conveyance. Bread as sustenance and life from a 100 per cent sangiovese Annata out of Monica Raspi’s Sant’Ilario and Vigna del Termine vineyards teaming up for caress and no distress. Oh sweet Chianti Classico surrender, “I’d be a fool to try to escape you.” Drink 2022-2027. Tasted October 2021

Fattoria Santo Stefano Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

Greve

Greve and 100 per cent sangiovese, super Greve in fact, heady, sturdy, red lightning cherry and volumetric in terms of substance, alcohol and structure. Linear, translucent, dusty-savoury with more texture and silky consistency than what may have first been ascertained. Quietly aromatic yet attractively informative. Not what should be considered or called a crushable wine because all the constituent parts are solid, in tact, tactful and together. Almost seamless and perhaps an estate en route to being (almost) famous. Drink 2024–2028. Tasted February and March 2022

Felciano Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

Panzano

Giovanni and Bernardo Manetti, Fontodi, Panzano

Fontodi Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

Panzano

Giovanni Manetti explains “I have over 20 hectares of over 40 years. Even if there are 20-30 days separating the picking from start to finish in a vintage there is always a marker, especially with sangiovese. And with old vines they are not nearly as susceptible to stressors. This Vigna del Sorbo will succeed, even with all of the (climate events and vintage stressors) mentioned here.” Annata 2019 was bottled in July and is not yet released. “The vintage of balance, pleasant wines, very charming.” That said also toned musculature, grip, fineness of tannins. Plenty of acidity, here at 6.50 tA, chalky liquidity, round enough to offer an immensity of early pleasure. Don’t be fooled into thinking ’19 is simply for the here and now as longevity is a guarantee. This was known from the start when the wines were in tank, showing great perfume and tasting with Fontodi freshness and acidity. Not easy drinking but drinkable, with Panzano resin and parochial acidity. Drink 2022-2027. Tasted October 2021

Lamole di Fontodi

Fontodi Chianti Classico DOCG Filetta Di Lamole 2019

Lamole

Filetta waits its turn, always the last picked vineyard in Lamole and as with 2018 October 10th was the date for Fontodi’s fruit. Giovanni’s cousin owns the vineyard and records date back to 1045, rare and historic for Chianti Classico. A restrained, elastic and finessed vintage is 2019, blessed with the Lamole perfume, blood orange addendum and Fontodi body. Not a vintage of power or strength and so much more so Lamole which makes one wonder just how cool climate accentuated the other producers’ 2019s will be. Other vintages of Filetta have been fine, even caressing and reaching levels of deep understanding but 2019 is more of a pop and pour vintage with true frazione acids and a harmonizing palate creaminess. Drink this while ’18 continues to settle in. Drink 2022-2029. Tasted February 2022

Frescobaldi Tenuta Perano Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

Gaiole

Frescobaldi’s Tenuta Perano takes full advantage of the white calcareous soils to set upon a path for and with great vintage promise. The sangiovese in this bottle is smooth, suave and mineral, tart and full on gregarious of a specific Gaiole tang. A drinkable Annata, tried and true, delicious, accessible and yet nary a moment of flaccidity or softness abounds. Ideal for three years on without any concern for devolution or change. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted February 2022

Gagliole Chianti Classico DOCG Rubiolo 2019

Panzano

Panzano sangiovese does not get any more pure, transparent and fulsome than Rubiolo, all the while spoken in utmost clarity. Not full, nor heady, nigh density neither. Think sweetness, aromatically calling, fruit speaking. Seasoning, not salt and pepper necessarily but spices unnamed, unthought, undeclared. An old friend dressed so dapper, not perfectly pressed but characterful and timeless. Like music played as adagio with very slight dynamic change, aesthetics and script expressed in equally essential concentration. The Annata you want. Drink 2022-2027. Tasted March 2022

I Collazzi I Bastioni Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

San Casciano

Woody, savoury and sour-edged sangiovese, tart and oddly confected. Quick and if stylish in its own way the San Casciano aspect is covered by the wood and the work. Drink 2022-2024. Tasted February 2022

Susanna Grassi, I Fabbri, Lamole

I Fabbri Olinto Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

Lamole

Olinto, always from the highest elevation, Lamole perfume up to 11 where there is also some merlot planted, at 12 per cent part of the blend and again no barrel. Freshness at the highest premium and with the merlot so ripe with thanks to vine age and warmer climate conditions, a wine so drinkable you could hardly believe the truth. Beauty in florals incarnate, especially violets and candied iris, juicy if peppery pansy and nasturtium. Last tasted February 2022

Aside from the upfront, obvious and always beautiful I Fabbri as a function of Lamole perfume there is this incredulous ripeness and sweetness of fruit. Disbelieving because of the elevation and how it was once virtually impossible to achieve such sugar and phenolic ripeness in this part of Greve for Chianti Classico wines. The 20 per cent merlot is just so apropos for blending into sangiovese, from this most generous vintage and to tame the high level of acidity. While this classic normale from Susanna Grassi is about as crushable as any 2019 one can’t help but wonder if sangiovese needed no help this time around. No matter really. Just enjoy. Drink 2021-2024. Tasted October and November 2021

I Fabbri Chianti Classico DOCG Lamole Olinto Grassie E Figlio 2019

Lamole

Not that other vintages are lacking the clarity of Lamole perfume and terroir but 2019 brings the want and desire beyond the frazione’s intangibles. They being flesh and mid-palate, again not absent in other years though magnified, elastic and extra from 19’s warm generosity. Great thanks and aromatic response, more than this in the ways of accession, reach and scope. Purely Lamole plus, plus. Drink 2022-2027. Tasted February 2022

La Squadra Canadese at I Fabbri, Lamole

I Fabbri Chianti Classico DOCG Terra Di Lamole 2019

Lamole

The top “tier” Annata in Susanna Fabbri’s range is this main terroir sangiovese, the Terre di Lamole. Lamole at heights, in hyperbole, expressive and of course, so very perfumed. A veritable potpourri of Macigno del Chianti and all the florals imagined, tied up in one red petalled, native herb and mineral bouquet. Grace and understated charm, seamlessness and the sort of structure that build and builds but does so without mortar between the stones. Natural and beautiful. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted March 2022

Il Molino Di Grace Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

Panzano

The Solo Sangiovese Annata (and listed as such only on American labels), bottled just three weeks ago, über fresh, a picture perfect vintage for all appellative levels but beginning here with sangiovese. So easy to drink, very pure, balanced, all things “it has to be because this is Chianti Classico, not Gran Selezione,” explains and insists Iacopo Morganti. Less acidity than ’18 but more than ample amount to strike an accord with ideally reasoned and ripened fruit. Picked in October and you’d know but not know it. Really like the liquorice chew in this sangiovese, it sticks to and along with you. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted February 2022

Il Palagio Di Panzano Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

Panzano

More than promising and beautiful vintage for Monia Piccini’s Annata but a true Panzano expression of the swift and the sweet, patterned and handsome. Draws from vineyard blocks ever evolving and not from those one step short of necessary ripeness. Even keel and a knowledge meeting emotion just right for a wine like this. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted February 2022

Istine Estate Vineyard, Radda

Istine Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

Radda and Gaiole

Made from the first pass in all of Angela Fronti’s vineyards, two in Radda and three in Gaiole, although the philosophy is to concentrate on Radda because that is the home-front and there is a prejudice provided by what happens through the vintage. That said Angela waits a full year before deciding where the grapes end up, as “the most objective approach.” A decent yielding vintage comparatively speaking and a Chianti Classico in 2019 as generous and round as Fronti has ever made. But in truth the Radda plus Gaiole freshness times savour multiplied by sapidity results in a quotient of great cumulative respect. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted October 2021

Istine Chianti Classico DOCG Vigna Istine 2019

Radda

One must have to look at, walk this and stand in awe of of this vineyard, the steepness at 30-50 per cent grade with a terrace in the middle to break it up. Heavy in Alberese inclusive of massive yellow calcareous boulders and also Galestro. In fact the medium stones removed were transferred to create terraces for olive trees on the other side of the cantina (by Angela Fronti’s father no less). The vineyard faces north so the freshness is off the charts, while the ripeness is so matter of purposeful vintage fact. The label represents the position of the vines in coordinates, echoed in the machicolations of a Fronti sangiovese that drops all the Radda stones on unsuspecting palates through fruit openings between supporting acid corbels of a projecting tannic parapet. Vigna Istine is at the forefront of Chianti Classico’s battle to win over the world. Follow this example. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted October 2021

Istine, Radda

Istine Chianti Classico DOCG Vigna Casanova Dell’Aia 2019

Radda

Smaller stones in Alberese and Galestro soils, in Radda, a four hectare plot where trebbiano and malvasia bianca are also planted. The older plantings, their clones and density were not up to snuff so Angela restored and re-planted several years ago. The vines are just now coming into Raddese fruition. That zonal acidity is wholly unique and really shows through in this single-vineyard sangiovese, even if the breadth, complexity and power are not yet there, though elegance, charm and great possibility surely are. Look to 2021 for high end results. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted October 2021

Istine Chianti Classico DOCG Vigna Cavarchione 2019

Gaiole

Less rocky than the Radda vineyards, here a single steep block surrounded by forest everywhere and picked ahead of Casanova, therefore for 2019 in mid-September. The richest of the single vineyard Classico crus, a wine of texture, integration and qualcosa di Cavarchione, a fullness and a feeling of Gaiole woods, herbals, distillate and brush. The under, over and what’s growing all round. Drink 2022-2028. Tasted October 2021

Isole E Olena Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

San Donato in Poggio

The 2019 has some spice, that much is true and that is the result of selection, ideally suited sangioivese clones and the pH directive brought about by some of Chianti Classico’s finest canaiolo. Fermented in stainless, aged in medium sized oak barrels, but older ones. Has entered a more structured and tannic stage and it may be wondered if that is the norm. Yes tells Paolo, when first in bottle there is freshness and fruit, then after a few months it closes in before opening up again the following summer. Last tasted February 2022

Bottled only one month ago and a vintage that brings a pragmatic smile to Paolo de Marchi’s face, with thanks to good volume meeting even better quality. As a vintage “easier than 2015,” tells de Marchi, “which for Cepparello was a cabernet vintage.” Wink-wink. Here 15 per cent canaiolo intersects with sangiovese for a perfectly timed and executed balance between pH and acidity. “There’s always canaiolo in my Chianti Classico,” says Paolo and the truth lies in the generosity of both aromatics and structure. The 2018 was a more uneven season and the wine it produced is actually quite ready to drink, so why wait on it? The 2019 on the other hand has it all, from a growing period so facile and while more difficult to manage during fermentation (not to mention de Marchi’s battle with pneumonia) the end result is a Chianti Classico emblematic of Olena and one to see evolve slowly over a ten to 12 year stretch. Drink 2023-2030. Tasted October 2021

Casole, Lamole

Lamole Di Lamole Chianti Classico DOCG Duelame 2019

Lamole

The yellow to brown (or tan) label from Lamole di Lamole is the high-toned, highest of UGA acid sangiovese. Even a five per cent of pH balancing canaiolo does not seem to tame the acidity in this lightning red sangiovese. That said the wood brings a creaminess and an accentuation of malic meets morbido texture. Curious Lamole, characterful to be sure. Drink 2022-2024. Tasted March 2022

Lamole Di Lamole Chianti Classico DOCG Maggiolo 2019

Lamole

From 2019 the UGA’s estate coupling of nomenclature and doubling of additional geographic denominational vernacular finds beauty and silk road length. This sangiovese digs deep into the Macigno, Galestro and Alberese for a wide-ranging, multi-layered and form fitting Chianti Classico. Drink early. Drink 2022-2024. Tasted February 2022

La Sala Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

San Casciano

Mainly sangiovese (95 per cent) and merlot in large format wood, because tells oenologist Stefano di Blasi “in general in Chianti Classico we are moving away from small barrels and into large cask.” Gateway sangiovese drug in that there is a plushness, softness and accessibility but also a purity and a San Casciano honesty. If the intention is honourable then you can drink this right now but also five years forward for a most positive result. An exacting wine from La Sala nel Chianti Classico, a comment so suitable for an estate in territorial description. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted February 2022

Le Cinciole Chianti Classico 2019

Panzano

Le Miccine Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

Gaiole

Le Miccine is truly, ostensibly and unequivocally Gaiole sangiovese what with the herbs and brush coming straight out of the forests of the UGA’s hills. It is also an Annata of great vintage ripeness, generosity and flesh. Deliciously delivered, well crafted and perfectly suitable for now plus five years forward. Drink 2022-2027. Tasted February 2022

Le Muricce Chianti Classico DOCG Leccione 2019

Greve

Le Murrice is a producer from Greve in Chianti with wines also made from lands north of the territory. The Greve (100 per cent) sangiovese is this Leccione, tart and lactic, old-school yet with a young and promising heart. Lacking some fruit and relies on winemaking to create a Chianti Classico experience, mostly succeeding though not really delivering Greve. Drink 2022-2023. Tasted March 2022

L’erta Di Radda Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

Radda

Same work as is done in 2020 with five per cent canaiolo in a vintage of more body and yet similar soul to the year that will follow. Definitely fuller and just as expansive but a touch rounder in 2019. Was a 25-27 day maceration, a week longer than L’Erta di Radda norm. Was released in September 2021 and will soon be sold through to allow the ’20 Annata to hit the market, likely in June. Last tasted March 2022

Grown together so essentially a field blend and Diego Finocchi likes to use some canaiolo (five per cent) because it adds more pH to the wine, up to 3.5-3.65 compared to the 3.0-3.1 of sangiovese. But just the five per cent because it brings up that pH so that there is a salty sensation on the palate while the sapidity and freshness are guaranteed as well. Diego has also figured out over the last five years to allow his fruit to hang for seven to 10 more days, finding balance and with that extra pH, total harmony in his Chianti Classico. Alcohol is not considered and need not be because balance is everything, as witnessed by this pitch perfect Annata. Co-fermented and in terms of next up for Chianti Classico this is the one you have to try, taste and understand. Of structure that suspends for so long. A Classico epiphany. Only 14,000 bottles made. Drink 2022-2028. Tasted November 2021

Mazzei Fonterutoli Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

Castellina

Fleshy and refreshing will best describe the Mazzei Annata from 2019, a sangiovese-plus example from Castellina well heeded of fruit and looking to be given immediate attention. In return it will offer immediate gratification. Drink now and tomorrow, and tomorrow. Drink 2022-2024. Tasted February 2022

Michael Schmelzer, Monte Bernardi, Panzano

Monte Bernardi Chianti Classico DOCG Sangió 2019

Panzano

Panzano vineyard purchased in December of 2018, of Pietraforte and Galestro. Sala is the name of the property, in conversion to organics and biodynamics, this being the first vintage of this wine from that property. Ripens at or earlier than Monte Bernardi, a place of higher winds and also sun. No stem usage yet in the first year because Michael Schmelzer feels that he needs to get a grip on the place but starting from 2020 stems are in the mix. Comes across like blood orange, a factor of heat and wind, with ripe tannins as a brightness from a young vineyard’s fruit. A sangiovese moving towards complex dynamism yet for now the opposite of cyclical viscous movement, angles rounded and such a crunchy wine. Brightness incarnate. Drink 2021-2025. Tasted November 2021

Monte Bernardi Chianti Classico DOCG Retromarcia 2019

Panzano

A vintage of great fruit and acidity so heavy stem usage and also because Michael Schmelzer learned from a minor mistake in 2017. That vintage had better acidity then anticipated and so more stem use should have been employed. “I love the vintage, though I like the classic vintages more, like ’16 and ’18.” Here the high tannin quality and that acidity is really about as good as it gets. “I want people to think I make great wines but then find out they happen to be natural. It’s not a goal.” Everything is in check and all the edginess is just right there, lift, animal, swarthiness and grip. “Anaerobic winemaking is to me a broken idea. We see this in wines that preserve oxidative character.” And so this is a wine that will not fall apart as it ages. Here an Annata that will go well into ten-plus years. Drink 2022-2028. Tasted November 2021

Montecalvi Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

Greve

A portion is whole cluster somewhere in the 20-25 per cent range, at once a precise number and yet vague enough to not be held accountable. Also a portion left on skins for more than two months time. Clearly a wine in which the winemaker (Tim Manning) held no fear of volatile acidity and this sits well under the threshold. Not exactly a 100 per cent sangiovese because there are some rows of canaiolo and also canina nera but not enough to quantify a percentage. Surely a wine of texture and what feels like a “thickened” acidity meaning there is no sear, certainly not out of fear and as a sangiovese is really quite near and dear. Darker cherry incidentally in a Chianti Classico that feels like tradition albeit new and in a very tactile way. I feel the touch. Last tasted March 2022

Just a lovely, calm and inviting entry into Classico Annata, equalized by a harmoniously seasoned palate w,ell-integrated and equanimous set of sweet acidity and fine tannin. Modern and beautiful, fresh and refreshing, wood a player while also serving to make things whole. Drink early and often. Drink 2022-2024. Tasted February 2022

Montefioralle Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

Montefioralle

Getting to know the eponymous producer Montefioralle’s arch classic and definitive Montefioralle Classico is not easy because when you make so few bottles only a select number of people can actually access to taste. They are now in Ontario and if fortune smiles you will note the stealth savoury character and lithe swarthiness, the candid accessibility and clean groove running throughout. If 2019 is a perfect vintage for this Annata I cannot say but it naturally fits the Montefioralle UGA’s vernacular, softly spoken, in clarity and also humility. What may be referred to athletically as a natural. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted February 2022

Monterotondo Chianti Classico DOCG Vigna Vaggiolata 2019

Gaiole

Dusty in youthful tonality for this 85 per cent Gaiole sangiovese in which canaiolo and malvasia nera bring the extra added seasoning into the multi-endemic varietal mix. Baking spice, of cinnamon and nutmeg, then savouries, by cumin and coriander, finishing with grasses, of stem and hay. Liquid wood salve texture changes the gears, adds to the credibility and creativity, even the complexity. Needs time to try and come together. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted March 2022

Chianti Classico Education in Toronto

Nittardi Chianti Classico DOCG Casanuova Di Nittardi La Doghessa 2019

Castellina

Full juiced, pressed and throttled Annata here from 2019, deep, toasty and firm. All the fruit and more, berries, cherries and plum, tart and dependent on acids for support. That they receive and then some, especially with the level of tannic thrush so purposefully aligned. This is sangiovese that needs the bottle as much as any so oblige and set what bottles you own aside. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted February 2022

Ormanni Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

San Donato in Poggio

Talk about the passion and sangiovese needing the bottle. Thankfully Ormanni and so many Chianti Classico have time. Thankfully the world is opening to a deeper understanding that sangiovese must be given respect and an open-ended line. The dust and the cries in this wine need to settle, the tannins calm down and the fruit be allowed to shine. It is there, all red leathery, juicy and tart, finishing on a quivering astringent string note. Bof Compte A Rebours. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted March 2022

Panzanello Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

Panzano

High level of volatility surrounds and distracts from quality richness in fruit aching to be heard. Panzano does not often exhibit this high level of VA and so the maceration here went on just a bit long, followed by a pressing off that brought some angst along for the ride. Drink 2022-2023. Tasted March 2022

Pasolini Dall’onda Chianti Classico DOCG Pio 7 2019

San Donato in Poggio

Here from San Donato in Poggio comes a lovely if modern sangiovese augmented by “other varieties” but the push-pull, acid-pH balance seems to be a blessing of canaiolo in disguise. Merlot likely, as well if in addition to another international party due to the verdant and creamy swirl running through the blood orange and sanguine expression of this wine. Either way this is strawberry-cherry San Donato in Poggio as filling in a savoury polenta cake. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted March 2022

Pensieri Di Cavatina Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

Castelnuovo Berardenga

The sangiovese from Castelnuovo Berardenga is always another animal, openly fragrant, expansive and then deep on the palate. Just look at the place and then it would be impossible to wonder why. Pensieri di Cavatina’s is just this, full of air, sandy-salty and then fruit that layers in leathery roll-up style. Thought the tannins were just a bit gritty but they roll along and cover the fruit with equally proper style. Good work here and one to really consider. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted March 2022

Poci Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

Radda

Poci is located in the southwest corner of Radda in close proximity to parts of Castellina, Castelnuovo (Vagliagli) and also Gaiole. A unique location and one to inspire characterful if singular sangiovese. There is a warmth and a depth to this ’19 Annata, and an affinity with Brancaia in the way it combines freshness with that depth. There is a good amount of chew here in a wine to really sink your teeth into. Seems a bit toasty now but that should settle down before too long. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted March 2022

Winemaker Alyson Morgan, Podere Capaccia, Radda

Podere Capaccia Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

Radda

Not only is 2019 an über fresh Annata vintage but see where is lands when tasting it side by side and each with the previous ’18 and before that ’17, both of which remain just about as fresh as they were last year and the one before. The level of aromatic concentration here is simply off the charts, olfactory opening and mind expanding. That said you feel the botti still, something that has melted away from the others even while their fruit remains fully intact. Part early life and part bigger vintage but ultimately the bar is raised and the 2019 is just a gorgeous wine. Flavour and texture work in cahoots to carry the load and allow this Annata to exhale and then inhale for several years of confidence and pleasure. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted March 2022

Podere Castellinuzza Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

Lamole

Lamole perfume straight away, up front and knowable, floral but more so a matter of herbs and fungi, legumes and grasses all mulched into an aromatic potpourri. Silky and savoury, a sangiovese of clarity with thanks to vintage mainly, serving to accentuate but also openly calculate a sense of place. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted February 2022

Podere Cianfanelli Chianti Classico DOCG Cianfanello 2019

Greve

From Greve and understandably so, fruit well developed, ripe and full, good depth overall. Not overtly aromatic yet a broad potpourri emits. Quite concentrated, pressed and tannic. Traditional and knowable. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted March 2022

Podere La Cappella Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

San Donato in Poggio

Ah the beauty and grace of San Donato in Poggio and in these Rossini hands a stunning 2019 Annata. Aromatic elation, exultant floral lift and mineral euphoria. Fruit so stylish and defined, a dignity of stone and elements run through, nothing out of place, all following a line as if on a circle. A wine that always comes back to where it started while fleshing and gaining traction, picking up subtleties but most of all concentrating in succulence. While the expression is clearly San Donato in Poggio, Podere La Cappella’s particular limestone terroir just can’t be missed, especially in an open and generous vintage such as this from 2019. Juiced orange, bloody, tart and health affirming, bled white stone and a soil gifting purity speak pure Colombino. There is so much to love and appreciate about the grace in this sangiovese. This is Bruno and Natascia Rossini’s land and style. Drink now and whenever, even forever. Drink 2022-2029. Tasted February and March 2022

Podere Lecci E Brocchi Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

Castelnuovo Berardenga

From Castelnuovo Berardenga and dramatically so, big and open hearted, well filled with red fruit syrup of sangiovese liqueur. Lots of pressing here, concentration and some heavy, weighty and full tannins are the result. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted March 2022

La Locanda Di Pietracupa, San Donato in Poggio

Poggio Al Sole Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

San Donato in Poggio

From San Donato in Poggio and a sanguine mix of iron and orange, mixed soil sensations and really quite classic frazione feels. Builds tannins, climbs, develops and shows off its range. Plenty of wine her, quite exemplary and designed to hold steadfast for up to five years. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted March 2022

Poggio Bonelli Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

Castelnuovo Berardenga

Poggio Bonelli’s Annata from 2019 is quite advanced and so ready to drink as if a three or four year-old sangioivese were in your glass. Earth and musky animale lead the aromatic front with a minor amount of Brett to naturalize and synthesize with the chewy red fruit. Acids are sour-edged and follow right in line. Drink 2022-2023. Tasted February 2022

Pratale Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

San Casciano

Gets neither brighter nor further blessed of red fruit than this star of San Casciano. No missing the mineral element neither, in fact there is a schist, marl and river stone stream running through the plush and succulent fruit in this stellar example of Classico sangiovese. Good tannic delivery at the end is tart and drying yet properly austere. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted March 2022

Principe Duccio Corsini, Villa Le Corti, San Casciano

Principe Corsini Le Corti Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

San Casciano

A “complicated spring,” tells Duccio Corsini, not an overheated summer and good harvest, done before the end of the first week of October. Good yielding though for Le Corti it rests at just under six tonnes per hectare, well below the appellative “disciplinare,” i.e. production code. Sealed under Diam #5, classically Le Corti river stone savoury, with five per cent colorino. Full textured while maintaining the Corsini seasoning and San Casciano vim. Succulent acids, lengthy tannins and early integration. Especially for 2019, urged on by aging in concrete tanks. Drink 2021-2025. Tasted October 2021

Pruneto Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

Radda

Seems to be the Pruneto Annata vintage we’ve all been waiting for. Such sangiovese air and breaths of freshness are welcome with arms and palates open wide. Great fruit man, pure cherries and then this feeling of distillate. Crisp and fresh with Raddese acidity and also herbology safely tucked within. Approach with naïveté and also know that aging is within the communal cards. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted February 2022

Querceto Di Castellina Chianti Classico DOCG L’Aura 2019

Castellina

Similar to the upcoming 2020 in that the heavy prevalence of Alberese soil wants to take control, even at the Annata level. A 2019 of wild berry, balsam and full peppery piqued sangiovese seasoning and enough freshness if rounded in ways that make for a most accessible Annata. Already evolving ever so slightly this way and it is said that L’Aura rounds by wood, if on a scale so incrementally minor as compared to 2020. Truth be told this is as much like Radda than it is Castellina. Border proximity and elevation are responsible for this very fact. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted February 2022

Winemaker Manfred Ing, Querciabella, Greve

Querciabella Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

Greve, Gaiole and Radda

Changes are in the air as always in perpetual and forward thinking motion and felt with most palpable readiness of promising concern in the Querciabella Annata. A wine of amalgamation, a triad of territorial delivery, each contribution as valid and poignant as the next. More to the point is how the grapes arrive and are poised to compliment, layer and celebrate each other. A wine of balance but understanding is a deep and wonderful thing. Note the brush with places, the layers of elevation and fluidity from red fruit flavours through textural tranquility. Seriously, serious and not so much. Just knowing, ready and willing to please. Last tasted February 2022

As always 100 per cent sangiovese from Radda, Greve and Gaiole, most of its life spent in larger format casks. At this point 25-30 hL with what would be even more purity extracted were there 50-70hL sizes involved. The level of transparent concentration is at what feels like the peak of Querciabella Annata. Every vintage is different and requires so much attention and that detail for fine tuning is so indelibly and intensely pitch elegant captured in the generosity of this wine. Clearly a balance in the vineyards but also in how here they layer and come together. Really young, tannins wound and yet not so compact, fruit singing with sliding scale through three communes in succession. Drink 2023-2033. Tasted November 2021

Quercia Al Poggio Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

San Donato in Poggio

From 2019 the Annata is über savoury, of pine forest and a sangiovese with 20 per cent other endemic grapes that take turns delivering herbs, underbrush, wild herbs and forest mulch. Finer tannins even if the wine is tight after all those aromatics emitting from the wine. This is the epitome of a sangiovese in Chianti Classico form needing time, not just in elévage but also in the bottle. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted November 2021

Ricasoli 1141 Brolio Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

Gaiole

Like the ’19 Riserva tasted last month in Firenze there is a rounded and getable nature about the Brolio Annata that just speaks to a combination of vintage and place. That being 270 hectares of well thought out Gaiole intendment, including in Monti where the grapes should help create harmony in Ricasoli’s biggest volume Chianti Classico wine. Can’t miss the Gaiole savour, herbals dried and also sweet, fruit layered from five distinct soils, each contributing and forming the basis for a pentangle of sangiovese righteousness. All in all a great modern era formula that would make the Iron Baron Bettino Ricasoli proud. Last tasted April 2022

Ricasoli’s ’19 is really quite open, gregarious, sumptuous and available. A magical blend of five terroirs and one to enjoy with just about anything in the here and now. Certainly shows a sour cherry and red citrus angle caused by elevated volatility but that’s where the food will come in. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted February 2022

Riecine Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

Gaiole

Grande Gaiole compass, cinch and girth in naturally swarthy sangiovese from Riecine in 2019, crunchy and tart. Inching up towards the volatile but such is the word in pace for the vintage. The fruit can handle the stark reality and veritable truth, equipped with grip and ready for the inevitable circumstance. Maybe wait a year for further resolution. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted February 2022

Rocca delle Macìe, Castellina

Rocca Delle Macìe Chianti Classico DOCG Tenuta Sant’Alfonso 2019

Castellina

From the second property purchased by Sergio Zingarelli’s father Italo in 1973, the largest of the four estates, a place of clay and at times wet soil. Much higher tones and acidities than the Famiglia Zingarelli, in the Castellina air as opposed to mulched in the sottosuolo below. More specific, 100 per cent sangiovese and rounded out by fruits of all ilk; fresh, dried and everywhere in between. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted February 2022

Rocca Di Montegrossi Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

Gaiole

As calcareously tight and wound like a wire around a steel coil this Annata 2019 may be there is something other here, a feeling immediate, insightful and profound. Not just any sangiovese from Montegrossi and perhaps the vintage to explain a Gaiole notion for appellative Chianti Classico DOCG wines. A blend of 88 per cent sangiovese, (10) colorino and (2) canaiolo. A reminder that Marco Ricasoli makes this and he makes Gran Selezione with no Riserva bridge and so at the Annata level there is great fruit, observation and intent. Yes it’s true that three years minimum in bottle are required to release the hounds of charm, but the sangiovese here has done its work silently and the result is a ’19 we can depend upon. Domestic and secure, a wine of warm diplomacy that will certainly bring people together, even those of differing philosophies. Brilliant harbinger for the vintage and what’s to come from the community at large. Grande, once again. Drink 2024-2032. Tasted July and November 2021

San Fabiano Calcinaia Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

Castellina

Rich and chalky, red fruit glare in the classic Castellina way and quite structured for a 2019 Annata. Drink now if you must and with some air this will open, release and please but two years will do well to soften the edges and also integrate the wood spice. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted February 2022

San Giorgio A Lapi Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

Castelnuovo Berardenga

Flawed. Acetic well above 1.0, in fact this is acetic 1.0, likely upwards of 1.5 in volatile acidity. Hard to find any fruit or nuance as a result. Certainly no sense of Castelnuovo Berardenga. Drink 2022. Tasted March 2022

Tasting with Luca Martini di Cigala and Silvia Fiorentini at San Giusto a Rentennano, Gaiole

San Giusto A Rentennano Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

Gaiole

“For us it was a bit different than the rest of Chianti Classico,” explains Luca Martini di Cigala. “There was a big hail in July, delaying ripeness and three layers of green harvest was necessary, to reduce yields and allow the plants to regenerate.” Meant for a late pick that finished on the 16th of October. The final count was 20-25 per cent down yet there are very few Chianti Classico that combine aromatic concentration, flavour complexity, textural glycerin and compaction of tannin like this. Every part of the cherry and cool herbals persist throughout. Prompts the question as to when Luca first saw signs of climate change, events and extremes. Luca’s response is that he realized something was not right in 1998, when the skin of the berries were burned by the sun. In 2017 the vintage brought early frost and then dry heat, with the coming 2021 being another frost year yet again. Drink 2022-2027. Tasted November 2021 and February 2022

San Leonino Chianti Classico DOCG Al Limite 2019

Castellina

Direct spike of red lightning Castellina fruit in a right proper and openly fragrant, upright, generous and perfectly seasoned ’19 Annata. The fruit soars like an eagle, takes it as far as Annata will go. Lovely texture and generous mouthfeel. A wine senza limite. “So put me on a highway, and show me a sign. And take it to the limit, one more time.” Drink 2022-2025. Tasted March 2022

Stomennano Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

Castellina

Stomennano’s western Castellina sangiovese is not merely one that delivers a juicy, fleshy and red citrus bleed but even more the kind that speaks to terroir as much as any in the UGA. This Annata screams Galestro, clay accessibility mixed with grippy schist. Literally smells and tastes like calcareous clay, wet and stony, like Villages pinot noir from Santenay, in a way, but sangiovese is sangiovese and yet this can be consumed just about any day. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted February 2022

Tenuta Di Campomaggio Chianti Classico DOCG Campomaggio 2019

Radda

Herbal and tight, creamy and yet austere. A wine of disparate parts, true Raddese acids and a true altitude crunch. Fruit is substantial and invigorating, overall emotion kept in relative check. Bounces around and about so it will interesting to see where this will land. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted February 2022

A winemaker, an angel and two ambasciatori walk out of a bar ~ Il più grande piacere to taste, talk, break bread and resurrect with these heroes amongst us, @seanilguercio and the King. Sangiovese, maneuvers and the Lucarelli cuisine.

Tenuta Di Carleone Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

Radda

In 2016 the two entities of Karl Egger’s Tenuta di Carleone and Brit Séan O’Callaghan’s Il Guercio combined and they took over Podere L’Aja’s Radda vineyards, opposite Vertine. Retroactively it was 2015 that was the first vintage of Chianti Classico (made by Istine’s Angela Fronti) and then in 2016 O’Callaghan made his first as oenologist and winemaker for the project. “I make one Chianti Classico because I have to and I want to,” tells Séan. That said it is a sangiovese that does not pass the tasting panel at first try but eventually the slightly elevated volatility gets under the skin and lifts the spirit. Light? Not really but luminescent and a true scintillant of sangiovese. “The most important wine we make,” he adds, “because it’s the one that needs to grab your attention.” My goodness this is Niagara bench-land Bachelder pinot noir/gamay but in Radda! Crunchy and perfectly stemmy from 30-35 per cent whole bunch and two to three months maceration, depending on the vineyard. The lightest and elegant and fresh go into (the 100 per cent sangiovese IGT) Uno and everything remaining from Radda goes into the Chianti Classico. And yet this is light so Uno will be even lighter! Approximately 42,000 bottles are produced. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted March 2022

Tenuta Di Lilliano Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

Castellina

Nine months later and full confirmation guaranteed. Pretty and red fruit fleshy in a 2019 Annata with full compliment and support by those sweet lightning Castellina sangiovese acids. Just what to except, appreciate and even adore in straightforward, linear and crispy Chianti Classico for now and up to five years. Perfectly executed in lithe style by Lilliano. Last tasted February 2022

The just released Ruspoli 2019 from western Castellina in Chianti’s Tenuta Di Lilliano takes off where the most amenable 2018 sangiovese left off and runs with the great vintage vibe. A traditionally blended Annata with five per cent each colorino and merlot, for old and newer school bookending and with this stacked vintage in pocket there will be some drawing upon the state’s track record for aging Annata level Chianti Classico. Ruspoli is an aristocratic family from Rome (and palace of the same name), but is originally from Florence. Giulio and Pietro Ruspoli are the proprietors of Lilliano and it was Princess Eleonora Ruspoli Berlingieri who first bottled Lilliano’s wines in 1958. This is just beautiful appellative sangiovese, full of ripe Castellina fruit balanced against a backdrop of inviting territorial acidity and sweet, sweet tannins. The essence of sangiovese is brought straight to the surface with immediate gratification available in a wondrous example that may not need any further development time in the bottle. Drink 2021-2025. Tasted May 2021

Tenuta Di Nozzole Chianti Classico DOCG Nozzole 2019

Greve

Quite the herbal hyperbole here from Greve, pine forest and the resin oozing off the trees. Syrupy in the mouth, thick red liquidity in sangiovese that draws the aura of the land, lends it sweetness and thickness its plot. It’s a soup metaphor for a reason. Drink 2022-2024. Tasted March 2022

Tenuta Orsumella Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

San Casciano

Really firm San Casciano sangiovese from Orsumella though the grip and also depth are in cohorts with quite the impressive vintage gather of fruit. You sense realism and intention in this wine, nothing overdone or gone too far. There is something strong and in charge for sure though everything is about structure and controlled longing. Impressive across the board. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted March 2022

Tenute Squarcialupi La Castellina Chianti Classico DOCG Squarcialupi 2019

Castellina

For the record The Squarcialupi Codex (housed in the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana) is an illuminated manuscript compiled in Florence in the early 15th century. It is the single largest primary source of music of the 14th-century Italian Trecento (also known as the “Italian ars nova”).The first of two Tenute Squarcialupi Annata out of Castellina is the one more textured, of glycerol and subjected to pectinization. A hematic and ferric depth is noted in the way a sanguine current runs through this sangiovese and it just feels like it comes from red earth. Fluid and structured, serious in a way but surely composed. Really well made wine. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted March 2022

Tenute Squarcialupi La Castellina Chianti Classico DOCG Cosimo Bojola 2019

Castellina

Further to what must be a connection with the Squarcialupi Codex, the first folio in the codex states: “This book is owned by Antonio di Bartolomeo Squarcialupi, organist of Santa Maria del Fiore.” On the following pages, added later, are humanistic poems in praise of Squarcialupi.” The second of two Tenute Squarcialupi Annata out of Castellina is this Cosimo Bojola, lighter, brighter and less texturized as compared to the Squarcialupi. Also more serious in the intensity of the elements, minerals and currents that run through, while also grippier, compact, linear and streamlined. This is the one that reminds of Bourgogne of a high-caste village and if any Castellina wine indicates where it comes from, this focused Cosimo Bojola is that one. My goodness. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted March 2022

Terreno Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

Greve

A very specific quadrant of Greve is accessed and acquiesced in Terreno’s Classico Annata, not shy but yes restrained, upwardly mobile and with an understanding of how to reach markets old and new, young and old. A great family member this Terreno, hospitable and generous, open and yet respectful of traditions, acquired and also introduced. Best Annata ever for the house. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted February 2022

Chianti Classico rocks

Tolaini Chianti Classico DOCG Vallenuova 2019

Castelnuovo Berardenga

Some merlot augments the sangiovese in this Castelnuovo Berardenga Annata and it shows in the lithely verdant plus creamy smoothness noted, from nose to palate. Also a 2019 of more tannin than many, felt and understood as the wine dries away with classic sangiovese austerity. Savour, acidity and brushy flora are all there, up front and at the finish. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted February 2022

Triacca La Madonnina Chianti Classico DOCG Bello Stento 2019

Greve

Bello Stento, literally “hardly beautiful” is just a perfectly traditional example of Chianti Classico, especially in Annata form, finding a modernity of freshness, accessibility and beauty without compromise or giving in to trend. Aromatically brushy and Amaro herbal while also in delivery of real glycerol and sap running texture. Neither crunch nor chew but something in between. Drink 2022-2024. Tasted February 2022

Vallepicciola Chianti Classico DOCG 2019

Vagliagli

Always fulsome, concentrated and so well developed, texture in sangiovese defined, climbing to syrup and jam but staying just shy of that consistency. Concurrently and expressly Vagliagli, hinting at the volatile and again remaining comfortably in check. Very blood orange and red currant with mineral earth running through the wood flavours. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted March 2022

Vignamaggio Chianti Classico DOCG Terre Di Prenzano 2019

Greve

Perfect medium weight and sweetly initiated entry into Classico is just this from Vignamaggio’s multi-terraced, tiered and controlled Annata 2019. A sangiovese plus parts thereof in varietal addendum to squeeze ripenesses and pack them in like punch. Fills by barrel and parts equalized amount to an easy CC that knows just what to do. Simple and forthright. Drink 2022-2024. Tasted February 2022

Viticcio Chianti Classico DOCG Vendemmia 54 2019

Greve

Not on the lighter side of Greve so near to Monterioralle per se but surely a Classico picked and rendered in a fresh, come and get it style. That said there is some mild peppery jolts mixed with spiciness that shows up both on the nose and also the palate. Continues into some sangiovese austerity with dried herbs and drying tannin at the finish. Drink 2022-2024. Tasted February 2022

Chianti Classico Experience, Restaurant Education

Chianti Classico DOCG 2018

Bindi Sergardi Chianti Classico DOCG La Ghirlanda 2018

Vagliagli

A beautiful and open-knit Mocenni Annata from 2018, not exactly lithe or shrinking but already quite available at this time. That said the acidity is in full control and while the tannins are ones of grip and fortitude they sidle in and connect with the other constituent parts. Further to that this is a wine that continues to roll forward, collecting matter and growing in stature and as a result complexities. Ok enough about that. Last tasted October 2021

La Ghirlanda is the Bindi Sergardi Annata from the Tenuta Mocenni (estate) in Castelnuovo Berardenga and if any one single bottling from Alessandra Casini Bindi Sergardi should act as the spokes-wine, this would have to be it. The authentic and exacting sangiovese of full regale and ornamentation, the ”garland,” celebratory Chianti Classico of purpose for proprietors and place. Pulls from Mocenni’s Alberese and Galestro, managing structure while exulting succulence of fruit. The most getable and beautiful Chianti Classico Annata is here, bright and balanced. So ready to be taken advantage of which might act contrary to sangiovese messaging but do not fear because enough Alberese meddling equips this 2018 to offer its best through the middle of the decade. Drink 2021-2026. Tasted May 2021

Ser Gardo, Bindi Sergardi, Vagliagli

Bindi Sergardi Chianti Classico DOCG Ser Gardo 2018

Vagliagli

I Colli Estate’s Vagliagli vineyards abutting the Chianti Colli Senesi are the source and so different to that of the Mocenni amphitheatre. A higher pH and a lessening of acidity make for a silky smooth and lush Classico. The 2018 is a perfumed vintage, with brushy herbs and local flora. So much more perfume, lovely florals and a resolution of the tannins into the middle points and parts of the wine. Beautiful work with one hundred per cent sangiovese to express this southwestern corner of the Vagliagli sub-zone. Lastt asted October 2021

Ser Gardo, sibling to La Ghirlanda, both Annata wines but here from Bindi Sergardi’s I Colli estate. Same Castelnuovo Berardenga zone but slight alteration in soil. Still the Alberese but less Galestro. Not as glycerin and luxe as Ghirlanda and even with a lighter to easy vintage like 2018 there is little doubt that sangiovese like this will need some time. The sensation taken here is lime-chalky, sapid in nature, less give and more demand. Not seriously tense but a year would assist in softening the grip and integrating the lighter 2018 fruit. Seemingly more traditional, herbal and savoury sangiovese to be sure and yet always with that post-modernist’s Bindi Sergardi thick brushstroke of style. Drink 2022-2027. Tasted May 2021

Cantalici Chianti Classico DOCG Baruffo 2018

Gaiole

Baruffo the dog, one of twenty currently on the property. Baruffo the 100 per cent sangiovese of increased concentration, richness and breadth as compared to the blended Cantalici. Ages for one year in 20 hL barrels, plenty of development for what is a late-picked, fully reasoned and seasoned Annata. Will resolve and show its best in two years. Another step forward taken, consistent within the estate style. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted February 2022

Carpineta Fontalpino Chianti Classico DOCG 2018

Castelnuovo Berardenga

Castelnuovo Beradenga’s Carpineta Fontalpino farms vineyards at the estate and also in Montaperti plus Dofana within the Vagliagli UGA of the commune’s western butterfly wing. Winemaker Gioia Cresti so magically and intrinsically marries the mix of fruit for a classico that resides apart from her cru sangiovese. Low yields for Annata off of mixed clay, sand and also (Alberese) limestone come from mixed elevations between 380-420m picked across the entirety of the month of September. A true stacked ferment concept, an honest and exemplary estate wine to get right at what Cresti and her estate are all about. Gioia is a cru fanatic but this sangiovese really matters. The succulence, salumi meatiness and forza della natura are all you need to know about her skills, humility and humanity. Drink 2022-2027. Tasted November 2021

Castello Di Radda Chianti Classico DOCG 2018

Radda

A unique and particular vintage, unlike others in the recent past or what would come from 2019. More important is how here at Località Il Becco along with nearby Il Corno the conditions were so different from the rest of the territory. Arid and warmer in this area, making for dry, tight and plum dusty sangiovese, even a bit austere. The warmth has not resulted in density of concentration as it might in some other vintages, take 2015 as an example. While it may be missing the sweet harmony of 2019 there is a clear message of Raddese acidity and likely a good long life ahead. Last tasted March 2022

A sangiovese from Radda in Chianti that in Annata form and out of a vintage that requires less time in order to express its terroir. The vineyards are located in the lower part of the valley, below the Macigno sandstone and away from the more calcareous eastern and southern sections. This is the place of “formazione geologica particolare,” a schisty area where Galestro is common. A very pretty version of Castello di Radda’s sangiovese is exactly this, crispy and spicy, acid circulating and turning the fruit from soil earthy to creatively succulent. Crunchy too and ready for immediate work, best to match alongside grilled Tuscan sausages, eggplant and zucchini. Drink 2021-2024. Tasted April 2021

Fattoria Cigliano Di Sopra Chianti Classico DOCG 2018

San Casciano

Still a good leesy reduction to start, wine of extraction and in the third year so different from before but not yet in discovery of the balance and especially tannic extraction. The wine has come into a much better place, the tannins have lost much of their astringency and the wood has melted in. Drinking well right now. Last tasted November 2021

From a place (San Casciano) that gifts perfume but in the most savoury of ways. There too is a deep red darkness to the fruit and here the full advantage of 2018 is taken into consideration. Everything here is done with acumen intention, including maceration, pressing and extraction. The redundancy effects the outcome, restricts the subtleties and brings immediate gratification. Fourth vintage for the estate’s young winemakers and expect two steps forward from 2019. Drink 2020-2022. Tasted February 2020

Fattoria della’Aiola Chianti Classico DOCG 2018

Vagliagli

Has lightened through linear design and really shows that it was not a vintage of great generosity. More so one of savour and direct impression though now feeling a bit closed. It’s a phase and should resume an open door policy from late ’22 through early ’26. Last tasted February 2022

The field work put in by the team at Fattoria della Aiola in the most challenging 2017 vintage pays double dividends with the ease and amenability of ’18. The Annata arrives from low in the valley below Radda where the location looks easterly through the true Castelnuovo Berardenga UGA. If that ’17 carried the air of refreshment and lightness of Castelnuovo sangiovese then get a whiff and a taste of this ’18. Sharp, tight, composed, finessed and always shining bright. The depth of fruit and structure is magically subtle, hidden in shadows and at present allowing the pleasure factor to reign supreme. There is grip and determination behind that pretty scene and so some sangiovese longevity is surely promised. Drink 2021-2026. Tasted August 2020

Fattoria Le Masse, San Donato in Poggio

Fattoria Le Masse Chianti Classico DOCG 2018

San Donato in Poggio

First vintage with new (large format) wood and it shows on the nose, from the vineyards in Morrocco, a land totally different from Le Masse’s estate lands. Not exactly like the Classico soils of Galestro and Alberese but still rocky, hard soil that drains easily and very different than Chianti nearby. Solo sangiovese, land directed, soil funky, fresh and vital. Partially fermented in wood tanks, a touch Bretty and notable tannic. Needs to and will settle in nicely. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted October 2021

Fattoria Montecchio Chianti Classico DOCG ‘Primum Line’ 2018

San Donato in Poggio

Montecchio’s 2018 has come around, having strayed away and found how to amortize, acclimatize and ultimately prioritize what needs to settle and feel just right. A textural, liquid San Donato in Poggio red soil, Ligurian wind and stony sangiovese if ever there was, rounded by grapes that soften, including in their colour. A lovely drop at this age and perfectly present day drinking Annata. Drink 2022-2024. Tasted March 2022

Fattoria Pomona Chianti Classico DOCG 2018

Castellina

Sold out already and truthfully a carbon copy, albeit lighter on its Castellina feet, of the Pomona Vineyard Gran Selezione. In this case fruit comes from Sant’Ilario and Vigna del Termine vineyards. Here in Annata terms with readied, steadied and intuitive ease. Different and dual vineyard impart and more elastic movement than the GS but also the two vintages that came before. Crafty Classico, of a caring knowable in the idiosyncratic Pomona stability of style. A smaller vintage than 2019 to come but says Monica Raspi, “such is life.” Drink 2021-2026. Tasted October 2021

Fontodi Chianti Classico DOCG Filetta Di Lamole 2018

Lamole

No one picks before October 10th in Lamole and Fontodi’s Filetta was the last. Always is, that’s the pecking order and Giovanni Manetti’s cousin who owns the vineyard goes back to 1045 in Chianti Classico, the oldest in recorded history. That Lamole perfume is unmistakable, with all the character of Lamole and the palate structure of a Fontodi wine. Bigger than most in Lamole and yet more graceful and caressing than those of the Conca d’Oro. As complex and fine as Filetta can be, ushering in a new level of deeper understanding, resolution and completion for Manetti and Lamole. A harbinger for the great and symbiotic relationship between Lamole and the vintage, leaving an impression that says this is the Unità Geografiche Aggiuntive place to be in 2018. Drink 2023-2031. Tasted October 2021

Il Molino Di Grace Chianti Classico DOCG 2018

Panzano

Great freshness in abundance and despite some critical vintage theory there is so much to find in a Panzano Annata like this from Il Molino di Grace. Piquancy and an open door policy, classicism for the UGA in an ideal snapshot and Chianti Classico profile. Memory recalls the violet perfume and purity of fruit when tasting this 48 hours after it left the vine. Nothing has been lost or sacrificed to virtue or clarity in solo sangiovese that begs to be seen, heard and tasted. Will require less time than some vintages, to ready itself for piacevolezza e gustosità. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted October 2021

Le Cinciole Chianti Classico DOCG 2018

Panzano

Le Cinciole’s 2018 benefits from two things: Less than heavy vintage result and one extra year in bottle to soften the Panzano-Galestro tannins notably present in this chalky wine. Red schisty-clay-limestone consistency, texture and presentation with high toned, lifted and red citrus behaviour. Quite a vintage snapshot mouthful in emotion but never heaviness. Still a bit oak dominant which should pass in another year or so. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted February 2022

Le Fonti Di Panzano Chianti Classico DOCG 2018

Panzano

Every time I taste a Le Fonti sangiovese there is instant recognition of Panzano but even more so the north and northeast oriented vineyards of Vicky and Guido’s fine, fine estate. This from ’18 is purely, expressly and unequivocally Le Fonti. Cooler, more linear, precise, focused and intentional than broader Panzano and surely a child of craft, the chase and chaos. Bravo Guido, brava Vicky, thank you for this honest act of Chianti Classico humility and humanity. Drink this every day. Last tasted March 2022

In Vicky’s world “a very alcoholic year,” hot and dry but an expected extreme. Came out at 15 per cent with great fruit to counteract and balance this out. Light chalkiness and long chains of tannins, full palate exposure and much pleasure to find. Picked between the 28th and 3rd of October so took all and full advantage of a late September Panzano 25-plus degree fluctuation of daytime heat spike to nighttime lowest lows Therefore not hard to know what to attribute the alcohol to, relating to evaporation, humidity or anything else that happens when grapes flash develop that late in the season. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted October 2021

Lornano Chianti Classico DOCG 2018

Castellina

The year is 2022. The vintage of this Lornano Annata is 2018. Why is it in this glass and being assessed is anybody’s guess. “Sangiovese needs the bottle,” is said with a shrug and the simple utterance remains etched in mind forever. Nicolò Pozzoli said this five years ago, well before this wine was even a twinkle in his Lornano eye. The vinous, herbal essence and essential oils have yet to integrate. The tannins have to assimilate and the wine knows not yet where it will go. Or perhaps it does and has chosen to stay quiet, in slumber and protected. When it emerges there will be the same classic Castellina cool and savoury sweetness as ever. The vintage will offer this gift of Lornano. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted March 2022

Nardi Viticoltori Chianti Classico DOCG 2018

Castellina

Nardi’s 2018 is purely and confidently Castellina sangiovese, richly glycerin, sweetly herbal and parochially viscous. This is Castellina red fruit incarnate, croccante, seamlessly woven with fine if understood acidity and gentle, equally getable tannins. An Annata meant for putting in your glass, anytime, anywhere. Last tasted March 2022

Nardi in Castellina in Chianti is found below Lilliano and Macìe covering an area of forty hectares of property. Ten are vineyards and the rest is divided between olive groves, various crops and the farm for breeding Chianina cattle and Cinta Senese pigs. The work of Angelo and Giacomo, sons of Enrico. Their striking ’18 Annata scintillant is 90 per cent sangiovese plus five each canaiolo and colorino. It is truly Classico marl-Galestro Castellina, bleeding cherry red fruit, acids that travel up and down the sides and then further serve to circulate the succulent and juicy fruit as it moves around the mouth. It’s the full sangiovese from a specific commune allowed to shine experience. Dictionary entry, spot on and satisfying. Drink 2021-2026. Tasted January 2021

Podere Capaccia, Radda

Podere Capaccia Chianti Classico DOCG 2018

Radda

Winemaker Alyson Morgan uses only large format cask to age her Annata and like the previous 2017 this 2018 comes from an arid and very warm vintage though not quite as extreme. That ’17 is still so fresh and this ’18 is outrageously youthful, not closed but vinoso, cinnamon dusty and giving this feeling of sangiovese scorrevole. In other words it clings to but also slides as if tethered to the inside of the mouth. Acid level is still strong and yet supportive with thanks to how and when the grapes are chosen to be picked. If ’17 is chewy then ’18 brings the crunch, easy to say when you know that ’19 will fall harmoniously in between. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted March 2022

Podere Castellinuzza Chianti Classico DOCG 2018

Lamole

Lamole with an extra year’s settling is always a wonderful plan especially when executed with precision to a cumulative point of no return. Castellinuzza’s Annata is at exactly that place and is that place, a perfumed frazione sangiovese of well-ripened and judged fruit, floral tones both under and over. Succulent and textured if just a bit green, not unusual and in fact concurrent, at least at times here and there, with the UGA’s way. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted March 2022

Quercia Al Poggio Chianti Classico DOCG 2018

San Donato in Poggio

Youngest vineyards are 15-20 years old so they are all able to defend themselves in dry or challenging vintages. An average year really and not all the grapes are picked to be bottled, making sure to always maintain quality. All the vineyards contribute to the Annata, even some from Vigna Le Cataste, the 1997 planted vineyard, two sides over two valleys, argiloso on north side and Galestro to the south. Mostly 500L tonneaux with new 28 hL botti installed two years ago. “Organic with biodynamic undertones.” All five wines smell so completely different. Up to 20 per cent are mixed endemic grapes, including 10 of ciliegiolo, plus canaiolo, colorino and malvasia nera. Adds up to a multi-national and savoury blend, a parochial gathering that layers a true sense of place, dusty, plum peppery and a true sense of forest airs in this wine. Good weight, balance and length. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted November 2021

Renzo Marinai Chianti Classico DOCG 2018

Panzano

Marinai’s Panzano is one of the richest, most fruit cumulate sangiovese of the UGA’s lot. From 2018 there is warmth, development, spice and Amaro viscosity. Viscidity too, rightfully tacky while also full of gems and precious metals. Such a Panzano delight, full and ropey, resistant to sheer forces and ready for the main course. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted March 2022

Tenuta Casenuove Chianti Classico DOCG 2018

Panzano

Val Delle Corti Chianti Classico DOCG 2018

Radda

Picked at the end of September and into the first week of October after a stretch of time from which humidity rose at night. There were some problems with mould and insects. And so the early picking (for Radda) lent finesse and Radda acidity for some of the Classico’s light and direct wines. Yet another moment of diversification from UGA to UGA and vintage to vintage. This is not a massive sangiovese of alcohol and grosso attitude. This is exactly the opposite, while 10 minutes drive away in Panzano some wines are big and bullish, pushing and exceeding 15 per cent alcohol. Last Tasted October 2021

Roberto Bianchi’s steep hillside slope is where he farms a quietly dramatic terroir to conjoin or congiungere with Radda’s many high elevation localizzazione. These once not long ago too cool for ripening sangiovese vineyards are now the place to be and Bianchi takes full account, responsibility and risk to make the most of his new world Chianti Classico possibilities. Long macerations are often over 45 days, even longer for Riserva, though in this easy and lighter vintage perhaps not quite so long. Still there is a development of texture, glycerol and the finest tannins in his glistening sangiovese. The inescapable Raddese acidity shines just as bright, carries the light and infuses the pure compound cherry genere with a hyper real sense of varietal and location. As they say, posizione è tutto. If Chianti Classico is the future, the man who might be dubbed double B has delivered an Annata già arrivato. Drink 2022-2027. Tasted September 2021

Villa Di Geggiano Chianti Classico DOCG 2018

Vagliagli

Geggiano’s Vagliagli Annata is just a baby, like the faces of the brothers Bianchi-Bandinelli, charismatic, timeless and chiseled. The forces of Galestro and Alberese nature conspire to equip this linear and focused wine with the necessary attributes for an impressive run through sangiovese life. As for now focus on the seamlessness of the structural ascension and a fruit quality so pure it can only plan to be there every step of the way. The ten year Annata run is special and that is this Geggiano’s plan. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted March 2022

Villa Trasqua Chianti Classico DOCG 2018

Castellina

Here in the year of her majesty 2022 a look at the 2018 vintage for this Trasqua Annata is so early. And yet here it is in this glass and so here goes nothing. The Castellina company knows its terroir and understands that sangiovese must take it slow, ease into grace and away from structural pain. Trasqua’s is like the curious case of Castellina, born as an old soul then transversing through life into middle age, adulthood and finally youth. An inverse Classico relationship with time, crisp, crunchy and crusted now, so very tannic and four years away from settling into comfort. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted March 2022

An American and six Canadians at La Sala, San Casciano

Chianti Classico DOCG (older vintages)

Cantalici Chianti Classico DOCG 2017

Gaiole

Sangiovese blended with 15 (merlot and cabernet sauvignon) and the “international” one, less aggressive and pure than the varietal Baruffo. As Chianti Classico the character augmented by Cassis, smoke and bell pepper changes the approach and then the result. Smooth, round and creamy while truth be told there is still a Gaiole sentiment running through. Drink 2022-2024. Tasted February 2022

Carpineta Fontalpino Chianti Classico DOCG Dofana 2017

Vagliagli

The Dofana stone is sandy, more Arenaria then Macigno, with Alberese and clay. Faces southeast at 350m, planted to new clones of sangiovese, as opposed to Montaperto. All adds up to a sangiovese cru of musculature, great if slightly austere tannins, fleshier, cherries of deeper maceration and profound tang. All parts are raised, elevated, punchy and there is an intensity that really makes one think and feel. The vineyard was acquired in 2004, now at the point of Gioia Cresti having come to really understand the make-up, to claim the future of the wine, for what is going to happen. The classicism of needing to give sangiovese time is entrenched into Dofana, around which “the corners in this wine are personality,” tells Filippo Cresti. A wine to watch what happens with 12 bottles over the years. Even 30 years. Dofana’s tannins are that tight and compacted, even from arid 2017. Drink 2025-2037. Tasted November 2021

Carpineta Fontalpino Chianti Classico DOCG Montaperto 2017

Vagliagli

A grey to light yellow calcareous plot, mainly Alberese facing northeast at 420m. Even in 2017 it will not get much more elemental and linear, balanced, fresh and the definition of an elegant cru-designate Chianti Classico. The oldest vines are 40 years and the vineyard is re-planted in stages, slowly, Bordeaux style. All sangiovese, remarkably bright, getable and cool. Hard to find more of this ilk from the aridity that 2017 gave to the territory’s vines. Drink 2022-2027. Tasted November 2021

Le Fonti Di Panzano Chianti Classico DOCG 2017

Panzano

More or less picked at the same time as 2018 (18th to 28th of September), give or take a few days and while the alcohol is felt more than in 2018 there is also a dry extract elevation and less grip as a consequence. More peppery spice and wood sensation, here in an Annata of tightly wound impression. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted October 2021

Podere Capaccia Chianti Classico DOCG 2017

Radda

Only sees Grandi Botti, allowing the wine to breathe and expresses the appellation’s purest form. Has kept its fruit and energy without a moment of change since last tasted 25 months ago. Seriously no evolution, acting fresh as the day it was first popped. Represents top structure in Annata. Last tasted March 2022

Things turn brighter in a sangiovese like this from Radda, not so much lighter as one from which fruit can shine. Light in terms of tannin but sneaky enough to elevate and extend. More chew than crunch in a pressed fruit roll-up carnival of the heart ’17. Drink 2020-2024. Tasted February 2020

Villa Di Geggiano Chianti Classico DOCG 2017

Vagliagli

Spiced to the hilt which is neither shock nor surprise from a pair of Castelnuovo brothers and their newly minted Vagliagli UGA. Men who allows allow and encourage their terroir to speak in clarity, regardless of vintage and no matter the circumstance. Warm and luxe, deep and profound, an exegesis of structure delivered by grapes of local, traditional and serious concern. Last tasted February 2022

Truth be told this 2017 from Geggiano persists as a youthful and too early to call Annata. The particular Galestro and Alberese in these micro-climate championed western wing of Castelnuovo vineyards make for some of the communes’ most charming meets structured sangiovese. Why should the heat and the challenge effect anything otherwise. So much here, so many levels of Chianti Classico to unfurl. Drink 2022-2030. Tasted February 2020

Alberese, Il Palagio di Panzano

Il Palagio Di Panzano Chianti Classico DOCG 2016

Panzano

Includes fruit from the San Martino Vineyard, composed of Galestro, rich in iron, morphologically very different to the soils around the winery. Spends 12 months in large format casks, followed by 12 months in bottle. As an Annata Palagio’s is released late, certainly as compared to most in the territory. Still firm with notable tannins and yet to be resolved structural elements. There is a dryness on the upper palate, a case of clones and soils, still a closed door to the grace and possibility of this wine. There are grapes coming from the oldest (late 1980s planting) part of the vineyard and beginning in 2017 these grapes will all move to the old vines Rosato. This will mark a profound change in not only style but accessibility, especially for the Annata. Last tasted October 2021

Upon further consideration, thoughts drill down and clarity comes into more micro view, six months after last tasting and 14 months after first tasting PdP’s 2016. It took some time but now the perfume is pure Panzano and in this case, right at the heart of the village. The essence of a northeastern corner of Conca d’Oro sweet savour, a purity and a concentration of sangiovese that carries the culture and tradition of its fruit, safely and securely. The tannins here are sneaky, creeping in, aiding and abetting, for longevity. This should become one of the longer lived Annata of the vintage. Last tasted November 2020

Only sangiovese as is the plan for the entire estate. That Panzano perfume and glycerin though there is some more weight and bones than others. Reminds of the style that’s constant from Fontodi to be honest. These are some of Chianti Classico’s finest acids, sweet and refined, They compliment and support. Drink 2021-2027. Tasted September 2019 and May 2020

Looking south towards Castelnuovo Berardenga from San Giusto a Rentennano, Gaiole

San Giusto A Rentennano Chianti Classico DOCG 2016

Gaiole

For Luca 2016 is a true sangiovese vintage, equanimous from start to vintage and one from which the terroir and territory take control of the grape. Indeed this is Chianti in ideal if not the purest perfection of Classico form, deeply transparent and matched by an honest to greatness inner mineral wave in full command. There is a sense of blood orange but also red currant and ripe cherry. A classic year in which the ample but amenable tannins allow for early access but also plenty of time ahead. Drink 2022-2032. Tasted February 2022

I Fabbri Olinto Chianti Classico DOCG 2014

Lamole

Even back in 2018 ands 2019 there was already something intuited for the beautiful, ulterior and even ethereal if much maligned 2014s and more than anything a sense of wonder to see how well they could age. Now in 2022 enough time has passed to take deeper judgement and if I Fabbri’s Olinto is any indication then the vintage will deliver many quality wines for many more years to come. The Lamole perfume is front, open, lifted and centre. The sangiovese has only moved forward to a place where the classicism of Greve’s amphitheatric frazione stands right before us. Susanna Grassi has done it again, as she always does, filling her wines with realism and grace. This Olinto is in a really great place. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted February 2022

Full tasting of San Giusto a Rentennano, Gaiole

San Giusto A Rentennano Chianti Classico DOCG 2013

Gaiole

Not an easy harvest with recurring rain, on repeat from what happened during the spring. In a way like 2014 but the weather was much more fortuitous in between. The liveliness and grippy acidity wrapped up in persistent tannin keeps this a bit closed and two years further should really open things up. Incredibly fresh sangiovese and that specific San Giusto blood, part orange and part sanguinity. Will be just right around the corner. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted February 2022

San Giusto A Rentennano Chianti Classico DOCG 2012

Gaiole

At the outset there is some animale, a cooked rabbit per se, a smaller animal, not bovine or porcine. such a curious and complex aromatic swell. In the vintage a big rain arrived at the beginning of September but not all of the vineyards were able to recuperate from the long dry spell and as such the tannins are a bit dry. That said they are settling now and it has taken this much time to get to this point. The fruit shines, the wine is just now in its window and while hydric stress clearly played a role there is much to gain at this time. Drink 2022-2027. Tasted November 2021

Cantalici Baruffo 2011

Cantalici Chianti Classico DOCG Baruffo 2011

Gaiole

Holding the fort and going strong for a 10-11 year old sangiovese, same vineyard and specs as the ’18 tasted side by side. This was the third vintage labeled Baruffo, though the present day Cantalici dates back to 2002. Yes, still in very good form, notes surely secondary, tannins almost fully softened, some tartufo just emerging now. Far from oxidative, acids really quite sweet and true blue cool savour fully in charge and control. The finish is truly enjoyable, neither drying nor cloying, but with frutta seco and long, menthol cool. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted February 2022

I Fabbri Chianti Classico DOCG Terra Di Lamole 2010

Lamole

A blend of sangiovese and canaiolo, acid and pH in cohorts for a Lamole of true timeless terroir and of a time when the naked transparency of the frazione could never be denied. Not that hiding Lamole in 2022 is a thing but the linearity, stark reality and absolute transparency of the day is on full display from Susanna Grassi’s 2010. That and the barrel she would have augmented Terra di Lamole with to create a kind of Selezione for the time. Now in the waning stages with thanks to a warm vintage when such a thing was not the average or contiguous norm. Drink 2022-2023. Tasted February 2022

With Winemaker Manfred Ing, Querciabella, Greve

Querciabella Chianti Classico DOCG 2010

Greve

Immediate waft of frutta di bosco from what was Manfred Ing’s first vintage at Querciabella, having arrived on the 3rd of May. An auspicious start because it rained the entire month. The heat never came and even in retrospect the team will say it was the worst vintage ever. Guido di Santi was in charge of winemaking (and in a way still is). The season continued despite the rains and lingered well into the fall. Was also the year new cement tanks and wood vats arrived for fermentation, plus the inaugural one as a 100 per cent sangiovese. Only four months into his tenure Ing urged the team to wait longer before picking. The fact is that’s all sangiovese needed and usually needs. Time. So now 11 years forward the cured salumi style of Chianti Classico is just what this is pleased to be. A vanishing point of previous stylistic expression for a future that began with the advent of a new unfolding story. Not much fruit to talk about but plenty of Ruffoli and gastronomic pleasure in many ways. Well matched to Fuoripiazza Ristorante Enoteca in Greve. Drink 2021-2024. Tasted November 2021

Conti Capponi/Villa Calcinaia Chianti Classico DOCG 2009

Montefioralle

Holding firm and quite well for an 11-plus year old Annata from a vintage not too dissimilar to what is coming from 2019. Bodes well for Capponi’s ’19 and so many kin. This retrospective look feels so very Montefioralle with the addition of down by the river Greve alluvial silt and clay deposit generosity. Airy yet grounded, high-toned yet also able to go baritone. Linear yet well-rounded, freshness in acidity persistent while never getting too high. A wine to sit down with, learn some history and stay in the present. Drink 2022-2024. Tasted February 2022

I Fabbri, Lamole

I Fabbri Olinto Chianti Classico DOCG 2009

Lamole

Full disclosure: This bottle has been open for 20 hours and by every logical sense of reality and the imagination should be lost to the nether world of sangiovese days gone by, but alas no! Susanna Grassi’s 2009 is glorious and texturally rounded, not to mention aromatically lifted and sound. The secondary elements are gracious, delicious and firmly entrenched in next level structure. There is no sense of demise or decline and as a vintage the overall sensation is one of climb, ascension and incline. Brava e grande Susanna. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted February 2022

I Fabbri Chianti Classico DOCG Lamole Olinto Grassie E Figlio 2009

Lamole

The Lamole label is a different animal than the Olinto when it comes to a retrospective look side by side with the Olinto 2009. More wood, evolution and secondary bleeding into tertiary character but most of all this cinghiale-animale note that can’t be denied. Earthy and hematic, a tale of brush, porcini and the sauce reduced after slow cooking the shoulder, hours later and complex. Lamole herbal, perfumed and fine. Past prime but a window into the recent past. Drink 2022-2023. Tasted February 2022

San Giusto A Rentennano Chianti Classico DOCG 2008

Gaiole

A vintage from which the tannins seemed very hard and needed a long time to improve. Actually shocked at how this has yet to truly evolve, with almost no oxidation or dried components. No frutta secco or bosco but yes glycol and Amaro. Silken and mineral, as Luca’s sangiovese (with varying percentages of canaiolo and colorino always are). Will still drink beautifully for six to 10 years further. Drink 2022-2028. Tasted February 2022

Villa Calcinaia 1975, Montefioralle

Conti Capponi/Villa Calcinaia Chianti Classico 1975

Montefioralle

Tasted as part of “Il Chianti Classico in 9 Decadi” led by Filippo Bartolotta with Giovanni Manetti at Stazione Leopolda in Florence at the Chianti Classico Collection. TCA. A matter of clay and limestone and in Calcinaia’s vineyard the type of stone is Colombino, not rare but highly specific to certain Chianti Classico vineyards. Looking past the TCA there is a wild strawberry sense of fruit that while stymied and suppressed there is a persistence and longevity in this forty-seven year old wine. Truly sangiovese with mineral scents and an unkempt wildness about its disposition. Tasted March 2022

Barone Ricasoli Castello Di Brolio Chianti Classico 1949

Gaiole

Tasted as part of “Il Chianti Classico in 9 Decadi” led by Filippo Bartolotta with Giovanni Manetti at Stazione Leopolda in Florence at the Chianti Classico Collection. The oldest wine in the flight. apropos and just when you consider the Ricasoli heritage and lineage. A mineral layering which instinctively mimics the compaction of argiloso, macigno and calcari from Brolio’s soils, no longer feeling the separation or mille-feuille effect but now just all morphed into one and the same. There were surely some white wines in this mix, as per the formula written decades earlier by Bettino Ricasoli. Probably helped keep the freshness for some time and while this is now all earth and stone the wine is very much alive. There’s even some sweetness and citrus showing, indicative of blood orange some 73 years later, finishing with a trebbiano and malvasia Vinsanto tang. Tasted March 2022

Gurvinder Bhatia, Chianti Classico Collection 2022

Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2019

Bibbiano Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2019

Castellina

My or should I say man is Bibbiano’s Riserva’s ’19 the most naturally sweet sensation of Castellina fruit that Tommaso Marrocchesi Marzi has ever produced. A well of sangiovese liqueur and liquidity of seasonings, fine spices, Mediterranean and even a bit exotique. I imagine he is most proud of this wine, traditionally Riserva but so above ground, out there and capable of running with his single-vineyard, one side of the estate or other, Gran Selezione wines. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted March 2022

Buondonno Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Casavecchia Alla Piazza 2019

Castellina

Hard not to appreciate the double entendre in Gabriele Buondonno’s wines, at once big and boisterous with well developed alcohol but then high elevation salty, airy and expansive. They are what they are what they need to be, from his place in Castellina, nearly Panzano in temperament, substantiality and fully equipped with measure. The ’19 is a bit more than tannic so let it rest another couple of years. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted March 2022

Castello Di Albola Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2019

Radda

Castello di Albola’s Radda at elevation Riserva is quite tight and compact, especially this early in its assessment. Clearly a wine of Galestro with plenty of Calcari influence, glycol liquidity and just that classic sense of regional liqueur. Quite viscous and generous, tart at this stage with a hint of balsamica. Will settle in and drink with Riserva pride. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted March 2022

Castello Di Ama Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Montebuoni 2019

Gaiole

Castello Di Volpaia Chianti lassico Riserva DOCG 2019

Radda

Tank sample but a finished wine. Phenomenal poly-phenolics and sensory gifting from a sangiovese 100 per cent in delivery of the Volpaia sweetness of fruit, cool sensibility, silky texture and equally tactile tannins. If a hole or an unresolved moment exists it would be impossible to unearth and in some ways, at this stage, Riserva is almost readier than Annata. But that shouldn’t really be possible with the grapes coming from the same vineyard, here in the upper part. The winemaking is exceptional and the vineyard’s voice is perfectly heard. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted October 2021

Fèlsina Berardenga Rancia Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2019

Castelnuovo Berardenga

A bright, lightning red fruit and herbal oil Rancia Riserva here in ’19, working through pine and cedar, rosemary, sage and elderberry, fennel too. All the resins are here in their youth, circulating and formulating an exit strategy. At this point the fruit, sweet as it is, is wrapped up in the bramble, impossible to reach without getting bitten by the thorny tannins of this wine. Just wait, and wait some more because there is so much happening and still to come. Drink 2024-2032. Tasted March 2022

Gagliole Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2019

Panzano

Nothing scents like a Gagliole and nowhere in Castellina does this sense of fruit compaction, timed and tidy acidity and then fineness of sweet, evolved and intelligent tannins co-exist. Herbal yet delicately so, dripping and oozing of terroir, spice infiltrate of every zone, pocket and pore. Not sure there can be recalled a Riserva with this much personality and oomph but here it is in all glory. Also not sure there has been an example that needs as much aging time as this generously structure ’19. Don’t touch and return five years forward. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted March 2022

Le Miccine Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2019

Gaiole

Le Miccine 2019 is intrinsically Gaiole but also very personal. It feels like and comes with a sensation you will intuit whether or not you taste this wine alongside winemaker (and Québecoise) Paula Cook, or not. What amazing and exceptional fruit from ’19, building and building, fleshing and fleshing in a most beautiful glass of sangiovese Riserva wine. And you can access sooner than many, as you wish. Grande Paula. Veramente. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted March 2022

Diego Finnocchi, L’Erta di Radda

L’Erta Di Radda Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2019

Radda

Also a campione da botte, cask sample of 100 per cent sangiovese from a cru, of a very specific terrain. A parcel of Galestro and Alberese on a hillside though here a red earth and where two specific clones of sangiovese are grown. F9 and R4 to be specific, both producing very small bunches. So reminds of Montalcino’s Lorenzo Magnelli and Le Chiuse, in methodology and also result for which an intensely fine acidity defines and directs but here a Raddese variety to which there is no compare. Hard to find Chianti Classico sangiovese more profumato that does not come from Lamole and perhaps its a matter of the in-land, off-shore breezes that blow here and through this vineyard called La Casina. Another cask sample that is so expressive and so close to being ready, in fact they are drawn from their final resting vessel just waiting to be bottled. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted March 2022

Luiano Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2019

San Casciano

Luiano’s tannins are variegated in 2019, specific to Alessandro Palombo’s San Casciano terroir, layering sweet, tart, savoury, salty, verdant and even umami notability. The fact that fruit is at the top of the local pyramid and spectrum will ensure a long and slow integration, without angst or difficulty. There will be no stops and starts but only forward movement and development. The overall succulence and incremental oscillations between acid and tannin confirm the plan. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted March 2022

Riecine Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2019

Gaiole

Crisp and crunchy like the Annata of same vintage yet less high toned and volatile. Also missing the swarthiness but what it lacks in wild revolution is gains in clarity and purifying resolution. Riecine is in fact a place of resolute and cool wines coming from and speaking the vernacular of mainly old vines’ vineyard ways. Will drink this way for five more and with great complexity on display for a further five. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted February 2022

Sergio Zingarelli, Rocca delle Macìe, Castellina

Rocca Delle Macìe Famiglia Zingarelli Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2019

Castellina

Brighter if also possibly lighter than the previous vintage and in such regard a more accessible and amenable Riserva. As with the 2018 the complimentary grapes are five per cent each colorino and cabernet sauvignon, both bringing colour and the latter some black fruit sweetness. Drink this ’19 of lower acidity, lees brood, depth and easier feeling for now while the ’18 continues to settle in. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted February 2022

Rocca Delle Macìe Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Sergioveto 2019

Castellina

Rocca delle Macìe delivers the most substantial fruit to texture compendium that can be recalled from recent and even further back then recent memory. The fact that there is this iron-mineral swell and hematic underbelly being so strongly involved with the fruit means so much more than before. A magnanimous Rocca delle Macìe in the present that will surely become a Castellina of vim, relish and layered attraction in the future. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted March 2022

San Felice Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Il Grigio 2019

Castelnuovo Berardenga

Still the current climate and execution for juicy freshness, of fruit on the berry, pomegranate and plum scale but also Castelnuovo dried herbs running amok. More chew, of liquorice namely and then the juiciness returns, persists and delineates the direction of the wine. No shock this is a very good Riserva vintage, one that will age well, not more than 10 years mind you and best between four and seven from vintage. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted February 2022

Tenuta di Arceno, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Tenuta Di Arceno Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2019

Castelnuovo Berardenga

Tenuta di Arceno is located in San Gusmé, a hamlet of 250 people in the far eastern part of the eastern butterfly wing of Castelnuovo Berardenga. It is a Jackson Family Estates property with Lawrence Cronin was hired as the Winemaker in 2002. Here we are 17 years later with an Annata to perfectly represent this part of the territory with dark and compressed fruit, full on Berardenga savour and a sandy-stony-clay composite feeling. Not a sentimental sangiovese but one entrenched in realism and depth. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted February 2022

Enoteca Fuori Piazza, Greve

Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2018

Ambrogio E Giovanni Folonari Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Nozzole 2018

Greve

From Greve in Chianti and a representative sangiovese not just for commune but also for the appellation. Truly Riserva in capture, rich and luxurious, fully complete in texture and for mouthfeel, concentrated and strong. Carries an estate and greater authority credibility in consistency throughout the years and were you to close your eyes you could guess 1998, 2008 and then 2018. Actually big for the vintage which indicates a late September pick inclusive of a hot spell during which nighttime temperatures did well to preserve acidity. Listed at 14 per cent though feels higher. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted November 2021

Bibbiano Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2018

Castellina

Next step, level and terraced sangiovese appreciation comes from Bibbiano’s Riserva, a wine of high tones, lightning fruit along with well versed and rehearsed Riserva lines. Linear that is, vertical and promising, not a promiscuous sangiovese but one that considers its time, place and future with profound regard. Juicy to be sure and also grippy for to see seven years forward and a softer time arranged. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted February 2022

Mocenni, Bindi Sergardi, Vagliagli

Bindi Sergardi Chianti Classico Riserva Calidonia DOCG 2018

Vagliagli

Calidonia is surely the more structured of the Bindi Sergardi Riservas, weighted in fruit, lifted by the succulence of Alberese drawn acidity and showing what this Mocenni sector of Vagliagli is capable of demonstrating. The 2018 is Bindi Sergardi’s Riserva of fortitude, not just in opposition to brothers and sisters but also as compared to several recent vintages. It requires time and will live for 10 years or more. Last tasted March 2022

Calidonia’s is like I Colli’s power though not in strength but rather in depth. Immense depth, a gathering of all the vineyard’s stone mineral wealth, of Alberese, Galestro and Macigno at the confluence of Mocenni’s amphitheatric crossroads, with Radda and Castellina so near by. The beauty of fruit and exquisiteness of tannins are so evident, no matter how youthful this wine may be and so the future exists in a manner quite the matter of already knowable guarantee. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted October 2021

Bindi Sergardi I Colli Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2018

Vagliagli

A solo I Colli Estate Riserva, from vineyards in the UGA zone of Vagliagli at the western edge of Castelnuovo Berardenga commune. The vines are planted 10 kilometres away from Bindi Sergardi’s Mocenni Estate and like the home vineyard counterpart this mimics if extends from Annata but with elevated acidity and also power. This bottle could not have been in Ontario more than a week or so and so it seems a bit closed, unwilling and perhaps in a minor state of shock. The previous one tasted at the winery took off where Annata left off but truthfully Riserva is higher in acidity and power but without hitting one hard, more about strength of character. Once again the sweet flowers as in Annata but of course . Drink 2021-2024. Tasted October 2021.Never the matter because Vagliagli’s florals, sweet scented and candied fruit, high tonality and grippy sub-structure are all locked in tight. Captures the late September pick but just before alcohol levels would have risen, here for a harmonious and graceful turn of Riserva phrasing. Drink 2022-2027. Tasted October and November 2021

Brancaia Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2018

Radda

Brancaia’s munificent and substantial ’18 Riserva grabs texture by the scruff of its neck and introduces it to that fruit which can only be described as ripe. Hard to recall recent vintages that do Radda this way, with grip, strength and power. Dark orange to red orange fruit, more blood than naturally orange, big, bouncy and intense. A notably heeded and competitve Raddese wine at the present moment capable of becoming a beautifully attractive Brancaia before too long. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted March 2022

Carpineto Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2018

Greve

Classic, distinct and ideal as Carpineto’s Greve Classico, full of brush and local flora, from wild fennel through rosemary and into sage all over the palate. And then the textural composition sets in, running the sangiovese sap of ointment and viscosity through and through the body corporeal of Carpineto’s Riserva wine. This is neither thick nor jammy, shows the land with idealism and while drying at the back end there is plenty of stretched and elastic stuffing to see this age five-plus years. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted February 2022

With Paolo Paffi, Casa Emma, San Donato in Poggio

Casa Emma Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Vignalparco 2018

San Donato in Poggio

Expectation dictates that a Casa Emma Riserva will deliver true and substantial San Donato in Poggio fruit but double what the Annata chooses to give. That is exactly the point in the ’18 Vignalparco, a blood orange smoothie with minerals running straight on through. Taut, tart, intense, fulsome and ranging in so many ways. Impressive ’18 to be sure. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted March 2022

Castagnoli Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Terrazze 2018

Castellina

To be honest Terrazze is not like Castagnoli’s Annata, if not because of appellative level then surely a matter of vintage. Riserva is deep, brooding and profound, a sangiovese of acid intensity and fruit compression. More dried and leathery than fresh with plenty of wood spice but also that which is derived from the fruit source, namely the skins themselves. No lack of imagination, drive nor trenchant desire neither. Hard to know exactly where this will go. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted February 2022

Castelli Del Grevepesa Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Clemente VII 2018

San Casciano

A 100 per cent San Casciano in Val di Pesa sangiovese from schists and limestone, mainly Galestro at 250-350m. Sees 24 months in Slavonian oak and French barriques. A Riserva of concentration and notably healthy pH for sapid texture mixed with dark fruit. Picked late into October so thereby gainful of a mini late September heat wave and converse diurnal nighttime temperature dips for healthy ripeness well foiled by sweetly kept acidity. Moments of verdancy in between swaths of sapid texture and dark chocolate make for a Riserva of diversity and variegation of an overall expression true to San Casciano and also vintage. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted December 2021

Castello Della Paneretta Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2018

San Donato in Poggio

As with the upcoming thorough and thoughtful 2019 Annata there is a next level depth of craft and understanding intuited by way of Riserva 2018. The fruit seems so well timed, picked late in the season, developed and yet braced in the moment, frozen in time. Feels cured and dried by cellar air, the vintage captured and preserved. This will live a long life, that much is sure and always drink up on the ridge, with the image of San Donato in Poggio demure in the distance. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted February 2022

Castello Di Albola Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2018

Radda

Great fruit Scott or rather great Scott what fruit! Here Albola captures 2018 in Riserva form with great, sheer and utter distinction. Hyperbole of red tree fruit, chew like liquorice and bokser too. Well positioned, proportioned and perfectly suited to all. A five year wine if ever there was. Last tasted February 2022

The ’18 Riserva continues a thread of Radda-Classico consistency for Albola, stringing great wines from 2015 on through. This next Riserva shows excellent linearity and quality, namely at the hands of fine tannins, ripe and thriving, adding pulse and drive to already buzzing acidity. The fruit is well equipped to hang, participate, contribute and collaborate. Warming at the finish suggest spice and an Albola ability to age. Drink 2022-2027. Tasted October 2021

Castello Di Bossi Berardo Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2018

Castelnuovo Berardenga

Youthful, high-toned, crisp and crunchy Riserva 2018 here from Bossi. Big Berardenga bones, Classico castello vibes. pomegranate and currants on high alert. Hematic as well, herbal to a degree and full of wood-fruit-acid swirls. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted March 2022

Castello Di Gabbiano Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2018

San Casciano

Kind of surprised at how apposite this next bottle is showing. Young and nearly untouchable. not the accessible and easy drinking Gabbiano of last month’s bottle and recent vintages past, here dripping with tonics and concentrated fruit essence tinctures. More herbs too, a swell of minerality and wave after wave of acid-tannin breakers. Wait two years. Last tasted March 2022

Sweet fruit and acids are compelling together in their Galestro-infused succulence and style. Here a Riserva of easy attitude and gratitude, well stretched and showing off the understated Cerelli style. Riserva of humility and humanity, cool and gelid, fine and harmonious. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted February 2022

Castello di Meleto, San Casciano

Castello Di Meleto Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2018

Gaiole

So informative to taste Meleto’s Riserva sandwiched between their Annata and Grand Selezione but also as 2018 between ’19 and ‘17. As if on cue Riserva acts, exacts and reacts right up the middle of that Gaiole road, equally rich and parochial, accessible and yet capable of aging, progressing and emerging with potpourri fully captured and kept. Riserva is a perfect compromise and offers the best of both worlds. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted February 2022

Castello Di Monsanto Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2018

San Donato in Poggio

A “thanks God cooler vintage” tells Laura Bianchi with an appreciative smile, in which not only the wines but also the San Donato in Poggio vines were able to re-balance. Laura believes it’s not only a vintage of great freshness and acidity but also one that can age well. Classic Monsanto grip as well, though style, flavour and sophistication of ripeness, plus an energy inherent as a factor of brightness and vitality. A great educative study involving a sangiovese of both incandescence and longevity, two things seemingly apposite but binary by definition. Knowing what Bianchi’s Monsanto can do there is no question about the possibilities that lay ahead. Drink 2022-2029. Tasted October 2021 and February 2022

Castello Di Querceto Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2018

Greve

Something about Greve’s Dudda Valley brings a distinct and higher level of aromatic concentration to sangiovese, especially in Chianti Classico Riserva form. This from 2018 is one of the the lighter, effusive and more lyrical ones with so much emanation of perfume. Still a savoury character with knowable rattle, tone and hum. Plenty of desire and hope with a good six to eight year run ahead, making this a perfect little mid-term cellar dweller at an attractive price. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted January 2022

Castello Vicchiomaggio Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Agostino Petri 2018

Greve

Everything about the Matta family’s 2018 Riserva screams late picked fruit in early October. After the late September day heat and nighttime lows, there’s just so much of all parts set to full in this wine. Wild and exotic perfume, fruit fleshy and so bloody ripe, body more muscular than this Riserva sometimes shows and alcohol well-developed. All are in synch, balance and complimentary condition. Crazy delicious Agostino Petri this time around with classic values and traditional character kept in a true Greve style. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted January 2022

A Count in his natural habitat – Sebastiano Capponi, Villa Calcinaia, Montefioralle

Conti Capponi/Villa Calcinaia Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2018

Montefioralle

Not all Riserva are created equal and if nothing else Sebastiano Capponi’s could only be his from Montefioralle at Calcinaia. Not exactly sweet natural fruit endowed but surely herbal and the kind of Riserva that takes stock of your senses, sticks to your tongue, leaving behind an impression that will not dissipate. Even if you never take a second sip you are left with a Greve left bank, over the hills and far away into Montefioralle impression. “Maybe more than enough.” Nearly fulsome and yet wound quite tight, tannins not so much drying as compounding by land and zeppelin temper for a ride off into the proverbial sunset. Get the led out with this one. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted February 2022

Dievole Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Novecento 2018

Vagliagli

Dievole is located within the newly minted Chianti Classico UGA Vagliagli and is in fact situated as close to the village as just about any estate. Clay, marlstone and limestone in Alberese soil holds the fort for a 95 per cent sangiovese with small amounts of equally endemic canaiolo and colorino. Spends time in no toast 41 hL French casks for upwards of 18 months and in bottle for the remaining six. Hard to match the depth of the great Novecento ’16 but this 2018 is no small Riserva. It is pure Vagliagli of a specific fruit and acid sweetness with breadth, girth and structure. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted February 2022

Fattoria Della Aiola Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2018

Vagliagli

Far more aromatic output as compared to the Annata but also less reduction from a Riserva that spends 24 months in second to fifth and six usage French and Slovenian wood. Not a single vineyard wine but “a blend of botti,” and the percentage is the same, 90 sangiovese plus some merlot and canaiolo. The barrels are in charge and will be for at least another 12 months, if not 24. Laden with chocolate and espresso and time is really the essence and the operative. Recent track record indicates that Riserva will open for business in its third year after release so look at this in 2024 and beyond. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted February 2022

Monica Raspi, Fattoria Pomona, Castellina

Fattoria Pomona Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Bandini 2018

Castellina

Monica Raspi’s Riserva 2018 was only bottled five months ago so don’t come expecting immediate gratification or revelation. Do come knowing this is sangiovese from a special place, that being the west Siena facing Castellina vineyard in front of the villa called Uomino, “the little man.” Only Pomona produces Riserva that scents and tastes like this and only Monica Raspi’s deliver peak wine experience moments that nearly always occur in repose, never connected with work. Such is the ease of her ’18 Riserva, big and focused, light and understanding. Given time it will also act charming, gracious and nurturing. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted March 2022

Gagliole Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2018

Panzano

A famous Panzano (in the commune of Greve) estate and a manuscript in the State Archives in Siena reveals that the son of the Langobard King Berengarius, who had fallen in love with the Tuscan countryside, bequeathed the Gagliole Estate to his wife in 994 A.D. This Riserva comes to us from a most curious vintage 1,024 years later and just two years earlier Riserva was called Gallule, but that ancient terraces reference is now reserved for Gagliole’s Gran Selezione. Riserva ’18 was picked on the 10th of October and this is significant because a late September heat spike nearing 30 degrees with opposite nighttime lows near zero meant more fruit ripeness and kept acidity for bigger but also balanced 100 per cent Panzanese sangiovese. These Galestro and Alberese vineyards at 450m picked well after the extreme climate moment, followed by 10 months in small, used French oak barrels has resulted in the most precise and focused Riserva imaginable. The acidity travels up the sides inside the mouth all the way to the eyes, or so it is imagined and then sends shivers down the spine. Warm, inviting, luxurious and so very real. This is exceptional Chianti Classico, intimating everything now yet with the knowledge that the best showing is still years away. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted December 2021

Tasting Il Molino di Grace, Panzano

Il Molino Di Grace Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2018

Panzano

I will personally implore you to look and think past anything you have heard about 2018, just as it would have been prudent to do so with both 1998 and 2008. The sneak of structure and linger in the name of longevity will conspire for a slow release of emotion, something seemingly absent in the wines’ early days of life. A bit high in acid and also drying, from knives cutting through tannin and this is is the essence of naked sangiovese. Not as supple and succulent as 2019 but will almost certainly last longer. Was bottled just ahead of harvest in September 2021. Last tasted February 2022

Despite the great diversion and division between vintages that came before and will follow, the consistency of Il Molino di Grace’s Riservas are a testament to changes made and promises kept. The team has allowed these wines to crawl from barrel and into the light. The heat and drought of ’17 was followed by a lithe freshness from ’18 though sangiovese chosen to hang well into September and even the first days of October have come about and into some heady wines. Begin with Riserva’s perfume in a Panzano bottle, Galestro and Pietraforte bled, red berry made flinty by stone. Focus and expression are right on point and while both Panzano and proximate Radda are the additional geographic thought, Il Molino di Grace is the pinpointed place. Still emitting early life freshness and vigour, lovely for ’18, forward and structured to travel onwards. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted October 2021

Istine Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Levigne 2018

Radda and Gaiole

Angla Fronti’s mix of vineyards results in one of the most generous and layered Chianti Classico of any and all in the oh so generous 2019 vintage. Not sure whether fruit or structure are more up front and in charge but either way the compound effects of Galestro and Alberese meeting Istine’s multiple vineyard greatness puts this in a class all of its own. Drink 2024-2031. Tasted February 2022

Stefano di Blasi at La Sala, San Casciano

La Sala Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2018

San Casciano

Made with 10 per cent cabernet sauvignon. Some estates thread consistency and replicative DNA through their wines and one nose into this ’18 Riserva confirms La Sala’s situation within this ideal. Not that Riserva conforms to any sort of norm but the plush, soft and handsome beauty in such a wine can’t help but stay connected to the Annata, regardless of vintage. The aromas express more or shall we say a different sort of saltiness, more potassium graded through Galestro soil structure, from the same vineyard source yet imparted in hyperbole when it comes to Riserva. Flavours deliver more berries and balsamic, higher pH helps to soften the tannins and along with the location make them sweeter, softer and melted into the plush sofa. A gorgeous Riserva, succulent in fruit and acids, fineness of tannin and so very inviting. Ex-cellar price is 7.8 euro. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted February 2022

L’Erta di Radda

L’Erta Di Radda Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2018

Radda

In Diego’s mind 2018 was quite the perfect little vintage, one of piaggio e giusto, flattery and truth. Not that it was easy but it was transparent and real. That said it was a stop and go one, with changes in weather, temperature and demand. A vintage to keep agriculturalists on their toes and make them earn their pay. L’Erta di Radda’s Riserva has now entered a great place, just now beginning to show its charm and also breadth. It’s chewy and also croccante, chiseled and generous. Freshness is encouraged by this vineyard abutting a small river giving breath to the sangiovese. Last tasted March 2022

Riserva is of a cru in the hills più basso, in poor red soils, very rich in iron, planted in 2009 to two clones suitable to this cru, but with rootstock worth its salt in vigour. Clones that offer lower quantities, in one hectare, which produces only 25 quintali per hectare. or 2,500 hL per hectare and the average in Chianti Classico is easily at 40. Five or six small bunches per plant, tiny bunches, “molto spargolo.” Picked in the first week of October also because it’s only sangiovese with higher pH (at 3.1 or 3.2), 35 days of time on skins, ages two years, first in 2000L grandi botti, 2nd in barriques and tonneaux. Diego Finocchi likes the micro-oxygenation, but in the second year. There is a liquid peppery note but also the smoothest body and caress with grace across the palate. You simply do not feel the wood on this Riserva and that tells you everything you need to know about the winemaking and the way this represents the cru. Drink 2021-2027. Tasted November 2021.

Maurizio Brogioni Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2018

Greve

Very young and even reductive Riserva here from Greve with good fruit substance behind and in waiting. Needs air and time to blow off yet not having enough of that, at least not yet. A linear, high acid and even crunchy, sangiovese, especially in Riserva form. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted February 2022

Monte Bernardi, Panzano

Monte Bernardi Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2018

Panzano

“In ten years this is going to look like magic.” To thank are stems (60 per cent) and the post-macerative consciousness at a time when the catalyst manifests itself in youthful aggressiveness, to see a softening that now becomes something easier to understand. “We bring out the generosity sooner without sacrificing longevity,” is how Michael Schmelzer looks at and explains the situation. The slow release of complex aromas and also flavours is extended by the long maceration, post maceration and aging in concrete plus botti grandi. Has already entered the first stage of grace, grip surely present though not overtly or overly demanding and even if a bit shy. There is a roll off the tongue, a scorrevole in this sangiovese. Smooth, sliding and scaled for slow release. Drink 2023-2033. Tasted November 2021

Monte Bernardi Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG MB1933 2018

Panzano

One hectare of “traditional field blend” at over 500m, high (7,000 plants per hectare) density plantation, co-fermented and it makes 3,000 bottles aged in used tonneaux for 18 months. Obviously sangiovese with what could very well be canaiolo, colorino, malvasia nera, calabrese, ciliegiolo and uva di ragnana (locally named). The freshness and salinity plus what must be named as mixed pH created sapidity surely speaks to white varieties as well, including malvasia and trebbiano. The label depicts a corbezzola, delicate of fruit, high in seeds, a great representation of this traditional wine. Will express equal freshness 10 years forward and without any sacrifice to acidity. No stems here, again wanting to understand the wine before going into that kind of catalyst meets polymerization intendment. More graceful brilliance with some drying tannin this time from Monte Bernardi. The lens is completely different so wait till Michael Schmelzer really gets a handle on this one. Drink 2023-2033. Tasted November 2021

Winemaker Tim Manning, Montecalvi, Greve

Montecalvi Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2018

Greve

Riserva is 100 per cent sangiovese from what is called the Montecalvi alto block (one of seven on the farm). From a particular tonneaux that winemaker Tim Manning just liked how it was so decided to keep it back extra time and bottle the estate’s first Riserva. While you feel the extra time (26 months in used wood) it is anything but a barrel driven wine. It seems it just accentuates the texture tactility and makes you feel more, including emotion. There is a suave sensibility here, silken and structured but never precious. It does feel like Riserva though the volatile acidity is just a touch elevated, not problematic and if anything reaching for another level of complexity. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted March 2022

Montefioralle Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2018

Montefioralle

Imagine a vintage where cool, sometimes wet and not exactly ideal summer weather is followed by a lovely if again not exactly sunshine drenching September. Keep the reverie going and see a heat spike by day, followed by low nighttime temperatures, eventuating in late-picked, fully reasoned and ripened Montefioralle fruit. This is Lorenzo Sieni’s Riserva, liquid chalky, low and slow cooked spice threading through every stitch of sangiovese fibre. Pragmatic Riserva that also incites emotion makes for a great and winning combination. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted February 2022

Nittardi Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2018

Castellina

Firm, tannic, swarthy and grippy Riserva with thickness and deeply profound fruit here from Nittardi. Chalky and edgy into handsome volatility with many unresolved parts. A big Riserva constructed for the long haul that will aim to please with ropey red Castellina fruit as impressive as any in the UGA. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted February 2022

Podere Capaccia, Radda

Podere Capaccia Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2018

Radda

Capaccia farms four hectares of vineyards at 500-550m on a spectacular promontory quite proximate to Castello di Volpaia. Of the four vineyards (Il Cortaccio, Il Prato, Lo Scopiccio and Le Capanelle) it is the latter’s 2007 planted sangiovese that is used for Riserva. From 2018 the Riserva shows more wood harmony with the handsome fruit and a settled feel, complimentary while also so bloody fresh, exceptional even for the UGA and appellation. Chewy this ’18, liquorice leathery but also like persimmon hung to a dried and toothsome consistency. Some dustiness but not the vinous aspect of 2017 and really quite calming otherwise. Tannins are gritty but not coarse and very close to settling into what would be called fine. Wait another year. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted March 2022

Podere La Cappella Querciolo Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Unfiltered 2018

San Donato in Poggio

Fattoria Poggerino Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Bugialla 2018

Radda

Piero Lanza has not made a small wine in Riserva from Radda for 2018. The ripest rows or rather the vines that grow in rows that find the highest level of phenolic development are chosen for a sangiovese of cool warmth, dripping grape resin and grippy tannin. Big, sumptuous, gangly at present, layered and so far from acceding to time and your palate. Wait seven years, trust the science and see this Riserva come out as bountiful and beautiful as they make them. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted February 2022

Querciabella, Greve

Querciabella Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2018

Greve

Not a shock that Riserva is so very young, “and for us even as Riserva it’s still about fruit expression,” tells Manfred Ing, with only 20-25 per cent having spent time in new wood. Plenty of Botti Grandi usage but again it’s about best vineyard fruit selection. The choices are made all the way along, even if the team really knows going in what the best vineyard sections really are. Sees 18 months in barrel. The depth of fruit also shows breadth and width, a three-dimensionality for sangiovese that reaches past aromas and onto the entirety of the surface area on the palate. Aided and abetted by picking that spreads across an entire month, only adding to the layers, especially in the tannins which are not simply of one ilk or another. There lies the crux of a Querciabella Riserva, when happened upon there comes about a squad of tannic complexities that cause a raciness and early tasting chaos. It’s wildly stimulating. Stupendo. Drink 2024-2037. Tasted November 2021

Ruffino Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Riserva Ducale 2018

Greve

Ever since the Riserva Ducale Oro showed up in Ontario as a Gran Selezione it seems this appellative level of similar distinction as fallen by the release schedule wayside. Which really is too bad because the original Riserva is eerily similar and drinks with closely resembling distinction as the Gran Selezione. Like looking in the mirror and seeing a reflection of your father, so to speak. Good fruit from 2018, on the lithe and easy side, ripe and medium bodied. Quite middle road taken all the way through and simply classic in design. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted February 2022

Santo Stefano Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Drugo 2018

Greve

Quiet, even stoic Riserva, surely designed for slow release so patience and even aeration can only serve this well. Quite a compliment of barrel converges and smothers the fruit in this earliest of stages, only adding to the idea of time being a friend, not an enemy. Chewy Riserva, laden with liquorice, welling with macerations, cherries and herbals swirling in the limboed abyss. Save it for later. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted February 2022

Greve in Chianti

Tenuta Poggio Al Mandorli Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2018

Greve

Traditional, rustic, old school beauty. Riserva as imagined passed on through generations taken to a present day level and situation. Riserva as Greve, of sand and clay, alluvial deposits and sunshine. Cool and slightly wet as well, a vintage ever-changing and if misunderstood then simply exercise some patience. This will reward in two to three years time once the austerity of the necessary tannin settles in. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2022

Triacca La Madonnina Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2018

Greve

Big punch and high acid crunch from sangiovese with deep cherry fruit and not much more than a modicum of Riserva density. An elastic one, of juicy tang and quite readily available at this early stage in time. Get at this before many others and feel the love. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted February 2022

Villa Le Corti Principe Corsini Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Cortevecchia 2018

San Casciano

Same cépage as Le Corti and here aged in 27hL casks. A selection in the first weeks after fermentation, tank by tank, vineyard by vineyard. The “final” decision is made after the “spezzaturra.” There is always a grounding and an earthiness (carnale as opposed to animale) to Cortavecchia that separates it from the Annata and has it move into singular territory and 2018 is a Riserva vintage indeed. Higher in acidity, vim and vigour. More elegance, elastics and elongation. Even if there was no showiness before there is now. “There is a time to taste wine and every wine has its time.” Today is a good time to taste. Drink 2022-2028. Tasted October 2021

With Winemaker Leonardo Bellacini, San Felice, Castelnuovo Berardenga

San Felice Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Il Grigio 2018

Castelnuovo Berardenga

Classic Leo Bellaccini styling, hung long on the vine, maximized phenolic ripenesses equal to sugars and developed berries for full on competition. Alcohol and wood move at a balanced if heavy set pace and all the necessary parts keep up with head high, esteem and quiet swagger. All in control through every stage, full on the palate, silky feel, concentrated, sophisticated, up to the minute. Resides at the top of this game, genre and idiom in Castelnuovo Berardenga. Drink 2021-2026. Tasted October 2021

San Giusto A Rentennano Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Le Baròncole 2018

Gaiole

San Giusto A Rentennano’s singular corner of Gaiole’s climate of 2018 was a carbon copy of 2016 (in summer) but in September the sugar ripeness was happening way too fast. Luca Martini di Cigala knew to wait. Three passages were made and in 2018 this began on September 22, concluding on October 16th. Results in a higher alcohol at 15 per cent and a really, really ripe sangiovese. Big in every respect and yet totally in balance, a San Giusto wine exactly representative of time and place. Fine tannins, really fine, no drying to speak of and the kind that will take this wine well into the next decade. True blue Riserva, stylistically as per the conceptual idiom but also for the tufo and clay of this once volcanic place. Drink 2024-2032. Tasted November 2021 and February 2022

Tenuta Orsumella Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Corte Rinieiri 2018

San Casciano

A true blue Riserva of San Casciano grip, wit, charisma and style, cool and savoury, granita of texture, sip-able yet age-able. Black cherry flesh and pit, amaro biters and a pinch of sangiovese’s austerity from place, vintage and ways set in eras gone by. Settle for two or three years and drink for two or three after that. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2022

Villa A Sesta Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2018

Castelnuovo Berardenga

Expands on the sand and clay richness found in the 2016 Castelnuovo Berardenga Riserva while finding more fruut-acid balance in this regaling example for 2018. Villa a Sesta’s is always warming, caring and silky smooth so that luxe and and piqued spice activity are always driving the Riserva style. Matters of the heart, purity and savoury intensity gather for great Riserva promise. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted February 2022

Gnudi, Le Panzanelle, Lucarelli, Radda

Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2017

Cantalici Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Baruffo 2017

Gaiole

Like much of the territory it was dry and hot, the vines shut down in August but one day of rain in the late part of the month reignited the maturation process. Here a saturated and concentrated, smouldering and spicy sangiovese, implosive and tightly wound.High tannic vintage, picked mid-September, alcohol warm and all together needing time to settle down. At least two more years. Drink 2024-2028. Last tasted February 2022

Casa Emma Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Vignalparco 2017

San Donato in Poggio

Despite the vintage of no rain there was very little hydric stress with thanks to the soils, heavy in Alberese, blue argiloso and northern facing slopes. Also the sub-zone San Donato in Poggio and three to four degrees cooler than most others. Similar fermentation in concrete and stainless steel but 26 days on skins and then two years in tonneaux. TA is 5.90, an impressive number for 2017 and yet the wine is muscular, big-boned and structured with no way to fully get out the vintage way. “What you see is what you get,” tells Paolo Paffi, a 100 per cent sangiovese of firm grip and forest proximate savour; of sage, rosemary and underbrush. Really shows in the herbal and spice masala at the finish. A definitive expression of vineyard. Cru as Riserva and Riserva as Cru. Drink 2024-2033. Tasted October 2021

Fattoria Pomona Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Bandini 2017

Castellina

Riserva comes from what can be called the “little man vineyard or il omino,” vines at Villa Pomona of 20 years where a true mix of all the rocks litter the decomposed soil. Almost unlike anywhere else where Chianti Classico is raised; Galestro, Alberese, Piteraforte, calcium carbonate and quartz. All there, all infiltrating vines, grapes and wines. In some cases all these parts are integrated into one fist sized stone. The unity is remarkable and makes Monica Raspi’s Riserva so bloody special. She has quite a bit to do with that too while her soils’ nutrients and vines’ absorption of elements allows her to nurture as only she can do. There goes that Pomona perfume in a stylish sangiovese of palate essence, succulence and an emulsification with acidity sliding into tannic fluidity. Such a lovely Riserva for ’17. Truly. Drink 2022-2028. Tasted October 2021

Iacopo Moranti, Il Molino di Grace, Panzano

Il Molino Di Grace Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2017

Panzano

Fulness, richness, full throttle savour, all captured and assembled. A wien picked so late in September the rear-view mirror was filled with Chianti Classicos jammy and green. Here phenolic ripeness and swelling fruit reigns in wood, with all cracks and crevices filled. Clarity and precision prevail which can only bode well for the future. Last tasted October 2021

Only from the upper vineyards closest to the cellar, one of the more pristine Riservas, of freshness, purity and clarity that Molino di Grace sangiovese did not used to show, but changes have led to this. You don’t think about the transitions or the structure because they just present themselves effortlessly and seamlessly. A remarkably fresh ’17 that was picked late, on time and best decisions were made in the cellar. Last tasted February 2020

Wow ’17 Riserva could handle waiting until 2021 to be released. So grippy, such acidity, so much concentration and while quality is exceptional still the vintage quantities are so low. A number in and around 40 per cent of normal. Wooly tannins, so in control and very fine. Remember there was also a frost in May that decimated the vines, followed by three months of intense heat. Vineyard management and the most pragmatic, accepting and realistic team in place made sure to do everything right. “Corretta” to the nth degree. As is this organic and biodynamic Riserva. Drink 2021-2029. Tasted September 2019

La Squadra Canadese at Istine, Radda

Istine Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Levigne 2017

Radda and Gaiole

The driest and hottest of vintages, as will happen in 2021 but this year some cold weather arrived in late September. The mix of the three in Riserva form takes all the best grapes and in 2017 a great portion comes from the Istine Vineyard, “because of freshness.” This with great thanks to the forest surrounding the steep vines, something essential and very real in especially Radda and also to a solid extent in Gaiole. Istine faces north and this is the trump card in Radda, for Angela Fronti and many others. Drink 2022-2028. Tasted October 2021

Levigne from Angela Fronti delivers a duality that talks in a vernacular made of more than a commune. The concept is Gaiole meets Radda and each has its say though their mingle and intersectionality layering clouds the distinction in the way you’d hope they would. There’s a softness and a brut strength behind the exterior that tells something conceptual and educational is happening. Forget light, bright and easy. Bring on the ambition, the execution and the swagger. Drink 2023-2032. Tasted February 2020

Le Fonti Di Panzano Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2017

Panzano

Riserva 2017 is so very similar to Annata in that the extract feels heightened and the wine is just now settled after one year in bottle. The peppery spice is lessened as compared to the Annata while the density on the palate is increased. Dusty espresso and chocolate surround the classicism of Le Fonti’s particular Panzano red fruit. This is quite ready to go. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted October 2021

Monte Bernardi Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Sa’Etta 2017

Panzano

“I don’t think of it as a problem year. I had bigger problems in 2011 and 2015. Complaints about heat stress are all about the wrong rootstock,” insists Michael Schmelzer. “I didn’t see any hydric stress in 2017. Comparably speaking it was a walk in the park.” OK, not quite a classic vintage of coolness, cloud cover and in fact it ranks low on the challenging pole. Therce was a loss of Retromarcia (50 per cent) but the Riserva was untouched by frost in 2017. Sa’Etta is a hyperbole of transparency and also concentration as compared with the normale Riserva. What really separates these from Classico Annata is age of vines and Monte Bernardi is from Galestro while Sa’Etta is from Pietraforte. Thus the grip, circumstance, higher tonality and concentration of perfumes. Tannins are a little austere but that too is a matter of conglomerate rock co-efficient fact. Morbido is for some, Sa’Etta for others and true to a sense of place. Drink 2023-2033. Tasted November 2021

Podere Capaccia Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2017

Radda

Podere Capaccia in Località Capaccia is owned by Belgian Herman de Bode with American Alyson Morgan as winemaker. The ’17 Riserva is seriously aromatic, yet unreleased and a good thing in more than one way. The herbals are powerful, vinous as with all of Capaccia’s wines, wood very much at the head, high acid as always, never lacking, the true component in charge. If ’17 Annata is chewy then Riserva is the opposite, crunchy, tart and grippy. Such a composed wine, very Riserva, seriously Radda. The mix of botti and 300L French barrel need to melt, dissipate and integrate before this really hits its stride. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted March 2022

Val delle Corti, Radda

Val Delle Corti Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2017

Radda

There was a section every September night when the plants could breath, helped by the woods, Radda’s “lung,” and “so we waited and waited while September and October were refreshing,” explains Roberto Bianchi. Keep exhaling after each sip to feel the freshness. Last tasted October 2021

The 2017 was a scorcher in Tuscany, no less demanding in the Chianti Classico territory and yet Val delle Corti’s Radda was one of the cool spots to be. No rain from January to the end of the first week of September and yet desiccation in these vineyards were not like some other low lying areas. Lower yields yes but really high quality fruit. Roberto Bianchi’s use of long macerations, as much stainless steel as oak and older (and larger) wood at that makes for one of the coolest and freshest Riserva one is ever likely to find. Indeed this may be the most openly fragrant, unencumbered and blessedly humanistic 2017 in the entirety of the Chianti Classico lot. Hyperbole perhaps but nature and nurture conjoin for breathtaking results. Taste, consider and exhale. Drink 2023-2032. Tasted September 2021

Villa A Sesta Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2017

Castelnuovo Berardenga

Producers who got it right in the hot 2017 are Chianti Classico heroes and Villa a Sesta is one of that ilk. Dry conditions through adversarial times there is a will and a way with sangiovese hung well into September, even in the sun radiant wide open spaces of Castelnuovo Berardenga. Strong and dry sangiovese gets fruit-filled centre help from seven per cent cabernet sauvignon, all grown on steep slopes at good (450m) elevation for the commune. This Villa a Sesta Riserva ages for two years in Slavonian and French oak of 500L and 40 hL. Acid crunch and pH sapidity are perfectly in balance with fine grains of tannin following in ideal suit. The winemaking is on point. Five to seven year wine beginning right now. Drink 2021-2027. Tasted November 2021

With Dario Cecchini and Fontodi’s Giovanni Manetti ar Antica Maccelleria Cecchini, Panzano

Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2016 (and older)

Bindi Sergardi Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG I Colli 2016

Vagliagli

Quite a ripe vintage with well-developed fruit in causation of so many days of warm but not hot and humid weather. This ’16 also carries a high level of lift and acidity working the real room of many red and blue fruit. Yes, the sensation of a blue fruit vintage, cool, salt-mineral licked and sweetly savoury. Long and linear, swirling through fruit with Vagliagli savour. Last tasted October 2021

The second of two Riserva from Bindi Sergardi, one coming from the Mocenni estate and this from I Colli, both in Castelnuovo Berardenga. Not just the name of the estate but also the old “borgo,” the family hamlet going back 23 generations. As with Mocenni there is ample Alberese limestone in this soil and I don’t know if any other producer in the commune can craft silkier or more glycerin sangiovese from this soil type. While Mocenni may gift more textural presence it is I Colli that lifts, elevates, rises and shines. Not that lightness of being is the dominant character trait but there is an emanating radiance. Blood orange coming across the palate speaks to the estate’s location and geological mix, that and persimmon, summer savoury and rosemary. Not herbal per se but more so than Mocenni. The two worlds collide and yet stay so apart. That is the beauty of having two singular Castelnuovo Berardenga vineyards from which to develop two dissimilar and diverse Riserva. Drink 2022-2030. Tasted April 2021

Brancaia Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2016

Radda

Coming upon nearly four years since first tasting Barbara Widmer’s classic and that is said in the most complimentary of ways with respect to Chianti Classico. Now as a sangiovese with bottle time under its belt this Riserva has had emerged as the kind of wine it was meant to become. Right there and right now. A great timing for local release and a terrific red for the upcoming holidays at an affordable high end price. Last tasted November 2021

The vintage is the succulent one for Brancaia’s Riserva, an (80 per cent) sangiovese, (20) merlot Radda in Chianti beauty that saw 16 months in a combination of barriques and tonneaux. Here we feel the point where 2013 and 2014 intercede, propagate and deliver a child that is observed to grow up so fast. While so tart, it’s primary concern is to deliver pleasure with a substantive and toothsome payoff. The wood is still a bit heavy but necessary to carry the ecumenical fruit forward three to five years. Drink 2019-2023. Tasted February 2018

Castell’In Villa, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Castell’in Villa Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2016

Castelnuovo Berardenga

Poured in two different glasses, one in the classic Chianti Classico consortium glass and the second in a hand-blown Grassl Liberté of Balkan origin. The aromatic launch in the latter is hyperbolic but also precise. Yes the land above is in this glass but also the iron mineral sottosuolo below. While 2016 Riserva is equipped with all the body, texture and depth anyone could be looking for (including the Principessa Coralia Leonini Pignatelli), there is more to this wine than just oomph but more to the profound point the intangible that sangiovese can deliver. “I never wanted to be a wine merchant,” so well describes the plan, ideal and what the Principesa wanted to get out of Castell’In Villa sangiovese. Complexity is the matter, some things already spoken and so many more to eventually become revealed. This 2016 has found it. “It’s nearly to what I consider very good and I don’t think I will produce anything like it anymore.” This a comment about one’s mortality and especially the climate. “You don’t know what you are going to get anymore.” Each time you taste this wine over the next 15 years something new will emerge. It will always change. Drink 2024-2036. Tasted March 2022

Castello Di Radda Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2016

Radda

Riserva sees 24 months in Grandi Botti and also second passage Tonneaux, very much exactly halfway between the elévage of the Annata and the Gran Selezione. Again a professional and pragmatic methodology and by extension, result. Harmony is the ideal, to bring fruit, acidity and structure into a linear and extrapolative oeuvre. Hard not to see 2016 as a perfect example of an executed plan. There is a depth to this vintage and in its sixth year this sangiovese has entered its finest years of life. Won’t get any better than now to take full advantage of this wine. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted March 2022

Il Palagio di Panzano

Il Palagio Di Panzano Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2016

Panzano

More refinement and sangiovese liqueur while maintaining a dryness and unresolved structure as found in the Annata that is caused by the older vines and their variegated fruit. Older clones that deliver a more rustic and grippy sensation in the wine. Like the Annata only bigger casks are used, no tonneaux. Chewy Riserva, gripped by real Panzano stage presence, pietraforte and arenaria soils with just a streak of calcari. Wait two more years in this. Last tasted October 2021

A warm and fuzzy Panzano feeling felt straight away, humid, spicy, Galestro instructed. Some pretty serious tannin, weight, magnitude and a considerably deep impression. Quality with high acid notes acting as a foil to the formidable thing of it all. Bigger that ’15 in so many respects. Drink 2021-2026. Tasted February 2020

Istine Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Levigne 2016

Radda and Gaiole

The vintage while very good was not high in production for the Frontis due to more rain than wanted. And yet there is a fulsome sensation and really tannic thrush to ’16, far from resolved, deep and profound. A real liqueur that does not always happen in Fronti’s wines but beauty and power can co-exist. Feels like a good portion of Cavarchione from Gaiole, nearly as much as Istine with some bit parts of Casanova. Last tasted October 2021

Losi Querciavalle Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2016

Vagliagli

Sangiovese from Vagliagli with five per cent canaiolo, ideal for raising the pH just enough to tame and balance the wild acidity in sangiovese’s crazy heart. Though it’s a 2016 it is yet to be released because tells Valeria Losi, “we believe it will still improve in the bottle.” Hard to argue with the logic because the tannins are not just UGA focused but so very Losi in temperament. And yet they are also sweet and suave in spite of being so forceful. Finally there is the persistence and length, qualities embraced by ’16 and especially through Riserva appellative form. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted March 2022

Piemaggio Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Le Fioraie 2016

Castellina

A certain and specific kind of Riserva concentration here from the Castellina rossa, direction Poggibonsi. Some beauty in tradition and rusticity, full on complement of acids and impart by the dusty track. A good interaction and integration overall where parts intersect and compliment in spite of the dry and high-toned character. Very Castellina Riserva in that regard and from an identifiable place within a place. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted February 2022

Podere Capaccia Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2016

Radda

Fruit comes from the “vineyard down below,” the flysch, sandstone, marl, shale and clay 0.92 hectare old (2007 planted) vines of sangiovese block known as Le Capanelle. Not only was 2016 a vintage of promise and growth it also allowed for lengthy hang time and fully kept acidity. The ’16 has actually fleshed out since last tasted 25 months prior and yet the tannins have barely broken stride. Less new oak then ’15 (after no Riserva made in ’14) led to ’16 being a more balanced elévage (at 30 per cent). Radda is here in all its awe-inspiring vista glory, at 500m elevation, on a steep southern slope, breezy and making for seriously vinous wines. Last tasted March 2022

The bright light and fresh face of Capaccia is something exceptional, exciting and new. So much fruit and rose petal emits from the nose and while comparing sangiovese to other important grape varieties is neither necessary or my style I have to say that the Premier Cru (Nuits-Saint-Georges) feeling of this fruit can be imagined in pinot noir terms. Rarely do I feel the need to do this but this Riserva takes me there and then comes home. Huge stride forward for the estate. Drink 2022-2032. Tasted February 2020

Quercia al Poggio’s Michela and Vittorio Rossi, San Donato in Poggio

Quercia Al Poggio Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2016

San Donato in Poggio

Though 2016 is not equipped with the fruit set that 2015 surely owns there is no shortage of substance to match Quercia al Pogggio’s packed house of herbs, savour, long-chained tannins and slow release from structure. Like the difference between Annata from 2018 to 2019 there is a similar change from Riserva 2015 to 2016. Night and day in a way, from perfume to a wine of finer compaction of tannins that will take even longer to release. You can really see the refinement in the Riservas, especially in the 2016. This will live longer than the 2015, that much is clear. Tasted November 2021

Surprising or not the ’16 Riserva from small batch Quercia al Poggio is a pretty heady and serious wine, reductive, rich and a tough nut to crack. Plenty of wood sheathing at this very stage brings texture, silken and quite creamy. A whole lot of everything that will require time. Drink 2022-2028. Tasted February 2020

Bindi Sergard Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG I Colli 2015

Vagliagli

Holding strong and from 2015 a complexity emerging, of the I Colli earth and more elemental punch than noted in either ’16 or ’18. This is where Alessandra Casini Bindi Sergardi was born and grew up. Built in the 1400s for the family, lower in elevation (350m) as compared to Mocenni (500m), still rich in Alberese but also high in iron content as across the road in the Chianti Colli Senesi. The wood and its fortifying spice are quite notable in this glass. Perhaps a vintage push or perhaps time related. Either way Riserva ’15 is more than ready and also willing to linger for five years further. Drink 2021-2024. Tasted October 2021

Cantalici Messer Ridolfo Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2015

Gaiole

A single vineyard sangiovese Riserva, from 45 year-old vines, aged two years in 20 hL barrels. Next level concentration but also movement, here from 2015 showing almost as much development as both ’11 Annata and ’10 Riserva. That is surely a matter of wood and vineyard, a soft, creamy and evolved sangiovese, chocolate and dried fruits throughout. Last tasted February 2022

Apposite to Barrufo in that Messer Ridolfo sees 18 months in 70 per cent small 20hL French oak and the rest in stainless steel. Also 100 per cent sangiovese from soils of Alberese and Galestro though slightly lower down on the Gaiole slopes, near the 300m mark. Richness, coniferous forest resin and wood accents in tobacco and dark chocolate make for a deeper, more resonant and even barbarous Chianti Classico Riserva. One of balsamico, tartufo and a certain era’s chic islands in the stream style. This will really take you back. Drink 2020-2025. Tasted November 2020

Castell’in Villa Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2015

Castelnuovo Berardenga

That sweet Castell’In Villa Castelnuovo Berardenga volatility is elevated and exceptional in 2015 Riserva, as is the fruit substance, overall extract and concentration. That feeling of growing sangiovese amongst 200 hectares of woods is palpable, like herbs, forest nuts and shrubs injected into the DNA of this singular wine. As if sun and savour were threaded through plants, vines, trees and grapes, things trampled underfoot and spices by wood making for a full and credible sangiovese. True local liqueur and years to young to even consider where this will go, or to think about current exceptionalities. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted October 2021

Castello di Radda Riserva

Castello Di Radda Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2015

Radda

Riserva sees 24 months in Grandi Botti and also second passage Tonneaux, very much exactly halfway between the elévage of Annata and Gran Selezione. A bit more acetic acidity in 2015 which seems counterintuitive to the vintage but such is the singularity of the sangiovese that grows on the vines in this and neighbouring località. Dusty, plum and currant fruit, not unlike 2018 Annata, less “Riserva” than ’16 in sentiment though will age quite well. There is an affinity here with Castelnuovo Berardenga, in a way like Villa a Sesta and even Castel’InVilla. Wholly unique Chianti Classico Riserva (Radda) expression. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted March 2022

Quercia Al Poggio Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2015

San Donato in Poggio

A selection of all the vineyards around al Poggio but also a true factor of all the different soils and their vines needing many passes, for picking across 25 days. Aged in tonnaeux like the Annata, longer of course and the secret lies in the custom made sorting table, slanted, vibrating and allowing to find the most perfect fruit. The wine opens incrementally with each and every moment and with these passages of time the perfume really blooms. Time and timing is everything. Drink 2022-2027. Tasted November 2021

Castello Di Radda Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2014

Radda

Talk about a strange and challenging vintage. In many parts wet and cold, even here but by using more grapes from Il Corno and allowing them to hang longer, well into October, the ripeness just about made the grade. A “balsamic” vintage, really fresh and with sneaky structure. Showing well, really savoury, no departure from the Castello di Radda style and with dusty, musky and dusky tannins that still bear their teeth. Just a little crunchy. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted March 2022

Fattoria Poggerino Chianti Classico Riserva Bugaialla 2014, Radda

Fattoria Poggerino Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Bugialla 2014

Radda

Tasted as part of “Il Chianti Classico in 9 Decadi” led by Filippo Bartolotta with Giovanni Manetti at Stazione Leopolda in Florence at the Chianti Classico Collection. A wine as a child of cappello sommerso, stylistically Piedmontazine in origin, long maceration and from a really wet and cool vintage. Always elegant, always a matter of vineyard rows that ripen just bit earlier, better and with phenolic completion as compared to the rest of Piero Lanza’s fruit. Chewy, especially for the vintage but also layered and palate caressing. This has the no lo so of Chianti Classico, the umami found in just certain wines of understanding and humility. Lanza gets it and that’s important. It means he cares. Bravo Piero. Tasted March 2022

Monte Bernardi Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Sa’Etta 2014

Panzano

It was my request to look back at an older version of Sa’Etta, to see how the earlier lift, animale and swarthy behaviour has either settled down or remained an integral part of a wine steeped in character as place. Things can be circumstantial and sometimes they simply are not. Now, 2014 has indeed settled but we are very aware of some beautifully feral character looking back. The newer vintages of 2017 through 2019 surely speak in more graceful tones or rather those edgy notes slide and integrate with greater subtleties. What has really come about is how the fruit and acid intertwine roll with tidal bio-endo-dynamism across the palate. That is because the extra few years of polymerized tannins have served to sweeten the once shy Pietraforte raised sangiovese. As it is said, timing is everything. Drink 2021-2023. Tasted November 2021

With Angela Fronti, Istine, Radda

Istine Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Levigne 2014

Radda and Gaiole

Made from the three Istine vineyards and the best grapes from each though the percentage changes each vintage because the vineyards have strong identities and show differently from year to year. “It was 2014 that made me stronger so it is my favourite vintage,” tells Angela Fronti. Rained so much, disease pressure and botrytis were in effect and so the soil needed to be repeatedly cleaned, the grapes thinned and the harvest pass three times over. Talk about the passion and the ability to age Riserva into what is now a timeless exposition and impression, a liquidity now viscous and fluid like a cold stream of fresh water you so desire to drink. Savour captured, Raddese acidity set to the future, Gaiole threaded through and time so very much on this Riserva’s side. Drink 2022-2027. Tasted February 2022

San Giusto A Rentennano Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Le Baròncole 2014

Gaiole

All together a different vintage for the Classico, cool, salt-licked, mineral, linear and ethereal. Not an orange or cherry one and quite frankly not one of fruit at all. “In our case the base Chianti Classico suffered a bit, but the ones picked later in October for Riserva were high quality.” Work with this 2014 in the glass for 10-15 minutes and it will flesh, silken and lengthen. No jam or concentration but elegance personified. Last tasted February 2022

In 1957 San Giusto A Rentennano was inherited by Enrico Martini di Cigala and in 1992, by his nine children. Today Anna, Lucia, Elisabetta, Francesco, Alessandro and Luca are partners in the estate company. Riserva le Baròncole 2014 is composed from 97 per cent sangiovese plus canaiolo, the 14th Baròncole of a Riserva that was first bottled in 1975. The rains of summer did not deter this determined Chianti Classico, thanks to great farming practices, favourable weather conditions at harvest and under the circumstances, the strictest grapes selection possible. A beautiful liqueur wells in this rich and aromatic, spiced and spicy CC, quite exceptional for 2014. The top of the quality pyramid is reached with its rich constitution and age conscious ability. Chalky in fine grain and sweet tannins, no green notes, good acidity and properly rendered (20 per cent new) barriques and big (5 hl) barrels. Get with the baron. It’s a prime “esempio” for Gaiole in Chianti. Drink 2018-2024. Tasted September 2017

Le Vigne, Istine, Radda

Istine Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Levigne 2013

Radda and Gaiole

As for 2013 it shows so much more evolution and the blood orange juicing simply can’t be missed. Here the lovely hint of oxidation creeps in, a feeling of warmth eight years later and yet there are some refreshing moments too. The tannins persist even while the fruit is on the wane and the end of the best years is nigh. Drink this for two three more years with confidence and pleasure. Last tasted February 2022

Levigne is considered the top wine of the estate and it is one of two assemblage-forged sangiovese. Angela Fronti produces three single-vineyard Chianti Classico, a CC that combines all three vineyards and this Riserva. Since the 2012 harvest Fronti has opted for separate vinifications of sangiovese according to each vineyard of origin. Through different wines the characteristics of each specific vineyard, as in exposure, soil and altitude, are exploited. Fronti notes “we tell our reality through the best sangiovese harvested in the Vigna Istine (between Radda and Castellina), the one collected in the Vigna Casanova dell’Aia (near Radda) and the one in the Vigna Cavarchione (in Vertine, Gaiole). Riserva is a story of assemblage and it seems to me, not the wine of Angela’s greatest passion. This CCR is chosen from her best fruit and spent 18 months in large botti. The fruit is raisin chewy and a bit stewed to be sure but with good acidity and tart, tight tannins to keep the faith. It’s disjointed and I would bet the single-vineyard CCs are more precise and focused. Should SV Riservas be the wave of Istine’s future? Only Fronti can answer that question, if adding more diversity to the portfolio is even a possibility. All that said this high quality blend will turn and morph for a more than interesting secondary CCR display of personality. Drink 2017-2022. Tasted September 2017

Istine Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Levigne 2012

Radda and Gaiole

Angela’s first vintage, a very dry one (similar to what would come out of 2017) and also the first from fully organic vineyards. Also a warm one (just as ’17 would also be) and the evolution is upon this very moment. The feeling of wood wells into a chocolate melt from 2012, something neither ’13 nor ’14 seem to possess or process. Full and satisfying, acidity intact and keeping the ripeness alive. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted February 2022

Cantalici Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Baruffo 2010

Gaiole

In Riserva form and from a year earlier as compared to the ’11 Baruffo Annata it is this 2010 that has fully and completely entered its secondary stage of development. All umami, in porcini and tartufo but also plum pudding and tells Giovanni, “the evolution we want.” This is a very handsome wine, in a calm and relaxed state, but with acids very much intact. The wood has melted and integrated so beautifully and while its excess is a concept of time, there is no doubting how well it was used. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted February 2022

Castell’in Villa Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2010

Castelnuovo Berardenga

A look back 12 years and the memories are mostly in notes for a vintage of strength but not necessarily the body of some others immediately before and also after. Expediently secondary and holding that way now for a few years, not yet truffled but plenty of wood and woods, oak and bosco, nuts mostly, with layers of chocolate. Residing in between, not a wine of real age but well past its youth. There is nothing earthy about this whatsoever, rather it’s cheery and almost sweet. Good fruit vintage and generous oak are obvious and that is why the wine has survived so well though the latter plays a starring role. Still some unresolved yet resolute tannin for a few more years. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted March 2022

The bright perfume is elevated out of 2010 and brought to present day prominent, scintillant life. A sangiovese out of which the Principessa “feels the sense of the earth.” You somehow still feel the sweet naïveté of maceration, from a very promising now realized vintage of both fruit wealth and structure. Just a moment’s porcini breath characterizes the present, coming through to speak of a turning point and the next aromatic phase. Just a baby really. Drink 2018-2024. Tasted November 2018

Castell’in Villa Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Poggio delle Rose 2010

Castelnuovo Berardenga

A nearly two hectare single vineyard or if you like the Castell’In Villa cru and really just a fraction of what is made in the “other” Riserva. Similar aging profile but with more depth and also complexity, here in the 15th vintage (first in 1996) from a vineyard created by the cuttings of the best vines identified around the estate. Getting the the iron mineral in addition to the brush and herbs which make this feel younger and more alive. These tannins are impressively resolute and trenchant, trading blows with your palate but en route to their soft moment in the sun. Extraordinary really, a wine about a place within a place within a place. The proverbial enigma, wrapped, shrouded, etc., etc. Last tasted March 2022

From the hill parcel planted in 1990 to the old selezoine massale clones, from the original property, not the current “Chianti Classico” clones. “And there is a difference,” insists Principessa Coralia. Three or four years in grandi botti and older tonneaux so no, it’s not even close to ready. Yet the fcat that you don’t explicitly notice the tonneaux is its magic. A big and complex vintage with variability in temperature and precipitation but at the crucial moments it gave what was needed. There is a special presence about this sangiovese, because of the source but also how alive, bright-eyed and expressive it is. This pulses, vibrates and reverberates with ancient seabed salinity. No loss to finesse but more time will be required, to turn back time and back pages, for the true clarity and calm disposition to settle in. Extraordinary wine of restrained power and exceptional sangiovese. Has always been Riserva and “will never be Gran Selezione.” Drink 2021-2035. Tasted November 2018 and February 2019

San Giusto A Rentennano Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Le Baròncole 2010

Gaiole

The 2010 is a big and concentrated wine for San Giusto, acidity running high, tannins still ruminating and spice all over the proverbial tufo map. A highly seasoned sangiovese with drying notes and sensations. This seems like a Riserva vintage that hit its stride at the 10 year mark as opposed to others where 15 is the bench. At least in terms of fruit that is. Drink 2022-2024. Tasted February 2022

Villa Pomona Bandini 2009, Castellina

Fattoria (Villa) Pomona Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Bandini 2009

Castellina

Tasted as part of “Il Chianti Classico in 9 Decadi” led by Filippo Bartolotta with Giovanni Manetti at Stazione Leopolda in Florence at the Chianti Classico Collection. Just a baby in many ways, especially with Pomona’s particular Castellina character and specificity of acidity acting as backbone for this gently tannic wine. There is some tropical fruit on the nose, almost guava but more so persimmon and pomegranate, still very Italian but surely exotic. The wood has melted and it lingers in soft tones, not earthy but woodsy. Chocolate finish, not surprising and not overpowering. Tasted March 2022

Val delle Cort’s Roberto Bianchi in the wilds of Radda

Val Delle Corti Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2009

Radda

From the upper Riserva block and now at 11-12 years of age, a wine of perfume and such porcini, tartufo and umami it is really quite amazing. From another time in Radda history and a vintage able to withstand the test of time. The acidity persists but truth is a fat year and yes, conceptualized Raddese will always be there. Lovely drop at this stage and with thanks to place. Posizione. Sempre. Always. Drink 2021-2024. Tasted October 2021

Conti Capponi/Villa Calcinaia Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2008

Montefioralle

Tasted alongside the 2018 and like the 9s there is also great affinity between these 8s, if a bit less so. This previous decade gave a vintage cool and elongated if perhaps a former one as well. The once commanding tannins are done working the room and glass while the grippy acids persist and dominate the dusty plum fruit. There is some acetic meandering behaviour here and also some soy, balsamic and deep baritone notes. Imagined as once reductive the 2008 now sees its best days in the rear-view mirror. Drink 2022. Tasted February 2022

Conte Capponi/Villa Calcinaia Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Vigna Bastignano 2008

Montefioralle

Sebastiano Capponi’s Vigna Bastignano was the single vineyard Riserva back in 2008, now one of three Gran Selezione wines bottled at Calcinaia. The structure and grip back then must have been something formidable because while these elements of architecture and control have relented and mostly subsided the sangiovese stands like a Florentine edifice with the Capponi crest up top, front and centre. Clearly a wine of drive and design, calculated and restored each and every time. The balsamic and earthy brewed notes are most noted while fruit wanes and hangs as if in a Baroque still life painting. Drink this with confit, preferably sauced and accompanied by a side of cavolo nero and white beans. Drink 2022-2023. Tasted February 2022

San Felice Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Poggiorosso 2008

Castelnuovo Berardenga

Expectation dictates a much more advanced character for Poggiorosso (which predated the Gran Selezione at that time) but it is in fact a fresh and youthful example of a right and proper single vineyard wine. The tannins persist but reside in the arena of fine design with wood seasoning piquing the persistent fruit. Finishes with a meal ending shot of dusty espresso. Remarkable longevity. Should drink well easily for five more years. Drink 2022-2027. Tasted February 2022

San Giusto A Rentennano Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Le Baròncole 2007

Gaiole

Though the secondary notes are just now fully in emerging form the fruit quality and persistence is just a bit more in linger than the three years younger 2010. This 2007 has held up remarkably well for a wine that for all rights and purposes should have begun to wane and fade away. Some good quality tannin also persists and while more wood effect comes through in chocolate there is a lovely balance and swimmingly beautiful character in true Riserva style. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted February 2022

Riserva Le Barōncole 2006, San Giusto a Rentennano, Gaiole

San Giusto A Rentennano Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Le Baròncole 2006

Gaiole

2006 was a very good vintage. People were worried at the end of August but in the middle of September there was a rain of 100mm and then for the last two weeks high temperatures (27 degrees) by day and cool (10) at night. Finished harvest on the 9th of October. Like 2012 there is a faint scent of cooking animal but here the tannins are really sweet and oh so fine. This is almost perfect Chianti Classico at 15 years old, exactly secondary, industrially complex and opening up the world of possibility, imagination and mostly emotion. Wildly aromatic and a bottle that represents Le Barôncole, Riserva and the vineyards of San Giusto in the best way. Could hardly be better. Drink 2021-2027. Tasted November 2021

Il Poggio, Castello di Monsanto, San Donato in Poggio

Castello Di Monsanto Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Il Poggio 2004

San Donato in Poggio

Ideal vintage, not too hot or cold and aged in tonneaux. Clearly a sangiovese from a time when extraction and oak aging conspired not necessarily for huge wines but those of full-body, flesh and creamy flavours. If there is some chocolate and café so be it because the graceful rusticity, waning blood orange and traditional ambience are all more important than anything the wood (two thirds new) might have eventually wanted to say. A seasoned linger thanks the Galestro and acids for the drift. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted February 2022

Castell’in Villa Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2000

Castelnuovo Berardenga

“With sangiovese I never get bored. I drink it in all its versions. It gives you full satisfaction.” The words are those of Principessa Coralia Leonini Pignatelli. This from 2000 is one of those unique iterations, a cool vintage as they come, especially at that time. There is a sweetness to the fruit, matched with an equal and opposing savour, the polar opposite to the 1994 tasted last night. Almost blood orange but not quite, certainly not the iron-mineral notes of that ’94 or especially 2010. There is delicacy and grace from 2000, a fineness and a precision but nothing gangly or powerful at all. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted March 2022

Monsanto, Castell’In Villa e Brolio, I 9 Decadi

Castell’in Villa Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 1995

Castelnuovo Berardenga

Tasted as part of “Il Chianti Classico in 9 Decadi” led by Filippo Bartolotta with Giovanni Manetti at Stazione Leopolda in Florence at the Chianti Classico Collection. Quite excited to taste this ’95 Riserva from Principessa Coralia because the last time it was slightly tainted by TCA. This bottle is in much better condition, vibrant and bright, full of fruit. Full on Castelnouvo savour, brush and vineyard dirt. An older Castell’In Villa that so reminds of some older, oxidative and terrifically characterful Greek reds. Especially xinomavro from Naoussa. Yet the acids are higher and the texture more salve viscous. Last tasted March 2022

Every memory of the summer that was 1995 in Chianti Classico is important, not the least of which are 17 days spent there and the terrible weather that followed the communes all summer long. Perhaps that is why this 23-plus year-old sangiovese has lingered into the most finessed and pleasure gathered state of grace. It’s an older bird to be sure and even not the cleanest example there is or was but its tertiary place is still marked by fine acidity and grippy tannin. Classic Castelnuovo sangiovese with dried porcini scattered amongst the leaves of autumn. Drink 2019-2020. Tasted February 2019. (The slight TCA in this example really means the wine is not rated)

Castell’in Villa Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 1994

Castelnuovo Berardenga

Looking back the style shows as a wood directed vintage and so not entirely aromatic at this 28 year point. Notable at the fore are soy, balsamic, tar and iodine. Acidity and structure are holding the fort though this really does feel like a sangiovese of a particular oak regime time. Mid-nineties IGT-ism if you will and yet the wine is showing really well. Full and having aged slowly to this point and degree, pitchy as it gets and really quite a heady wine. Pairs beautifully with cervo (deer) loin. Truly. After 30 minutes everything changes. The wood integrates and fades to the background, now spice up front and a sweetness emerges. Finally it is Castell-In Villa, intrinsic, automatic, for real. Drink 2022-2024. Tasted March 2022. Drink 2022-2024. Tasted March 2022

Lamole di Lamole 1993

Lamole Di Lamole Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 1993

Lamole

Tasted as part of “Il Chianti Classico in 9 Decadi” led by Filippo Bartolotta with Giovanni Manetti at Stazione Leopolda in Florence at the Chianti Classico Collection. Curious to assess this with the ’93 Annata in mind from September 2018, a wine that sat in quite good standing. Both are from Andrea Daldin’s first vintage at Lamole di Lamole. The Riserva is impressive with kept freshness and spirit of life in a 1993 filled with Lamole’s profumi in pocket and more so brushy herbs, especially sage noted on the nose. The wine is in terrific shape, easily hanging in as compared to tasting the 1993 Annata three and a half years ago. Tasted March 2022

Castello Di Monsanto Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Il Poggio 1986

San Donato in Poggio

A forgotten or passed over vintage 1986, right after 1985 and vintage of the century, like 1997, but not. Cool and equipped with great longevity, of bokser pod, fennonchiona, all leading to liquorice. But most of all a very pronounced San Donato in Poggio blood orange and sanguinity, with classic Monsanto tannins that likely fully resolved about 10 years ago. In fantastic condition, drinking with love and precision, generous and comforting. Drink 2021-2024. Tasted October 2021

Antinori 1985, San Casciano

Marchese Antinori Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Marchese Antinori 1985

San Casciano

Tasted as part of “Il Chianti Classico in 9 Decadi” led by Filippo Bartolotta with Giovanni Manetti at Stazione Leopolda in Florence at the Chianti Classico Collection. Only the second year in DOCG (Chianti) status. Fully completely tertiary Chianti Classico and quite charming at that. Really scents and tastes like chestnuts, lightly roasted, also hazelnuts, gently toasted. A wine of barriques and San Casciano herbology, of mandarin orange, vanilla and baking spice. Chocolate is all over the finish with a sense of drying tannin still very a part of the mix. As much an older expression of Toscana as it could be Chianti Classico. Tasted March 2022

Sangioveto and Il Poggio, Castello di Monsanto, San Donato in Poggio

Castello Di Monsanto Chianti Classico Riserva Il Poggio 1969

San Donato in Poggio

From a bottle that was re-corked in 2005 and no surprise to be found in pristine condition. As much akin to a Sangioveto as to the 1968 Il Poggio due to a level of mulch and forest underfoot but also the blood orange fruit, dried nuts and high acid. You can feel the malic acid in the bottle, creamy and even more so like aged pecorino. Would have been very tight and closed for likely two decades and the three years in chestnut cask has also served to increase the longevity of this 1969. Not a big vintage, light on its 50-plus year old frame and with flavours that repeat over and over again. Drink 2021-2027. Tasted February and March 2022

I 9 Decadi di Chianti Classico, Stazione Leopolda, Firenze

Badia A Coltibuono Chianti Classico Riserva 1958

Gaiole

Tasted as part of “Il Chianti Classico in 9 Decadi” led by Filippo Bartolotta with Giovanni Manetti at Stazione Leopolda in Florence at the Chianti Classico Collection. A unique expression of a time in Chianti Classico’s history, removed from the war and yet still well ahead of the abolishment of the Mezzadrie. A deeply plum-earthy sangiovese, connected to oenologist Maurizo Castelli. The most profound and dominant sensation derived is that of toasted nuts and dried fruit, two Classico characteristics that work so well alongside antipasti of salumi in all its Tuscan iterations. No citrus or white grape feelings are gained, only fruit in a fully dehydrated, raisin stage. The finish lingers and tells much about the 60-plus years of this special wine. Tasted March 2022

Officina Bistecca, Antica Maccelleria Cecchini, Panzano

Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2019

Rocca Delle Macìe Gran Selezione Chianti Classico DOCG Riserva Di Fizzano Single Vineyard 2019

Castellina

Take the 2018 Riserva di Fizzano and move ahead with forward and current conditions acumen to open a new door, that being Tenuta di Fizzano. Makes great sense and so ideal to use this round, beautiful and amenable vintage for the change to make even greater sense. Sweetly concentrated fruit, good quality ’19 acids that never sear nor steal the spotlight all fall into a round and soft structural line. Even better value if not the vintage to cellar too long. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted February 2022

With Camilla Bellini and Nadia Fournier, Enoteca Bellini, Firenze

Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2018

Antinori Badia A Passignano Gran Selezione Chianti Classico DOCG 2018

San Casciano

From 2018 and San Casciano the Antinori winemaking team has looked to fill this bottle with great concentration and all the vintage was capable of completing. As such there is some very late picked fruit and it shows through the mature development of those grapes. Also some variegation in that fresh, dried, chewy, crisp and toasty notes are all layered through this Gran Selezione. It comes from the Passignano vines but it all blends and blurs into a smouldering example of top level Chianti Classico. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted February 2022

Barone Ricasoli Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Colledilà 2018

Gaiole

Tasted in Rome with Francesco Ricasoli, a Colledilà picked just ante the final moments of September, ahead of the last days of heat and cold nights. And so a freshness that defines that very specific part of the vintage dictates how this Gaiole Gran Selezione will express what it means to be of itself. “For me one of the most creative times in the last ten years,” tells the Barone, “sharing decisions with the team.” Ricasoli refers to Covid-era collaboration, when members of the viticultural and vinicultural staff had more time. So perfumed, of roses and of course cherries but most of all a natural sweetness that pervades, prepares and readies the palate. Elegant, balanced and really as good as it gets for Colledilà, mimicking “the elegance of the Chianti landscape, its hills dotted with strongholds.” Drink 2022-2029. Tasted October 2021

Casale Dello Sparviero Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Paronza 2018

Castellina

Paronza is a buoyant and almost weightless, gravity defying Gran Selezione, easy of mind, body and alcohol. Aromatically reticent and a wine so young you really have to play, swirl and agitate to get any kind of emotive response. Perfume, red fruit and fresh sanguinity do emerge, followed by a sappy, almost syrupy texture dominated by liquid Galestro-willed tannins. Very Castellina, wholly vintage related and will drink well beginning two years or so from now. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted February 2022

Podere Castellinuzza Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Vecchie Vigne 2018

Lamole

Vines that are quite old accentuate and concentrate the Lamole perfume, that much must be obvious but it also serves to emulsify and thicken the fruit wrapped in savoury bacon for a true roasted nightshade and meaty experience. This may not be for the vegetarians in the crowd but it packs a punch of high caste complexity and takes Castellinuzza’s work to an entirely new level. Full flavoured and throttled bottle with all the herbs, wood spices and florals fully in the mix. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted February 2022

Castello Di Bossi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2018

Castelnuovo Berardenga

Tasted as part of “Operatori Canadese,” in a tasting of Castelnuovo Berardenga wines for “La Squadra” from Canada. Bossi’s is knowable, highly effective and teachable Gran Selezione. The sangiovese right at the heart of the appellation and crux of the matter. Wide open, air filled, breezy, sunny and blue sky dreamy. Depth of fruit, smart, creamy and juicy as Classico summer Berardenga fruit. Concentration finds balance alongside structure. Ideal 10 year wine. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted February 2022

Castello Di Fonterutoli Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2018

Castellina

A blend of more than 90 per cent sangiovese, with colorino and malvasia nera on predominantly Alberese plus Galestro soils aged for 20 months in small French barrels (225 and 500L, 60 per cent of them new). Finished for four months in concrete tanks to stabilize and capture that last moment of preserving freshness. A wily and exotically wild Gran Selezione, perfumed, high acid and stimulative. Attacks the buds and the senses with ferocity and with wholly operational spice piques due to the wood. Needs four years. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted February 2022

Castello di Vicchiomaggio Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG La Prima 2018

Greve

Vicchiomaggio’s La Prima is singular and distinctive out of the potentially adverse and yet available for capture 2018 vintage. The fruit acts like sangiovese et al hung long on the vine, well-developed while in contact with roots, legumes, herbs and brush. From the savoury Greve, fully intact and in tact for a Gran Selezione that is linear, upright and long. Needs time, a whole lot of precious time. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted February 2022

Conti Capponi/Villa Calcinaia Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG La Fornace 2018

Montefioralle

The Furnace made friends with 2018, heating up just enough but keeping its emotions in check to make this suave, emulsified and tempered Gran Selezione. Feeling the fully developed ripenesses is not a difficult task, nor is there any impediment to accessing what silky texture and even silkier tannin are available in full regale and display. Perhaps the least austere, demanding and grippy La Fornace ever produced at the hands of Sebastiano Capponi but the structure is indeed sneaky and built for a haul both stretched and long. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted February 2022

Conti Capponi/Villa Calcinaia Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Vigna Contessa Luisa 2018

Montefioralle

There is little doubt that of the three Calcinaia Gran Selezione it is Vigna Luisa Contessa that exhibits the most elastic, lithe and calm character. Not that it lacks in concentration and in fact it exudes the feeling of long fermentation time with great quality sangiovese skins. Despite the high and haute tripling levels of fruit substance, sweet acidities and finest tannins there is just something single and stony vineyard stretched about how all parts react to and interact with one another. Luisa is both luxe and elongated, lush and forever. A Contessa’s vintage this 2018. Drink 2024-2032. Tasted February 2022

Fattoria Pomona Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Il Omini Vineyard 2018

Castellina

The little man was planted in 1998 and this is the first Gran Selezione for Monica Raspi. Based on the solo sangiovese and single-vineyard ideal with fruit that had previously only been sent to Riserva. As with all of Raspi’s wines there is this excitement of risk-reward, of living on the edge but with a controlled calm. They set out on their own, flying free from the nest, but always seem to find their way home. And so Gran Selezione is both rebellious and edgy in youth. Some time will be needed to clean up, dress for success, act all charming and elegant. This is surely an auspicious GS beginning, fruit picked in October, preemptive in postscript of the vintage, late arriving, playing “forza e equilibrio,” acidity running high and tannins low. Not small or simple tannins but baritone, “grave e robusto,” in other words, austere. A low and slow sangiovese braise, developing, far from ready. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted October 2021

Vigna del Sorbo, Conca d’Oro, Fontodi, Panzano

Fontodi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Vigna Del Sorbo 2018

Panzano

Showed a bit astringent and tannic grippy at the 20-25 day mark during fermentation, but bold and concentrated. Very thick-skinned vintage and those grains of tannin are very fine. Bottled in February and not yet closed in but that will likely follow soon. The dry extract and concentration are off the charts. More than that the alcohol (15.5) and acidity (6.5) are so elevated because at the end of September the temperature rose to 30 degrees, down to 1 at night and then back up the next day. “Something I have never seen in my life,” tells Giovanni Manetti. And so Vigna del Sorbo (and many of the top wines) that were picked later and in this case after that crazy 48 hours are no shrinking violets. If one thinks 2018s are soft and easy wines, think again. Even at this level of largesse there is balance and as always, the old vines of Vigna del Sorbo. Drink 2023-2032. Tasted October 2021

Gran Selezione Il Margone, Il Molino di Grace, Panzano

Il Molino Di Grace Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Il Margone 2018

Panzano

Bottled in May of 2021 so for Gran Selezione a very young wine. “It’s difficult to make a wine that is so very different, between Riserva and Gran Selezione.” You simply must take fruit from the best vineyard and keep the quantity at a consistent (approximately 6,000 bottles) level. Mainly Al Sole and Jack vineyards with a small portion from Raphaela. Actually too young, guarded and unavailable but see the forest for the trees and imagine the concentration meeting at the place where structure and balance collide, or get together. This will happen in three or four years. Last tasted February 2022

“Everyone knows it depends on when you harvest,” chimes estate director Iacopo Morganti, echoed immediately by Daniel Grace. “That is when you make the wine.” And so picking started in October, after the late September heat and crazy isolated intervals of day to night temperature fluctuations. Picking in October is essential to making Il Margone what it is. A Gran Selezione made whole and knowing where to be. Il Margone regulates itself as time passes by, of temperature and pulse. A Gran Selezione of regular heartbeat, non-plussed, vigorous and fine. Given the word, changing the scene, getting better all the time. Who could not already drink 2018 all the time? If anyone knows, remembers and appreciates the relish and longevity of 1998, they will be able to imagine this 2018 and its similar qualities. They will begin with soon to act on haste and with experience in pocket, know to keep drinking this wine for two decades time. Drink 2024-2034. Tasted October 2021

Lamole Di Lamole Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Vigna Grospoli 2018

Lamole

Vigna Grospoli is an old vineyard and one of Chianti Classico’s true cru where Lamole’s favourite son Paolo Socci also has also produced a Gran Selezione under his Fattoria di Lamole name. So yes, vineyard specific, offering a sense of sand in Macigno del Chianti form but so much more so a matter of intensity and austerity interned or in turned by the hard limestone effect of Alberese. The Lamole perfume hides in the wings while wood seasoning and stone grip take centre stage. Here a sangiovese caught between a rock and a hard place, working through the grains and fissures to eventuate a clean break and openness of generosity. Forget about it, it’s Gran Selezione. Drink 2025-2031. Tasted February 2022

La Sala, San Casciano

La Sala Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Il Torriano 2018

San Casciano

Il Torriano, “the tower,” enemy lookout likely destroyed during WW2. The thread and the lineage continues, here with Gran Selezione that takes all the purity of fruit, saltiness from the soils and plushness of sweet tannins to an entirely top level. A single vineyard of 1.5 hectares, tiny by any standards. Now the salinity is liquid, dissolved in water and the resulting solution is a drink well suited to receive fine acids and sweet tannins. Large non toasted casks help to stabilize the colour and further soften the tannins but virtually nothing else. The GS is the wine that truly incorporates all three soil types; Alberese, Galestro and Macigno del Chianti. The artist painted Casablanca and the sketch for this label, the four roosters and the importance speaks for itself. Just a touch unresolved so wait two years. Drink 2024-2032. Ex-cellar cost is 13.2 euro. Tasted February 2022

Le Miccine Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2018

Gaiole

Le Miccine is perhaps the most perfumed of all the 2018 Gaiole Gran Selezione. The aromas include those of the forest and the herb garden but they reach florals more in bloom and quite frankly they that are profound. Violets in the way of sangiovese but also roses and exotics so radiant you’d have trouble separating from nebbiolo were this poured blind. An explosive display and also a grace, integration and style that sets this so readily apart. Will eventually flesh, depart from the current state of conflagration, slowly deflate and yet always emanate with that perfume. Drink 2024-2031. Tasted February 2022

Piccini 1882 Valiano Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG “6.38” 2018

Vagliagli

By now Piccini’s Valiano in Castellina style is so consistently obvious and the hallmark red chalky flavours uncanny in their replicated design. The 6.38 Gran Selezione oeuvre is one of aromatic hyperbole mixed with textural charm. There is density and also weight but more so breadth in this volumetric appellative example. It is a sangiovese force to be reckoned with and earlier estimates wholly undervalued the structure. Wait two more years. Last tasted February 2022

Bottled in December of 2020, expressive and knowable as a Vagliagli sangiovese, ripe and spicy on the nose. A child of late-picked, full phenolic development and very generous wood. The new label reflects the organic movement and future of the Gran Selezione category, not to mention the additional geographic unit (UGA) of Vagliagli (in the western section of Castelnuovo Berardenga) that will almost surely grace the 2019 release. High level quality, well made, full on and in, deep and long. Drink 2022-2027. Tasted October 2021

Principe Corsini – Villa Le Corti, San Casciano

Principe Corsini Villa Le Corti Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Don Tommaso 2018

San Casciano

“Thomas” was Duccio Corsini’s grandfather, and his before him. The first vintage labeled as Don Tommaso was 2013, here in 2018 bottled under natural cork. Gran Selezione is 30 months with a few at the end in bottle before release. Like with Riserva the vintage is a boon for GS, not bust due to the acidity, amenability and vigour sensibilities. A drink earlier Selezione to be sure, accessible and saline delicious. Dark fruit yes and more wood to be sure but also the 20 per cent merlot that softens, texturizes and accentuates with the best grapes available. Shows this part of the territory in spite of or despite the amount of merlot. Drink 2022-2028. Tasted October 2021

Zac, Principe Corsini – Villa Le Corti, San Casciano

Principe Corsini Villa Le Corti Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG ZAC 2018

San Casciano

The top of the pyramid in all respects, second vintage after the inaugural 2016 with no production (across the board) in 2017, though it was first made in 2008. Varietal sangiovese from the eastern section of a Pliocene river stones vineyard just down right from the winery, away from the village of San Casciano. Labeled as San Casciano in Val di Pesa, a precursor to the new UGA initiative with sub-zones now allowed on the labels of Gran Selezione Chianti Classico. A biodynamic as well as organic vineyard split into three plots. More seasoning and spice, chalky, fine-grained texture (with thanks to the barriques) and yes more structure. Wood is a big factor but the acidity and freshness can handle it. Let this rest three years. Drink 2024-2031. Tasted October 2021

Jacopo di Battista, Querceto di Castellina

Querceto Di Castellina Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Sei 2018

Castellina

Iacopo di Battista began this journey in 1997 with a unique high elevation vineyard at the triangular geographic confluence of three UGAs; Panzano, Radda and his Castellina. He planted new vineyards in 2003 and 2008, including cabernet franc and a small plot of viognier and marsanne on a terraced hill above the house and cantina. Sei is a selection of two sections of the main (450-510m) vineyard and they form a cru. Two parcels that shine and excel in their commonality and also complimentary sangiovese desire. From 2018 Sei doubles down on the laser Alberese cut and balsamic front. There is no mistaking the searing intensity and full throttle, high acid limestone lead. Time is a must to give these tannins their due and to request they settle down. Not sure Iacopo has fully figured out his vineyard but when he does look out. As a reminder Sei is 6.6 hectares of 6,666 plants and Iac’s mama Laura was born on June 6, 1946. Not to mention 100 litres makes 666.666 bottles. Whaaat!?! Drink 2025-2032. Tasted February 2022

Rocca Delle Macìe Gran Selezione Chianti Classico DOCG Riserva Di Fizzano Single Vineyard 2018

Castellina

The addendum of 10 per cent colorino brings hue and sweet freshness to sangiovese that takes a clear and knowable step forward with not just concentration but also depth and open knit generosity. Constantly the most accessible and value to price winning Gran Selezione sangiovese on the market and here from a vintage that offers plenty of fullness, plush tannin and bang for the buck. Last tasted February 2022

Hard to imagine more amenability and immediate gratification from sangiovese at the Gran Selezione level than from this single estate/vineyard Fizzano out of Castellina in Chianti. A sangiovese deeply hued with aid and abetting by 10 per cent colorino, all raised off of this (of four) Rocca delle Macìe estates on Miocene deposits with a sandy-loamy texture, deep and calcareous. Good if not obtuse elevation at 280-300m and a classic Macìe elévage of 20 months in French barrels of 30-35 hl, while a small proportion (10 per cent) is aged in 225L barriques. What is most striking is this push-pull, see-saw integration between open-knit and approachable fruit but also a sapid mouth-filling glycerol with thanks to a healthy pH versus acidity symbiosis. Can’t beat the price to offer customers an open window into the Gran Selezione category. Drink 2021-2025. Tasted December 2021

Rocca Delle Macìe Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Sergio Zingarelli 2018

Castellina

The team at Rocca delle Macìe surely heeded the vintage call and did nothing to press the situation. The pedal is not laid down to the metal and a slow travelling grace does indeed fill the glass from this 100 per cent sangiovese. Sweet berry and plum fruit in season, ripe and juicy lead to an easy glide and these are the softest Gran Selezione tannins from any Sergio Zingarelli made so far. Drink these young while the bigger and more demanding ’16 and ’17 take their time. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted February 2022

Tenuta Di Arceno Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Strada Al Sasso 2018

Castelnuovo Berardenga

Tenuta di Arceno may be Castelnuovo and Siena is the closest city in the province but it exists as a world of its own, despite being referred to as “the most Senese Chianti Classico.” Strada al Sasso wholly and expectedly represents the remarkable diversity of soils including clay, sandstone, basalt and hard schist. They range from sediment-based near the riverbanks to extremely rocky in the higher elevations. Here drives but also drifts a deeply resonant and yet carefree Gran Selezione, if it may be said almost as if like Napa mountain fruit stylistically speaking. Where depth and air collide, from roots digging deep into the strata and fruit coming up for air. All parts walk the road. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted February 2022

Tolaini Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Montebello Sette 2018

Castelnuovo Berardenga

While there is some merlot in Annata, Gran Selezione is single vineyard and 100 per cent sangiovese. Lots of sun, facing south and the ability to develop wines of high everything: ripeness, acidity, alcohol and tannin. Not far from Monti within Gaiole and also the clay and tufo terroir of San Giusto a Rentennano. All in all a place where powerful wines are also made but also so well balanced. The amphitheatre-shaped vineyard is at Montebello and Francesco Rossi is the winemaker. Even more transparent, grippy, dusty and linear than previous vintages with great climbing ability. Expressly yet rung upon rung rising tannic presence and persistently traditional to represent sangiovese in the most classico way. Wait eight years from vintage to take full advantage. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted February 2022

Coltassala and Il Puro, Volpaia, Radda

Volpaia Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Coltassala 2018

Radda

Less openly fragrant and giving then 2017, only serving to show that some ‘18s are bigger and grander than too many people think, or have given them credit for. Regardless of a year having passed or not there is no doubt about the backbone in Coltasalla 2018, in Volpaia’s highly specific Raddese acidity and a tannic structure as long as a Radda autumn. In fact this was picked on October 22nd, a full month after 2017. The chains of command run deep and the connectivity remains unbroken for a Coltasalla that will undoubtedly stand the test of time, stay relevant and stay within secondary elements well into the next decade or more. Drink 2024-2036. Tasted October 2021

Godello and Zebarth, San Felice, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2017

Barone Ricasoli Castello Di Brolio Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2019

Gaiole

As a reminder Ricasoli makes several iterations of Gran Selezione, including Colledilà, Ceniprimo and Roncicone. That would make this Castello di Brolio the most rounded, deliverable and marketable of the four. Less profound and precise perhaps but surely the one to teach about and express the multifarious aspects of Ricasoli’s five distinctive soils. Take a little trip around the property and you will see there is in fact more earth than sea. Deposits of clay, limestone, shale, schist and silt all contribute to this fulsome, composed and concentrated example of Gran Selezione. Finding understanding and if also compromise it is simply a matter of many soil voices, hands and personalities heard and combined for great Gaiole diplomacy. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted February 2022

Casa Emma, San Donato in Poggio

Casa Emma Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2017

San Donato in Poggio

Casa Emma farms 25 hectares in the San Donato in Poggio UGA (unità geografiche aggiuntive) at 430-500m, with plenty of north facing vineyards. Organic practices began in 2015, certified in 2017. There was a 35 per cent loss in 2021 due to the April frosts, a vintage when even some of the higher reaches were affected. You would have to go back to 1995 to find another vintage where this happened. Gran Selezione is 100 per cent sangiovese, not of a cru but best bunches from the best places in the vineyards. Fermented in open top barrels and then spends three years in 1000L Austrian barrels, starting from 2015. First vintage was 2010, not made in ’11 and ’14 and only “when there is sense to make it.” More lightness of being, elegance and elasticizing than the single-vineyard “cru” Vignalparco. This is the persistent, complex, refined and elongated one, the Casa Emma version of Gran Selezione, a made wine and turning the appellative category on its head. Drink 2024-2033. Tasted at Tasted October 2021

Castello Di Meleto Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2017

Gaiole

Meleto 1256 from 2017 is a pure, openly fragrant and transparent snapshot of the vintage, especially in the context of Gaiole. Quite bright and very lifted, a veritable potpourri of reds and greens, perfumes and herbs, tart fruits, nuts and brush. If light then also balanced within the context of what was possible out of hot, arid and unpredictable 2017. Meleto made good if best work with the product available. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2022

Castello di Monsanto, San Donato in Poggio

Castello Di Monsanto Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Vigneto Il Poggio 2017

San Donato in Poggio

Two harvests for Il Poggio, one for Riserva and one for this Gran Selezione. There is a different and specific clone aboard Il Poggio, planted to two thirds of the hill, a larger type, a sangiovese grosso kind and so in drier vintages it really helps a lot. Great freshness, like it was just bottled, fruit on the darker red spectrum and savour equal, sidling, unloosing and so supportive. The defining marker of Il Poggio for Laura Bianchi is the Galestro, “terra bagnata,” wet stone and arancia. On the palate it is the grain of Il Poggio, difficult to describe but you know “grana diversa,” a tannic grain and saltiness, then a long aftertaste. Brilliant Il Poggio at the pinnacle for 2017. Drink 2023-2034. Tasted October 2021 and February 2022

Castello di Volpaia Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Coltassala 2017

Radda

No need to go on about the challenge of the vintage with the plants dropping much of their flowers early on and the stresses continuing throughout. Small bunches with small grapes was the result and in the end the stress was quite incredible on the vines. And yet Volpaia made this Coltasalla because the quality was very high and ecco, here is the result. An openly fragrant vintage, at least at this moment, fruit well strewn across a purple spectrum, spice cupboard open with vials emitting their sweetly pungent smells and tannins upright, vocal, accounted for. Teaching moment in Gran Selezione from a challenge and coming out as roses. Drink this fully in the first 15 years after vintage. Last tasted October 2021

Volpaia’s Coltassala is a really concentrated Gran Selezione and one of the vintage’s early risers. That tells us it will go to bed equally early and slumber for quite some time. The architectural wonders of Radda heights are acclimatizing as we speak but will not open up the shutters and the doors for years it seems. A full compliment of ready and willing fruit is there but kept and suppressed. The emergence will be a vintage exceptionality and live that way for longer than the average ’17. Drink 2023-2032. Tasted February 2020

Castello di Volpaia Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Il Puro 2017

Radda

From the vineyard (Casanova) next to Coltasalla at almost similar elevation (between 400 and 450m), here more east facing but also essentially south. A much younger vineyard, planted in 2001 and here showing more exuberance if less skeletal elements than Coltassala. Like a teenager with boundless energy and passion for life, Il Puro makes one’s nose tingle and then comes the liquid peppery pique. A wine of purity in sangiovese with a joie de vivre, zest for life and honesty. Drink 2022-2028. Tasted October 2021

Fattoria Dell’aiola Cancello Rosso Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2017

Vagliagli

The single vineyard of vines aged 17 years clearly put the best fruit in the bottle. Every sip offers a new challenge, tempered now and then by more pleasant distractions, namely rich sepulchral scents of raw earth. Last tasted February 2022

Adding Gran Selezione to the mix was an easy decision for Fattoria di Aiola, first because they are a property that has gone through many changes in the 620-plus years history. Second because their Castelnuovo Berardenga terroir is some of that commune’s finest with its mix of Alberese, Galestro and Arenaria soils. One whiff of this perfume and taste of concentrated Castelnuovo fruit is all it takes to be wooed, hypnotized and captivated by what sangiovese can be. As a Gran Selezione this hits all the right buttons while dotting I’s and crossing T’s. “The red gate” shows how those who got it right are well aware that Gran Selezione holds the greatest advantage over Riserva in 2017. The concentration of fruit and acidity never allows the tannins to dry or lash out. Here they remain sweet, integrated and helpful. Cancello Rosso is indeed one of the vintage’s finer efforts. Drink 2023-2030. Tasted July 2020

With Guido Vitali and Vicky Schmitt-Vitali, Le Fonti di Panzano

Le Fonti Di Panzano Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2017

Panzano

Feels like Annata multiplied by Riserva and coming out as this Gran Selezione. A happy Gran Selezione at this stage even if it takes longer (being sangiovese), though has already come to near fruition. Fruit, acids and tannins drinking as they are, who they are and who they will be for the next three, possibly five years. After that the wane caused by vintage acceleration will be quicker than somewhere between a few and many. Drink 2022-2027. Tasted October 2021

Querciabella Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2017

Greve

Bottled two years ago, a high elevation Ruffoli interpretation of Gran Selezione. The genesis is in experimentation going back to 2010, ever since single high altitude Greve (essentially Ruffoli) wines have been aged and bottled as themselves. Radda and Gaiole as well but let’s face it Greve is the core. Along the way a textural component was noted, fruit associated at its inner sentiment and then in 2017 it was found and assessed to be something really exceptional. Not a wine of wood (and this was aged in old Grandi Botti), but a Gran Selezione about transparency. The soil is Arenaria sandstone and Galestro which can’t help at this elevation to gift a hint of orange rind and an uncanny flintiness. Only Ruffoli smells like this and with tannins so tightly wound mixed with the intense liveliness of that 2017 acidity. The vintage was warm and dry from the beginning but plant adaptation meant no true suffering and these are vines at peace. Vibrancy at peak mixed with pure fruit emotion makes this Gran Selezione a true force of place and nature. Drink 2025-2038. Tasted November 2021

Rocca Delle Macìe Chianti Classio Gran Selezione DOCG Sergio Zingarelli 2017

Castellina

As far as Gran Selezione is concerned and especially in 100 per cent sangiovese form there are few Chianti Classico wines that show such consistency from 2016 to 2017 as this RdM Sergio Zingarelli. This from the challenge of a warm and extremely dry vintage but all three parts remain virtually the same; fruit, acids and tannin. While they work in tandem there is much work to be done. Wait two to three years for the integration to begin. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted February 2022

Rocca di Montegrossi, Gaiole

Rocca Di Montegrossi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Vigneto San Marcellino 2017

Gaiole

San Marcellino has been in bottle three years but is still not yet released. “It’s an example of what we can do with a warm vintage,” explains Marco Ricasoli. Fruit is very much alive, hanging casually with freshness and acidity, nary a tired moment making waves or causing distress. Even now the combined fruit of 51 plus 25 year-old vineyards of mainly sangiovese with a few points of pugnitello equip this Gran Selezione with purity and also armour. San Marcellino can withstand the new era of aridity and hot demands. Good temperament is key with help to some bunches that were removed so as not to over-stress the vines. Spent 25 months in barrique (40 per cent) and tonneaux (60). Remarkably cool, rich and a fine juggle (giocoliere) between natural sweetness and Monti savour, salt and sour, tart and smooth. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted March 2022

San Felice Il Grigio Gran Selezione Chianti Classico DOCG 2017

Castelnuovo Berardenga

While the thread clearly runs from Annata through Il Grigio Riserva and into Gran Selezione there is the early feeling of some new (30 per cent actually) tonneaux still swirling through the consistency of this rich and creamy sangiovese. A confected citrus in a way, like pomegranate syrup or the centre of a cherry blossom. Lots of barrel feel, fine tannins and as a quotient there is a really really good potential by result. Plenty of chew in 2017. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted February 2022

San Felice, Castelnuovo Berardenga

San Felice Il Grigio Gran Selezione Chianti Classico DOCG Poggiorosso 2017

Castelnuovo Berardenga

In the single vineyard Poggio Rosso Gran Selezione (which used to be Riserva) the inclusion of other endemic varieties (in this case pugnitello, abrusco, malvasia nera, etc.) really changes the imagery, drama and vivid personality of this ulterior wine. More depth, complexity and a vinous grapey-ness, surely a result of the inclusion of especially the pugnitello. Deep purple, rich, luxe and volupté. Nothing rustic about it and a completely different way for which the wood is used, felt and exposed. More excitement and intensity to be sure, if perhaps less structure. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted February 2022

The Chiannna of Fontodi, Panzano

Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG (older vintages)

Bindi Sergardi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Mocenni ’89 2016

Vagliagli

A Gran Selezione from the Mocenni Estate in a wonderful state of equilibrium and almost calm suspension, of fruit at the pinnacle of vineyard selection with only two passages whereby the “lesser” grapes are taken out and the finest fruit is left until the first week of October to fully mature. Two years in large Gamba oak vats, Was an IGT from 2006, first GS vintage 2010. Sure these grapes from this vintage were some of the most consistent and non-variable of any recent vintage but the uniformity makes for a string and true set of wines, especially from Mocenni and up to this appellative level. Last tasted October 2021

Mocenni takes all the advantage that 2016 can possibly pass its way and runs carefree into the wind. The fruit is pretty much as ripe as there can ever be in sangiovese struck by silver acidity and gold tannins, so you can imagine the result. This needs 10 years to fully unfurl, unwind and unfold. Please give it at least half that much time. Drink 2024-2034. Tasted February 2020

Cantalici Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2016

Gaiole

A vineyard selection, from the best vines in what is considered the best sections of Cantialici’s vineyards. Longer fermentation and stabilization to maximize the concentrated and structural effects, done up in all sorts of medium and large format casks, up to 600L for 27 months. Refined further in bottle and so 2016 is the current vintage. Big yet balanced, surely a peak vintage performance, a noble sangiovese no matter how you look at it. Freshness from fine acids and less chocolate though a few shots of espresso reign in the finish. 38 euro at the winery. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted February 2022

Il Becco, Castello di Radda

Castello Di Radda Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Il Corno DOCG 2016

Radda

From the single vineyard just above the cantina facing the village of Radda and Vertine. Aged in tonneaux but not new, 30 months and while the expression is from one vineyard there is a real connection with Riserva, in a brother and sister way, not surprising since most of the Riserva’s fruit is Il Corno in 2016. Harmonious and agreeable Selezione is just this and this wine is just a baby. Great Raddese acidity, fine and long chained tannins, taut and yet to unfurl. The wine is far from ready and it is now easy to understand why this is the current vintage just now being released to the market. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted March 2022

Il Molino Di Grace Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Il Margone 2016

Panzano

Pure balance. I love this wine. Not just a compromise between two bookending vintages but for all vintages. Here you feel the great grip but not brut strength or power. You really do feel the venosity and the sangiovese purity. Good but lessened acidity and austerity. You can keep this for 15 years but not 30. As mentioned, a compromise. Last tasted February 2022

The first “true” vintage from which freshness reigns, marking a change in farming and winemaking. Evolution to focus, incisions to precision, a succulence noted as never before. Fragrant and flavourful, an intensity of spice, all coming together and into harmony. Last tasted October 2021

Extremely youthful ’16 but the clarity of that vintage’s fruit can’t help but be up front and present. The accountability begins right here, with 2016s out of which fruit was allowed to stay fresh and yet in Gran Selezione form there has to be time. Allow for development and the accumulation of flesh, but also succulence. This sumptuous Margone comes replete without the old style of hammer on head mentality. It’s the new and elegant one. Tasting this offers a clear picture into how Iacopo Morganti has impressed his talents and his will onto the wines of this estate. Sip one here and there over the next 15 years and it will be as close as one gets to standing in these Panzano vineyards in a pair of the Grace’s shoes. Drink 2023-2036. Tasted February 2020

With Monia Piccini, Il Palagio di Panzano

Il Palagio Di Panzano Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Le Bambole 2016

“I’m not an oenologist but I have to be critical,” tells Monia Piccini. “We are lucky to have an oenologist who is humble and took us by the hand.” Monia’s husband Franco is also from Panzano and knows every inch of this (Conca d’Oro) land. Aged in tonneaux and a smaller production than 2015. The combination of clone and soil type make for small berries that produce cimmerian ink with the most intensity of sangiovese concentration. A very argiloso and calcari block with the presence of Galestro which translates to a depth and breadth of grace but also structure. You can immediately tell that the grittiness of the old vines are not here but more importantly you feel the salinity, sapidity, minerailty and most of all the feeling of the land. It’s sand and limestone, phosphorous and magnesium, focus, precision and clarity. A true expression of place at the pinnacle for the Gran Selezione appellative category. Palagio and Panzanese. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted October 2021

Isole e Olena, San Donato in Poggio

Isole E Olena Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2016

San Donato in Poggio

La Sala Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Il Torriano 2016

San Casciano

Those two years of needed resolution are on such open display in this generous and gifting 2016 Gran Selezione from the thoughtful, organic and considerate team at La Sala. Il Torrione as a reminder is from the word torre, “the tower,” a garrison/fortress term so common for the area. Great Galestro saltiness if missing an identity that has achieved a level of cult status but perhaps this team is eight years into a plan that will come to full fruition in another seven. Perhaps less or more but the incense, perfect linearity and true identity is developing and approaching the profound. “I think we are between the river crossing,” says oenologist Stefano di Blasi, somewhere between the UGA of San Casciano and the new emotion of La Sala. This ’16 may be a launching point but it’s also just one rung on the ladder. Still a bit tight and the Alberese holds firm so the best is yet to come. Drink 2023-2033. Ex-cellar cost is 19.8 euro. Tasted February 2022

Valeria Viganò, Le Cinciole, Panzano

Le Cinciole Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Aluigi Campo Ai Peri 2016

Panzano

A first, meaning Aluigi used to be Riserva and out of 2016 becomes a Gran Selezione. The name refers to the trees that grow around the Panzano vineyard, a two hectare block for a wine that is a 100 per cent sangiovese. A selection of an already identified selected area of Le Cinciole’s vines. Valeria Viganò and Luca Orsini made the decision to bottle by choosing a small section and with no distraction by international varieties. Rich and youthful, even a bit Galestro dusty and salty, savoury overall yet with flavours that recall or will soon express as Cassis. A grand beginning for Le Cinciole’s commitment to the appellation, with great fruit and acidity, linearity, verticality and oh so very Classico. Not just another GS but one authentic and real. Veramente. Drink 2024-2032. Tasted March 2022

Le Fonti Di Panzano

Le Fonti Di Panzano Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2016

Panzano

Still behind, not as on a schedule but as compared to 2017 holding firm, taking control of your palate, senses and general world. A beautiful wine with grip, structure, sensory domination and circumstance. Last tasted October 2021

Begins at a point just exactly where the Riserva ’16 takes its leave and carries the torch of purity and delicacy. Efficacy too, efficiency for sure and an effusive level of strength that belies its lightness of being. Yes it takes richness in sangiovese from Panzano and this estate to another level but never forgets the heeded understatement it demands to pay forward. Another outstanding effort and worthy of 20 plus years in the cellar. Drink 2023-2035. Tasted February 2020

Quercia Al Poggio Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Vigna Le Cataste 2016

San Donato in Poggio

Gran Selezione comes from the small 1997 planted two hectare vineyard on argiloso soils, called Vigna Le Cataste that is the Quercia al Poggio cru. The name actually means a pile of wood, an old expression at a time when all things were given a name. A cool and savoury Gran Selezione that is clearly years away from showing the fleshiness that only the clay vineyard gives to this northern side of the estate’s promontory. Wood is a factor, mostly due time and three years will be needed to let this truly begin to breath. The first vintage was 2012 and regardless of what came before the idea here is surely not about making the biggest and most dramatic wine but one that represents a very specific sense of place, done so with confidence and for all the correct reasons. Really it’s all about the fineness of the tannins which Le Cataste surely shows. Drink 2023-2030. Tasted November 2021

Rocca Delle Macìe Chianti Classio Gran Selezione DOCG Sergio Zingarelli 2016

Castellina

Settling in with distinction, crisp and croccante, tannins still smiling their wry smile knowing two more years are needed to get this SZ to where it wants to be. Feeling the classic liquorice chew to match and mix with the crunchy bits. Last tasted February 2022

Sergio Zingarelli the Grand Selezione is the rock, the gentle giant, the patriarch of the company’s wines. As a Grand Selezione it allows its actions to speak for the rest of the portfolio to follow. It leads the estates; Macìe, Sant’Alphonso, Fizzano and La Tavelelle. In 2016 the sangiovese is so different and yet so Castellina in that red cherry fruit core teased by spice. Smells like roses and the feel in the mouth is swelling, rising like a tide increasing as it barrels in. In the scheme of timing it would be prudent to allow those waves in years to go out several times before looking for that window of Grand Selezione opportunity to begin. Drink 2024-2034. Tasted February 2020

Rocca Di Castagnoli Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Stielle 2016

Gaiole

Stielle is Gaiole and Gaiole is the heart, savour, savoire-faire and soul of this Gran Selezione. Rocca di Castagnoli has captured the essence of their elevation, vintage elongated freshness and full aged in vessel personality through the appellative oeuvre and into the beyond. A tightly composed and well-structured sangiovese here but also one that is fruitful, generous and so very, very long. The real deal and idealism incarnate from a vintage that truly marks a transition to greater things for the territory. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted January 2022

Rocca Di Montegrossi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Vigneto San Marcellino 2016

Gaiole

From the classic to Montegrossi blend of 92 per cent sangiovese with eight per cent pugnitello, bottled in December of 2018 so now nearly three full years settled. A Gran Selezione at the peak of vintage accumulation and the longest imaginable tethering of tannin to substantial fruit. Also an acid vintage though to be honest the tannic wind and compactness of Marcellino’s power makes this wine easily two years away from the earliest stages of its softening. Drink 2024-2032. Tasted November 2021

Castello di Radda

Castello Di Radda Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Il Corno DOCG 2015

Radda

A very different vintage for the Gran Selezione, much further along than the 2016 though still less so than many other estates. Connectable to ’15 Riserva in that (in GS) it really is a balsamic year but there is more concentration and gritty tannins in the GS. Lightning red fruit here, of currants and pomegranate with true Arenaria sandstone expressiveness. Also a liquorice tone with more texture and bite than the 2016. And yet the advancement is noted in spite of the high acidity and those grippy tannins. In the window of opportunity and again despite what strong feelings there are in this unique wine. Last tasted March 2022

Deep toned and lifted together, fruit of many layered splendour and full throttle acidity. Big and bigger components working separately at present. Give this five years for the weight of the early ferment to aerate, re-coagulate and tie il all together. Drink 2021-2028. Tasted September 2019

Paolo de Marchi, Isole e Olena, San Donato in Poggio

Isole E Olena Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2015

San Donato in Poggio

Bigger and broader vintage, a bit unpredictable, perhaps a temperamental teenager, in and out of emotion but equipped with the necessary tools, ideas and nurtured parts to find balance throughout its life. Now a bit clumsy, high in tone like the flagship Cepparello, herbal and tart citrus edgy. Not a closed phase per se but also not an openly gregarious one either. Last tasted February 2022

“Chianti is not a territory that gives minerality in wines. The low pH and high acidity are the factors that matter most. Here the back palate has bite, but it’s not salinity.” So says Paolo de Marchi as he introduces a series of Gran Selezione. In 2015 the difference between this GS and the Cepparello is not an enigmatic one, nor is it a mystery that de Marchi was not in favour of creating a new category. Still he foresaw and excepted the outcome, so decided to make something special. “In time, after me, it will be a single-vineyard.” Barrel selected from the Cepparello selection, this is not a 100 per cent sangiovese but rather something still in transit, even moving. So tight and tannic, fine-grained, with a new fineness of acidity, but just missing something. Like cabernet franc it is quipped, but no, it wouldn’t have worked anyway. So what then? Time, that is all. Drink 2020-2029. Tasted February 2018

Gran Selezione, Le Fonti di Panzano

Le Fonti Di Panzano Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2015

Gaiole

The 2015 Gran Selezione is ahead of both 2016 and 2017 yet behind 2014, a big fat, far from lean sangiovese, muscular puffed up chest and square shouldered. Showing some oxidative notes, tartufo, fungi and chocolate. Way ahead of projected schedule. Drink up. Last tasted October 2021

Thirty months in wood and a year in bottle later, this top estate wine is the pinnacle of the Le Fonti aromatic certainty. A big vintage to be sure and one that extrapolates in every which way but loose. Taut, tight, firm, grippy and every other subset of structure you can imagine. The 100 per cent sangiovese ideal is acquiesced and believe it or not it failed DOCG designation on the first try. Who might see this as light, atypical or not ready for international prime time is surely missing the point. Drink 2021-2028. Tasted February 2019

Losi Querciavalle Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2015

Vagliagli

“I like ’15 more because of equilibrium in the aromatics and the structure,” tells Valeria Losi and note that she’s in part comparing to ’16 Riserva and in part to ’15 Gran Selezione not yet released. The 2016s may be more aromatic but the ’15s in Vagliagli and at Querciavalle shows great balance between all its parts. The GS is found to be fuller and if not weightier its fruit surely oozes, swirls and swells. More spice as well, tart but never gratuitously sour and a liquid chalky expression just now beginning to hit stride. An Alberese to sangiovese expression like no other. Drink 2023-2030. Tasted March 2022

Querceto di Castellina, Castellina in Chianti

Querceto Di Castellina Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Sei 2015

Castellina

Sei ’15 is still showing those sweet balsam wood notes and searing Alberese behaviour so it’s definitely still two or three years away from its opening salvo. Not a shock when you consider the character and structure of both ’17 and ’18 tasted over the last two years. Tannins still show a level of austerity, growl and bared teeth. Despite this rigidity the fruit substance swells, persists and remains the dream of the future. Wait for it. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted February 2022

Fontodi, Panzano

Fontodi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Vigna Del Sorbo 2014

Panzano

Vigna del Sorbo from 2014 is showing some perfectly secondary character and while that may seem forward the truth is that seven or eight years is spot on for this type of evolution. Just arriving now at this next stage, something sanguine fruity merging into salty and floral concentration. Last tasted February 2022

As a racer the ’14 Vigna del Sorbo might as well be Giuseppe (Beppe) Saronni, winner in 1978 of three stages in the Giro d’Italia, 24 overall and champion in 1979 and 1983. In 1982 he won the world cup with Paolo Rossi. Sorbo is a global sangiovese, the people’s “campione,” beloved sprinter, collaborator and legacy definer. Today the sangiovese from Fontodi’s Conca d’Oro vineyard smells like rabarbaro (rhubarb), black cherry and cut grass. Beautiful combination.
Tasted September 2018

The older vines are between 52 and 54 years old, the first vintage being 1985 and until 2011, contained some cabernet sauvignon, vines that have since been pulled out. The now site-specific, 100 per cent sangiovese Vigna del Sorbo may have been muscular in 2012 but no such hyperbole exists in 2014. The vintage determined this and despite the deep black cherry chalkiness the true spirit and stripped down honesty of sangiovese is in display. Purity has returned, floral like an artistically-rendered natural, realist and perpetual field of flowers in bloom, in installation, of violet light and rose-scented glass. I can imagine drinking this for decades, with its albarese-galestro saltiness and effortless concentration. Sometimes sangiovese never relents and at the same time never tires. Meraviglioso. Drink 2020-2038. Tasted September 2017

Cantalici Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2013

Gaiole

Not a shocker considering the vintage but three years further (as compared to the current Gran Selezione release) shows quite a next level development with greater expediency. Dried fruits, woody notes, mild baking spice and plenty of chocolate, much closer to the Messer Ridolfo than the future iterations of Gran Selezione. Drink 2022-2023. Tasted February 2022

Isole E Olena Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2010

San Donato in Poggio

The 2010 has indeed entered a new of next phase, now into the underbrush and what vegetal magic grows underfoot. Chewy and still a matter of great blended intensity, 10 per cent other grapes bringing the fruit and the spice. Could vey well be argued that 2010 is a syrah vintage. Last tasted February 2022

According to Paolo de Marchi Gran Selezione “has to be a wine of Super Tuscan roots, set in a Chianti Classico setting.” Just a little bit more than 80 per cent sangiovese with cabernet sauvignon and syrah. The acidity and transparency is Chianti Classico while the gentler touch is in a way, not. This turns the entire Gran Selezione idea on its head. It’s the antithetical one, in opposition to what or where the category seems to be going but at the same time fully entrenched within the ideal and the rules. It’s a rich and complex liqueur, truly red cherry and new leather, truly high-toned and truly a matter made by a master of assemblage. Truly Gran Selezione. From and for a moving target, out of vineyards and through the cellar. At least in terms of today. The enigma, the past and the future. Puts the question before the answer. Tasted November 2018

Isole E Olena Gran Selezione 2010 graces a factor in which “the blend lifts up the quality,” a noble venture or undertaking that balances the angles and trips into light. The reductive one is, as per the firm and grippy vintage, tannic and taut, wound still in the present, with the carob and the savour. The minty one, in a way, and with graphite and creosote. Very sapid, tight and intense. The most brooding of the four (’15, ’13 this and ’06). Drink 2021-2030. Tasted February 2018

Vinsantaia, Vin Santo del Chianti Classico, San Giusto a Rentennano, Gaiole

Vin Santo Del Chianti Classico

Castello Di Radda Vin Santo Del Chianti Classico DOCG Occhio Di Pernice 2015

Radda

Occhio di Pernice is made from red grapes, here having rested in caratelli for five years. Mainly sangiovese with 10 per cent canaiolo, keeping the pH up with acidity by slightly early picked fruit in Vin Santo terms. Only 1,000 bottles are made of the first vintage, the “lavorato do amore,” labour of love. A savoury one, built on Radda herbs and brush, Raddese acidity, with toasted nuts and roasted chestnut. Even a mild olive brininess. The flavours are centred on wild strawberry in a Vin Santo that is clearly balanced and elegant. Drink 2022-2028. Tasted March 2022

Castello Di Volpaia Vin Santo Del Chianti Classico DOCG 2015

Radda

A warm vintage for Vin Santo, from trebbiano and malvasia, hung for three months and a definite cheese wine. Far from a thick and syrupy example, a snapshot of the vintage, warming, caressing, more than full enough to fill up and coat the palate. Once again the diversity of the appellation (even more so than the Chianti Classico reds) is evident with Volpaia’s finessed and generational wine. Like glazed nuts meeting praline halfway, as if the nuts are braised, softened and made into a gelée or curd. One of the most unique aromatic profiles and textures in Vinsanto. Drink 2021-2035. Tasted October 2021

San Giusto A Rentennano Vin Santo Del Chianti Classico DOCG 2013

Gaiole

Very youthful, only in bottle now 18 months. A classic trebbiano and malvasia blend with just a few percentage points of sangiovese and canaiolo. A Vin Santo of 400 g/L residual sugar which is nothing short of remarkable. A glass of treacle, with just enough acidity for buoyancy. Right in the wheelhouse at 5.8-5.9 TA but truth is (confirmed by Luca Martini di Cigala) is the volatile acidity number at 1.9, more than high enough and the one that matters most. A most fragrant VS as a result and one from which the complexities are truly experienced. No chance of decline for 20 more years. Drink 2025-2042. Tasted November 2021

In Lamole, with Michaela Morris and Giovanni Manetti

Fontodi Vin Santo Del Chianti Classico DOCG 2012

Panzano

At the top of the concentration and full throttle sweetness pyramid is this from Fontodi and the vintage does bring super purposed acidity, thanks God. Not sure it can fully keep up with the sugars but the lemon, rooibos and orange marmalata do the yeoman work to bring flavour complexity and texture to this traditional dessert wine. Poached pear in trebbiano and malvasia, caramelized and levelling in brushstroke across a creamy palette. Our palate is thankful for the finale alongside Margarita’s tiramisu. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted February 2022

Rocca Di Montegrossi Vin Santo Del Chianti Classico DOCG 2011

Gaiole

At just about nine years of age this is Vin Santo in its infancy, likely around 320 g/L and let’s say 4.5-5.0 of total acidity, but it is so very young. Everything about it is primary, aromas of fresh fruit, just a hint of dried apricot and fig, maple syrup and not really caramelized at all. Orange fleshiness and lemon meringue, biscotti with almonds and just a hint of fennel. Great length. Drink 2024-2039. Tasted November 2021

San Giusto A Rentennano Vin Santo Del Chianti Classico DOCG 2001

Gaiole

So resolved and yet so fresh, exciting and of acidity seemingly perched at an all time high. “The aging of Vin Santo is ten times longer than the sangiovese,” explains Luca Martini di Cigala. That means 20 years for Chianti Classico DOCG is like two for VinSanto, which puts this 2001 into infancy, one still emitting primary aromas and flavours. Orange skin, caramel, fig and dried caci (persimmon), not yet into the molasses, brown butter nor toasted nuts. Not really showing much dried fruit complexities as of yet. Hard to fathom but it can be done. Consider the lack of botrytis and caratelli that carry the wisdom of Vin Santos of Chianti Classico past. Drink 2021-2039. Tasted November 2021

San Giusto A Rentennano Vin Santo Del Chianti Classico DOCG 1998

Gaiole

All the necessary ingredients swim engrossingly and energized together; sweet, sour, salty, nutty and tart. The acidity runs high right in the face of the honeyed and caramelized flavours of great reserve matched by intensity. The volatility is wholly in check, the maple aspect uncanny and the spice cupboard truly infiltrated throughout, within and beyond. Magnificent Vin Santo. Drink 2022-2035. Tasted February 2022

With Michaela Morris and Sean Il Guercio O’Callaghan, Tenuta di Carleone, Radda

Sparkling, White and Rosé IGTs

Castell’in Villa Rosato Gazzara 2021, IGT Toscana

From the vineyard where the agriturismo is located and a sangiovese of a few hours of skin contact, no saignée. Grapes are picked early to preserve acidity, the wine is laden with citrus and they are many; lemon, orange and grapefruit namely and a saltiness urged on by the shells found in this vineyard. So much flavour, positive sweetness, not too dry and very complex. “The secret of this wine is that you want it again,” palate cleansing, pleasing and long. Drink 2022-2024. Tasted March 2022

Rocca Di Montegrossi Rosato 2021, IGT Toscana

A tender Rosato, salty, dry and über fresh. Beautifully run from Monti fruit in a vintage out of which an April frost could have spelled disaster but Marco Ricasoli’s sangiovese, canaiolo, colorino and pugnitello did prevail. The Marchi di Monti, brand name varietal signatures that fashion some of the Chianti Classico territory’s most crushable Rosato. If this 2021 is any harbinger for what’s to come in the Annata and Gran Selezione of Rocca Di Montegrossi then great things are on the way. Drink 2022-2024. Tasted March 2022

Cantalici Petali Rosato Toscana IGT 2020

Purposed grown sangiovese for Rosato and just the free-run juice as witnessed by the pale hue and subtle floral aroma. Richer and creamier to taste but suitably salty and refreshingly satisfying. High acids keep the sugars down below and freshness is never compromised. Most excellent Rosato. 11 euro at the winery. Drink 2022-2024. Tasted February 2022

Fattoria Le Masse Camporella 2020, IGT Toscana Bianco

A blend of all the trebbiano available in a year ravaged by hail (grandine) and raised in amphora (from Impruneta). Skin-contact through to January (so approximately three plus months) and a wine of ease, not to mention comfort. When you go in Camporella you take wine, a blanket and food (…”and a girl”…) into a field. Purely amphora, a wine in the end calm, restorative and elegant. Drink 2021-2024. Tasted October 2021

Fattoria Le Masse Forasacco 2020, IGT Toscana Bianco

Forasacco, a wild rye or cereal very dangerous when dried, especially to a dog. From the word Forare, “to make a whole” and how the grain might poke a whole in a sac. The three figures on the label represent three girls from Florence who came to help with the harvest. From the 1986 planted vineyard to pinot gris (25 per cent), chardonnay and oddly two or three rows of gewürztraminer. Natural ferment, a stack of fermentation, 2,000-3,000 bottles made depending on the vintage and just now coming into its happy place, even if the white is sold out. Bloody delicious and again, a calming and restorative wine. Distinct citrus, living, breathing, of blue sky clarity and changing. Spigoloso. Drink 2021-2023. Tasted October 2021

Luca Martini di Cigala, San Giusto a Rentennano, Gaiole

Fattoria San Giusto A Rentennano Ruori Misura Rosato 2020, IGT Toscana

“My idea is to make Rosato by not throwing away any grapes” tells Luca Martini di Cigala. A white vinification is created to establish an acid base and then mixed with a wine of salas, for a bigger room of freshness mixed with acidity. In a sense a white sangiovese base wine meeting the last green harvest in September for really spirited and sapid Rosato. Dotato di arguzia vivace, in Renoir Rosé as The Thinker, poised and determined to seek and find the truth. Drink 2021-2024. Tasted November 2021 and February 2022

Fontodi Meriggio 2020, IGT Colli Toscana Centrale

The blend is 90 per cent sauvignon blanc with trebbiano done up in a small percentage of wood for the one the Tuscans would refer to as the one meaning “it’s time to lay down under a tree and have a siesta in the afternoon.” A rich and sunshine dripping vintage for this singular Panzano white, aromatically nutty, of pine nut and then a pour of tropical fruit. Sweet herbal finish wraps up the package in a fine savoury bow. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted February 2022

Principe Corsini Sparkling Rosé 2020, Vino Spumante Rosato

Sangiovese 100 per cent, a green harvest done one week later than most Rosé though even that’s changing. A project with Bisol in Valdobiaddene, base wines sent up there to undergo second fermentation, 12 weeks in tank (much longer than Prosecco). Good salt and pepper seasoning, just a touch elevated in sugar but certainly within a proper threshold (8 g/L) so easily Brut in style. If only they had these San Casciano in Val di Pesa pliocenic hills rich of river stones raised grapes in Prosecco. Drink 2021-2024. Tasted October 2021

Principe Corsini Villa Le Corti Rosato Venusio 2020, IGT Toscana

Juicy, fruity, simple Rosé, well made, could use more seasoning but yes a saltiness comes through at the end. The label is designed by Duccio Corsini’s sister. Drink 2021-2022. Tasted October 2021

Monte Bernardi Trebbiano, IGT Toscana

A varietal trebbiano, now basically two years since harvest, fermented in barrel, zero sulphites and connected with the must of 2020. Brut sauvage essentially. The hope is to see this reach 2 g/L or less, so essentially dry and it’s likely now in a five to six g/L number at this stage. Very pear and mint, wild fennocchio, really complex and good though surely not searing or striking acidity. White peppery finish on a really fascinating wine and yes Michael Schmelzer, surely a better use of trebbiano than accenting sangiovese for Rosato. It’s like sparkling chenin in so many ways, with that washed cheese rind notation. Approximately 600 bottles and 60 magnums produced. Drink 2021-2026. Tasted November 2021

Tenuta Marsiliana Vermentino 2020, IGT Costa Toscana

“A vermentino without contamination,” explains Villa Le Corti in San Casciano owner Duccio Corsini, meaning no chardonnay, no pinot bianco, no nothing other. No wood, only stainless and straight to bottle after approximately five months. Straightforward, salty, well seasoned and thirst quenching. Essential coastal vermentino. Drink 2021-2023. Tasted October 2021

Castello di Monsanto, San Donato in Poggio

Castello Di Monsanto Chardonnay Collezione Dai Vigneti Di Monsanto 2020, IGT Toscana

A painting by the Tuscan impressionist Andrea Borella from the 1800s was found in the house and so Laura Bianchi’s father Fabrizio decided to use it for the chardonnay. The first vintage of the Monsanto Collezione was 1990. A full malo, nearly half in barrel, fleshy and reductively creamy chardonnay. There is a linearity however in 2020 that surely makes this a chardonnay vintage. Quite tight, taut and making demands on the mind, body and soul. Plenty of fruit to back up the attitude and confidence. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted February 2022

Castello Di Monsanto Chardonnay Collezione Dai Vigneti Di Monsanto 2019, IGT Toscana

Reminds of chardonnay that once was, used to be and here one of comfort from a happy vintage for 30 per cent to be aged in tonneaux. The rest in stainless and then a year of further bottle aging. The vines were first planted in 1976, then again in the 1990s and finally in 2020, bringing the total hectarage up from four and a half to seven. Laura Bianchi’s father once made a traditional method sparkling wine from this fruit called Bianco di Bianchi. Yes, a happy vintage this 2019, equal, balanced, rich and vigorous, smooth and salubrious. Monsanto wants to make chardonnay that will age and to do so must be picked at precisely the right moment. As here. Drink 2021-2026. Tasted October 2021

Querciabella Batàr 2019, IGT Toscana

Bottled at the beginning of May and to be released around Christmas time or early January. A true anteprima tasting of this chardonnay and pinot bianco joint with some but still a real decreased amount of bâtonnage. The bungs are made of silicon but also threaded so that when they are secured the seal is just about perfect, less oxygen gets in and also maintains the sulphur level. They expand as they are inserted and what this effects is a decrease for sulphur usage and so it’s a white wine easy to certify organic and keeps the natural component through the use of a tool for fine tuning. Batàr 2019 shows as much fruit substance and creamed texture as ever before while also a chiselling that’s at the top of its very special game. Fine tuning always on the move and so focus, precision and finesse are unparalleled for white wine made from this land. Drink 2023-2032. Tasted November 2021

Cantalici Cantavento 2018, IGT Toscana

A varietal malvasia bianca, saline, green olive briny yet in tapenade, preserved lime in sherbet and avocado. Smooth and seductively metallic, crisp enough yet also creamy and even oily, with a good level of glück. Ages for six months in older French wood, Approximately a 5,000 bottles per year production. 14 euro at the winery. Drink 2022-2024. Tasted February 2022

Castello Di Monsanto Chardonnay Fabrizio Bianchi 2011, IGT Toscana

A fascinating look back at Tuscan chardonnay, 10 years in reverse from Fabrizio Bianchi now to Laura. A warm vintage and it shows in the ripeness and development, of fruit leathered and weathered. Of great curiosity is the riesling-like petrol nose to travel alongside lemon curd, crème brûlee and baking apples. A chardonnay custard, soft and dreamy with a faint metallic note coming through. Demure in a glossy 10 year-old IGT. Drink 2021-2023. Tasted October 2021

Castello Di Monsanto Chardonnay Collezione Dai Vigneti Di Monsanto 2002, IGT Toscana

This would be the third older vintage of the Collezione chardonnay I have tasted in the last four years and this is one of a specific acidity that has helped the wine stand the test of time. Was not a warm vintage by any stretch of the imagination in fact it was bloody awful one here and in most of Europe, save for Champagne and perhaps Bourgogne, a.k.a. cool climate regions or with varieties suited to cool years. Amazing and emotive if ideological in its persistence, moving through its denouement with grace, class and even a thought to the tune of suspended animation. Drink 2022-2024. Tasted February 2022

Villa Calcinaia Mauvais Chapon Rosato Metodo Classico 2016

Sebastiano Capponi’s traditional method sparkling wine receives a tirage of VinSanto, almost Canadian in a way and three-ish years on the lees. The name is a funny riff, literally the “bad capon,” a gallo nero/Capponi family dualistic pun made in reference to the French siege of Florence in 494. An offer was made, refused and the trumpets sounded. Ancestor to Sebastiano named Piero led the revolt. France is the connection, family the conduit and toasty, gingered and oxidative bubbles the modern day result. Crisp citrus, herbal tonic and a rounder, luxe and fuller wine comes from the long and generous vintage. Good fun, pleasure, times and stories shared will be had by all. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted February 2022

Castello Di Radda Vermouth

Made from a Rosé base wine with 36 herbs for a 5,000 bottle production, “to do something different during Covid.” Mainly rosemary, sage, lavender and elderflower, typical of the area in Chianti Classico. Really quite elegant, sweet and perfumed Vermouth, pretty and floral, just mildly bitter. Getting some citrus, verbena almost into lemongrass, orange peel and even fresh peach. Really expressive and blessed with glycerin texture. Would take a Negroni to the next level. Tasted March 2022

Fontodi’s Giovanni Manetti with Michaela Miha Morris, Lamole

Solo Sangiovese IGTs

Casa Emma Harenae 2019, IGT Colli Della Toscane Centrale

Harenae as in sand (Arenaria) and the material used to make the terra cotta from Impruneta. A 100 per cent sangiovese, vinified entirely in (three) 1000L amphora, one year spent there, stirred twice daily, around 45 says capello sommerso. This is the second vintage and total production of 2,500 bottles per year. Changes face in different vessel, now a pure syrupy distillate, glycerin and the fruit heads into the tropical, white peach perhaps but always the blood orange, especially in this vintage. Could contain five per cent malvasia nera coming soon. A wine of great presence and truth be told almost too easy to enjoy. Faboloso. Drink 2021-2024. Tasted October 2021

Sampling 2021 tank samples with Giovanni Manetti, Fontodi, Panzano

Fontodi Dino 2019, IGT Colli Toscana Centrale

Dino is natural sangiovese aged four months in Manetti amphora, textural like no other Fontodi wines spilling over the rounded brimming edges with blood orange and liquid peppery piques of pure, unadulterated joy. Moves easily and effortlessly through pools of Amaro liqueur before exiting at cured salumi savour. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted February 2022

Montecalvi V.V. 2019, IGT Toscana

Just bottled a few weeks ago and from the 1932 planted vineyard. Essentially sangiovese though having been planted then it’s surely a field blend with a few plants of canaiolo, trebbiano, etc., The aromas are so different, lifted aromatics that sing while the volatility remains really low. Won’t be released for years with 2016 being the current vintage available. Talk about the texture and the passion (55 euro retail so 100-120 Canadian). Incredulous wine from a very specific old vineyard. Drink 2024-2031. Tasted March 2022

Principe Corsini Villa Le Corti Figo Sangiovese 2019, IGT Toscana

Sometimes the opposite of expectation happens between sets of wines contrasted against vintages and thus the look at Per Filo and Figo from 2018 and 2019. A matter of emotional randomness, “but what happens doesn’t really matter.” You may compare to Gren Selezione Zac if you must because it a steadier and more consistent trajectory. That is due to more control, direction and hands on actionability. There is some meatiness to Figo in ’19, a minor gaminess, “selvatica,” raw and uncultured but that’s just early fresh bleeding happening. It may disappear next year. That will become the future because of the perfume, the sweetness of the palate and also the acidity. Takes your breath away at the finish. Calls out for a second glass and bottle. 115 euro retail. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted October 2021

Principe Corsini Villa Le Corti Per Filo 2019, IGT Toscana

Immediately less reduction than 2018 and a fresher, more forthright expression of the single Guliae vineyard. Lifted perfume, a bouquet of florals, somewhere between violet and rose. A sweetness and a layering of fruit flavours and textures somehow obstructed in 2018. It would seem very quickly that 2019 was special for Per Filo and Figo, and therefore will also be for (Gran Selezione) Zac. 50 euro retail. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted October 2021

Il Guercio, Tenuta di Carleone, Radda

Tenuta Di Carleone Il Guercio 2019, IGT Toscana Rosso

Il Guercio means bastard, essentially, a name given to oenologist Séan O’Callaghan by a chef friend, kind of like the one-eyed Notre Dame reference. O’Callaghan was born with only one and so his brand shares the story of his life. Like Uno the wine is 100 per cent sangiovese but here from the Mello vineyard in Gaiole in Chianti at 700m. That alone will make it different, fresher than most Classico and then there is the five months of Piedmontazine maceration. Then pressed off in February, “the wine we go to the border with,” of no oak, just cement, possibly an egg, or both. Only sangiovese and the wine that is asked to take the greatest risk. The pH is raised which is something Séan does not want, the colour drops (which he does not care about), but most important is the great polymerization of the tannins. It’s a complex weave of freshness and greens swimming in their pool of the finest bloody tannin. Even though the maceration is higher the integration and the aforementioned complex weave declares that volatility negligible, at most. A toss up between Il Guercio and Uno as to which offers the most appeal but here is not a place for splitting hairs, or putting on heirs. The world holds room for both. Drink 2024-2033. Tasted March 2022

Sean “Il Guercio” O’Callaghan, Tenuta di Carleone, Radda

Tenuta Di Carleone Uno 2019, IGT Toscana Rosso

Uno must be put into context with three sets of ingredients contributing to the final account. First is sangiovese, raised in Radda. Second is the maker, Il Guercio himself Séan O’Callaghan, the man who carries in pocket three decades of making wine in this area. Third is the concept that if pinot noir and nebbiolo had a baby it would be sangiovese. Methodology sees to minimal extraction over a very long period with one or two pump-overs early on, for just five minutes and then you basically wait. First things first. Uno has some lift and volatility but conveniently, snugly and completely held in check. “The lighter the wine the more oak you can put on it,” explains Il Guercio. And so with the lift and volatility you get spiciness, not chocolate and coffee. That’s today’s epiphany. A 100 per cent sangiovese and the lightest wine of the lot put to a small amount of new oak. “The soul of sangiovese,” one grape, one love. Sure there is a litheness of being but there is an organza fabric sheathing of barrel and such spice one may have never come across in this territory. When Bourgogne is at its best the lightest, most transparent and infinite pinot noir is elevated and lifted by just a modicum of wood. But sangiovese? It’s never done this way. Séan’s Chianti Classico may tend to nebbiolo (if a comparison needs to be made) and so Uno looks at Burgundy. But really, what is this? Drink it or age it? Which is it? Flavour and texture. Umami and Zen. Reality and freedom. What else is there? Drink 2024-2033. Tasted March 2022

Fontodi Flaccianello Della Pieve 2018, IGT Toscana Centrale

Once again hear this. The vintage 2018 is not a small, light and easy one. If Vigna del Sorbo proved this point then Flaccianello drives it home. This is the first vintage in which some younger vineyard fruit lower down in the Conca d’Oro near Giovanni Manetti’s house was used to regulate, make fluid and more succinctly “scoverrole” the grip of this wine’s tannins. Like a river’s flow, the fruit insertion causes the grippy juice to flow across the palate in a more caressing way. The 2018 is a serious wine and needs time, plenty of precious time and you must heed this call. To understand the breadth and depth this is completely necessary. Drink 2024-2033. Tasted October 2021

Isole E Olena Cepparello 2018, IGT Toscana

Running like the eponymous stream through Isole under a September shower. In the words of Paolo de Marchi. “I like ’18 because I’m not looking for the biggest power in this wine. It’s also a matter of balance in the extraction and I expect this is a vintage that will age very well.” Showing with that expected revelry four months later, well short of that six to eight year premonition. Last tasted February 2022

A different and great vintage, so apposite for Chianti Classico, here bigger, 100 per cent sangiovese benevolent, as always from the friable schisty marl, grey to blue Galestro soils at the top of the Olena hill, facing southwest. Much of the fruit is from the oldest vines where they foster a naturally low yielding premonition. In 2018 the fruit darkens and of an incombustible inhalant that instead moves with perfumed rhythm. Big, beautiful, charitable, altruistic and in another six to eight years will morph into something almost completely other. That’s the window to catch and taste what will be. Wait for it, don’t miss out and revel in the glory. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted October 2021

Principe Corsini Villa Le Corti Figo Sangiovese 2018, IGT Toscana

Figo comes from the central part of the three-sectioned single vineyard, again organic and biodynamic, non sulphured and in line with Zac Gran Selezione and more so Per Filo. Figo makes reference to a fig tree and a “nickname” dedicated to Duccio’s son Filippo, also like Per Filo. These are wines conceptualized by Duccio though his hands are off of them, “until I become intimate with them.” There is sweetness to this fruit, an absence of earthiness and “carnale,” certainly no “animale.” A gorgeous and alone wine, singular, spirited, lifted, emotional and really fine. Only 800 bottles made from three barrels. 115 euro retail. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted October 2021

Principe Corsini Villa Le Corti Per Filo 2018, IGT Toscana

From the same vineyard as Gran Selezione “Zac,” hand-picked and a selection of one of three plots, this from the western section, raised in tonneaux. No added sulphites, a natural expression of place, one hundred per cent sangiovese, reductive, needing air time. “Natural wines are like the sunset, the heat and situation changes and the process of evolution in the glass is greater than other wines.” Here the blood orange and sanguine notes are readily apparent, the post spezzatura in full aromatic and sensory swing. There is a sweetness and a transparency to the fruit that appears in ways only these wines from this vineyard are want to show. 50 euro retail. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted October 2021

San Giusto A Rentennano Percarlo 2018, IGT Toscana

“The season was a copy of 2016, but the wines are not the same,” explains Luca Martini di Cigala. Mid-September was the difference. In Dylan’s words, “a change in the weather was said to be extreme,” high temperatures flew in by day and the ripeness came hard and fast. “But what’s the sense in changing horses in mid-stream” and so Luca did not react but sat back and let things happen because in his words, “what can you do about it?” And yet this elegant, satiny and harmonious sangiovese elicits a swoon, of scents misty and the grace lays sapid with succulence. Feels like a glass liquid of candied roses and violets. Tannins are there but they slide and glide along. Plenty of Percarlo sangiovese blood on the tracks. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted February 2022

Riecine, Gaiole

Riecine Di Riecine 2017, IGT Rosso Di Toscana

Clearly combs the warm and arid vintage with a 100 per cent Gaiole sangiovese made by winemaker Alessandro Campatelli. A wine taken from barrel in September 2018 yet even still (and also the well-developed vintage) so far from steadying, readying and opening for business. Spices are omnipresent, depth of fruit, acidity and earth all pervasive. The freshness is more implosive inward then outward in expression. Almost takes your breath away. Time will offer reward. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted October 2021

San Giusto A Rentennano Percarlo 2017, IGT Toscana

A Percarlo of 100 per cent sangiovese and in Luca’s opinion an arid vintage that shows much greater acidity than previous warm and similar near equivalents like 2011 and 2012. The ability in necessity to sort and eliminate sun-burnt berries makes this 2017 fresher and also enables it to age much longer. Freshness yes but also 2017’s solar accumulation and intensity of concentration. The acids are in fact raging and sweet, the tannins pretty fine and just at that drying edge. But the wine is very long and will indeed age very well. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted November 2021

Castello Di Monsanto Sangioveto 2016, IGT Toscana

From a single vineyard called Scanni, planted by Fabrizio Bianchi to 100 per cent sangiovese vines in 1968, well before the concept was allowed. First harvested in 1974, calling the wine sangiovese grosso because the berries were larger and the bunches as well. Bianchi wrote it on the label really big to show people that the sangiovese grown in Chianti Classico was equal at the very least to that which was growing in Montalcino. Also bottled in Bourgogne shape to equate sangioivese to pinot noir. Aged in tonneaux, one-third new. Earthier and more of a gathering by hunters and foragers; alla campania, frutta di bosco, frutta secco, gariga and game. Not so ferric or hematic but perhaps a guinea fowl or pigeon note. Works so perfectly well with Pollo alla cacciatore. A revised drinking window: Drink 2023-2030. Last tasted February 2022

Scanni Vineyard, not labeled as such (absurdity of Italian law for IGT wines) but a wine that has been vinified this way since 1974. Made from the larger berry clone found in Il Poggio but here 100 per cent sangiovese whereas the Chianti Classico have five per cent canaiolo. Darker fruit, a south-southwest facing vineyard with Galestro and calcari-argiloso content. Smooth grain of tannin so different than Il Poggio. A real curious and cool study in proximate space sangiovese contrast. Drink earlier and often. Drink 2021-2025. Tasted October 2021

Working farm, Val delle Corti, Radda

Val Delle Corti Extra Vino Rosso 2016, IGT Toscana

The same experiment in 2016, old clones, a selection of fruit from the Riserva block. Four years in large barrel and honestly this could very well be labeled Gran Selezione as a 100 per cent sangiovese. Also fermented in open top wood fermenters with some oxidation and in this case only three weeks on skins capello sommerso style. So really a classic Chianti Classico fermentation though no, not there (yet) but a Vino Rosso. Reasoned glycerin and softly seasoned, elegant as much as that word can mean to sangiovese or rather how it may be used to describe a luxe and silky wine. Extra, extra, read all about it. A phenom of Radda acidity and extrapolation. Drink 2022-2027. Tasted October 2021

Isole E Olena Cepparello 2011, IGT Toscana

No it’s not Côte-Rotie, nor is there any over abundance because a little bit of creativity makes Cepparello 2018 go pop. Also hard to believe this wine is 10-plus years old because the freshness rules and reigns. Will live in infamy. Last tasted February 2022

“Molto parfumato,” binds an aromatic agreement between myself and Paolo de Marchi upon sniffing this ’11 found on Locanda Pietracupa’s wine list. “Cepparello needs time,” says Paolo, understatement of the obvious for the evening, year, decade and history with respect to sangiovese grown in the Chianti Classico territory. Also truth succinctly spoken, roses and violets exhaling and a 100 per cent varietal (or so it seems) profile of succulence and one to fully draw you in. Mint to conifers, multiplicity by complexity value, not to mention vigorous acidity sent straight to a mouth with a full compliment of wisdoms able to think about the situation. A linear Cepparello seeing its wide open window at the 10 year mark. And now a Paolo de Marchi story. “One side of the vine’s grapes were burnt and so I called up (Consorzio Direttore Giuseppe) Liberatore and asked are we changing the name of the appellation? Liberatore said what? To Chianti Amarone replied de Marchi, or sangiovese Port? Joking aside, a stringent selection and a five per cent inclusion of trebbiano did for this ’11 Cepparello what viognier might do for syrah. Not a Chianti Classico so perfectly kosher. A secret until now but all above board. Totally cool. Drink 2021-2026. Tasted October 2021

San Giusto A Rentennano Percarlo 2007, IGT Toscana

Also a warm summer but without extreme temperatures. Not just early budding in March but also so quick to grow and spread. A September of escursione, diurnal shifts in temperature fluctuation to preserve acidity and keep freshness in the sangiovese. Now fully into secondary territory and more advanced than 2006 but close enough in showing persistent vitality. More balsamico, soy and developing character, bigger than 2006, less elegant. Drink 2021-2024. Tasted November 2021

Isole E Olena Cepparello 2006, IGT Toscana

Since 2005 Paolo de Marchi started bottling Cepparello as 100 per cent sangiovese and without sulphites. The 2006 surely shows evolution while maintaining precision and purity, all without the need for heavy sulphites inside. Plenitude of fruit in more ways than one, some fresh and others dried like plum and persimmon hung on strings in a cold cellar. A rare Cepparello of liquorice and 15 year-old acidity that sings, spits and shines. Clearly kept under perfect cork, almost no oxidation which means true micro-incremental development. Dangerously high toned in the most beneficial way. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted February 2022

Flaccianello della Pieve, Fontodi, Panzano

Fontodi Flaccianello Della Pieve 2001, IGT Toscana Centrale

Youthful is the proverbial understatement, zesty and full of Panzano life the other. A sangiovese in strike of ideal accord, freshness captured in bottle and development low, easy and slow accrued. Just like the season, stress-free, never too hot, never too wet. Stellar autumn of warm days and retentive cool nights. A late harvest and full phenolic character. It all shows in this 20-plus year-old Flaccianello, singing a ballad, verse after verse, refrain post refrain. After 20 minutes a sweet porcini perfume emits and one wishes for a 50 day dry-aged Chianina Fiorentina. What fortune! Along with the special effects of smoky rosmarino and wild fennochio. Drink 2022-2029. Tasted February 2022

Fontodi Flaccianello Della Pieve 1993, IGT Toscana Centrale

A bottle with the most subtle amount of TCA but also one that should never be sent away. Acidity and freshness are far from peak performance, waning like a gibbous moon. Accessible and ostensibly intact, a matter of integrated tactile function, a massaging of south facing Conca d’Oro vines messaging through the auspices of mighty fine evolutionary powers. Offers up a way to talk about 1993 and recall the turbulent mid-1990s in general. To say this is a sangiovese from a time when anything and everything might happen helps to soften the Brettanomyces effect and to allow microbial bygones to be bygones. Just enjoy the silk textured ride. Drink 2021-2023. Tasted October 2021

Castello Di Monsanto Sangioveto 1986, IGT Toscana

From the 1974 planted sangiovese grosso Scanni Vineyard and at the 12 year mark this 100 per cent sangiovese would have just been hitting its territorial stride. In fact at 35-plus years it should be said that Sangioveto only hit the top of its own aged hill perhaps six to eight years ago. The fruit is in tact, the acids sharp as a tack and the tannins just recently solved and resolved. And this is the original cork. Blessed. Earthiness and dried fruit plus nuts for what Sangioveto always shows and side by side with 2016 you could hardly tell more than a decade’s worth of distance. Happy birthday, buon compleanno and auguri to all you 1986s. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted February 2022

Fontodi Flaccianello Della Pieve 1983, IGT Toscana Centrale

E buono I say to Bernardo Manetti. “Of course it’s good” he answers, eyes rolled northwards, as if he’s responding to Dad Giovanni. Flaccianello 1983 was Manetti’s third vintage, a beneficial one with great potential and 38-plus years onwards the confirmation is indeed il budino. That and the hallmark of a wine aged, developed and inveterato by a Panzano and al tempo Chianti Classico freshness on the finish. Not to mention a parochial acidity still present, accounting for the super capacity to love and age. Truth be told more wood effect comes from ’83, even if the emotion is only now a matter of shadows. This truly does scent like dry aged beef and there is no doubt 2001 will access a similar funk but with even more succulenza. Here yet another Manetti sangiovese that slides with scorrevole ease across the nerves. Drink 2022-2024. Tasted February 2022

Morino, San Casciano

Other endemic red and blended IGTs

Azienda Agricola Mori Concetta Ritmo Malvasia Nera 2020, IGT Toscana

After six years of trials this (red) malvasia from Massimo Becattelli has come to light and my oh my what an introspective introduction. Hard to imagine why more producers do not plant and champion this endemic variety with greater love and emotion. There are only 8,400 bottles made of this varietal Chianti wine in the Classico area, a succulent red of music and tannin, heart, headiness and soul. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted March 2022

Tenuta Di Carleone Randagio 2020, IGT Toscana

Sri Lankan born and Brit oenologist slash winemaker Séan O’Callaghan worked for years at Riecine with founder and Englishman John Dunkley, along with Carlo Ferrini. Riecine was sold in 1996 to American Gary Bowman and in 2012 to Russian interests, which is when O’Callaghan parted ways. That was 2016, when he created Il Guercio, with the first vintage being 2015 while also working with Austrian Karl Egger, owner of Tenuta di Carleone. For Randagio long macerations are up to five months and while it varies, here the usage is approximately 40 per cent whole bunch. Fascinating, hold your breath and cross your fingers stuff it would seem but this cat has nine lives. The blend is 50 per cent cabernet franc, (40) merlot and (10) sangiovese. “For me this tastes like gamay,” tells Séan. Randagio is a mixed up dog and a mash-up of French varieties. It should be Meticcio but instead it’s Randagio, i.e. “the stray.” Meticcio 2018 was the first, Randagio the second and life is mimicked, the wine laid back, really just about fun. The adage holds true that you can make a funky label and still make nice wine. Fruit-centric, perfectly leathery and swarthy. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted March 2022

Timeo, Fattoria Le Masse, San Donato in Poggio

Fattoria Le Masse Timeo 2019, IGT Toscana Rosso

Timeo, the 100 per cent canaiolo from 60 year-old vines (1961) and 2,300 bottles made. Claudio feels that (based on their grapes) that 2019 is the best vintage of the last six. Picked in late September but before the hottest final days and so there is a relaxed and balanced feel, purity of red fruits and truly fine acid backbone. Linear wine but without angles, certainly not round and simply seamless. More so a matter of pH waving over the palate. A blood orange moment though not sanguine, really just a fine, lightly tannic and particularly expressive canaiolo. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted October 2021

Fattoria Le Masse Santa Goccia 2019, IGT Toscana Rosso

Dedicated to Santo Spirito, the church and the artistic centre of Florence. 6,600 bottles made. Absolutely! Sacred spirit alive, an old Chianti recipe, of sangiovese (80 per cent), with canaiolo, colorino, malvasia nera, malvasia bianca and trebbiano. Was and could still be a Chianti but thankfully not. The wine is simply too good and too fine, Clarity, fruit purity, freshness and drink-ability off the charts. Glug glug, back up the truck. Drink 2021-2025. Tasted October 2021

L’Erta di Radda, November 2021, 2021

L’Erta Di Radda 2 E 2 2019, IGT Toscana Rosso

A most amazing four-poster blend of two red plus two white varieties, first with sangiovese and canaiolo, then trebbiano and malvasia, two plus two. An ark of Chianti Classico endemic varietal covenant, walking in two by two, 70 per cent reds and 30 whites. The dominance is of course sangiovese at 60 per cent in the co-fermentation but the “traditional” 10 per cent white inclusion is tripled while also gauged in an apposite methodology, with Diego Fennochi using the Governo method on only those white grapes. Makes for an intensely aromatic wine, floral of course, though in the freshest of bouquet. Concentrating the white contributors doubles or perhaps even triples down on the effect and creates the most lifted regional experience. The first vintage was 2014, back then having employed the 10 per cent white grapes in the first two vintages, after which Diego decided to go all in. Comes out at 13.5 per cent and the wine simply pops, with rocks and minerals, elements and stones. It’s really quite beautiful. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted March 2022

Il Molino Di Grace Gratius 2018, IGT Toscana

San Felice Pugnitello 2018, IGT Toscana

As a solo artist pugnitello is extremely vinous, so very grape juicy and pitchy as a clear Castelnuovo night. Tons of flavour, depth and charisma, uniquely varietal and you can really see why Leonardo Bellacini and San Felice have invested so much experimental time and effort in to the grape. Gains richness and fleshes as it airs. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted February 2022

San Felice Vigorello 2018, IGT Toscana

Vigorello comes from a time when Chianti Classico producers wanted to step up and away from disciplinare restrictions and make wines of freedom and artistic expression. It was a sangiovese and cabernet blend, then fully Bordeaux styled and finally From 2011 the pugnitello became the biggest (35-40 per cent) part of the blend. The 2018 comes away cimmerian dark and balsamic luxe with dark soy, high acidity and real international styling. Nothing Classico about Vigorello, only a kinship with Poggiorosso because of the pugnitello. For lovers of rich and luxurious Tuscan wines. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted February 2022

Il Molino Di Grace Gratius 2017, IGT Toscana

It seems to be a repeated story ad nauseum but 2017 saw a small amount of rain after the frost and then none for three months, with some 40 degree days and 30 degree nights. The lack of diurnal fluctuation might have been an issue for many but allowing grapes to fully mature right through September, downgrade their sugar and alcohol and ultimately find balance was the key to success. Gratius found it and delivers a punch of fruit, kept acidity and a swath of chocolate ganache. More wood is felt from 2017 but that was unavoidable. The only adjustment would have been to put water into the wine. And so it goes that 2017 is what it is. Last tasted February 2022

Gratius is actually a 90 per cent sangiovese blend with (10) canaiolo and colorino. A grand Gratius, finely chalky, with the additional grapes adding sublime complexities. The wine is an authentic expression of the Classico trinity of endemic varieties. Unaggressive yet knowable and powerful. Lots of ganache at the finish, the first of which incidentally is shed of distraction and excess baggage. The new label (and all of IMdG’s) were designed by the late sommelier Valentino Monticello, this ’17 to celebrate the 20th vintage he’d been apart of the winery’s work. Frank Grace met him at Harry’s in London. Tasted October 2021

Gratius expresses the vineyard in ways the Annata, Riserva and Gran Selezione appellative sangiovese do not. This 100 per cent sangiovese reeks of the vineyard; fennel. rosemary and gariga. From the part of the vineyard at the peak of the hill where San Francesco’s hulking sculpture towers and watches over the sangiovese. Grip, intensity, signs, wealth of fruit, knowledge and portents. So fine. Drink 2025-2038. Last tasted September 2019

Montecalvi San Piero 2014, IGT Toscana

A varietal cabernet sauvignon, “a slow burner” as winemaker Tim Manning calls it and so a wine that stays in bottle for a good long time. Yet it scents directly of cabernet sauvignon but just as much Toscana and I’d go so far as to say Greve in Chianti. Youthful is the understatement, complexity the operative over and actually quite the traditional wine. Surely some volatility and Brett but with this much going on there can be many hats worn and hung up to rest. Such a rich and chalky wine that tastes like nothing else but still just seems to be from here. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted March 2022

Castell’in Villa Santa Croce Di Castell’In Villa 2009, IGT Toscana

“Our little bastard this one,” says the Principesa, a combination of sangiovese and cabernet sauvignon, more or less. Remarkable longevity from this “little” IGT blend, not really so little and after all an important wine for the estate. Expecting more evolution is normal and so imagine the surprise when you find out how little this has actually evolved. Sees barriques (as opposed to the grandi botti for the solo sangiovese) and while chocolate is everywhere, so is freshness and energy. Good vintage, great grapes and attentive winemaking work. Drink 2022-2024. Tasted March 2022

San Felice Vigorello 2008, IGT Toscana

At the time Vigorello was a super tuscan blend of sangiovese and cabernet sauvignon. Vigorello does not go through the same kind of transformation as is witnessed in a Poggiorosso with the same soy, balsamic and pitchy depth showing in this 2008 as would emit by a recent vintage. Also less juicy freshness and more oxidation than the sangiovese yet plenty of lush, rich and hedonistic character. Drink 2022-2024. Tasted February 2022

Il Molino Di Grace Gratius 2005, IGT Toscana

“I don’t think it’s 100 per cent sangiovese and I do know the wine has held up very well,’ tells Iacopo Morganti. Freshness persists with porcini and plum pudding, orange zest and balsamic. Many shades of chocolate and acidity not yet (maybe never will) abating. Keeps its groove and 17 year-old dance moves gliding across the palate. A very good older vintage for Il Molino di Grace, perhaps the best of its mini era. Last tasted February 2022.

A next look nine months later confirms what Iacopo insists. “The acidity’s finished for me. It’s ready to drink now.” At this juncture Gratius 2005 has abandoned its fantasy in concession to a drink now reality. Tasted February 2017

The Gratius 2005 shares DNA with 2009 aromatically speaking but in texture and expression the litheness is pinot noir like, with a bit of bretty volatility as an impression that is vineyard funk derived. Just now beginning a drinking window in performance for the art of perfect timing but why not imagine the installation persisting for 10-12 more years? Here the Montefili Galestro vineyard is clearly iterated in a funk-soil-chalk-liquid rubies way. A brilliant peek back because the tart is just so right. Ask the question, “what was the old wine like?” The answer is “it was like old wine, that is to say, like all old wines.” Drink 2016-2022. Tasted May 2016

Isole e Olena IGTs

Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Red Blend IGTs

Carpineta Fontalpino Do Ut Des 2017, IGT Toscana

Do ut des brings cabernet sauvignon, merlot and petit verdot into mix, darker of fruit, herbal and full of both currants and roasted nightshades. A veritable caponata in a glass, Mediterranean, with black olive garnish. These are grapes that had an easier time in the dryness of the vintage and so the wine is soft but full, so very ripe and really gastronomic. Merlot pick started on the 21st of August, which is incredible, and yet it is soft and ripe. This wine is delicious now, won’t last like the sangiovese, but so ideal for restaurant pours. Drink 2022-2027. Tasted November 2021

Castello Di Volpaia Balifico 2018, IGT Toscana

A field blend of sangiovese and cabernet sauvignon, roughly two thirds to one third and yet the showy expatriate variety acts like it runs the roost. A bigger wine on the nose but soft enough on the palate. A wine of pomp and pleasure, plenty of sweet wood fluidity and made since 1985. “To make something different, for a different palate.” Balifico grows up close to Coltasalla but it truly is the cabernet that takes it down a different path. For whatever anything is worth this is a truly proficient, beautiful and special red with confidence, purpose and style. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted October 2021

Istine Merlot 550 2018, IGT Toscana

Merlot is not used for any other wine because Angela Fronti chooses to keep her Chianti Classico as sangiovese, although some recent plantings of malvasia nera and canaiolo could change this in the future. Merlot is a small plot at lower elevation in the Radda Istine vineyard. Lots of oak here, as is the want to match merlot, allow it to flesh out and age with distinction. That it will though the lavender is extreme and the vanilla welling on through. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted October 2021

Isole E Olena Collezione Privata Syrah 2018, IGT Toscana

According to Paolo de Marchi “this is the most elegant syrah I have made.” He attributes the success directly to the vintage. It is in fact silk tethered, smooth textured, naturally sweet and just the easiest syrah. Seductive and again sweetly endowed in phenolic terms, a perfume of calm and beauty. So yes this is an elegant varietal wine, less structured, peppery and demanding than most. Drink 2021-2025. Tasted October 2021

Le Fonti Di Panzano Merlot 2018, IGT Toscana

Spice, chocolate, dark fruit with nominative verdancy, wood control and big, bad tannins. A wine in total control, yet relenting, made full by a late September heat thrush matched by cool acidity preserving nights. A rare instance where merlot needs as much bottle time as sangiovese to integrate, settle and play fair. Drink 2022-2027. Tasted October 2021

Capaccia Toscana IGT 2017

Capaccia is just that, the IGT that is this place, the name of the borgo that was and will always be here. A 50 cabernet sauvignon plus 25 each franc and sangiovese. Brings in fruit from Lo Scopiccio Vineyard on the southeast facing side of the hill. The sangiovese from the other blocks is kept separate while the cabs are fermented together. Distinctly Tuscan and also Radda, here from the driest and warmest of vintages. Black fruit, warmth, texture and spice from 300L French wood, some austerity in the tannins but mostly Raddese acidity. “Vinoso” like the sangiovese but also very much a child of sandy, Macigno del Chianti soils. Well structured and will live into a balsamic and truffled future. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted March 2022

Querciabella Camartina 2017, IGT Toscana

The most consistent Querciabella IGT, at 70 per cent cabernet sauvignon with (30) sangiovese from the Ruffoli hillside, since 2003. Ages approximately 18 months and to be honest the cabernet suffered more in this hot dry vintage. Paying attention to avoiding over extraction, dropping temperature during fermentation and tannin management were key. A wine to handle with kid gloves and looking at it now there is no loss of liveliness, nor are the tannins hard to handle. Au contraire, there is grace and there are pleasantries in round abound with a red cherry to berry fruit compendium ready and willing to receive the structural parts. Surely a beneficial location for 2017 fruit, replete with that season’s acidity and so well managed fermentative activities bring about a really age-able Camartina. Drink 2024-2036. Tasted November 2021

Querciabella Palafreno 2017, IGT Toscana

As always (since 2004) a one hundred per cent merlot, from Ruffoli facing west, thankfully not due south and lucky because this vineyard has a higher density and compaction to retain water. Much freshness retained and perhaps a slight hyperbole in merlot’s verdancy but also if you close your eyes, “I see something blue,” notes Manfred Ing, and yes as if a petit verdot blue fruit notation, with the soil idea coming through as a compact set of tannins in dense grains. A big vintage, very different vintage than 2016. Drink 2024-2035. Tasted November 2021

Querciabella Turpino 2017, IGT Toscana

Has emerged from its hard shell, albeit incrementally with much further to go. A first stage of rounding out, fruit happier, and still this Mediterranean feel of all the Querciabella wines. A wilder component and a marine streak, a bit rugged and a sense of the Maremma very much indeed. No it’s still quite primary, the tannins at least, so wait another 18 months or so. Last tasted November 2021

First commercial vintage was 2010 when at the time it was 50-50 Maremma and Greve. Since 2015 it identifies as 100 per cent Tuscan coast with more barrel exercise and power than Mongrana, now a cuvée of approximately 12,000 bottles. “Turpino,” as in a character from Sebastiano Cossia Castiglioni’s favourite poem, like his son Orlando (and also for the names Mongrana and Palafreno). Frost was a major problem in 2017, followed by heat, no rain and vines that just went crazy. Small pickings were done in the first week of September and then the rain came. The vines dropped in alcohol potential by a degree but the vines were tired and so the fruit could not hang in there like it could (better so) in Ruffoli. A blend of 40 per cent each cabernet franc and syrah with (20) merlot. Spiciness but not in a traditionally Tuscan syrah (Cortona) way and so the franc is to thank for the pique, sharpness and pointed directive of this ripe wine agitative of pricks and sway. In the end this is truly Tuscan coast, carrying the dried and bushy herbs but with an extended olive branch, muscular arm and structured savour. Only 10,000 bottles were made of this succulent, strange bedfellows (for Tuscany) red wine. House wine, Querciabella style. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted May 2021

Rocca Di Montegrossi Geremia 2017, IGT Toscana

A blend of 82 per cent merlot and 18 cabernet sauvignon from the most arid and hot vintage though with grapes that can handle the extreme truth and consequence, at least relative to sangiovese. But it also makes for a much bigger expression, heady and weighty and yet the Montegrossi terroir can’t be removed from the DNA of this wine. Extremely youthful with rigorous and grippy structure, deep purple fruit hanging in the balance and a consistency of localized acidity always on side and in sight. Big wine made bigger by the vintage. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted November 2021

Isole E Olena Collezione De Marchi Cabernet Sauvignon 2016, IGT Toscana

Though 2017 was just released here we are tasting what is a quintessential cabernet vintage for Isole e Olena. Truth be told it is a very difficult wine to make according to Paolo de Marchi because maintaining both sugar and phenolic ripeness is a never-ending challenge. Blended in 2016 with cabernet franc (eight per cent), plus two each of petit verdot and merlot. Pure Cassis, black forest cake and waves of both black current and cherry. All the dark fruits, silken and reminiscent of Napa Valley mountain cabernet, perhaps even specifically Atlas Peak. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted October 2021

Rocca Di Montegrossi Ridolfo 2015, IGT Toscana

A 50-50 split between cabernet sauvignon and pugnitello, the first vintage of its kind, 25 months in barriques and three years in bottle. Also the first of its ilk and newly minted idiom, not so much because the two grapes are bedfellows of another mother but because they’ve never aligned in this manner. After fermentation Marco decided, perhaps as a joke, to mix the two grapes in his glass and the best percentage was half and half. Less than 2,000 bottles are produced of a wine with no real reference point. So what to make of it? The wood is very much in the mix, the aromas are in the vanilla, lavender and graphite vein. Stylish, obviously so well put together and yet one of those polished wines that will become much more interesting after five to seven more years time. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted November 2021

San Giusto A Rentennano La Ricolma 2018, IGT Merlot Di Toscana

The vineyards are in six different parcels, the first having been planted in 1991. Followed by 2006 and so forth. The original idea was to plant and mix small percentages into the Chianti Classico but they didn’t like the results. Now make five to six thousand bottles. First vintage was 1993 and up until 2004 the vineyards were managed like sangiovese, but this was not right and so changes were made. Used to be a more vegetal wine and by slowing down ripening through pruning the wines improved dramatically. Six buds were left and when the buds opened they cut again to delay the vine by 7-10 days. Also more turning of the soil and for green harvest this has to be when the grapes are completely red. Not the best climate here because the expediency of ripening is in such a short window. Fine and silky tannins meet dark fruit full of berries and especially raspberry. Great merlot and an ideal vintage for it to work out right. Labeled 15 per cent but could be more. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted November 2021

Le Fonti Di Panzano Fontissimo 2017, IGT Toscana

Also high wood influence but here a glycerin IGT with finer grain of tannin and sweeter glycerin slash pectin fruit substance. You need to work and hang out with this wine for some quality time to gain intel and a feeling of its potential grace and charm. Really quite fine and without some of the drying tendencies found in the more particular tannic vein of the Chianti Classicos. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted October 2021

Bindi Sergardi Chianti Classico 91 Cabernet Sauvignon 2016, IGT Toscana

Rich and welling with Cassis, fulsome, so beautifully ripe and of exquisitely fine, sweeter tannins. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted October 2021

Bindi Sergardi Chianti Classico 91 Cabernet Sauvignon 2015, IGT Toscana

Sharper, higher in acidity, once offering you a slap in the face but now settling ins though the tannins are grand and nearly grainy. The tannins are present for for 2015 and 2016 so discussing structural longevity is like discussing comparative mythologies. Drink 2022-2028. Tasted October 2021

San Giusto A Rentennano La Ricolma 2015, IGT Merlot Di Toscana

Probably as easy a vintage as it gets for merlot and Luca prefers this, as opposed to ’16 being the preferred one for sangiovese. Still a big wine and unavoidable as merlot in this San Giusto’s very specific micro-climate and location. These are really fine, sweet and elastic tannins stretching out for a lunga camminata in what really is quite a beautiful merlot. Drink 2022-2028. Tasted November 2021 and February 2022

Capaccia 2011, IGT Toscana

The 2011 Capaccia IGT cabernet sauvignon is in a terrific place, full of energy and fruit swells, almost no drying of that fruit or tannins, acids as always in charge. Lots of wood of course but it is that swell of fennel, rosemary, lavender and elderflower that dominates, permeates and seems to propagate through this warm and strong vintage wine. Really feels like an 11 year-old wine and one from the time. Also place so that is really what Capaccia is all about. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted March 2022

Good to go!

Godello

Gallo Nero at the Chianti Classico Collection 2022, Stazione Leopolda, Firenze

Twitter: @mgodello

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WineAlign

Montalcino Previews: 2020 and 2019 Rosso, 2017 Brunello Annata, Vigna and 2016 Riserva DOCG

Jan13

The year was 2020. We said arrivederci e ci vediamo to Montalcino on a mild and still February afternoon. Little did we or anyone know that a return engagement would not be possible until the fall of 2021. During that 20 month hiatus I hosted and moderated six webinars in Canada with more than 25 Montalcino producers, Each session was accompanied by a thematic article published to godello.ca inclusive of an account for each producer. With thanks to the recent forward thinking and openness of the Conzorzio del Vino Brunello di Montalcino, along with compatriot, friend and travelling companion Michaela Morris, we chalked out our homecoming and dove headfirst into more than 200 current releases. Two immersive eight hour sommelier assisted assessment sessions of Montalcino’s sangiovese, 12 estate visits and meetings, all over the course of five days. Benvenuto Brunello 2021, Drogheria Franci, Caffè Fiaschetteria Italiana 1888, Il Giglio and Trattoria Il Pozzo. Cortonesi and Tenuta Buon Tempo. San Polo, Le Potazzine, Tenuta Fanti, Poggio di Sotto and Fattoria dei Barbi. Biondi-Santi, Conti Costanti, Castello di Romitorio and Le Ragnaie. All because of and in the name of sangiovese, tissue of Rosso, bones of Brunello, grape of the future.

Consorzio President Fabrizio Bindocci and Direttore Michele Fontana

Summing up that last Benvenuto Brunello in 2020 I noted that “Anteprime di Toscana’s culminating 2020 presentation of 2018 Rosso DOC and 2015 Brunello DOCG raised the bar for Montalcino’s venerable sangiovese.” Later I would write, “no one of sound mind passes up the opportunity to taste Brunello from Montalcino. When I think of Brunello di Montalcino there are two things that come to mind: Sangiovese and time. Longevità e tempo. Contrasts and comparisons are unnecessary, neither to other grape varieties nor to wine regions that also fashion structured red wines. The sangiovese of Montalcino are like the eponymous medieval hilltop village, an island in a sea of vast varietal openness. They share the impossibility of undergoing the slightest shift in meaning or change, that is, without the assistance of time. They are incomparable, generous and durable but also part of a great community, finding permanence and always seeking to endure. As do their makers and protectors.”

This most recent trip in Montalcino with @michaelawine has taken my lifelong plan to another level. Grazie Miha for teaching me so much about Sangiovese, staying calm, focused and balanced over long days and just plain having a grand old time.

The 2021 vintage

On April 8, 2021 mail from Tommaso Cortonesi brought news of the early April frosts. “Here in Montalcino the Covid situation is under control but in the last couple of days we had to fight a dangerous enemy. Temperatures lower than 0’C. Last night several producers in Montosoli including me, Capanna, Baricci, Val di Suga, decided to burn hay bales to try to protect the vines with the smoke. Fortunately the vegetative state of the vines is still quite early so we hope this action has limited the possible damages. I send you attached some pictures from last night.”

Burning fires at Montosoli, Montalcino April 2021

Despite a significant reduction for yields in many parts of Montalcino, the reasons for optimism are manyfold. Higher elevations above the frost danger zones, say 400-450m and up, especially to the northwest, for the most part remained unscathed. The vines had yet to fully awaken at estates like Corte Pavone, Le Potazzine, Castello di Romotorio and Le Ragnaie. By September things were looking up in many sectors of Montalcino. Though production will be down, significantly so for many estates, the promise for outstanding Rosso and Brunello is surely in the air.

Godello at 450m, San Polo, Montalcino

At the end of the harvest prospects looked very promising, not for a bountiful vintage but surely one of high quality. A week to ten days into September the temperatures fluctuated 15-20 degrees. On the 7th the high was 29 and the low was 11. Made for excellent acidity retention aboard the march to phenolic ripeness. Younger and lower elevation vineyards began picking around the third week of September while higher points at the beginning of October. The challenge was to find a way to keep the link with the sangiovese of Montalcino and in a warm vintage not to go too far, neither in extraction nor maceration and to deliver a respectful wine. Usually 25-30 days but more like 18-20 in 2017. Also a 26-30 degree fermentation when some vintages it can be as high as 34, if only for a few days. In many cases the fermentations were some of the slowest on recent record. In fact as of November 18th one of Cortonesi’s vats was still at 4-5 g/L of residual sugar and would only likely finish in the first week of December. What Tommaso called “sluggish because of the lowest level of yeasts.”

The 2017 vintage

The elephant in the room is obvious and most producers answer before the question is even posed. From a winemaker, oenologist and proprietor you will be hit with this recurring refrain. “You will be surprised by the freshness and acidity of the 2017, despite the warm vintage.” It was hot and dry and “that’s what you need in high elevation vineyards surrounded by forests,” is how Filippo Chia of Castello di Romitorio assesses the situation. When asked what to do with 2017 the pragmatic Andrea Costanti suggests it is a vintage “to introduce new people to Brunello di Montacino” and by extension a good Brunello for restaurants, sommeliers and licensees to take notice.

Francesco Ripaccioli of Canalicchio di Sopra remembers 2017 with almost wistful affection. He explains that following a summer during which there were 20 days above 35 degrees it was September that brought about the big surprise. After 40mm of rain on August 31st, through the course of the next month the phenolic maturation happened very slowly and finished late. Veraison at CdS did not begin until September and took nearly 30 days. “Even if you had a dry season (like 2017), you had this temperature fluctuation of on average 25 degrees by day and nine by night. That allowed you to harvest late, with preserved acidity and alcohol not so high. The plants were working very slowly with their reserve of water. (The vintages) of ’17 and ’12 for me are very similar, as seasons, where grapes and their skins wanted to oxidize but September changed everything. We went to school from 2012.”

With Consorzio President Fabrizio Bindocci and Chef Carlo Cracco

Low does not due justice to how small a vintage was 2017. “We tried to extract less and keep it on the lighter side,” tells Alberto Machetti of Tenuta Buon Tempo. For Riccardo Campinoti of Le Ragnaie yields and production were down 10-15 per cent, at least as compared with the previous two vintages. For Campinoti 2017 is a vintage of “unfinished tannins.” Not quite fully ripe and yet acidity never fell away. Another example of how Brunello can be sold now and for the next five years, especially to restaurants and shops for immediate or near-term consumption.

Riserva 2016

“In the beginning ’16 was…not enough,” begins the soliloquy by Fattoria dei Barbi’s Stefano Cinelli Colombini. “But after a year it changed.” Reading deeper one understands that time is the answer, for sangiovese, Brunello and 2016. “This is why Riserva should be sold after eight or 10 years,” continues Cinelli Colombini. “The problem with tradition is we make a mistake that if it exists, there must be a meaning inherent, otherwise it would not have taken so long. The mistake we make is between what is actually a tradition and the sense of tradition. You only need to taste to know that wine is the most democratic thing in the world.” This so beautifully sums up Riserva and 2016. As a vintage no other in the last seven-plus years is so intrinsically bonded with the grape and how it raises from the territory. Sangiovese and time is the connection and though ’16 is not one of those touted in barrel as of the decade, century or of the ages, it is in fact one of those, if not all.

Montalcino sommeliers

Molte sane, repeats Andrea Costanti as if by mantra through the course of the 45 minutes while we taste, consider and assess his Riserva 2016. Not just Costanti’s but dozens upon dozens of ’16 Riserva. The healthiest sangiovese of great, sheer and utter clarity. Wines that may be described as possessive of a fineness running with liquid chalkiness, fluido or scorrevole. The 2015s may have shown heady structure, power and also generosity but the 16s are the complete package because they are also filled with delicasse, elegance and grace.

Changes in agriculture and fermentation

Federico Radi is the incumbent oenologist at Biondi Santi, having worked previously at Isole e Olena and Mazzei Bolgheri, Radi is looking at regenerative agriculture, making compost integrating manure (which must be like black butter, aged several months before mixing into the soils), beginning now with cover crops and little disturbance to the soils. “We really want within the next five years to reach two point five per cent of organic matter in the soils.” A real fan of Chomsky, Federico feels the need to keep the carbon in the soils, to help reduce that 25 per cent that agriculture contributes to the release into the soils. “I’m sad when I see the grey and dusty soils. It shows they are dead. This needs to be improved. We have seen in two years that we have different soils so we have to tailor the cover crops to reach section. Not just regenerative but also preventative agriculture.” The plan is to keep alcohol levels from rising even further. “We want Biondi-Santi to stay under 14 per cent.” And so a nursery was started, “since the beginning.” Like when Bob Marley was asked “how long have you been a Rasta?” “Since creation.” Radi insists that it would be dangerous to live with only one clone of sangiovese, so 50 varieties are propagated.

A pensive Alberto Maccheti of Tenuta Buon Tempo. Must have been thinking about the 2017 vintage.

Filippo Chia of Castello di Romitorio is getting even more specific. He talks about one of the major introductions being smaller berries, spargolo berries. Moving away from traditional cask aging may also be a step towards a future in which producers combat climate change with fresh ideas. For instance at Tenuta Buon Tempo Alberto Maccheti has been installing new concrete tanks to replace the more than 20 year old 64 hL Garbelotto casks. Whatever it takes seems to be the prevailing attitude for a region that has to, must do something.

Morning in Montalcino

Much ado and what to do about Rosso di Montalcino

In 2020 I wrote that “culturally speaking Rosso di Montalcino is the most important wine. It’s what the Montalcinese drink daily. It’s a Monday night, a winemaker’s night off. There is work to be done in the morning so it wouldn’t be prudent to drink anything heavy or expensive. What to open? The answer is obvious and easy. Rosso di Montalcino. More than one Montalcino winemaker has used the phrase “it’s what we like to drink” and just as many will tell you that Rosso must reflect sangiovese’s character more than any other wine. What we know is that the Rosso are the protagonists of the new market.”

With Francesco Rippacioli and Tommaso Cortonesi

“The most fascinating thing about Rosso di Montalcino is that every producer has a unique philosophy and a personal relationship with the appellative wine. To some it persists in the old-school way, that is to think of it as a “baby Brunello,” or second wine, if you will. The days of Rosso being considered only in this way are long past. The baby Brunello concept now acquiesces to the notion of Rosso strictly made for Rosso, with great purpose and also meaning. There are some Rosso that really need to be considered and assessed just as you would Brunello and it is only where such structured sangiovese fit relative to the estate’s other Brunello that need qualify it as Rosso. In today’s Montalcino one’s Rosso is another’s Brunello. It’s now more than ever a matter of location, soil and altitude.”

Annual pic with the hardest working sommeliers in the business

“Rosso can refer to the sangiovese berries themselves, meaning the winemaker will pick the largest for Rosso, the medium berries for Brunello and the smallest ones for Riserva. Others will designate vineyards to the Rosso, or plant new ones and use the youngest fruit. Still there will be some who pass through all their vines and designate specific blocks, referring to it and even labelling it as a cru. Finally there are some who wait and craft Rosso in the cellar, after the fruit has come in and been pressed. There are many ways to skin a Rosso but these days it is always a wine treated with respect. In terms of elévage, Rosso will more likely than not be raised in big barrels but not the Grandi Botti often used for the Brunello. As for vine age it seems the sweet spot is between 15 and 20 years.”

Rosso di Montalcino could and should be elevated to DOCG status. To do so requires investment and also a mandatory minimum aging period in wood. The 2019 vintage is proof of why Rosso needs to once again be revisited, to be considered in its own light and of its own accord. This is because as a vintage much less Rosso was made, simply by the reason of across the board quality, raising the prospect of making more Brunello. A matter of available quantities and as an extension, economics. Which means that many vineyards capable of being purposed either way went in Brunello’s direction out of 2019. Which also means that more vineyards need to be designated as Rosso and were a DOCG awarded the rules would need to be altered to make sure the wines are pre-declared as such. There is enough Brunello to go around and the world needs more Rosso di Montalcino.

Drogheria Franci Restaurant Montalcino

Further to that the Consorzio’s decision to hold an anteprima in November causes producers to make choices they would not have had to think about before. The 2019 Rosso would have been shown in February and so November is both too late for producers who have already sold out or at least allocated their’s, but also too early for the 2020s to be presented. I purposely tasted only seven examples and each one was intensely youthful, tighter and more inaccessible than the next. The ’19s on the other hand were glorious, open and generous, as they would have already been just a few months earlier. Late April or early May would be an ideal time to show off the latest Rosso di Montalcino vintage, early enough for the early releasers and late enough for those who need 18 months before putting their Rosso to bed. Keep the Brunello anteprima in November if that works for the majority because the extra nine months (from the usual February event) works wonders for all three levels; Annata and Vigna plus the previous year’s Riserva. I can think of at least one more noble sangiovese producing appellation that would benefit from doing the same.

Here are 222 reviews, mostly from the November anteprima and estate visits but also some drawn from attending the October 2021 Gambero Rosso Awards tasting in Rome. There are 35 Rosso notes, 23 of them for the 2019 vintage. One hundred and seventy-one Brunello reviews, including seven from 2018 and for 2017 there are 103, 69 for Annata and 34 to Vigna. For 2016 there are 61 tasting notes, 45 on Riserva, the rest Annata and Vigna. Also 16 older vintages and IGTs.

Rosso di Montalcino 2020

Caparzo Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2020

While so many 2020 Rosso are going to be intensely youthful, this from Caparzo is really quite approachable. Classic estate red, like a liquor dosage of itself running and integrating through itself. Tart and expertly crafted with express intention to please. Of this there can be no doubt. Drink 2021-2024. Tasted November 2021

Taverna dei Barbi

Fattoria Dei Barbi Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2020

A vintage of viscosity and deepest of red cherry fruit, off of vines five to fifteen years old. While really young there is access here for drinking a 2020 ahead of many others. Classically dark Barbi fruit and a Galestro feeling. Bottled just less than one month ago and settled into a calm state by now. Will remain stable for a few years, not necessarily gaining in complexity but surely keeping on. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted November 2021

Patrizia Cencioni Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2020

Extremely youthful, full deep fruit and whilst the carbonic feeling persists you can’t help but intuit a depth in this Rosso. Mix in an early high tonality and expectation then dictates this will offer up the fullest of mouthfeel. Charged and rich, a luxe Rosso with chalky underlay, a fine rage of acidity and a wine very much working in progress. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted November 2021

Talenti Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2020

Tight, young and early bracing Rosso from Talenti, showing off the darker fruit of the vintage and surely offering a glimpse into what the Brunello will bring three further years down the road. A vintage of well developed fruit and sharp acidity, vividly captured in a sangiovese just like this. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted November 2021

Tenute Silvio Nardi Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2020

Very much a work just beginning its progress, both carbonic notions and sulphur completely unresolved. Needs a revisit to see where the darkening fruit will go. Drink 2022-2024. Tasted November 2021

Ucceliera Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2020

A Rosso further along than many, at least in terms of fermentative culmination and post-shock living. Shows off the hue and depth of vintage fruit with more redness, cherry ingress and tannic redress. You can feel the grip and the controlled power in this sangiovese. Will be a very good one because it already is. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted November 2021

Voliero Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2020

Tight, taut, wound around itself like a wire around a spool and yet having found its way out of fermentation and through bottling. Less fruit than brother Ucceliera and also lower toned, earthbound, grounded and yet the acids are right on point. Drink 2022-2024. Tasted November 2021

Rosso di Montalcino 2019

Armilla Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2019

Lovely red, red fruit, supple and stylish. As if cherries grew on rose bushes and this light, dusty feeling improvised by a Rosso with a tender modicum of fortifying structure. The right pressing, pushed and from a location ideal for Rosso out of 2019. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted November 2021

Castello Tricerchi Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2019

Pushes the boundaries of red fruit into something deeper though the clarity and transparency are evident and true. Lithe yet subtle if also sneaky structured Rosso, one that will please those needing immediate gratification yet with an ability to travel further, while treading lightly into a whole other realm. Great curiosity and possibility here. Drink 2021-2025. Tasted November 2021

Castiglion Del Bosco Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2019

Well-pressed, expressed and all tenets captured Rosso having taken full advantage of a vintage willing to give it all. Feel the ripeness pushed and the effects of so much greenery, a forest of hope and dreams also pressed into this fulsome Rosso. All the immediacy one could want is here for the taking. Drink this young and impressionable. Drink 2021-2022. Tasted November 2021

Collemattoni Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2019

Classic Collemattoni liqueur, a glycerin texture that fills every pore, pouring through and through. Just the sangiovese goods in purest form and a Rosso that speaks in clear, ernest and knowable 2019 terms. What’s really special is the way the wine lingers and stays with you without any astringencies nor finishing nut, pith or bitters. A top Rosso for the vintage. Drink 2021-2024. Tasted November 2021

With Andrea Costanti and Michaela Morris

Conti Costanti Rosso Di Montalcino DOC Vermiglio 2019

The level of purity multiplied by concentration from 2019 is off the proverbial sangiovese cross referenced by Montalcino charts. This from a vintage when much less Rosso was made because the quality of the Brunello was so important. The fruit is of course deep cherry but branching off into a spectral expanse of darkening reds. The well runs deep, pooling with cool, ethereal and mineral licked waters, the textural breadth reaching into three-dimensional fabric. Also a tomato reduction, sweat of San Marzano, viscous and flessibile or perhaps flessuoso. Nothing remains out of reach or control, instead all is in focus and structured. Most would kill to reach such potential, have, show and sell this as Brunello. In a way this ’19 Costanti is a first of its kind, impressive for Rosso with a set of finest tannins. Long on the chain, capable of the most age-worthy extension. With 20 minutes of air a swarthiness emerges, putting this Rosso commensurate with some historical vintages, say 1985, 1988, 1990 and 1997. Drink 2023-2033. Tasted November 2021

Corte Pavone Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2019

Relatively lithe, dusty and crafty Rosso, giving away the impression of a really purposed example, a sangiovese of credibility and composure. That said there is some grip and intention as well so perhaps wait a year and better still two before seeing where this will travel. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted November 2021

Cortonesi La Mannella Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2019

The 2011 planted vineyard is the youngest at La Mannella and is used exclusively for Tommaso Cortonesi’s Rosso. “In recent years, for my generation we are trying to approach Rosso di Montalcino is a more personal way,” tells Cortonesi. “A fresh wind, brought to the production and (especially) the communication. Finding a real identity, not as a baby Brunello.” The clay soil does not necessarily give big concentration but more so ease, elegance and classic sangiovese. Seemingly dark in hue but bright and tart in such an accentuated way. Can’t really shake the idea of the quality inherent in this specific scope of concentration. A liqueur of sangiovese, moving towards the finish swiftly and courteously across the palate. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted November 2021

With Violante Gardini, Donatella Cinelli Colombini

Donatella Cinelli Colombini Rosso Di Montalcino DOC Casato Prime Donne 2019

Having a moment with the outward exhale of this perfume because it’s unlike most other Rosso and so the time taken to breathe it in will do all parties well. Clarity of roses and spring flowers, an exotique nearly equal and surely apposite to the ulterior presence of a gamey note that’s so intriguing. This is what Casato Prime Donne brings to the table. Drink 2021-2024. Tasted November 2021

Elia Palazzesi Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2019 Collelceto

Crisp and pure Rosso for Rosso’s sake, as automatically and knowable as sangiovese as a Rosso from Montalcino can really be. Tugs straight at the heartstrings by offering a cherry red, tightly focused and lightly grippy wine. Perfectly representative for a now to three years Rosso for all who query and consider, each and every day of the week. Drink 2021-2023. Tasted November 2021

Tenuta Fanti

Fanti Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2019

From 15 hectares of Rosso vineyards with the potential to produce upwards of 50,000 bottles, though in truth much less is actually made. The rest of the unselected juice is sold off or portioned over to the IGT Torto Rosso. So yes a selection, aged for a year and a half in larger (30 hL) casks and some barriques. Not just another high quality and ready, rock-steady Rosso but here in 2019 a bolder and more substantial version of its always loveable and solid self. Gotta love it, any which way, all the time. Drink 2021-2025. Tasted November 2021

La Colombina Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2019

Somewhat older-schooled, firm and grippy sangiovese in Rosso, a squeezed and captured liqueur that takes hold without letting go. Plenty of portents and intendments in a wine that will need time to ease, settle and deliver. There will be more earth than fruit when that time comes. Drink 2022-2024. Tasted November 2021

La Fornace Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2019

Beautiful gelid liqueur of sangiovese emits with fineness from La Fornace 2019 Rosso, making the vintage happen as it should from this part of town. Really fine tart red fruit capture and equal tannic ability but what’s really special here are the acids merging and making for great freshness. Parts are bigger than some and so well integrated. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted November 2021

With Riccardo Campinoti, Le Ragnaie

Le Ragnaie Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2019

Still a barrel sample because Riccardo Campinoti leaves his Rosso for two years, even though there are hundreds of the appellative wines already having been long ago released on the market. Still this is the final version, of 30,000 bottles produced, more or less. The barrels for the blend were chosen in October and bottling is imminent. Did not make it into this November’s anteprima because there was not enough notice given, also considering when Le Ragnaie puts Rosso to bottle. In 2019 there is 30 per cent Montosoli mixed in with Castelnuovo dell’Abate and even some estate vineyard fruit. A firm and chewy Rosso, not yet settled and ready to play as it will. Substantial everything, beyond fruit, especially texture and real tannins for a Rosso. A harbinger for the Brunello to come, especially with all three (zonal) fruit sources layering their involvement. This will age really well. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted November 2021

Cacio e Pepe, Il Giglio

Lisini Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2019

A Rosso of interest because of the ulterior aromas and motives, of a pomegranate to blood orange citrus tartness and a wish for immediate gratification. This is contrary to many Rosso of more grip and structure. This changes and then the wine shows its teeth. More interest than many and still in a Brunello vein. In a sense this Rosso does it all. Drink 2021-2025. Tasted November 2021

Mastrojanni Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2019

Firm yet a Rosso with more than ample charm and grace, full red fruit and tannin interposed, layered and sharing the sangiovese stage. Takes some time but the fulsome and dusty work here really gains and makes haste of your senses. Takes hold and really does not let go. Drink 2021-2024. Tasted November 2021

Pinino Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2019

Intensity of Rosso aromas, rich and invigorating while showing more wood than many. Perhaps some barriques or possible new wood quite seasoned and throwing much in the way of dark chocolate into the wine. Espresso too in a Rosso of such ilk. Drink 2022-2024. Tasted November 2021

Renieri Srl Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2019

From the word go the Renieri feels like a true and purposed Rosso, with no aspirations but to be Rosso and to take the appellation to a most important next level. This is the thing about Rosso today and in how the last five years have seen to arriving at moments like these. Chewy with red fruit in a liquorice way, lithely tart and a blood orange moment but incremental, a sangiovese climbing up as if on steps, not so much rising as getting to upwards levels. Length is outstanding. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted November 2021

San Polo Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2019

Released in September of 2021, at the time when 2020 Rosso are allowed to be released by the Consorzio. Aged in 40 hL casks, from fruit selected each season out of the eight parcels at San Polo. Oh my what an inviting and reeling Rosso, purity of exacting 2019 red fruit and really quite a deft touch to tie all parts together. Fresh and spirited, a chewy interior but always smart, energetic and gracefully powerful throughout the outer layers. Surely a Rosso of crunch but also a salinity with thanks to all the rocks in these “mountain” Montalcino vineyards. Just feels like a Rosso for Rosso sake. Quite ideal. Drink 2021-2026. Tasted November 2021

Trattoria Il Pozzo, Sant Angelo in Colle

Sasso Di Sole Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2019

Sasso Di Sole’s is a northeasterly Montalcino location in the neighbourhood of Torrenieri, a cooler sub-zone of the territory. Doesn’t necessarily apply when a vintage like 2019 is in bottle because beautiful weather and near perfect growing conditions will put just as beautiful Rosso into the bottle. Still you have to appreciate and focus on the added freshness, perhaps as compared to some jammier and lush examples made in the southern reaches of the region. This is quite a salty and structured little Rosso number, tart and sassy, full of sun yes but also dried herbal, brushy and dusty substance. It’s all in here, a touch idiosyncratic and then with tannins that really turn arid, as felt in the mouth long after the wine is gone. Strong for the DOC, dark of fruit and mildly astringent at the end. Drink 2021-2023. Tasted May and November 2021

Tenuta Buon Tempo Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2019

For Alberto Machetti a similar and equally “cool” vintage with grapes in Castelnuovo facing Monte Amiata. Picking started on the 16th of September in a vintage with great freshness and in this case an intense level of savour. From the seven lowest hectares on alluvial clay soil only 50 metres from the Orcia River. Of double density and yields which work best for Rosso. Fine but relative ease and linear concentration for an easy but more than notable substantial essay of Rosso. Purple fruit and proper acids. Drink 2021-2024. Tasted November 2021

Tenuta La Potazzine Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2019

Bottled in June 2021 and a Rosso of real identity, on its own, connected to Brunello but so much a wine of its own accord. Truly Rosso for the sake of aromas, subtlety and for a starting point for drinking three to four years forward. The 2017 must be at perfect peak now with five years easy left at that level. Indicates what will happen with this 2019, a Rosso delicate and in charge, with power, of itself and also us. Complex and yet easy. The opposite of so many of us. Wait another year or so for the wine to soften and arrive at the right place. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted November 2021

Tenuta San Giorgio Rosso Di Montalcino DOC Ciampoleto 2019

An old-fashioned Italian term meaning single-vineyard, from “Ciampolo.” Stainless steel and 15 months in Slavonian oak, from a vintage of excellent interchange and alternating between sunlight and rainfall. Also a vintage from which Monte Amiata really aided with airflow for freshness and kept acidity. Vineyards face southeast (next to Podere Le Ripi) and their age is up to 20 years of age. Youthful and charming Rosso, a snapshot of young vines and a luxe vintage getting together on the same page for sangiovese surety. Richness to be sure in that regard and a chocolate rendering, part milk and part dark, swirled through the texture of the wine. Fine grain of tannin runs through as well, taking over and finishing at macchianto. A savoury freshness and if you’ve tasted enough vintages of Ciampoleto you will know this is tops, exceptional, potent and seductive. Sweet fennel at the finish. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted November 2021

Ventolaio Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2019

High spirit and tonality, a Ventolaio speciality and what is expected from their Rosso. This especially when considering a vintage that could entice a maker to go further and deeper. The commitment to restraint and even more importantly consistency makes this a special wine. Crisp enough to call freshness the lead and with a fullness of texture to feel the barrel and lead this down a four to six year road. Exemplary, dictionary entry. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted November 2021

Rosso di Montalcino 2018 and 2017

Biondi Santi Rosso Di Montalcino DOC Tenuta “Greppo” 2018

The harvest started on September 16th, from a season where 800 grams of bunches per plant was almost double the norm so intensive selection was necessary. A tramontana wind came in and so the harvest was quickly concluded on the 26th. There was some fear of botrytis. Though there had been a great variability of ripeness 10 days earlier, the point was reached by the end of the season. Just a two week maceration, noted in the old-school colour, fragrant, never pushed, also perfume in the tannins, replicating the fruit. More to the point is the mimic of acidity so that all three are on the same page. Bottled just about one year ago so really coming into a drinking window. Labeled 13 per cent but in reality clocks in at exactly 12.8, which is nothing less than incredible. “There is something in this estate that is magic” tells Federico Radi. “This is Il Greppo, from the beginning there is balance and you can feel this in the first steps of alcoholic fermentation.” Could there be an easier place to work, in a sense, “because the quality of tannins are so fine.” So very true and as a Rosso an exact mirror into the vintage, lithe and elastic, pliable of structure and ready to drink quite soon. Textured of it’s own accord, disposition and way. Drink 2022-2030. Tasted November 2021

Poggio Di Sotto Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2018

Rainy season early, cool enough with some sun but problematic at the outset by a daily pebbling of the two, followed by a terrific climatic summer. Definite herbal, Mediterranean aromatics, almost like walking and brushing past the hedges on the terrace overlooking the valley. Notably linear and demanding for Rosso, a Brunello (from barrel declassified) after three years. Hyper real, serious and gripped with no less mattering intendment. Remember that this too comes from a selection in the vineyard and so the backbone and probability begins from the day the grapes leave the vine. Teenage angst, rebellious, a bit angry and it will grown up. Proper role modelling and upbringing guarantees this Rosso 2018 will be fine and be great. Peppery piques at the finish and then all goes quiet. Elegance emerged. Drink 2021-2026. Tasted November 2021

Tassi Di Franci Franca Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2018

Lean and transparent Rosso of purity and clarity, fruit far from full extraction and the wood very much a part of the easterly mix. Spice and chocolate shavings, intensity overall and while the barrel makes this immediate statement it falls away and the wine finishes with smooth, morbido and really pleasant consistency. Drink 2021-2024. Tasted November 2021

Poggio di Sotto

Poggio Di Sotto Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2017

The work of Luca Marone (oenologist) and Federico Staderini (winemaking) surely had their cards laid out on the table from which they’ve managed to pick, sort and arrange in the creation of shared common ground sets of elegance and finesse. Not as other vintages per se but there are signs all over this wine to say it will pour like Brunello for years to come. The tannins are chalky overtop maximum sapid occupancy and mineral cuts in angles all across the body politic of this wine. Wait another year. You will be thankful for it. The volume was split between Rosso and Brunello, considering there was no Riserva produced. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted November 2021

With Gigliola, Sofia and Viola, Le Potazzine

Tenuta La Potazzine Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2017

Poured from magnum, as Gigliola wishes all sangiovese were but knows it’s not really possible. Put thoughts of a hard vintage aside and just focus, use imagination and pay close attention to realities that tell the ’17 tale of this place. From vineyards upwards and exceeding 500m, a natural ferment, unfiltered and as fresh as any in Montalcino. If Montalcino were a perfume this might be it, inviting but with secrets, open and subtly so. Few sangiovese are as elegant and in such control, youthful but showing the cards to tell us what we should expect. Eventually. Slowly. Last tasted November 2021

Very pretty pulchritude in the Potazzine Rosso ’17 with spice, charm and a great pulse of energy. This is so very Rosso and so very what Rosso wants, needs and can be. All pulse and vitality, with striking acids and sneaky formidable tannin. Delicious Rosso di Montalcino and a great harbinger for the vintage. Drink 2020-2026. Tasted February 2019

Brunello di Montalcino 2018

Le Ragnaie Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

Ahh freshness, the first 2018 in my glass and no offence to 2017 but after tasting 150 ‘17s over four days this is surely a breath of new air. Bright and almost a marine wind blowing through while at the same time showing some substance and bones. Fleshy but elastically so and these tannins are not sharp, nor austere, but forgiving and even generous. Left the barrel after the minimum amount of regulatory time to keep the wine from being tired by the wood. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted November 2021

Le Ragnaie Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Casanovina Montosoli 2018

As for Casanovina from Montosoli there is everything one could hope for in fresh, sapid, saline, mineral expressiveness giving in to amenability as it pertains to enjoying, or projecting the enjoyment of Brunello Vigna looking a few years ahead. There is more depth and reserve in 2018 from Montosoli and if the previous vintage did not tell us just how special this northern fruit can be then better attention need be paid. Here we experience the prescience and extension to continued futures of Montalcino. A fruit to acid continuum of fresh sweetness and singular expressiveness. Also a backbone but not one rigid and compact, rather linear and stretching northward. Crisp and with terrific crunch, upward movement and great potential. Drink 2025-2035. Tasted November 2021

Ragnaie Vineyard

Le Ragnaie Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Passo Del Lume Spento 2018

As with the Brunello Annata and in fact all of his ‘18s, Riccardo Campinoti decided to take this out of wood at the discipline number of months to stave off any chance of tiring and oxidation. As with the Annata there is of course great freshness but here magnified with even greater clarity, blue sky brightness and what a palate cleanser it is. Thanks to the 621m of altitude the wine maintains a level of acidity at the top of the tops but it is neither spicy nor piqued, no sign of peppery grinds nor sharpness neither. Cool, gelid, sandstone salt licked and a sangiovese that will never blind a traveller nor turn out the lights. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted November 2021

Le Ragnaie Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Vigna Vecchia 2018

Vigna Vecchia as it always does makes sure to remind how this vineyard delivers the most compact tannins in the Brunello portfolio of Le Ragnaie. Mix this omnipresent austerity with the fresh breath of 2018 vintage air and the combination could only be a most excellent and rewarding one. In fact there is less early aggression, either because of the freshness or simply because the vineyard speaks this way in this year, but also because the wine spent less time in wood than other vintages. Sweet meanderings of acidity zig, swirl, zag and twirl to lift and elevate all the parts. Not exactly integrated fully but also not that far away. So much pleasure will come from this wine when that happens. Magnifico. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted November 2021

Brunello di Montalcino 2017

Altesino Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

A fully macerated, extracted and vintage captured Brunello with a charming run through of transparency. More than a shake of wood spice and earthy grip, a sangiovese of immediacy but also intensity. You can feel the fruit of suffering and the resiliency. Drink 2021-2024. Tasted November 2021

Argiano Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

As one would expect the Argiano comes streaming with magnificent fruit on the heels of a string of recent vintages inclusive and in many ways culminating at their near perfect 2016s. What has been learned and essential changes that have been made have led to making this effortless ’17, relatively speaking but heat being little matter when acumen runs this high. Bernardino Sani has found the sweet spot, a place where optimum fruit ripeness can linger and develop all the necessary accoutrements to acquiesce at a positively proper meeting point. The length on this classic ’17 is outstanding with thanks to the work put in. Drink 2021-2027. Tasted November 2021

Armilla Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Armilla’s is truly honest and forthright, ripe cherry captured with zing and more than ample tannin making for a strengthening of multi-tiered structure. Admittedly closed at first, reluctant and reticent with so much lurking below, behind and underneath. There’s a richness that belies the closed nature of this sangiovese which purports to explain and make one expect more. Time is the necessary feature to make this happen. Be patient and allow Armilla to come through. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted November 2021

Banfi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Banfi’s presents a bit of a conundrum because the fruit is luxe and ripe yet the tannic structure is both tight and demanding. There are two parts to this ’17, the warmth and full character up front and the wall of expectation out back. Many will purchase and consume this early as per the awareness of the name but more than the lion’s share of bottles should better be doted upon, kept sealed and opened a minimum six years after vintage. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted November 2021

Camigliano Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Quite the rich and fulsome Brunello 2017, all parts deep and intense, acidity running really high, all else running to keep up. A sangiovese of heat yet one that streaks through its world. The kind of Brunello that makes you feel like you must hurry to taste and figure things out when really what is required is tempo, for qualità and also longevita. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted November 2021

Campogiovanni Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Classic Campogiovanni and Leonardo Bellaccini, full fruit and barrel intertwine, each supportive and enraptured in each other. Hard to imagine and believe that a Brunello di Montalcino could be traced and placed to such a specific locale, estate and winemaker but if there is only one this would be it. Chewy and textured sangiovese, spiced and seasoned, the kind that will impact many lives and offer a very specific kind of pleasure. At full ripeness, wood-aging and frosting of ganache. Drink 2022-2028. Tasted November 2021

Canalicchio Di Sopra Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG “Canalicchio Di Sopra” 2017

Considering the location of Canalicchio di Sopra’s vineyards to the east and north of Montalcino there should be every reason to think that 2017 would not pose a problem to making a top Annata. Francesco Ripaccioli would likely smile that wry smile when he knows that the year was in fact a magnanimous challenge but he would also follow up with that confident smile of his. Ripaccioli has the fortune and the instincts, to mix and match, to layer and compliment, to figure with mathematical precision and this wine expresses all that and more. There is cut and linearity, a finest architectural line and a freshness that belies what heat might want to take control. A fine classico for Montalcino that speaks to the best of all worlds within. Drink 2023-2030. Tasted November 2021

Capanna Di Cencioni Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Capanna has found the righteous path in 2017, a road paved with credible is softened tannins ushering fruit picked late and having reached great vintage maturity. This was no easy task and their’s is a wine from which higher alcohol is so well mitigated and controlled by the substantial quotient achieved. It helps more than a lot that their location is north of the hill which allowed the longer hang time without the amount of desiccation unavoidable in so many parts of the territory. Capanna’s is flat out a lovely ’17 that drinks like Brunello in the most unassuming and proper way. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted November 2021

Capanne Ricci Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

A spike and pique like many 2017s though fruit hangs in there for some extra time and effort. High acid and drying tannins complete the trilogy yet all the sections are set apart. Can’t really see this ever fully coming together as one. Drink 2021-2024. Tasted November 2021

Caparzo Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Notable depth and intensity lead the way in Elisabetta Gnudi’s 2017 Annata, a sangiovese for sangiovese’s sake and a wine to consider earlier than some. Quite rich and welling with fulsome varietal liqueur, lightly tart, power in restraint and clearly designed for sooner rather than later enjoyment. Give this an hour or so aeration and get at the fine juice contained within. Drink 2021-2024. Tasted November 2021

Caprili Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Caprili’s is a 2017 Brunello of great bones, back rhythm and structure. A sangiovese from 2017 calculated and so very far from over-pressed, in feeling of vintage warmth plus seasoning but needing years to flesh away. The palate is full of meaty tones currently residing in swarthy pools while finest tannins work their way through the comports of this wine. There can be little immediate gratification here and considering the style and also the build, there really shouldn’t be. Wait three years on Giacomo Bartolomei’s strong and sure Annata. Drink 2024-2031. Tasted November 2021

Carpineto Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

A tightly knit, forcefully wound and really serious 2017 here from Carpineto, full of all the seasoning and spice that can be coerced into crowding an Annata. Crisp, crafty and formidable. Big, big mouthful of Brunello, savoury and brushy to the end. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted November 2021

Castello Romitorio Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

It was hot and dry and “that’s what you need in high elevation vineyards surrounded by forests,” is how Filippo Chia sees the situation. Romitorio as a place of lower sun exposure received the hot and dry vintage for what Chia calls “the best vintage ever at Romitorio.” More woodwind instruments and less drums. Vinified and malolactic in cement, aged in 5000L barrels with some 3,600, 2,000L and a few per cent tonneaux. Only 10-12 days of maceration, much less than other years and this is consistent with others who know and do the same. Sourcing from 10 hectares of old and seven that are newer. In a vintage without water a plant like sangiovese saps up the minerals and in this place it’s a red earth, ferrous grab that can’t help but be expressed in the wine. Both pH and acidity really change and there is no rise of the former, or lowering of the latter after malolactic fermentation. A countercurrent Brunello, lithe, effusive and showing the nakedness of the land. Yield was down 40 per cent, concentration is up but not to look at, nor to feel in terms of polish. Healthy vines adapted and survived where others may not have been so fortunate. Big props to the older vineyards, ones that date back to 1985. Drink 2021-2033. Tasted November 2021

Castello Tricerchi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

As with their 2019 Rosso tasted just an hour earlier there is great poise, grace and also functionality in Tricerchi’s 2017 annata. A sangiovese that captures the grape’s essence and Montalcino presence while tempering and filtering the vintage demand. A wine crafted with strong hands holding an infant with delicate and appropriate ease. Also a wine that captures imagination which is so very much the point more than most of the time. When a producer steps up in a vintage like this you know they have moved on to new a greater heights. Do not miss out on this or any of these wines starting now. Drink 2022-2028. Tasted November 2021

Cava d’Onice Brunello Di Montalcino 2017

Top grape and emotive spirit emit from Cava d’Onice’s 2017, high-toned in slow-ripened and well-preserved acidity for the vintage. A sangiovese of fine lines, good bones and linear rising attitude. The alcoholic warmth is felt somewhat but the peppery pique is only a fleeting moment in what is otherwise a really good tempered wine. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted November 2021

Celestino Pecci Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

From a location northeast and just downslope from the Montalcino hill and a Brunello of notable depth but most of all a linear, saline, elemental and purposed Annata. Benefitted from position and timing, feeling late picked enough and still maintaining red fruit freshness while also accessing full phenolic ripeness. Solid ’17, a success in the end result. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted November 2021

Col d’Orcia Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

If the wine’s perfume scents like Col d’Orcia then it must be Col d’Orcia. If one estate could be counted on to keep the faith and consistency of classico Brunello alive then once again, think Col d’Orcia. Here the warmth of the vintage is noted but the mineral and elemental saltiness that cuts through makes sure to keep freshness always at the fore. Will this live in infamy like decades of Brunello that have come before, per haps not but as always, many opened bottles will deliver the experience of being pleasantly surprised. Drink 2021-2028. Tasted November 2021

Collemattoni Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Lovely and balanced capture of what 2017 has to offer, luxe and seasoned sangiovese but also that which speaks in spirited spikes of freshness. There needs to be more of this style available because it’s pleasing and Brunello di Montalcino will always be inherently taut and structured. Collemattoni’s wines are both consistent and like the chameleon, able to adjust as necessary for and from what happens in every changing vintage. Drink 2022-2028. Tasted November 2021

Andrea Costanti

Conti Costanti Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Colle Al Matrichese 2017

Though beauty may be an elusive animal there must be sound reason for Andrea Costanti to follow through with making a Brunello in the 2017 vintage. After all he made the choice to not do so in 2014 and put the best fruit into Vermiglio Rosso. But Costanti clearly saw the forest for the trees and the difference; beyond simply one being cold and wet, the other hot and dry. Substantial fruit and ample tannin are clearly present, the former cherry with a minor key of pith and the latter liquid chalky. A cherrystone Annata, subtle in savour, sweetly stinging in sapidity. Fine and precise, a mimic of the maker, as it is written. Brunello 2017 is a wine needing to be mulled, chewed and considered, things that speak to how it was built and where it will go. Only 14 per cent alcohol adds to the mystique and curiosity for a sangiovese of temperance, divine skill and site. Drink 2023-2032. Tasted November 2021

Corte Pavone Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Off the top one of the deeper 2017 Annata and of a density that speaks not to excess but to the northwestern red soils of Corte Pavone’s Montalcino sector. There is nothing about this Loacker Brunello that does not talk their localized talk nor walk with style the way a Corte Pavone wine is want to do. Fulsome and highly expressive, a sangiovese of many layers and commentary. Drink 2022-2027. Tasted November 2021

Cortonesi La Mannella Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

The elephant in the room is obvious and Tommaso Cortonesi answers before the question is even posed. “You will be surprised by the freshness and acidity of the 2017, despite the warm vintage.” So how exactly can that be? Picked as usual, for one thing, at the end of September. “Montalcino can approach each kind of season and situation during the production process,” explains Cortonesi, meaning climate events, extremes and change be anathematized the vines have been nurtured and equipped to handle stress, especially drought, to sleep if necessary, call upon reserves and take full advantage of late season miracles. The ’17 is smartly piquant, wisely wily, youthful above reproach, even if technically requiring some correction. Levels of acidity and even volatility are high, as per the vintage but in reality drying fruit and tannin are not. Take your time with La Mannella, don’t rush or make any immediate demands of its emotions or time. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted November 2021

Donatella Cinelli Colombini Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Casato Prime Donne 2017

Straight away the multi-layered and generational floral perfume mixed with earth, grace and musk that only a Casato Prime Donne will do. There is just something about the layers and treasures in a Donatella Brunello, gelid fruit first, textural movements second and finally the kind of qualities that make for futuristic classicism. Always a matter of how things must be. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted November 2021

Casanova Di Neri Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Casanova di Neri is one of those Montalcino estates with the fortuitous ability to combine wines from a few terroirs to forge a most consistent and impressively layered Annata. Seeking, finding and capturing the best of the vintage is not just a specialty but a rite of passage. Our palates and senses are put on high alert in accessing the levels of variegated fruit, fine to striking acids and several ways in which structure envelopes it all. Just seems like this 2017 Brunello resides at the epicentre of what is right, correct and also knowable for the vintage. Drink 2022-2027. Tasted November 2021

Tommasi Casisano Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Lovely capture of fruit from the warm 2017 vintage that while over-stressed it is important to note each and every producer that found the way. To capture freshness and that honesty of sangiovese spirit, here from Montalcino’s south and with fortuitous elevation to keep the acids and the energy alive. Well done Tommasi, what else to say. Bravo. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted November 2021

Elia Palazzesi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Collelceto 2017

The Annata 2017 from Elia Palazzesi Collelceto is one meant for everyone, meaning the combination of fruit substance and constructive optimism makes this so well rounded, formed and adjusted. No longer a child or even an adolescent but a responsbile adult with a sense of fun and adventure. Here sangiovese is beautiful, handsome, fresh and fleshy. Works every rounded corner of the glass, palate and room. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted November 2021

Fanti Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Fanti’s 2017 is just about as transparent a response as is possible for a Brunello to show where it comes from, a brushy, herbal and very micro-climatic territorial wine. Some thankfully refreshing rain at the end of August allowed for an extra two to three weeks of hang time so that this Annata could reach phenolic ripeness. Much of the fruit comes from 450m of elevation in nine hectares near San Polo’s Podernovi, a fruit source so essential for making a ’17 Brunello of energy and freshness. Very much a Brunello with ample concentration and yet that transparency tells you this is a Fanti. Will make itself available as early as any. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted November 2021

Fattoi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Wildly and exotically perfumed, here in Brunello finding the floral expressiveness not always so easy to access in this particular vintage. Follows the aromatique with a well-rounded if full to fleshy palate and then the sangiovese really digs in. Not in a particularly overt tannic way yet surely with some extensive and extending control. Really fine work in 2017 to be sure and a sleeper with all parts working as one. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted November 2021

Fattoria Dei Barbi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

An aromatic Annata for Brunello and without a doubt a Barbi, belonging to no one else. There is bosco and brusco, or the decades forward extension thereof, with an average production of 180,000-200,000 bottles, though it could be much larger, selection notwithstanding. Fruit stylistic, cool, sweetly savoury, of clay, sand and Galestro infiltration. The estate style is the most important which means the cellar-master (Maurizio Cecchini) is more important than the oenologist(s). That is the truth. Not a rich wine or vintage obvious but so perfectly correct for style and place. That said there is a Mediterranean feel here, especially in 2017, of black olive, autumn floor and finally sweet wood. Worked as it should be and careful to carry the crest and the flag. Drink 2022-2027. Tasted November 2021

Fattoria Del Pino Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Il Pino 2017

Major jam as confiture or at least a basin filled with cherry liqueur is the order of del Pino’s 2017, a sangiovese that speaks straight from the varietal heart. Truly of itself yet missing something after that, meaning middle palate substance and length despite the crust of finalizing tannin. Just missing that spark. Blame the vintage and del Pino’s kinship in time and place. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted November 2021

Fornacina Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Lovely lift, red current to berry fruit and real stage presence put this 2017 in a fine and bright vintage light. The timely picking has allowed for good ripeness and phenolic lift, not to mention a level of beauty too many have failed to find. A sangiovese of resilience that will drink with pleasure for more than a few years time. Drink 2022-2027. Tasted November 2021

Franco Pacenti Brunello Di Montalcinio DOCG 2017

A bigger wine in total control from Franco Pacenti in 2017, following the cues of vintage and hallmarks of location to make a wine of necessity and also promise. Quite an effusive aromatic spray moving and grooving into a most gregarious set of palate parameters. Chewy wine that maintains freshness in the face of warmth and great spice. Needs time and will live long. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted November 2021

Il Palazzone Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

A crescent moon of a Brunello Annata, partially formed with curves and angles, showing an asymmetrical symmetry as only a poetic sangiovese of this ilk may do. There’s an herbal quality and ulterior style that captures imagination while also doling out the fruits of bosco, noce and earth. A veritable spice, dried fruit and nuts market in a glass of sangiovese. Drink 2022-2027. Tasted November 2021

Il Poggione Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

More than expectation and in fact understanding directs the immediacy of Il Poggione’s fine and fulsome Annata. The guarantee of quality fruit makes the high spirit, vitality and energy of this 2017 all that much more exciting and especially palatable. Oh how knowledge and experience can work in an estate’s favour to bring charm, freshness and elegance into a Brunello that rises to meet a challenge. Ottimo per duemiladiciassette. Drink 2022-2028. Tasted November 2021

La Fornace Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Quite a strike of limestone red lightning from La Fornace in 2017 and yet another way for the name and the place to maintain a sense of itself. Tart and just a bit underripe or underwhelming which means an early pick (likely), following by a gentle pressing. No astringency but also no gregarious flavours coming through. Drink 2021-2023. Tasted November 2021

La Gerla Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Big and juicy Brunello, fully extracted and from fruit hung longer than some who chose that early exit route. As such there is plenty of character and flavour in La Gerla, but also some tannic demand and sour edging. Gets most qualities right and finishes a bit brittle. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted November 2021

La Lecciaia Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

La Lecciaia’s Annata emits a vivid and dramatic set of aromatics, namely brushy herbs in a rosemary to tarragon vein. Quite a tannic sangiovese for 2017, rich and fortifying, strong mocker, not shy and likely to outlive many of its peers. Not finding some of the charm and grace most La Lecciaia winds are want to express but this does choose the firm and grippy ’17 side so at least it has made a choice. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted November 2021

La Màgia Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Always a most interesting and ulterior aromatic profile, brushy and herbal while shifting gears to juicier and quite frankly fruitier positions. Has its moments here, there and everywhere, drinks with gratification but also reminds of vintage variation. Timing and winemaking are high end here so expect a wine of composure and length. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted November 2021

Le Chiuse Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Lorenzo Magnelli’s picking scheme is most beneficial to vintages like 2017 because he’s thinking about berry size matched with appellation and so these medium sized grapes could only be at their optimum, regardless of when they came off the vine. Magnelli would have chosen which plants for when their fruit could do nothing but the best for place and time. Freshness, acidity and tannins are all on point, consecutively arranged while layered within and without. The bonding, seamlessness and insulation show no holes, nor leaking neither. Top quality and come together for the vintage. Drink 2023-2032. Tasted November 2021

Le Ragnaie Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Excellent quality fruit was had from Le Ragnaie at 600m of elevation, also from northerly Montosoli and yet Riccardo Campinoti’s decision was to use southerly Castelnuovo dell-Abate (including that of Le Fornace) for the Rosso di Montalcino. Generally and frankly speaking the fruit at the estate was picked a minimum two weeks ahead of “normal” schedule, usually hanging well in October, but what is normal anymore? Some Petroso fruit was used in here as well. Yields and production were down 10-15 per cent, at least as compared with the previous two vintages. Remained on skins for 40 days, although Campinoti often does 60 or more and has even gone for 90 in the past. He also aims for the lightest extraction when considering skin-contact time and for him 2017 is a vintage of “unfinished tannins.” Not quite fully ripe and yet acidity never fell away. Another example of how Brunello can be sold now and for the next five years, especially to restaurants and shops for immediate consumption. Bottled at the end of August, good glycerin texture, finely sweetened bitters and all that said, one of the Annata’s better set of mostly resolved tannins. Drink 2022-2027. Tasted November 2021

Lisini Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Lisini gets much of 2017 right and beautiful with gently squeezed red fruit from an early but thankfully not too early a pick. Just enough development and juiciness comes through without any serious tannic or astringent concern. A perfectly middle road taken 2017 Brunello that pleases and will drink quite effortlessly, with red citrus bites, in the short to mid term. Drink 2021-2025. Tasted November 2021

Mastrojanni Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Later picked of that there can be little doubt and a full throttle red fruit juiciness expressed as only Montalcinese sangiovese can. Some swarthy funk and earthiness, no game or meaty behaviour but surely some acetic and high toned behaviour. This is a style that many relish because it captures a kind of authenticity for producer and territory. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted November 2021

Padelletti Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Padelletti gets some integral and essential things right in 2017, namely fruit well developed and pressed where no grapes were harmed. The ripeness levels of acidity and tannin are really close to ideal, higher for the first and then lower for the second. Some oscillations are noted on the sangiovese EKG but not enough to cause any distress to the heart and soul

Patrizia Cencioni Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

High tonality, great citrus freshness and a sense of pith are part of the overall thematic in extraction from this racy 2017. Notably vintage related and likely picked on the early side. Plenty of character comes on through while some parts are a bit demanding on the palate, including some chains of brittle tannin. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted November 2021

Pian Delle Vigne Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Expert consideration revolves and evolves from the ’17 Pian delle Vigne, a wine of combinative picking, layering and exposure. The result here is full fruit expanse, well enough acidities left alone and plenty of structure. Well made through the processes of proper execution. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted November 2021

Pietra Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Lovely Annata from owner and winemaker Matteo Perugino, elegant, saline and briny. A perfectly subtle and salutary ’17 from an estate just south and west of Montalcino, close to Ragnaie and well heeded by elevation. Consistent sangiovese from start to finish with fine acids and veritable succulence. Drink 2022-2027. Tasted November 2021

Pietroso Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and the palate of the imbiber and if Pietroso does not capture all attention the we may not be paying enough attention. This would have been plucked from the vines at the ripest and most perfect time and the juice pressed with soft hands. Delivers a juiciness and a structure that captures the best of 2017 with charm and grace. Will come together in two years time and drink well to the end of the decade. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted November 2021

Podere Brizio Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Really nice work here from Brizio in 2017, not a risk-reward Annata per se but one well managed. A lighter, on par with the vintage Brunello yet in delivery of more than ample substance. Crunch and startling red fruit, plenty of forging acidity, simple yet complimentary structure. Neither exciting nor overdone. An explanation of Brizio’s position and their relationship with 2017. Drink 2021-2024. Tasted November 2021

Poggio Di Sotto Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

There will be very few Brunello di Montalcino that act and taste like Poggio di Sotto from 2017. To gain some sort of understanding you would have to go back to the transition of 1989 when the purchase of the property initiated a vision to see how wines and palates would surely converge looking forward 25-30 years. This 2017 does not offer creativity, concentration and construct without that foreshadowing foresight and here it is in the glass. Glycerin, textural seamlessness, torch taken in hand from 2015 and 2016 despite the track being cracked, broken and blistered by the vintage sun. No matter to winemaker Federico Staderini and oenologist Luca Marone who knew and know how to handle such truth because we clearly see that Brunello’s time in wood has brought it to the window. Rosso is no further yet near equally further along. The vintage messes with the relationship but as we pay attention we see the matters of extract and finesse for how they react when poured into glass. This is actually quite ready to drink. Drink 2022-2027. Tasted November 2021

Renieri Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Quite a depth of fruit from Renieri and a darker hue, but also a sensation of all parts existing in such a realm. Crisp sangiovese, of an earthy crust that compounds that croccante sensation and while the acid-tannin formation is equalizing there is an herbal-earthy-spice quotient that offers some vintage distraction. Solid if weighty 2017 in the end. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted November 2021

Roberto Cipresso Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Nothing else smells like Roberto Cipressi’s Annata, aromatically gregarious of an intensity not really noted anywhere else. Smells like a pine forest, a bowl of chopped rosemary, essential oils and so much more. A waft like no other, wood spice in waves and glycerin texture, almost appassimento in feeling and that is something I thought I’d never say. Gets no more parochial nor specific than this. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted November 2021

Salvioni Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG La Cerbaiola 2017

Really aromatic 2017 by Salvioni, hyperbole of Annata maceration and development, deep inhalant of varietal meets vintage pooling. Luxe and filled the with fluid and flowing sangiovese blood, naturally sweet and developed. Fine if grippy and slightly bitter tannin will eventually soften and help this wine find a true path. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted November 2021

San Lorenzo Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Lithe, medium-bodied and a notably dry, herbal and dusty Annata profile. Older schooled, say late 80s/early 90s feel. Fine stream of fruit and good length albeit drying at the finish. Drink 2021-2023. Tasted November 2021

San Polino Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Once again the variability of 2017 is on display with great and ever altering difference. Another stylistic shift and this time into gelid and pectic filled Brunello that takes full vintage advantage with immediacy on notice. As early drinking as a San Polino has ever shown. Drink 2021-2024. Tasted November 2021

San Polo Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Super warm vintage and quite dry. The wines can only reflect the vintage and San Polo is one of the estates where position made for good fortune in the face of a great challenge. A season to make more Rubio and only Brunello from a stringent selection. One of the juiciest of all ’17 Annata and the elévage remained consistent, using 1000hL Slavonian plus 50 and 60hL Tonneaux. Regard the professional and emotive work in San Polo’s Annata, of fruit clearly allowed to travel long and develop the kind of phenolics and also glycerin needed to hang with these 2017 tannins. Yes there is some late arriving astringency but that is the vintage, perhaps not in every Montalcino sector but more than most. Tannins are grippy yet fine and also sweet on a wine of juicy substance. Sure it’s a red tart, almost sour raspberry vintage but the rocks and the approach harmonize the parts and the style. The great and forward moving positives are the substantial fruit and savour, aspects of a Brunello most needed to be there when the grip softens and melts away. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted November 2021

Sasso Di Sole Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Warm, glycerin and luxurious Brunello, a liqueur of sangiovese in the most sweetly aromatic, jammy fruited and silken way. Almost feels as if there could be some residual sugar left in, that’s how sultry and seductive this acts. Curious for the vintage and beautiful in it very own way. A wine with no major structure that needs revisiting to see how it will react with age. Drink 2021-2024. Tasted November 2021

Sesti Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Warm location and elevation conspire to raise the vintage bar for and from Sesti, an Annata of great expectation, fruit force and brut grip. Here sangiovese stands firm, linear and tall, the kind you could almost put a stick inside and watch it stay upright. That’s the concentration and the effect created in a wine that is so substantial and on so many levels. A kick of bitters at the finish is very vintage related but the aforementioned substance will stand up, be counted and last. Wait three years for the troubling tannins to start their subsiding and sliding away. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted November 2021

Talenti Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Riccardo Talenti’s 2017 is an aromatic one, a sangiovese of fruit, earth, forest, brush and herbs. A dusty one, a deep inhalant of place and trust, an Annata that captures all there is to know about this most obtrusive and demanding vintage. So curious in how the palate replays all these notes and notions, in seasoned flavour and savour. A big wine for Talenti and one made in contract with estate vineyards producing fruit of a very peculiar vintage. Here’s how you do it and fulfill what’s promised. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted November 2021

Tassi Di Franci Franca Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Really fine work for a lovely Annata from the Franci family, high-toned and eclectic sangiovese of red fruit at the top end of the spectrum. Crunchy fruit in the true sense of croccante but also scorrevole, sliding across the palate and extending onwards. There is raspberry and blood orange, tar and roses. Feels a little bit like having gone through some Piedmontese cappello sommerso, by long extraction and textured as a result. Fine tannins, finish, some red pith too but time will heal any wounds. Drink 2022-2028. Tasted November 2021

Tenuta Buon Tempo Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Picked between the 7th and 10th of September and only 22,000 bottles made from 12 hectares of vineyards. Low does not due justice to how small a vintage was 2017. “We tried to extract less and keep it on the lighter side,” tells Alberto Machetti and an exception was made to age 100 per cent in used tonneaux (and no Slavonian oak). This is mainly due to dry tannins and the lowest of low yields. So many dried grapes, 25 per cent of the production discarded, the berries so small, the liquid to skin ratio completely out of balance. “More off a Rosso style adapted to make a little bit of Brunello.” The decision had to be made to avoid alcohol through the roof, too risky overall and too little too screw it up. This has turned out as a really well made and blessed Annata with thanks to decision making that pushed the right buttons. Truth conceived, spoken and executed by Machetti and team. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted November 2021

Tenuta La Fuga Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Big wine from La Fuga in 2017, fully ripened, pressed and expressed for breadth of sangiovese possibility. Pectin at a high level and full throttle actionability for a full on example to sell, discuss and impress. This is a wine that will help licensee/restaurant and bottle shop sales because it delivers Brunello expectation. That said it won’t necessarily gift longevity. Drink 2021-2023. Tasted November 2021

Tenuta Le Potazzine Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

From the moment the Potazzine perfume comes from the glass it is known that few if any Montalcinese 2017 Brunelli will be like this. The advantages are manyfold, a northwest location, high elevation above 500m, later picking times, natural and longer fermentation, no filtration. Even in a vintage like this the women of Le Potazzine, Gigliola, Viola and Sofia can look to take risks for eventuation at reward. More herbal and savoury than ’16 and less concentrated than ’15 but still exhibits characteristics consistent with those bigger and easier vintages. As cool, fresh and salty as it can get but always with that perfume. Le Potazzine style, unassuming and bellissima. Drink 2023-2031. Tasted November 2021

Tenuta San Giorgio Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Ugolforte 2017

From vineyards facing southeast aged up to 25 years and really now coming into their own. Definite alcohol elevation balanced by fruit hung well into September, also with kept acidity. Perfectly reasoned seasoned ’17 here from Poggio di Sotto’s sister and second property. Fruit spirit and juiciness run up the middle of vintage possibility and as a result there is nary a bitter, overtly herbaceous or astringent moment. This with thanks to plot position, aid and abetting by Mount Amiata. Tannic as a ’17, drying and yet precocious as compared to Poggio di Sotto, concentration a matter of younger vineyards. Unfair perhaps but they are a family and the simplicity here is well-loved, needed and accepted. Different planet, same philosophy, embracing the land and the people who make it happen, without pretension. Brunello simplicity is the captured moment in time when vintage and stylistic merge as they do in San Giorgio’s ’17. No harm, no foul. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted November 2021

Tenute Silvio Nardi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Quite a fortuitously heady Annata for Tenute Silvio Nardi out of the vintage ranging through many derivations or this one way. There are early picked, light and simple wines and their are later picked Brunelli with a full head of fruit and steam. This falls unto the latter with no lack of barrel seasoning and weight behind the thickening fruit. Needs time to settle and allow both wood and density to integrate and get on down. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted November 2021

Ucceliera Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Big and brawny it might seem is the order of Andrea Cortonesi’s ’17 Annata but these are the things that elevation, solar radiation and poor soil will talk about together. The bones in Ucceliera’s Brunello are one thing but the fruit, the substance and the presence are all together another. These are the types of wines that stand out, separate and shine in a vintage such as this. Fully developed, phenols at the top of the requiem and then a come together because the work once inside is accomplished without supposition. Every estate in Montalcino should be so lucky to receive such consultancy. Drink 2023-2031. Tasted November 2021

Val Di Suga Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Dense, thick and chalky Brunello, fully extracted and developed, nothing left in the vineyard or on the table. Actually quite impressed by how much has been assembled in this super Annata cuvée without the oft-seen ’17 astringency that usually comes along for the ride. Drink 2021-2024. Tasted November 2021

Ventolaio Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

That Ventolaio perfume, heady and gracious, always a wine that finds a way to climb into the nether regions of your heart. Alternatively crisp and then chewy, exterior and interior, a sangiovese of layers, spice and relatively early integration. Does well to bring all parts together with elasticity but also finesse. The vintage snapshot is very much in focus. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted November 2021

Villa Al Cortile Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

One sniff of this Annata and only 2017 could come to mind. It is important for sangiovese and vintage to come together, forge a symbiotic union and express what only this place can. Villa al Cortile finds the sweet spot between fruit and tannin in a place where ’17’s acids lie, lay and linger. Not too much of anything with respect to excess here and plenty of possibility. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted November 2021

Villa Poggio Salvi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Perfectly middle of the road Brunello in ’17, well developed, extracted and pressed though well shy of any distraction. A bit aromatically reticent which goes against the vintage norms but the palate here is quite heady and expressive. The tannins are serious and bit drying but there should be enough fruit to hang in there once the wine begins to turn in a year and half or so’s time. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted November 2021

Voliero Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Such a similar profile to Ucceliera if perhaps a bit more sun worship mixed with lower tones to create a deeper and more pressing example of Annata 2017. In that sense a bit of a dualistic sangiovese in this Voliero while true to harmonized, focused and right proper Andrea Cortonesi form. Hard to imagine this wine needing to be anything but what pours into this glass. More fruit and less structure for the correctness of it all. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted November 2021

Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2017 Vigna

Altesino Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Montosoli 2017

The northern aspect of Montosoli is perhaps no further benefitted from than in this vintage, a cooler location befitting the warmest and driest of vintages. That said a Spring frost meant lower production but never the mind as the famous and important hill gifts Altesino with a fine Vigna sangiovese. Graces the charms and substance of 2017 with equal rights and finds the sweet spot for what is truly a full throttle and seasoned Altesino. Will be ready earlier than most might think. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted November 2021

Benvenuto Brunello 2021

Banfi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Poggio Alle Mura Vigna Marrucheto 2017

Strength in fruit is Vigna Marrucheto’s calling card for a 2017 of true black cherry depth. Travels well beyond fruit to a place where all the necessary parts collect, integrate and repeat. Shocking good acids lift spirits and even more shocking sweet tannins tie the entire work together. Banfi’s team surely had an edge in this challenging vintage and while many Vigna canibalized their Annata it is clear that Banfi had plenty of riches to go around. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted November 2021

Canalicchio Di Sopra Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG La Casaccia 2017

This is where all the recent hard work put in by Francesco Ripaccioli and team really comes to light and fruition. La Casaccia is northerly-ish but certainly not Montosoli and yet the aromatic profile of this Vigna-designate Brunello is laced with cool nuance and found to be full of fine finesse. As per the Canalicchio di Sopra idiom there is plenty of wood casking through the bones of the wine and yet one can feel the highest quality of those large vessels gifting a select strength leading to chic style, surely to be followed by one and a half decades of aging. All what needs, what is and must be for La Casaccia. Drink 2023-2030. Tasted November 2021

Caparzo Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG La Casa 2017

Grandiose La Casa from 2017, full of depth. breadth and shadowy nuance. Just a terrific and most important northern Montalcino vineyard with Altesino’s Montosoli side by each, both upon the hill of hopes and dreams. The Corton of Montalcino if you will and here an example of a Vigna wine showing high glycerol content mixed with the mineral white, blue and grey Galestro of the vineyard. Makes for a potent and beautiful mix. Drink 2022-2028. Tasted November 2021

Castello Romitorio Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Filo Di Seta 2017

Filo di Seta, done up only in concrete eggs, the first vintage being 2010. A clay and Galestro vineyard, ancient soils at 180m just above Montosoli. Aging in 500L barrels of first, second and third usage. Looking for crunch, chew and roll. Two picks, two or three weeks apart and “you feel the down valley character,” says Filippo Chia. The opposite of high altitude Brunello, “we call it the campone,” a vineyard that existed going back to the 1700s. A place “where there are monks there is wine.” Potent by glycerin as viscosity and an intimate connection to sangiovese’s chiaroscuro. Drink 2024-2034. Tasted November 2021

Castello Tricerchi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG A.D. 1441 2017

High-toned, fruit cumulate, juicy appropriated and just fine textural example of Vigna. In just a few vintages Tricerchi has climbed from there to here with a refreshed and nuanced understanding of how to turn their vineyards into the freshest andsmartest of Montalcino wines. There is a fine complement of wood on A.D. 1441 but not without reason and merit. The fruit is up to the task, especially because there is a naturally curated swarthiness to its character. This Vigna will show best in two to three years. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted November 2021

Castiglion Del Bosco Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Campo Del Drago 2017

Here Vigna in a prime example of a wine showing brilliantly if less concentrated than certainly the previous two vintages. That said having tasted both the ’16 and ’17 Annatas it seems apparent that some ’17 fruit normally destined there has remained in this Campo del Drago ’17. A gain to a loss and such is life though hard to think another avenue might have been taken. Nevertheless this fortunate one drinks with substantial weight, stone, fruit filling and desire. Spicy piques at every turn and a long, creative if turbulent finish. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted November 2021

Cava d’Onice Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Colombaio 2017

Colombaio steals the 2017 Cava D’Onice show, perhaps to the detriment of the classico but as with past adversarial vintages such is life and the show must go on. Here the fruit is plenty good and substantial, pooling with macerations of cherry accented by hints of rosemary and fennel. A fine, stylish and even chic Brunello that shines and will live well into the future. One of longer probabilities it would surely seem. Drink 2023-2030. Tasted November 2021

Corte Pavone Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Fiore Del Vento 2017

The first of three Hayo Loacker investigations into the specificities of his Corte Pavone terroir is this Fiore del Vento, literally “flowers of the wind,” an expression that does well to describe this windswept section to the west of Montalcino. A lovely and fruit pectic thickened Vigna in 2017, concentrated yet expertly so, pretty and almost soft but with some shadowy power beneath. Smooth, silky and yet red chalky, almost an iron sensation though the wine that never feels elemental or metallic. Fine bone structure and far from grippy. Lovely, as mentioned at the top. Drink 2022-2028. Tasted November 2021

Corte Pavone Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Fiore Di Meliloto 2017

These flowers in Hayo Loacker’s second of three Vigna Brunelli are the delicacy in an otherwise firmer and more distinctly gripper one, again with florals also poking in tines and ferric under tones. This time there is an ionic, mineral and powerful feeling, with stronger tannic chalk and stony address. Still resides in the realm of fine and precise, a bit more chiseled but not expressly demanding. Will take longer to develop and with fruit in good shape this should drink well into the next decade. Drink 2023-2031. Tasted November 2021

Corte Pavone Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Campo di Marzo 2017

Clearly the most concentrated and also powerful of the three Vigna Brunelli produced by Corte Pavone and then one to wait, wait some more and finally wait again before seeing this fruit and that structure work together as one. Great and important concentration with vineyard intendment makes Campo di Marzo (field of March) a sangiovese to reckon with and one you will have to show great patience for best results. Drink 2025-2036. Tasted November 2021

Cortonesi La Mannella Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG I Poggiarelli 2017

I Poggiarelli is picked a week to 10 days later than La Mannella and so necessary to allow the acid-tannin structure to develop, lengthen and replicate. A Brunello very much set up in a community and chain of command, fruit imagined as the lead bird behind which all other parts draught, for ease and decreased resistance. In I Poggiarelli’s case the length of time requires acids, texture and tannin to all take turns, in formation, in antecede and relegation. Depending on when this is tasted in the first seven or eight years from vintage there is no telling which will stand out and above the rest. Equally or rather proportionally perfumed and fragrant like La Mannella but from the start you sense the higher levels of backbone and structure. “But our idea is to play with the balance, to keep the link with the sangiovese of Montalcino and in a warm vintage not to go too far,” tells Tommaso Cortonesi. Neither in extraction nor maceration and to deliver a respectful wine. Usually 25-30 days but more like 18-20 in 2017. Also a 26-30 degree fermentation when some vintages it can be as high as 34, if only for a few days. Definitely a vertical Brunello and time matters. Always with sangiovese and especially with I Poggiarelli. Drink 2024-2032. Tasted November 2021

Donatella Cinelli Colombini Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Progetto Prime Donne 2017

Most excellent exhaling of sangiovese blood, sweat, tears and love emits from Donatella Cinelli Colombini’s 2017 Vigna of great northern Montalcino importance. A project that Donatella, her daughter and team of women have come to create, foster, nurture and gift. For all of us today and set up to keep giving throughout future generations. Few wines find the precise nature of their vineyard and in how they are able to interact so gracefully with human emotion and flavour. The earth and deep-rooted fruitiness in Prime Donne acts swarthy and wild in youth but this wine has not yet begun to become the fine Vigna example it will eventually accede. Top ’17 for sure. Drink 2025-2036. Tasted November 2021

Fanti Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Vallocchio 2017

Vallocchio at 320-350m and its old 35-40 year-old vines has done well to find resiliency in 2017 with thanks to its very deep and experienced roots. Faces south by southwest and though the lack of water and 35-plus degree temperatures were a clear and present danger this vineyard knew what to do to survive. A selection more direct than other vintages because no Riserva was made and so Vallocchio is both and neither at the same time, with the maceration kept shorter (25-30 days) to minimize bitter aromas and possible astringencies. Certainly a warm Vallocchio for Fanti steeped like a viscous cherry tisane and seasoned with extra spice but always maintains its pedigree and then length. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted November 2021

Fattoria Dei Barbi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Vigna Del Fiore 2017

More specific of course, focused and looking at a vineyard that has been studied for decades. A vineyard of more than five hectares with the resilience to handle the stressors of the 2017 vintage, thanks to many stones and the surrounding woods. “We have been paying taxes on this vineyard for 400 years, so that’s how old it is,” tells Stefano Cinelli Colombini. The current vineyard was planted in 1982 but some parts have been redone. Finding fineness is no easy seek and task at all times but most of all when water and cooling temperatures are absent for many months at a time. This is Vigna of polished fruit, consistency in hyperbole and while less austere than many vintages there is that elusive and often hiding combination of elegance and finesse. The wine achieves what it sets out to do, if no other way, in attitude. Drink 2023-2030. Tasted November 2021

Franco Pacenti Brunello Di Montalcinio DOCG Rosildo 2017

A fine and finessed Rosildo, concentrated though at the precipice without asking too much of 2017. Rich and inviting, picked late enough to gather the optimum quality available through vintage adversity multiplied by possibility. The length and linger here is outstanding, a quality response to how fruit sumptuousness and fine-grained tannins interact. Quite symbiotic in relationship it needs saying. A requiem for specialized success. Drink 2024-2032. Tasted November 2021

Fattoria La Màgia Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Ciliegio 2017

A Massive attack of fruit and power comes at you fast and furious in Ciliegio from La Màgia. Not just a wine of concentration and substance but some of 2017’s grippiest set of surrounding parameters. Big bones, barrel impart and really impressive facial structure. Chiseled and upright, linear and near formidable. A bruiser now that will bring so much umami later. Imagine the porcini possibilities. Drink 2024-2031. Tasted November 2021

Fattoria La Lecciaia Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Vigna Manapetra 2017

Manapetra exhibits no shortage or lack of fruit flesh and development and it must be wondered what filled this glass that the Annata did not receive. A top vineyard is needed in times of trouble and so mother Mary fruit was surely reserved in full for this Vigna sangiovese from La Lecciaia. This packs a wallop and a punch though the acidity remains shy and remote. No remorse though as a big glass of Brunello with Vigna credentials is available by the factor this Manapetra emits out of 2017. Perhaps a but atypical for the estate if a credible response to vintage variation. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted November 2021

La Rasina Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Persante 2017

Sweet and substantially rendered fruit forms a great and needful response to a vintage of hoops and hurdles, frost, aridity and grapes so desperately wanting to shut themselves down. The rose to violet florals and high toned peppery piques are quite unrelenting and there is some real structure here. A bit on the acetic side and something that can’t be ignored but the wine maintains its composure and seeks out its main objective. Real Brunello in 2017. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted November 2021

Le Gode Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Montosoli 2017

Such an earthy, swarthy and ferric wine from this northwestern section of the northerly Montosoli Hill and a wine that’s really hard to get to know. So much wild behaviour, microbial manifestations and conjecture. Where to begin and when will it end? Needs time and the question is will it go sideways, will the fruit outlast or will the feral-ness get stronger and stronger? Drink 2023-2026. Tasted November 2021

Le Ragnaie Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Casanovina Montosoli 2017

From the northern hill at approximately 300m facing east, just past the cellar on the right. Another 2017 that stands apart because of the location though not as glaring as the Passo del Lume Spento at 620m. A sweetly sound and calming liqueur of red fruit and fresh herbs, well scented, floral and as a Brunello, notes darker of fruit and even a bit of tar. More complexity than many, severing and forking into the dimensional and though comparison can be pedantic there is a tightly wound tannic feeling that reminds of nebbiolo. Surely not one to last ages and live in infamy but it should be considered a 10-12 year wine. From a bottle opened two days so that really tells us something. Drink 2023-2030. Tasted November 2021

Le Ragnaie Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Passo Del Lume Spento 2017

A most dramatic way to describe a place that essentially means “a pass so windy it could blind travellers, or literally put out the lights.” Actually the pass across the highest point in Montalcino before heading down towards the southern valley below. The most ironic and interesting single-vineyard wine in Montalcino, formerly an IGT and here from the warm and dry vintage. The elevation is 621 meters above sea level and unequivocally the most singular aromatic profile of any in Montalcino. Approximately 60 per cent is used for this Vigna of sandstone on a plateau, flat and even keeled across its perch. Smells of the freshest herbal field but on a dry and crisp day, or crispy perhaps. That cured salumi aroma is so special for sangiovese and especially Brunello and then the palate really elevates the freshness, with just terrific acidity and the precociousness of young vines (planted in 2012), excited plants that could afford to be a little bit more aggressive in a hot vintage. Oh if more ‘17s could be like this and if more vineyards in Montalcino were above 600m. But I digress. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted November 2021

Le Ragnaie Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Vigna Vecchia 2017

V.V. as in Vigna Vecchia, a place of old vines, planted in 1968 at 600m. With the concentration of ingress by the vines this is a very structured wine of depth as compared to the new vineyard and also Montosoli. Faces southwest so plenty of sun, especially in 2017. Also the most texture of the 17s in terms of glycerol from Le Ragnaie but also the most backbone and early austerity when it comes to the tannins. Yet there is an orange component, not the skin but a gelid or granita of orange. Time is the vanishing point essential perspective and plenty of it, as V.V. always needs, with 2017 being no exception. As much Vigna Vecchia as it is anything else. Drink 2024-2032. Tasted November 2021

Mastrojanni Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Vigna Loreto 2017

Just a classic 2017, fruit ripe, juicy and red cherry inflated, a specific vintage concentration and made all the more pinpointed in Vigna form. Loreto does what needs and wants for a consumer looking for vintage answers and reply. Likely an earlier drinking Vigna for ’17 and one that will gift plenty of mid-decade pleasure. Drink 2022-2027. Tasted November 2021

San Polino Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Helichrysum 2017

My if Helichrysum does not double down on San Polino’s classico, here in a Vigna with quite a push in terms of tannin. Rides to the end of the fruit’s property and build a fence so high there can be no escape until the barriers begin to fall away. In this case that could be ten years but worth beginning to taste and check in three or four. Chalky in swirling liquid form, forceful, youthful, exuberant and maybe even rebellious. Will see where this travels. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted November 2021

San Polo Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Podernovi 2017

The 1991 planted vineyard of three hectares faces southeast across the Orcia where on a clear morning in November the fog layer settles in the Valley. Aged in tonneaux of 40 and 50 hL for approximately 30 months. Cool and reticent aromatics whilst sweetly floral and easily leading towards the succulence accessed upon the palate. Very gardenia in fact, like a vertical herb garden leading the senses up to clay and stones that compact and make for a concentrated restraint. Podernovi’s softer complexion reflects a more delicate and perhaps also finessed Vigna as compared to sister block-designate Brunello Vignavecchia. The names alone should tells us this in a new versus old vein and so fineness and delicate structuring is the order of this very pretty wine. While the disposition may be understated the white peppery acids and scintillant of piques are surely not. Delicate perhaps but Podernovi still opens one’s eyes and palate to the possibilities of 2017. Awake now because of the freshness and croccante character of this wine. Drink 2022-2027. Tasted November 2021

San Polo Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Vignvecchia 2017

The 1989 planted vineyard of two hectares faces southwest on a steep slope aged in tonneaux (lightly toasted) of 60 hL for approximately 30 months. Smallest of the estate’s berries, ratio of flesh to skin minimized and without equivocation the most concentrated wine at San Polo. Like Podernovi also a cool and reticent nose but you can feel the power behind the veil. Hard to hide the ability, musculature and grip of the tight juice extracted from the small and profound tract of localita San Polo land. Clearly the stronger, deeper concentrated and more structured of the San Polo’s Vigne Brunelli and such a contrast in hue, texture and grip when tasted side by side with Podernovi. There is a thickness and swath of Rothko brushstroke in Vignavecchia, its sale captioned and finalized by a firm grip in handshake. Such a chewy wine, of tree fruit in pods and liquorice. Needs time to settle, integrate the notable amount of wood and elasticize towards a brighter future, more so than Podernovi, perhaps to outlive and outlast. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted November 2021

Sasso di Sole Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Sasso Di Luna 2017

Cherry sangiovese liqueur in all its pooling and welling red fruit incarnations with fine acidity and not easy but also not formidable structure. A Vigna that surely does not try too hard and if it’s not the most substantial version of “Brunello” it surely takes off straight from where the Annata left off. All about love and happiness. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted November 2021

Talenti Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Piero 2017

Riccardo Talenti’s Brunelli spend over two years ageing in fine Allier and Slavonian oak. Pian del Conte is a Riserva from the oldest vineyards, near the centre of the estate (400m above sea level) and only made in exceptional years. This selezione Piero comes from two of the 20 estate hectares in Castelnuovo dell’Abate dedicated to the vineyard Paretaio, planted to a sangiovese clone selected by Pierluigi Talenti. Fruit gets no more developed and carried along to this level of ripeness and while Talenti’s Piero is showing evolution so early in its tenure the purity, honesty and admonition here must be noted. Not just a remark but an opening for props, kudos and general lauding. No pretence and absolute Talenti heart worn on a Vigna sleeve to say this is the vintage, deal with it, work with it and run with it. No forevers but drinking windows open and ready as soon as anyone feels the necessity for ready. Drink 2022-2027. Tasted November 2021

Tassi Di Franci Franca Brunello Di Montalcino Vigna Colombaio DOCG 2017

Quite the open and blessedly pretty Vigna from Tassi di Franci Franca, on the lighter if lightning red fruit side of Vigna 2017 things, sappy tang, cherry liqueur and fine circulating acids. Simply stated, put and offered. No pretence neither, either way you look at it. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted November 2021

Tenuta Buon Tempo Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Oliveto P. 56 2017

Oliveto is the original name of the farm and the winery before the change in ownership in 2012. From the iron-rich red clay soils and the finest blocks of the vineyard. The location is a hot one but in 2016 there was not too much adversity to find and marry both sugar and phenolic ripeness. Also thanks to a vintage of higher acidity, picked between the 16th and 18th of September. There is a balance between some of Tenuta Buon Tempo’s best ever quality of fruit and a level of acid meets fine tannin structure that also reaches an historical peak. Two weeks of fermentation followed by four days of cappello sommerso and here some new Slavonian oak. A beautifuL Riserva, crisp, sweetly savoury and in perfect harmony. Says Alberto Machetti, “I think it’s the best wine we’ve made at Tenuta Buon Tempo. By a wide margin.” Who are we to argue and so the recommendation is tend to agree. Drink 2023-2033. Tasted November 2021. Drink 2023-2026

Tenute Silvio Nardi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Poggio Doria 2017

Casale del Bosco dates back to XVII century, but the origins of this site are Etruscan. It was bought by Silvio Nardi in 1950 and is the source for the cru Brunello Poggio Doria. Uniquely singular Vigna-designate 2017 Brunello, deeply welling like an aperitif with fine bitters and natural sweetness, black cherry type fruit and well developed texture. Turns fiercely tannic and so the ultimate takeaway is big pressing, full extraction and every little grain that might come through from those stressed 2017 skins. This wine needs plenty of time. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted November 2021

Tiezzi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Vigna Soccorso 2017

Quite the developed and verging towards oxidative Vigna Brunello from 2017 with sharp acids and tight if also brittle tannins. Continues along the road to acetic and stays the course. Drink 2021-2023. Tasted November 2021

Villa Poggio Salvi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Pomona 2017

Pomona in 2017 is a fine and bright Vigna Brunello of sharp red fruit, tart angles, piques, valleys and blessed pinpoint control. Tart and direct with enough finesse to keep a straight and fine line. Finds the best it can be from a less than generous vintage. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted November 2021

Tenuta Il Greppo

Brunello di Montalcino and Vigna DOCG 2016

Biondi Santi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Tenuta “Greppo” 2016

As with Rosso 2018 there is magic in 2016 and for Federico Radi it was just a matter of blending, having inherited the wines already waiting in cask. Magic because a tempered in control level of alcohol and purity of satin-glycerol consistency is purely and expressly Biondi-Santi. Bottled seven months ago and will be released in March of 2022. The notion of optimum balance will likely set in two or three months from now with a lingering peppery pique and kick still in tow. Also a freshness of summer making for a minor balsamico but one that is far from concentrated in dark syrup. The alcohol is at 14 which for the vintage and current day Montalcino is relatively low, or at least modest. And yet the wine captures your immediate attention, partly because the fruit is fortified but more so by dramatic acidity and a lingering austerity. Also the reddest of citrus notes, almost pomegranate. The acidity number is actually 0.5 per cent higher than (Riserva) ’15, with notes of orange skin, violet and subtle underbrush. More Paco de Lucia than Slash. The latter will fall away in two, better still three years. The Brunello will likely remain in that next state for 10 years and then begin to evolve, slowly, incrementally towards and through a few to several decades life. Drink 2024-2041. Tasted November 2021

Castiglion Del Bosco Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2016

Here a perfectly tidy and veramente example of the possibility for existential beauty out of the 2016 vintage. Ripe fruit beyond harmonious compare, weighted in concentration, mildly structured and right there for the taking. Just another year will allow this Brunello to drink at peak. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted October 2021

Filippo and Elisa Fanti

Fanti Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2016

The clarity and translatable Fanti terroir in 2016 from the “normale” shines like the bluest of Montalcino days. It’s that simple in terms of growing, picking, fermenting and aging sangiovese from a grounded, persistently consistent and harmonizing vintage. Not a hot one but one hitched upon a long and linear even keel for the Brunello to reach that coveted arena of the elegant. Just what those who get it now want and quite frankly need from Brunello di Montalcino. Drink 2022-2028. Tasted November 2021

Taverna dei Barbi

Fattoria Dei Barbi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2016

“In the beginning ’16 was…not enough,” begins the soliloquy by Fattoria dei Barbi’s Stefano Cinelli Colombini. “But after a year it changed.” Reading deeper one understands that time is the answer, for sangiovese, Brunello and 2016. “This is why Riserva should be sold after eight or 10 years,” continues Cinelli Colombini. “The problem with tradition is we make a mistake that if it exists, there must be a meaning inherent, otherwise it would not have taken so long. The mistake we make is between what is actually a tradition and the sense of tradition. You only need to taste to know that wine is the most democratic thing in the world.” Yes this Barbi is showing as it should or as it should be beginning to, but tradition is what holds it back, for now. In time it will speak on behalf of what it must be. That is as a sangiovese with a true sense of itself and the tradition it not only represents but one it intrinsically and existentially is. Here from 2016 is one of the great Barbi Annata Brunello. Drink 2023-2032. Tasted October 2021

Fuligni Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2016

Fuligni’s is well, Fuligni. A classic Brunello with new bones and old school heart. Spice above freshness, seasoning over warmth. The most properly developed layers of southern Montalcino red fruit in a vintage aching to speak in a vernacular passed on through generations. Well seasoned casks impart their wisdom, structural slats and flavours, piqued right across the palate. Feels like white sand with calcareous veins and grey to ochre argiloso, a.k.a. the pangs of tradition and soil tang that historically run through Montalcinese sangiovese. Drink 2022-2028. Tasted October 2021

Giodo Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2016

A different sort of 2016 feeling here from Giodo’s Località Casanova, Sant’Angelo in Colle Brunello. Mixed sensations, savoury and hillside brushy, of rosemary, fennel and lavender, but also mustard, arugula and cress. A masala of Montalcino earthy spice, seasoned purple fruit, tart and full of high-toned energy. Quite wood spiced and very long. Needs time to settle and find the grace. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted October 2021

Pietroso Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2016

Same 35,000 bottle production and like the 2015 a Brunello of great freshness and acidity yet here deeper and less immediately motivated interaction. A sangiovese of richness, layers and yet to be discovered nuance, fleshy to the point of distraction and seeing the structure for the trees. Once again Andrea Pignattai shows the sensibility, humility and grace in his very personal Brunello, capturing the northwest of Montalcino with sincere and respectful exigency. His ’16 is built to age very well. Drink 2023-2030. Tasted October 2021

Poggio Di Sotto Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2016

Tasted side by side with Riserva 2016 so its would not be stretch to expect great similarities. First things first. The difference between a Poggio di Sotto Annata and Riserva will always be on blatant display. Moments of clarity each of their own and this ’16 shows something specific, neither lesser nor better but a faithful and loyal expression of the upper vineyards. Great intensity, optimum concentration but not as if or needing to be compared to Riserva’s. Here sapidity swaths over the palate, pesto of herbs and brushstrokes of red velvet ganache. Sweetness of all parts, fruit to tannin, amongst the top for the vintage. Drink 2023-2033. Tasted November 2021

Col d’Orcia Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Vigna Nastagio 2016

Lovely Col d’Orcia liqueur from a newer Vigna-designate wine for the estate and here with as good a vintage as might be to come flying from the gate. It may be unfair because this is being tasted in the middle of dozens of 2017s but my how finesse, focus, depth and concentration all come together in this fine Vigna wine. Cool, ethereal, salt-licked and well, special. Can imagine drinking this for two plus decades. Drink 2024-2034. Tasted November 2021

Francesco Ripaccioli, Fabrizio Bindocci and Tommaso Cortonesi

Cortonesi La Mannella Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG I Poggiarelli 2016

It seems that I Poggiarelli will always be subjected to comparison because of the contrasting style to Cortonesi’s homefront La Mannella. Here the single-vineyard sangiovese rewrites itself in every vintage from the auspices of a warmer, southeasterly Montalcino location at 420m of elevation. Galestro sandy-grey is the ante-soil structure building block whereas La Mannella’s clay gifts earlier charm and elegance. Furthered élevage is a necessity, to instigate depth and structure but not to encourage too much power. Lastly I Poggiarelli is almost always picked a minimum seven days after La Mannella. In 2016 this all adds up to one important, profound and vintage defining word. Fluidity. That’s the ideal to emulate, replicate, relipucate and remunerate. Tommaso’s ’16 Vigna is a fluid mosaic of sangiovese, as if its components were composed of phospholipids, cholesterol, proteins and carbohydrates. Even if they are seen simply as fruit, acid, texture and tannin they all move seamlessly as one, within one membrane, a perfect biological model, effortlessly layered elastic and fluid. Poetic structure. La liquidità di Montalcino. Drink 2024-2036. Tasted November 2021

Luigi Peroni and Natalie Oliveiros, La Fiorita

La Fiorita Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Fiore Di NO 2016

First vintage was 1993 and Natalie Oliveros came on board in 2011. Fiore Di NO is a special wine for her, a combination of three vineyards and only made in abundant years so as not to cannibalize the Annata. NO, as in the owner’s initials but also “no compromise,” no chemicals, barriques or tonneaux. NO is a wine of grace and power, one that exhales instead of holding in thoughts, emotions and feelings. It expresses itself with confidence and control, deserves all of our respect. Drink it now and for the next five years. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted October 2021

Claudia Callegari, San Polo and Michaela Morris

San Polo Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2016

One of the few estates that made the decision for 2016 (by winemaker Riccardo Fratton) to not produce any Riserva. Simply because it was too fresh a vintage and the thinking was that an extra year in wood would compromise that ideal. Still a combination of Vignavecchia and Podernovi which means that all the best fruit outside of the single vineyards are in this freshest of fresh Annata. If you are at elevation and want to maintain the integrity of your vineyards then this is what you do. A wine of ethics, unification, probity, trenchant purpose and if simply idealized there is much complexity to assimilate. Grande. Drink 2022-2030. Tasted November 2021

Viola, Gigliola and Sofia, Le Potazzine

Tenuta Le Potazzine Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2016

This and this only, at least for today is the vintage of “I parfumi di Potazzine,” a set of aromas that define and depict this very particular place. A volumetric aroma set of land and space, woods and air, the transfer by “le donne” through a capture of their home. An “eleganza” and “ricercatezza” unparalleled, a wine of charm and obvious grace, controlled passion and incremental steps taken towards the most natural world of parochial perfection. Wild ferment, no filtration, 42 day maceration, long and slow, a risk taken and now such important reward. You had to do it it is said to Gigliola. “I didn’t know exactly,” she says. I don’t believe her. Such a special Annata and one we can trust with every part of our palates and hearts. Drink 2022-2036. Tasted November 2021

Banfi Brunello Di Montalcino Poggio Alle Mura DOCG 2016

How can there be any surprise to behold this massive capture of fruit and structure in Banfi’s much heralded yet somehow under-valued Poggio alle Mura? A wine clearly Riserva over Vigna, not just stylistically but all ways counted and speaking. Feel the barrel spice, notes of iodine, soy and scorched earth, the depth and the welling deep into the ground. Baritone sangiovese, a bit of an ode to the past, set in standard bearing and harmony. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted November 2021

With Elisa Fanti

Fanti Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Vallocchio 2016

The emotional calculation for Fanti’s Vigna wine in 2016 is a special vineyard multiplied by an exceptionally understated vintage to equal a Vallocchio for the ages. The old vines block upwards of 350m could only love the cool, mostly cloudy and elongated season. Every year the best sangiovese comes from this plot on the hill looking up and to the right (north) of the winery. Vallocchio’s Galestro soil is poor and filled with grey to charcoal stones and was identified back in 2006 as the best block for sangiovese. More depth here than Annata to be sure but also an extenuating and extended level of calm, comfort and satisfaction. Just a wonderful and singular estate expression. Drink 2022-2032. Tasted November 2021

Lisini Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Ugolaia 2016

Bright red and juicy concentrated fruit defines and designs this ropey, rosy and ripe liquorice Vigna from Lisini. Tightly wound but with ample to exemplary 2016 fruit of a very specific kind. A Selezione that exhibits all that 2016 truly is, can and wants to be. A vintage of fruit that benefited from hang time so that acids, texture and structure could all catch up to sugar and alcohol. The balance is here. Drink 2023-2030. Tasted November 2021

Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2016

Argiano Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2016

Classica, an Argiano perfume that fills the glass and then the air, florals and wispy earth, a spray of rose, violet and finely decomposed argilo. There is a restraint, closed constraint and almost no tempt of fate in such a Riserva, sangiovese of maximum occupation if no real hurry to go anywhere and certainly not too fast. It can be imagined that this 2016 will remain almost frozen in this meditative state for up to 10 years. Having tasted through older vintages recently and knowing the current winemaking oeuvre, this grand notion is a given. Drink 2024-2036. Tasted November 2021

Canalicchio Di Sopra Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2016

Some 2016s come out at and with great force, or speak so vividly. Riserva by Cannalicchio di Sopra is not so much quiet as it is confident, linear, upright and perfectly sturdy. A wine of great force but only willing to use that power incrementally, one essential step at a time. This is 2016 in a perfectly captured and preserved photograph, a mix of eastern and northern vineyards that gather with near perfect equanimity. Nothing left behind, all there and yet not quite ready, a preserve of Montalcino 2016 that will always persevere. Bank and bet on such a wine to pour with strength and elegance for decades. Last tasted November 2021

Barrel Sample. A deeper well filled with that cherry liqueur and clearly more extract and concentration. The tannins are still fierce, intensely chalky and fine bitters are very much a part of the mix. A furthered texture Brunello with no less strength than most 16s will surely exhibit but the power is tempered by this feel and polish. Quite a potential here for 20 plus years of longevity. Drink 2024-2035. Tasted February 2020

Capanna Di Cencioni Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2016

Lithe and graceful for 2016, full yet reserved, a Riserva of purity and tight wind, also linear and sure. The fruit works a rich citrus edge, from pomegranate through blood orange, feeling healthy and spirited, at times coming down to a dry forest floor but always climbing back up. Quality grains of tannin run in chains, not just at the back but regressing in return through the channels of this most complex and grippy wine. Can’t turn away. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted November 2021

Caparzo Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2016

Deep and fulsome Brunello Riserva for Caparzo out of a vintage that offers as much as any winemaker wished to make use of. The richness of fruit is so northerly Brunello from an ideal vintage cut with argilo-limestone-Galestro mineral wealth. There is truly nothing lacking in the grape-acid-tannin structure in this all in sangiovese and the only question might be is this too much of a good thing? Is there such a thing? Ultimately time will provide the answer. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted November 2021

Carpineto Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2016

Gone for broke, full vintage capture and all in sentiment here from Caprineto’s warm and developed ’16. Will need a few years to render, melt and come together but there will always be the classic dustiness of a Carpineto sangiovese, seemingly no matter the Tuscan area from where it comes. Can there be a more consistent and recognizable house style? Drink 2024-2028. Tasted November 2021

Drogheria Franci, Montalcino

Casanuova Delle Cerbaie Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Vigna Montosoli 2016

Full-fruit in darkening cherry tone and the one Riserva 2016 to show some blueberry, unusual maybe but there it is. Good combinative crunch, some definite lift, salumi and while some may find this a touch acetic it should be suggested that the line is perfectly acceded and never crossed. There is a full compliment of Botti adding spiced and textured commission, also needing time to work within the parametric style. This will settle and when that happens all the parts will come together, swim in a pool of sangiovese liqueur and make for a truly promising future for the wine. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted November 2021

Looking east towards Montalcino from Castello di Romitorio

Castello Romitorio Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Filo Di Seta 2016

Filo di Seta is Filippo Chia’s intuitive “transavanguardia” sangiovese of place, over the ancient beach where he and his father Sandro once painted the Montalcino sea. Mostly early picked fruit, all in tonneaux, at first thinking croccante but that’s too simple a way to describe what texture and sensation is combed in this reserve wine. Bottled on the 29th of June so just arriving at the ready, to look at if not to consume. Here there is a fineness of liquid chalkiness, a fluido or scorrevole to drive the way this sangiovese plays and also sings, a Riserva to move with the wind and musical sway. Somewhat unknown, finely tannic and clearly what could and should be described as “mountain” Brunello. Coming in late is the spice, almost cinnamon and such. Hate to refer to any wine as the best from an estate but too bad. That this is, beyond the avant-garde such as it is. Drink 2025-2038. Tasted November 2021

Castello Romitorio Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2016

Only the old vineyards participate in the ’16 Riserva composition, in which beautiful means small in that air can pass through. A Riserva of sparsity, spargolo chicchi d’uva (grapes), from eight vineyards selected into one tank. Only the 10th Riserva in Romitorio’s history, harvested at 7.5 acidity and lower alcohol. There is muscle, ancient DNA, clonal diversity, forest floor, air and flora and then, time sliding into light strings and dappling all around. Not a flicker but a hum, almost imperceptible of electricity, kinetic, disciplined and smooth. No rattle, out of synch vibration, nor waste of notes to movement neither. A finished composition, Live at the Fillmore, effusive and light, of comfort and potential. Drink 2025-2037. Tasted November 2021

Conti Costanti Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Colle Al Matrichese 2016

Molte sane, repeats Andrea Costanti as if by mantra through the course of the 45 minutes while we taste, consider and assess his Riserva 2016. Many healthy grapes, calories, syllables, words and then adjectives are needed to describe this important if never lithe or shadowy sangiovese. No, it is instead immediately upright, enduring as a vinous edifice and demanding of attention. Aromatically magnetic, floral and prepossessing of magnitude, drawing in close yet tantalizingly teasing at a safe distance. Intimates a feeling, as if standing in a deserted public space rendered in simple geometric forms. Animated de Chirico, mystery and melancholy, vanishing points and parallel lines. Crosses over the palate in mathematically fine lines, everything in order, at peace, perfectly groomed. A strict and generous Riserva, fruit moving two by two, contrapositions of history, tradition and life. In a Brunello for the sake of a Costanti Brunello there is so much to feel and say. Such a wine makes it hard to stop thinking but you must and you will, content with looking forward 12-15 years. Everything is in its right place but should not be disengaged. Not yet, or for a while. Steadily, fermamente, healthily, costantemente, constantly. Drink 2025-2041. Tasted November 2021

Corte Pavone Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Anemone Al Sole 2016

This first of two Loacker Estates Riserva for their western Montalcino property is the “anemone in the sun,” surely a reference to sea fossils found in the vineyard, so very typical of this part of the territory. Also remarkable considering the elevation and the aspect where sangiovese does in fact bask in the radiation of the sun while also enjoying some of the area’s greatest temperature fluctuations. Deeply cherry, almost blackening but maintaining brightness with top quality acids. Not the most demanding tannins but they are there and will help see this wine move effortlessly through ten years easy. Drink 2023-2031. Tasted November 2021

Corte Pavone Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Poggio Molino Al Vento 2016

The second of two for Corte Pavone in Riserva terms is from “the hill of the windmill” and speaks to the windswept crest where the vineyard is perched. As such there should be and clearly is more air and breath in this Riserva as compared to the saline cut that runs through Anemone al Sole. Crisp and crunchy sangiovese here, fruit just a shade less dark than the sister vineyard, tannins finer and also grainier with less openness and more waiting time required. One and then the other. Isn’t that always the case? Drink 2024-2032. Tasted November 2021

Cortonesi La Mannella Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2016

Having an understanding that Tommaso Cortonesi knows how to make his wines and though Riserva is only made in what are deemed “suitable” vintages then 2016 is not an unexpected happenstance. Just so happens to emerge from that stellar growing season and if memory serves correct comes replete with a La Mannella upbringing poised and paused into the very fabric of this wine. A sangiovese of veritable home-front DNA, a torch passing from father and son with oenological consultancy aid and abetting by Paolo Caciorgna. Cortonesi’s Riserva is a linear one, firm of backbone built by later picked fruit and kept acidity. Neither dust nor agitated affectation presides as tannin over juice and in fact this is a very expressive Riserva. One of depth but also one that rises with constant upward movement. Onwards as well with 2016 a high point in the pantheon of the last 15 vintages. Tombola! Drink 2024-2032. Tasted November 2021

Donatella Cinelli Colombini Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2016

The purest sangiovese of greatest clarity for the Donatella classics is this Riserva, not just because it comes from 2016 but for the very fact that time has had a great effect in resolving the special needs of such a wine. What’s so very special about a Casato Prime Donne Brunello di Montalcino is the complex weave of northerly fruit, swarthy sumptuousness and textural crema. Never more on display then in this Riserva and from this vintage, bright and you can almost sense the smile on the face of this expressive and inviting wine. Also structured with great sneak and sly movement, sure, unlike the others, so beautifully crafted, painted as opposed to sculpted. Timeless. Drink 2024-2033. Tasted November 2021

Elia Palazzesi Collelceto Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2016

On the lithe and even jammy side for Riserva out of 2016, pretty enough and fruit red, fine, sweet even though there is a difficulty in shaking the feeling of cherry to raspberry confiture. Chewy and ropey, red liquorice and salty tannins. Intriguing Riserva, more like a really fine Annata but lacking depth and complexity. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted November 2021

Fanti Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Le Macchiarelle 2016

As for Le Macchierelle ’16 the contrast to 2015 is not so much night and day but 2015 (and its extra year in bottle) is showing more caress and Riserva delicacy as compared to this really grippy and tannic 2016. More concentration of tannin and not necessarily conversion of fruit. But to split fruit hairs is silly and there is no doubt the grape substance will easily pace and run with the structure to make Le Macchierelle live a very long, fruitful and slowly developing life. Where this diverges into the realm of special and profound is in the architecture that starts from the ground up. Iron-rich, calcareously cemented, skilled and seasoned. Drink 2024-2034. Tasted November 2021

Fattoi Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2016

Fattoi presents what can best be described as a Riserva for their place and time, a bright and effusive sangiovese of honesty, purity and estate vineyards’ transparency. Who could not be wooed, swayed and allayed by the freshness of such a pretty in pulchritude Riserva, cool and composed, with some of the finest acids and sweet grains of tannins imaginable. Top quality for the ilk and style. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted November 2021

Taverna dei Barbi

Fattoria Dei Barbi Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2016

The question is increasingly asked whether 2015 or 2016 is the true Riserva vintage, of the two. Assessing Barbi’s at this early stage does not answer the question straight away but there are some clues. The mineral swath that owes to iron, volcanic and sedimentary Galestro presence really does dominate the aromatics on what is again a could be nothing but a Fattoria dei Barbi sangiovese. Dark cherries that swim, bob perhaps but never over-macerate in their own sweet juices is the hallmark notation of this vineyard’s aromatic pool. Fine tannins are tight but not overtly demanding, acids stream freely and easy, supportive but not in authoritative control. A bit closed (or let’s say contained) to be honest and the warming finish indicates the need for a few years more time. As opposed to 2015 which was necessary and now here a ’16 that might remind of Brunello from the 1970s. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted November 2021

Fornacina Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2016

Slide nearly due east down from the Montalcino hill and you will come to Fornacina, an estate set in this idyllic quadrant of the area where cypress and grey to white sandy clay mineral soils predominate. Expect classic deep dusty plum fruit from a Riserva and a vintage as co-conspirators of calm, breadth and ease of collective breath. These and this are so true to form if not a serious Brunello, then one so knowable, unshakeable and just bloody proper. This ’16 gets it very right. Drink 2022-2028. Tasted November 2021

Fossacolle Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2016

Quite a deep and developed Brunello Riserva ’16, moving well along its way to arrive at the near your and its destination. Slip sliding away, slowly yet surely, feeling no adversity, pouring soft and simple. Make use of this now while so many firm and tannic kin take their time to find a way. Drink 2021-2023. Tasted November 2021

Franco Pacenti Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2016

Pacenti’s Riserva straddles two worlds and works both rooms with remarkable distinction. The fruit is open knit, effusive and perfectly consistent with the vineyard’s gifting but there is also a depth to this sangiovese that makes for a two-part wine. By depth this means a down to earth, low tonality and an herbal, fully formed and dense foundation. This is really solid, grounded and architecturally sound Brunello di Montalcino. More so than many and definitive of style. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted November 2021

Il Poggione Brunello Di Motalcino Riserva DOCG Vigna Paganelli 2016

Hard to find a more amenable and also soundly structured Riserva than this by Il Poggione, a Riserva that doubles as a Vigna (single-vineyard) Brunello di Montalcino. This is sangiovese for sangiovese’s sake, from a defined sense of place and made in a style that depicts meaning for a storied estate. Bright with depth, light tripping acids and grounding. Solid construction while always able to dance upon its feet. One of the best ever for the crew. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted November 2021

La Fiorita Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2016

Hard to imagine a Riserva from 2016 with more openness and inviting behaviour than this from La Fiorita but what’s clearly at play is the attention to detail, starting with dedicated and regenerative agriculture. A warm location is a challenge and yet fruit here is so well preserved and lifted at the very same time. The mix of textures, at once chewy and then crunchy, the blessings of commitment, passionate and respect, finally the way this wine seamlessly moves with delicasse and power. These are all stages and layers that knit a really fine Riserva. Brava. Veramente brava. Drink 2024-2032. Tasted November 2021

La Gerla Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2016

Gli Angeli is true Riserva, of a density in the depths of earth and fruit while conversely rising with lifted guide. Bone density too, then highlights before returning back from whence it rose. Loads of charred herbs, dusty tannins and a late drying sensation. Needs aeration and time. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted November 2021

La Lecciaia Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2016

A Riserva from Vallafrico southeast of the Montalcino village set in some of the territories’ most beautiful hills. While the rise and the piques alert the brows and put the buds on alert there too is sensory territorial understanding that gives this wine a grounded and calming sense of place. Leccaia’s fruit wells dark, climbs airy to ethereal and fulfills every point along the tasting journey. A complete wine in every respect, just, stylish and very fine. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted November 2021

La Màgia Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2016

Rich and wholesome Riserva of great depth and breadth, though easy on the tannic power. They are there and highly involved but already developed, fine and near to relenting. A vanquished Riserva is a particular style, ready and willing but far from airy and light. Not so much a big 2016 but rather one of density in and amongst the many layers. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted November 2021

La Poderina Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Poggio Abate 2016

From a hill above the abbey of Castelnuovo dell’Abate and a warmth running through this Riserva as much as any in the collection. Running tart and a bit brittle, hard tannins and sharp acids taking full control. A year should help settle the anger and the score. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted November 2021

La Rasina Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Il Divasco 2016

At the height of what could be considered a lifted Riserva, especially for 2016, tones set to 11 in a sangiovese of great pulse and fiery style. After comes the wood, fulsome and chalky, grains of spice and chocolate through all its iterations. A bit old school and lovely for the sentiment. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted November 2021

Le Chiuse Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Diecianni 2016

Never overstate the Lorenzo Magnelli way of crafting Riserva, that is by aging in cask longer than not just the average, but indeed all others. His Le Chiuse Diecianni carries, drifts and gifts the most succulence whilst exhibiting a spice force to ignite the most sensation and emotion. A veritable melting pot of a sangiovese, complexities bound and wound, circulating throughout the wine’s coefficient of existential and elementary positions. These are the smallest of berries picked to forge what only Riserva can, to be cool, mineral licked, ethereal. Already exhibiting fruit purity and also density for a look at what two decades forward will come from this finest of Brunello wines. Drink 2024-2037. Tasted November 2021

Padelletti Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2016

Finely composed and structured Brunello Riserva here from Padelletti out of the full and complete 2016 vintage. A sangiovese of cherries darkening to blue and black, of fruit oscillations that rise and fade, return and submit to the acids of this wine. Mighty acids they are, lifted and full of vim, vigour and relish. Not quite a vivid Riserva but surely one of what feels like a northerly ilk, cool, savoury and in its own world, blessed of a particular kind of wine. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted November 2021

Solaria Patrizia Cencioni Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2016

Brightness of tight lightning, red fruit sparked and ready to take on the world. Sharp tang, crisp and crunchy, shifting now, heading into an area occupied by the wood in the wine. Of a school where big cask and time conspire for older fashioning yet here of a clarity that speaks with clean admonition. In the end capitulates and commits to being a fine wine, nice and amenable. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted November 2021

Antinori Pian Delle Vigne Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Vigna Ferrovia 2016

Hard to imagine more warmth and deeply rooted red fruit development accessed and gathered in a Riserva from 2016. Pian delle Vigne’s doubles down on the vintage ideal, acting as both a Riserva and a Vigna wine, luxe and direct, full throttle and yet finely finessed. The lover of Brunello for Brunello’s just further back than most recent history will fall in love with this style of Montalcino Riserva. The credibility of the work can never be called into question. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted November 2021

Pietroso Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2016

Pietroso’s Riserva from 2016 is a lifted affair and also incredibly youthful, precocious and yet to be understood. Of all the Riserva from 2016 tasted in this session it seems to be one that needs air, contemplation and time. The fruit seems to mimic and intimate so many ilk, freshness mostly but also some moments feeling leathery and dry. Like cacchi (persimmon) for instance, also pods from certain trees and liquorice. A unique Riserva, solo artist from winemaker Andrea Pignattai, so worthy of distinction and as mentioned off the top, must be given plenty of time. In assessment and much further aging. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted November 2021

Podere Brizio Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2016

Brizio’s gives away so many aromas in Riserva, from herbs and brushy hillsides to all the spices in the world. A wine of forest proximate scents mixed with barrel affectation like few others and finishing where all the chocolate lays. The finish is quite soft and the tannins relenting, already at this time. Drink this earlier than many. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted November 2021

Poggio Di Sotto Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2016

Wanting to head straight away into superlatives it must be cautioned not to do so because thinking about how 2016 Riserva relates to what Poggio di Sotto really is must be the first and last consideration. La nota di magnete, a metallic note, florals, red to black fruit and the sapidity of località is more than anything else a classic way to imagine and convince the world that this is exactly what Poggio di Sotto has been, is now and always will be. The same team that has been here and will be here has made this wine, humble professionals that support the Poggio di Sotto expression. Penetrating, intense, opening slowly, acids doing everything they can to elevate the sweetness and persistence of fruit. Keep in mind there is no single vineyard 2016 to cannibalize the top selection for this wine. The idea for this Riserva was known going in and the wine achieves every aspect of the goal. Meraviglioso. Drink 2024-2036. Tasted November 2021

Renieri Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2016

Straight away on notice for lovely work in Riserva by Renieri with more upfront, right, pure and proper fruit than many. Hard to combine and manage freshness with textural chew and that is the fine accomplishment in this 2016. That and a fineness of acids and tannins also working as one for structural gains. A harmonized, nearly settled Riserva in upright position that will round out when the time is right. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted November 2021

San Felice Campogiovanni Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Il Quercione 2016

Classical Campogiovanni, clearly Quercione and indisputably a wine factored, figured and crafted by Leonardo Bellaccini. Exceptional fruit quality meets barrel excellence, engages with one on one commitment and emerges married until death do they part. Richness and textural luxuries abiding and forever. Likely one of the biggest Riserva to discover out of the idealism of the vintage. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted November 2021

San Polino Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2016

The 2016 Riserva from San Polino continues a string of most excellent wines tasted by this esteemed producer, including high quality Annata and Vigna 2017s. The depth and commitment to finesse in the face of power lays somewhere between exemplary and extraordinary with a Riserva unrelenting in its nature of calm, poised and collected spirit. Plenty of backbone and drying grains of fine to wispy tannin helps to drive forth the definitive point. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted November 2021

Sesti Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Phenomena 2016

Exemplary and necessary Sesti vineyards put in the work here for a Riserva 2016 of real gastronomic presence. Feels like a complex preparation, locally sourced and raised, as if by nightshades and also beefy, slow cooked and lean, seared to act as a perfect compliment with a glycerin salsa rossa tying it all together. Chewy and ropey as a savoury confiture to sidle up to cured salumi in yet another gustatory way of looking at Montalcinese sangiovese. All in all a fine and delicate wine. An execution, style and finished plate of own purpose, tradition and accord. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted November 2021

Talenti Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Pian Di Conte 2016

Pian de Conte is without equivocation a very special wine. The best of Talenti’s vineyard blocks and selections make for a 2016 Riserva as finessed and fine as any. Perhaps the most important aspect and what matters to know about this Riserva is the restraint, the way the wine has gently travelled through its universe of maceration, fermentation and elévage. Pian de Conte is poised, perched and prescient within, upon and without all the points in between picking and pouring, always with an eye on the ultimate prize. That would be aging well into the next decade with one incremental structural step taken at wide, lengthy and unhurried intervals. Such a wine only comes around once in a while. Drink 2024-2038. Tasted November 2021

Azienda Di Franci Franca Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Tassi Di Franci Franca Selezione Franci 2016

Franci Riserva is a gift of fruit, actually a gift wrapped package with red fruit at its core and a surround sound of sweet acidity tabled by even sweeter tannin. The lack of grip, pomp, astringency and circumstance is almost remarkable in a Riserva for 2016 that well, hits the sweet spot. Gainful, respectful of place and just a really lovely drop to enjoy nearer and dearer to time and heart. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted November 2021

Tenuta La Fuga Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2016

Unusually reductive, especially for sangiovese and for Brunello. Don’t even get started on this but…20 minutes later it has blown off. Make sure to aerate your ’16 Riserva to give them the full respect they so deserve. Behind the curtain is a Riserva of full riches, richesse and real magnanimous behaviour noted by how it swirls in the mouth with so much flavour. Truly a cup runneth over Riserva that will stand a good and credible test of time. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted November 2021

Ucceliera Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2016

Have of late come to know and understand what a Brunello by Ucceliera smells like and this is it. In Riserva form but one of those sangiovese that feels like it has aged to an optimum point yet will almost surely remain right at this state of extant etiquette for many years to come. A Riserva that speaks to fruit edging into a cured, oxidative and dried spectrum though clearly suspended in fresh stopover animation. Brunello of salumi and the earth, of berries, plums and fragola, of bosco and nocie, umami and the future. If more were going in this 2016 there would not be enough bandwidth to take it all in. There is fortunately enough and at just the right amount. Drink 2023-2033. Tasted November 2021

Val Di Suga Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Vigna Spuntali 2016

A combination of variegated fruit, red, also some orange and then this deep rooted earthiness. Hematic and a brush with forest floor success. Up level acids foil the earthbound nature and emotions run high in a Vigna Brunello of great parochial curiosity and much moving, stirring and complex behaviour. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted October 2021

Ventolaio Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2016

Ventolaio’s Riserva is one of the very few that is simply not a really noticeable departure from the Annata. A sangiovese of incredible clarity and also transparency. If ever a Brunello would speak in exacting, this is what, who and why terms then Ventolaio’s might just be the spokesperson at the head. These are their wines, highly specific, notable, bright and fine. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted November 2021

Verbena Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2016

A recognizable style of Riserva here, part darker fruit and part high tonality, lifted skywards. Down to earth in terms of substance yet very much submissive to acidity, some tannin but much more of the former. A tart, edgy and drying sangiovese, likely best before too long and not too deep into the years following. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted November 2021

Older vintages

Tenuta Le Potazzine Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015

Bigger and more concentrated vintage, even for high elevation, cool and freshest of them all Le Potazzine. Clarity combined with finesse meet at the point where that clarity becomes vivid reality. More tannin and a sense of the Grandi Botti are in this vintage which means more time is still warranted to bring this to fruition. Will live as long as any in Montalcino. This is the reason 2015 is a Riserva vintage for Potazzine, more than most. It can handle and wants the extra year in wood. Drink 2024-2035. Tasted November 2021

Casanova Di Neri Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Cerretalto 2015

Explicit, outward, gregarious and highly expressive sangiovese, expansive in every way, by depth, width and breadth. Stretches elastically and widens fleshy with each inhale and exhale, sniff and sip. Wood is a major compliment with fruit the willing acceptor. Able to move freely, stitching parts seamlessly together and the length on this Brunello goes on seemingly forever. Prototypical Cerretalto from paradigmatic Neri, both of which always seem to calibrate shifts in Montalcino connotation. Drink 2023-2031. Tasted October 2021

Tommasi Casisano Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Colombaiolo 2015

Starts slowly out of the gate, a wine of understatement setting an even pace and in no rush to take the early lead. Charming no doubt, builds power, releases energy, based on high quality vintage fruit substance. Continues on a forward trajectory through sangiovese’s ability to self-assimilate reliable and relatable acidity throughout the taster’s experience. The wine takes over and you realize the freshness of volatility speaks to youthfulness and potential. Needs three more years easy. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted October 2021

Biondi Santi Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2015

“2015 in my opinion, you will find more structure, the power and the generosity of this wine,” says Federico Radi. Submits to the idea that you won’t feel the power of 14.5 per cent alcohol and the power in your mouth. A gastronomic Riserva, gregarious, more grip than many Biondi-Santi Riserva while maintaining the DNA of pace in place. The vintage is felt, like a warm blanket and only 1997 reached this level of generosity and alcohol, with decisions made by Iacopo Biondi-Santi and a later harvest around the 21st of September. This is when poly-phenolic ripeness was finished but the alcohol rose over those past two weeks. A big wine for the estate, such a bambino now, full of ripe fruit at the apex of possibility, not austerity but near fierce tannins. They surround the grandiosity of fruit so that everything exists at a higher level. Needs more time and though will age for decades it should be suggested to drink these well before 2040. Drink 2025-2039. Tasted November 2021

Col d’Orcia Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Poggio Al Vento 2015

Since the 1980s it has been Count Francesco Marone Cinzano who continued plantings to the current number at 140 hectares, 108 of which are dedicated to Brunello production. Since August 27, 2010 the whole estate including vineyards, olive groves, other fields and even the gardens are farmed exclusively following organic agricultural practices. The vineyards are located on the southern slope of the Montalcino territory, on hilly lands and extend over 540 hectares, from the Orcia River to the village of Sant’Angelo in Colle, at about 450 metres over sea level. Tasting Poggio al Vento in the midst of dozens of 2016s is more than curious indeed and in fact this island in that deepening stream is a red faced beauty. Shows the great contrast in vintages with higher tonality and fruit of a very different ripeness. Makes for a style not quite apposite but of a clarity that shows place with more transparency. Also a liquid chalkiness to reflect on the more baritone notes played by many ‘16s. Hard not to compare and contrast at this time while in Col d’Orcia terms the PaV resides in that pantheon with great distinction. Will grace tastings through the ages as well as any that have come before. Drink 2023-2034. Tasted November 2021

With Elisa Fanti and Michaela Morris

Fanti Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Le Macchiarelle 2015

Le Macchierelle is a bit lower down on the slope below and to the south of Vallocchio, same Galestro stone-strewn type vineyard but less grey and now some rosso, iron-rich soil. And so there is less calm and more power here but really only in a slight if relative quantity. Such a rich expression of Vigna Brunello, also concentrated by even older plants, three and a half hectares of 40-plus year old vines. Remarkable for the vintage, full and satisfying, not the meditative wine that is Vallocchio. Also remember that this is Riserva so accordingly acts and disseminates as one. As it should. Just about ready to go. Drink 2022-2029. Tasted November 2021

Poggio Di Sotto Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2015

Still at this time a closed, iron-gated fortress, yet to reveal the expectation of aromatics but one taste and the full phenolic thrush circles right back to begin the begin again. Says so much about structure and time needed for this house and their truth with respect to Riserva in the vintage. A wealth of fleshy red sangiovese willingness is the dream to hang onto while knowing that three further years minimum are needed before the movement and evolution of the interested parties involved will initiate a secondary response. Only then can the entry be accessed with ease for a seamless and transitional parlay through Poggio di Sotto’s Riserva ’15. Drink 2024-2035. Tasted October 2021

Fattoria Dei Barbi Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2012

Really quite perfect to taste this side by side with 2016 because it was also one of those vintages that would have also been a bit contained or constrained until a year or two ago. Now expressive in a gregarious and generous way, a Riserva excavating and expediting historical attitude and execution to the present day surface. Riserva 2012 is in a wonderful place, wide open and giving, Barbi cherry fruit mixed with Galestro mineral mining and this cool smoulder that graces every part of your insides. Timing for the lover of timeless wines. Drink 2021-2028. Tasted November 2021

Tenuta Le Potazzine Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2011

At nearly ten years there is clear development in this 2011 and also a most obvious stylistic that has since changed over the years. A little over 3,000 bottles were made and while wines have changed and are made differently these last five years or so this represents what Riserva is and must be with distinction. Persistent Botti spice and texture plus secondary notes in a tartufo, porcini and herbal Amaro vein. All parts have rendered and there is a ganache painting the berries long since melted through this wine. Drink 2021-2025. Tasted November 2021

Cortonesi La Mannella Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2010

The 2010 was the second Riserva made in a string of six vintages between 2004 and 2019, the others being ’12, 15 and ’16. A bottle showing so well tonight because of its ideal structure (and a really good cork). Still some unresolved tannin, quite fresh, some layers, tiers and parts still needing to break down. Tart and demanding, fruit very much intact and surprising how little it has moved forward. After 30 minutes the umami, frutta di bosco, scorched earth and tartufo emerge. Which is just perfect. Last tasted November 2021.

Now talking post-aggressive behaviour in Riserva not yet advanced ahead of time. There are secondary aromatic hints but the tannins remain in tact, charged and controlling. There’s a circular motion happening hear as fruit and acidity whirl around, outrunning the tannins or at least attempting to. All the sweet things that grow wild and are picked to accent your braises are swirled into the aromatic potpourri of this fine sangiovese of whispers, shadows and silhouettes. It’s a chiaroscuro of a Brunello, all in and we are in turn fully engaged. Tasted October 2019

There are few Brunello vintages afforded more attention in the last 10-plus, certainly ’04 and ’06, increasingly better even from ’08 and looking forward towards what greatness will come in 2015. Yes but not solely magnified through the lens of patience and bottle time, from 2010 La Mannella has coupled upon and layered over itself like compressed fruit and puff pastry. Though it begs for drink now attention, another seven years will be needed before it can safely be labeled as uncoiled and to reveal all that is wrapped so tight. Rich is not the operative but unmistakeable as Cortonesi it is; that natural clay soil funk of resolution and fully hydrated chalk. This is to sangiovese as Les Preuses Grand Cru Chablis or Rangen Grand Cru Alsace are to Riesling. It carries in its pocket the absolute meaning and genetic responsibility of where it comes from, with a curative and restorative ability to get you lost. Drink 2019-2031. Tasted February 2017

Castello Romitorio Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2004

Old leather, cigar box, aging yet raspy singing florals. Whether or not the consensus is top vintage matters little because this ’04 has travelled to reside in a slice of Montalcino heaven. Like a dream and a trip back to the club, as if in the 1980s or 90s, the band playing your favourite song, playing it all night long. As the wine airs the dream continues, spice, tar and brewed notes emerge, all tied back to beginnings, naïveté, early passions and plans for the future. Drink 2021-2024. Tasted November 2021

Biondi Santi Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Tenuta Greppo 1985

The longevity of this vintage is almost not to be believed. Has been in bottle for as many years as it would have matured in casks. The next year (2022) will se the re-release of this vintage (in 2021 that vintage was 1983) and the year 1985 is the one I entered university. A Biondi-Santi of resolved tannin but remarkably youthful. A wine that saw Grandi Botti more than before, seen in the gentlest of spice notes and the back to the future return of balsamic and pomegranate. Followed a winter of major snowfall, long and cold winter, a regular spring and uneventful summer. The acidity is just incredible, also youthful and so sweet, those lengthened tannins in liquid powdery-chalky form. The connection with 2016 may seem to be an uncanny one but so help me if the chain is not there. The bottle was opened one hour and forty five minutes earlier so grazie to Federico Radi and Biondi-Sandi for perfecting the timing. We can all learn so much from this wine, to be patient, calm, well-adjusted, confident and gracious. Style and temperament to live by. Should continue this way for at least 10 more years. Drink 2021-2033. Tasted November 2021

Tenuta Fanti

A few IGTs

Tenuta Fanti Rosato 2020, IGT Toscana

Solo sangioivese from a very late green harvest in the first week of September. If you like soft-pressed, fresh from stainless, salty, little bit of lees cheesed Rosato then stop right here. Only 5,000 bottles are made of this thirst-quenching, satisfying and delicious stuff. Drink 2021-2022. Tasted November 2021

Cortonesi Lèonus Rosso 2020, IGT Toscana

Sangiovese, as always, like Rosso and Brunello but in Lèonus a quicker skin maceration on earlier harvested grapes. A performative style with low level extraction, especially of tannins and any possible green or astringent distractions. Looking for and finding immediate amenability with the same sangiovese from Montalcino indicator lights that signal place and time. Also higher acidity, better for matching food right now, easy to drink and the bottle will disappear before knowing it has happened. Fresh, clean, crisp and simple. So smart. Drink 2021-2023. Tasted November 2021

Le Ragnaie Troncone 2019, IGT Toscana Rosso

Bottled in August, of lovely sour orange, currant and pomegranate, just tart enough to call this spirited and full enough to keep you satisfied. Easy and functional with an extra layer of depth, fun and by the glass quality. In 2019 there were 40,000 bottles produced of this sangiovese from vineyards inside and outside of the Montalcino zone. Drink 2021-2023. Tasted November 2021

Tenuta Buon Tempo La Funba Toscana Sangiovese 2019, IGT Toscana

The label is drawn by a French painter (a friend of Camilla’s) that depicts “the first Thanksgiving.” Amphora raised sangiovese for six months, just for fun, pure sangiovese, woolly and youthful, a terroir wine doubled down by the whole bunches and the clay. It’s delicious sangiovese, a new texture and only Gaiole in Chianti’s Riecine IGT sangiovese compares, or perhaps that of San Donato in Poggio’s Le Masse. Changes in the glass so concertedly and becomes a beautiful wine. Just beautiful. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted November 2021

Good to go!

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WineAlign

Twenty mind-blowing wines of 2020

Dec21

There are times when you do it just for the continuity because time marches on, no matter the circumstances. There is no disputing how different 2020 was and frankly the flip to 2021 will not bring about significant change or any semblance of a return to what was, at least not in the first several months. Yet the compelling urge is there, to quantify and qualify this annual Godello list of wines that opened, expanded and blew a mind in 2020. The concept for a year-end summation was launched in 2012 though it was the publishing of 14 in 2014 that made it very official, if only in the mind of one Godello. Matters little whether this qualifies as the seventh or the ninth because in wine one should always eschew semantics for the liquid truth found inside the bottle, elixirs they are of most profound, ethereal and honest propriety.

This will be a much different list than ever before. While I did manage to squeeze in 25 days of travel in the first 56 of 2020 those were the last of this calendar year. That’s at least 75 short of my normal yearly schedule and so imagine that if an average of 30 wines are tasted each and every day on the road, well then that would tell us that at the very minimum 2,250 wines were missed this year. Not entirely true because at least half that many, if not 75 per cent more were made available to me and my WineAlign colleagues over these past nine month of quarantine, isolation and safe-distancing tastings. Still the make-up of what was tasted has been very different, the most notable being the lack of unrepresented or not found in market wines. Less discovery in 2020 to be sure.

Campo Spritz

According to my personal critic’s database on WineAlign I reviewed 4,450 wines in 2020, keeping in mind that many of those reviews were for wines tasted in 2019. Up until this year I was consistently behind or back-logged with hundreds if not more than a thousand tasting notes in the queue, unedited, unresolved, not yet reconciled, unfinished, not-posted. Since the global pandemic abruptly delivered me home in the dead of a late February night from Faenza to Firenze, through Frankfurt and to Pearson I have not been able to resume travel. These last 10 months have allowed for a massive catching up. There are now a thousand less wines to finesse and publish then there were this time last year, very few raw and rustic songs waiting for the editing process. All the choices on this 2020 list have been solidified and already been opined with confidence for the world to scrutinize. In 2020 there is nothing left on the table.

Related – 16 mind-blowing wines of 2016

Slipped outta Dodge under the cover of darkness…

This year’s list is indeed different. The get togethers were few and far between. The travel non-existent. That is why you will recognize more producer names and also a more “archetypal” bent to the choices. The year dictates such a direction and as we all know, you have to listen to what the vintage tells you but also to remember and thank the true pioneers for getting all of us here. Perhaps the greatest influence on how this composition came to be was a conscious choice to omit the older vintages tasted in 2020. There were less to be sure but it just feels like keeping them kind of secretive is the way to go. Let’s hope a connection to that part of this exercise will make a return in 2021. As always, heartfelt thanks to everyone who poured a glass. The producers, winemakers, export managers, friends, colleagues and pirates, so please be encouraged and read on. Alas, Godello’s 20 mind-blowing wines of 2020.

The Heldeberg from Stellenbosch

Ken Forrester Old Vine Reserve Chenin Blanc 2019, WO Stellenbosch, South Africa (23128, $17.95, Noble Estates Wines & Spirits Inc.)

Gets me every time. Not just one of the finest meets best value chenin blancs available out of South Africa but an example to hang all your hats on no matter where white wine comes from in this world. Still the knowing nod and incredulous head shake that $18 CDN can buy you fruit from six blocks that are mainly 38 years of age but could possibly include 1974 Helderberg planted vines in Stellenbosch. “Core of the business” and arrow through a chenin heart. Great ferment, like a (catherine) wheel. Layers of design, creamy with thanks to secondary lees aging but somehow still texturally chewy. Barrel notes make a point in a vanilla brûlée way and yet each sip is like taking a bite from a piece of firm, ripe fruit. “I need more texture. You need to give me more texture, texture, texture. You need to give me more texture.” Old Vine Reserve obliges every time. Drink 2020-2026. Tasted June 2020

Selbach Oster Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese 2018, Prädikatswein, Mosel, Germany (17498, $45.95, Noble Estates Wines & Spirits Inc.)

The triad of producer, appellation and vineyard gets no more arch classic than this with a riesling in Spätlese form at the hands of Selbach-Oster. The pitch and sway in this Wehlener Sonnenuhr vinyeard is 2018 dance card perfect, tight and fluid. Succulent acids are burgeoning and urging the fruit forward, sideways and every which way but loose. This is a wine that gets what needs and gives what is wanted. Will only improve with a few years and then there will come a day when an air or vapour trail falls away. Drink 2022-2033. Tasted November 2020

Tyrrell’s Belford Sémillon 2017, Single Vineyard, Hunter Valley, New South Wales, South Australia (14322, $46.95, Select Wine Merchants)

Belford Vineyard (formerly Elliot Farm) is Hunter Valley leader Tyrrell’s single-vineyard leased sémillon with so much promise in its corner. A top varietal vintage for one thing and the well-draining sandy soils for another. Sémillon thrives in these conditions and so what comes from this awe-inspiring wine is exactly what you possibly wish for when selecting from Hunter Valley. This wine is swiftly, justly and perpetually lit, a smoky, paraffin waxy, über salty, elemental, aerified, verified mineral wine. So focused and precise. Mon dieu, Drink 2021-2026. Tasted June 2020

Fresne Ducret La Grande Hermine Champagne Premier Cru 2008, AC Champagne, France ($78.00, Nicholas Pearce Wines)

Hard to believe the age because while this almost certainly achieved an immediately retro toasted and evolved stage in its youth and though 12 years have passed the present day imaginings are dreamed to persist within that very immediate stage. As creamy as it is toasty, the textural body politic in La Grande Hermine is one of great cerebral and figurative impression. You feel, intuit and embrace such honesty and possibility. Drink this vintage dated Champagne all winter long. Its calming presence will preserve you in a state of grace lower than a snowman’s blood pressure. Drink 2020-2028. Tasted September 2020

El Esteco

El Esteco 1947 Old Vines Cabernet Sauvignon 2018, Cafayate Valley, Salta, Argentina (15082, $24.95, Philippe Dandurand Wines Ltd.)

From Argentina’s northern desert where some of the country’s oldest vines perpetuate existence while thriving fiercely in a hot climate. So yes it is true that some fruit from 70-plus year old vines, well trees really, make their way into this special Salta wine. Dense and concentrated, Cassis times 10, savoury and truly expressive. Oak is well-managed, not shy mind you but these old vines deserve some added and fortifying structure. Do not miss this. Drink 2021-2028. Tasted August 2020

Concha Y Toro Don Melchor Cabernet Sauvignon 2017, Maipo Valley, Chile (403980, $160.00, Escalade Wines & Spirits)

Though essentially a cabernet sauvignon at minimum 90 per cent, it would normally need saying to never discount the blending attributes of cabernet franc, merlot and in recent years, petit verdot. The nooks and crannies filled by the other grape varieties are some of the senses of wonder that have illuminated and elucidated the magic of Don Melchor. And yet years of such thought is turned on its head in 2017 with a 98 per cent pure cabernet sauvignon Don Melchor and only two bits of cabernet franc. Speaks to winemaker Enrique Tirado’s vision of the varietal and vintage relationship. After all, this is his baby, a passion project that spans 20 vintages, from which he looks to “harvest the beauty of the balance of the Puente Alto terroir.” From Viñedo Don Melchor, D.O. Puente Alto and Valle del Alto Maipo, old vines planted 1979 to 1992, new from 2004-2013. The vintage was above average in terms of warmth, cooler temperatures at harvest preserved acidities and sealed the (near) mono-varietal deal. At 30 years into its tenure Don Melchor hits a new stride and it would be hard to argue against the levels of subtle, demure, balanced and ethereal in this 2017. Perfect fruit? Pretty darn close and a bouquet of fresh picked flower-herb-fruit that merge, meld and grace together. One for this age and to age gracefully, slowly and predictably for 20-25 years. Drink 2022-2037. Tasted October 2020

Taub Family Vineyards Beckstoffer Vineyard Georges III Cabernet Sauvignon 2017, Napa Valley, California (849434, $235.00, Dionysus Wines & Spirits Ltd.)

From proprietor Marc Taub who’s family has been prominently part of the Napa Valley wine fabric since prohibition and who in 2013 acquired Napa Valley producer Heritance, later evolving into Taub Family Vineyards. His winemaker is Tom Hinde, a Sonoma and Napa specialist who cut his teeth for seven years at Flowers, but also at Kendall-Jackson, Hartford, La Crema, Lakoya, Cardinale, Stonestreet and Verite. Add in a mere three acres within the historic 300-acre Beckstoffer Vineyard first purchased by Beaulieu founder Georges de Latour in 1928, called Beaulieu Vineyard Number 3 and made by winemaker Andre Tchelistcheff. The 2017 Napa Valley cabernet sauvignon are a very special lot. That much we know. Add in the pedigree, torch passing and respect for these necessary tenets of wine-producing business and well, hello. Utmost attention to detail, optimum extraction and concentration, sultry, supple and ultimately divine. There is this fine, fine, almost indescribable salty vein that cuts through the fruit and the fat like perfect umami seasoning in the most decadent dish. With meat or seafood, California or Japan, take your pick. Drink this either way. Drink 2023-2039. Tasted October 2020

Olive and Anthony Hamilton Russell

Hamilton Russell Pinot Noir 2018, WO Hemel En Aarde Valley, South Africa (999516, $59.95, Noble Estates Wines & Spirits Inc.)

Even though the ’18 HR PN took my breath away nine months ago, the not yet understood nuance of this wine surely clouded first impressions. However small a sample size this may be is more than enough to prove time’s effect on wine, pinot noir and Hamilton Russell’s spiritual connection with the grape and how it personifies the Hemel En Aarde Valley. Fragrance, perfume, essential oils, Lilac, Lilly of the Valley and the sweetest tobacco smoulder. Captivating now and quite likely will be so into the mid 30s. Last tasted August 2020

There have been many Hamilton Russell pinot noir poured in my anxiously awaiting glasses over the last five years. It’s hard to believe we are here at 2018 but time is a joy when you are having a noirmance. The fruit is exceptional in this vintage because it just feels like the warm day/cool night fix is in. The diurnal flux has locked in freshness and sweet tension like no recent memory can recall. Makes for a most grippy yet excitable pinot noir of concentration, presence and promise. Benchmark in every respect. Drink 2021-2032. Tasted November 2019

That Marco Cirese Sangiovese stare. His Noelia Ricci and Pandolfo are crucial, fundamental and illustrative of what is possible in Emilia-Romagna. #sangiovesediromagna #viniadarte #viniadarte2020

Noelia Ricci Pandolfa Romagna Sangiovese Predappio DOC Godenza 2018, Emilia Romagna, Italy (The Vine Agency)

Godenza was the name of the podere (house) on site at a one hectare vineyard at 340m, the highest section of Ricci’s land. The introduction of concrete tanks is surely responsible (in part) to the freshness and reduction but also poor, well-draining calcareous soils that complete a relationship with open-knit and fragrant red fruit. Adds up to complexities and beauty, not to mention the hands-off, unadulterated feel of this wine. At the top end of quality and elaborate expression for the appellation. Drink 2021-2026. Tasted twice at Vini Ad Arte, Casa Spadoni, Faenza February 2020

Because he’s Dario F-in Faccin, that’s why g-dammit! #carobbio #sangiovese #chianticlassico #panzano #galestro

Tenuta Carobbio Chianti Classico DOCG 2016, Tuscany, Italy ($33.60, Alta Wines)

Stop in here for a rest and exult in the near perfect grace, charm and collective soul in the heart of an Annata. To say that the Novarese family and Dario Faccin should feel the greatest sangiovese reward from this appellation would be a grand understatement. This version of Panzano and Chainti Classico DOCG is what it is, what it can and must be. Should be. Has to be. Richly glorious and confidently understated. The cleanest sangiovese and the one that speaks most succinctly of the land. These are the reasons why Carobbio is the most underrated, but for how long? This ’16 will see proof to that and so much more. Drink 2021-2031. Tasted February 2020

With the brothers Boscu Bianchi Bandinelli

Villa Di Geggiano Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2015 (Barrel Select)

Now to introduce you to the Boscu Bianchi Bandinelli brothers, Alessandro and Andrea, two men who covet, own and articulate their western wing of Castelnuovo terroir. As custodians of these classic southern Chianti Classico Alberese and Galestro vineyards they have come to understand their nuance and their specialities. So, Riserva from 2015 now comes to its beginning having needed every bit of the extra two years in bottle it has received. Yes this Geggiano ’15 Riserva still needs time and if you abide by the premise it will come alive, surmise and in turn, surprise. In fact it will make a lasting impression and stay with you forever. Drink 2022-2030. Tasted February 2020

Castello Di Monsanto Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2015, Tuscany, Italy (Stem Wine Group)

The acumen, wisdom and also the persistent reduction are formidable in this incredibly concentrated wine. So Monsanto, so in delivery of San Donato in Poggio, so Laura Bianchi. Seemingly equipped with the needed stuffing in the way that 1968 managed to accrue over 50 years of travels. Here in Gran Selezione form the tendencies and the abilities are multiplied tenfold. Magnificent and magnanimous, the concentration is foiled by focus and precision, from all that has come before, moving into the present and then going forward with everything that occupies, in hopes and dreams. Drink 2025-2037. Tasted February 2020

Vineyard at Salicutti

Podere Salicutti Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Sorgente 2015, Tuscany, Italy

Organic, biodynamic and unfiltered, from the then first in Montalcino, at the hands of Francesco Leanza, in 1995. Now (and since 2015) in the custodial hands of Felix and Sabine Eichbauer, halfway between Montalcino and Castelnuovo dell’Abate. The last of the cru, single-vineyards planted at Salicutti and not surprisingly the one with most red fruity juiciness that keeps a lineage with the Rosso. If a portal into knowing what it makes to taste the bright side of 2015 could be described then why not make use of this ethereal Sorgente to learn of such things. Voltage, tension and vibration. Drink 2021-2028. Tasted February 2020

Francesco Ripaccioli

Canalicchio Di Sopra Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Casaccia 2016, Tuscany, Italy (Le Sommelier Inc.)

Barrel Sample. Now this is something exceptional. This is what Casaccia is obviously capable of producing, The sweetest Canalicchio fruit of all, to date and with a rising low and slow angling of acidity (as opposed to straight verticality) that carries the fruit to great heights. This will be a triumph and in fact it is already tasting like a piece de Canalicchio resistance while it sings a long maestro song. A soloist that needs no accompaniment although food, company and peace would not hurt at all. Obviously this is more than just the northern side of Montalcino and more than Canalicchio. This is Casaccia. Drink 2025-2039. Tasted February 2020

Lorenzo Magnelli, Le Chiuse

Le Chiuse Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Diecianni 2013, Tuscany, Italy

The ’13 will be released on January 1st, 2023 and as the name Diecianni suggests it is a Riserva that 10 years minimum are needed before readiness begins to take shape. The selection is from the smallest grape clusters in estate vineyards and mainly the oldest vines, originally planted in 1987. The vintage of the great polyphonic-phenolic, elastic and stretched ripeness, by photosynthesis without heat, of muscles with energy and ones that will develop, remain and use their power to keep the fruit alive. That said it’s a wine of wood and the highest level of salinity, sapidity and a tang that is exhibited by no other Brunello di Montalcino. A concentration that is simply outstanding and in some minds, will even be eclipsed (or not) by 2016. The finesse and architecture of this wine are as good as it gets. Drink 2026-2042. Tasted February 2020

Lucrezia Carrega Malabaila

Malabaila Di Canale 1362 Roero Riserva DOCG Castelletto 2015, Piedmont, Italy ($59.95)

From Canale vines 50 years old and the most historical vineyard for Malabaila, as documents show. Riserva here means two years in two, three and four year-old barrels. Yet another silky Roero and example of nebbiolo that could not have been born anywhere else. The “little castle” is a charming nebbiolo, fine of all its constructive parts with an ease of sensuality that just shows how confident, casual and natural life as it is just happens to be. Castelletto knows what it is. Drink 2020-2028. Tasted January 2020

Elena Sottimano

Sottimano Barbaresco DOCG Basarin 2016, Piedmont, Italy ($103.95, Le Maitre de Chai)

Basarin in the newest Cru for Sottimano, established in 2014 though the vines are already between 45-50 years old. Released just at the start of 2020 and already displaying a prominence in aromatics that speak to this exceptional nook just below Neive. From a vintage blessed for its place in history matched by a requiem for a dream. Crunchy for nebbiolo surely caused by the policy of classically long Piedmontese maceration, drawing fruit with gentle impunity and long-grained tannins in thrushes and intermingling chains. Pure dark fruit (almost raspberry) and a generous application of wood varnish. Architecture, length and character, all together. Drink 2022-2037. Tasted January 2020

With Francesca Vaira

G.D. Vajra Barolo DOCG Bricco Delle Viole 2016, Piedmont, Italy ($113.95, Groupe Soleil)

The thing of Bricco delle Viole that is beauty emits with gala fruit force into the canals of the layers. Bricco dell Viole the singular Barolo cru, from which fruit, texture and extension are consistently planned out, mapped and organized. So wound, so found and following a path that runs along a line along a circle. Slow unwind and unfolding coming, culminating in developed notes, to be far away, somewhere between then and then. Too soon to tell. Drink 2023-2032. Tasted January 2020

Penfolds St. Henri Shiraz 2017, South Australia, Australia (12016, $150.00, Mark Anthony Group)

Another old friend, St. Henri, once a wine for a special occasion, now one for all times. No, not a baby Grange but to me this is to Penfolds as Vigne de l’Enfant Jesus is to Maison Bouchard Père & Fils. Not that there is any resemblance to pinot noir save for the fact that in terms of shiraz, St. Henri is the elegant or if you will, the Burgundian one. Penfolds like to refer to Henri as “an intriguing counterpoint to Grange,” and that seems right in the sense that power and optimum concentration are never the point. It is a multi-regional blend, from Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale, Eden Valley and Port Lincoln. There is no new wood exercised; it spends 12 months in 50-plus year old vats. Distinct style, unique pedigree and alternative execution. Adds up to intrigue, enigma and mystery, which is just what an iconic and signature counterpoint should do. Acidity and structure are tops, bar none. Drink 2023-2039. Tasted October 2020

Taylor Fladgate Vintage Port 2018, Douro Valley, Portugal (12076, $160.00, Sylvestre Wines & Spirits)

The third consecutively declared Vintage Port by Taylor is one of 18’s most powerfully restrained. Taylor describes their 2018 from a “year (that) seems to have given it an additional layer of density and weight.” Apropos it needs saying because texture this viscous is clearly vintage driven. After record aridity in 2017 it was a wet March that was welcomed with open arms and water tables but the rain kept up and so mildew became the challenge. Worse was damage from hailstorms in the Pinhão area, including Taylor Fladgate’s Quinta do Junco. But the heat came and on August 3rd at Quinta de Vargellas they recorded a temperature of just over 44°C. Ripening happened in a shorter and more concentrated window, a good thing in the world of VP, as witnessed by the no holes, all in, singular in vision and style Taylor 2018. Not the gangster power surge of some others mind you and the violets give little aromatic space to fruit nor perfume that tries to steal the spotlight. These are remarkable tannins and it could be periods of ages and epochs before this begins to move into complexities secondary and tertiary. If I were as young as I think you are I’d invest in this Taylor for the next 30-plus years of evolution. Drink 2027-2044. Tasted November 2020

Good to go!

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WineAlign

Benvenuto Brunello 2020: Montalcino surges ahead

Nov2

Montalcino Sunset

Anteprime di Toscana’s culminating 2020 presentation of 2018 Rosso DOC and 2015 Brunello DOCG raised the bar for Montalcino’s venerable sangiovese

Montalcino, February 2020

The sangiovese of Montalcino are not to be taken lightly nor for granted and they are, to a wine, crucial to mind, culture and life as we know it. When presented in times of adversity they are the sort to help us keep our wits about us. To an extent the Rosso and manyfold the Brunello are of an ilk that allow our animal selves to assist in ensuring the survival of our species. Allowing them to age incrementally and gracefully is an important part of the contract. Either by dint or by choice, drinking Montalcino, especially young Brunello, deregulates our homeostatic processes with a kind of sudatory sedation. This is because of an unavoidable youthful aggression and incredibly dense succession of tannins, as if each were linked to the next by an invisible force, to a chain singular and melting into one another. They are known to induce fruit sweats while simultaneously controlling emotion and so we remain in balance. In some reflective respect the act of drinking Rosso and Brunello di Montalcino is akin to a full-fledged carnal embrace. If what follows is a feeling of compunction then guilty as charged is our pleasure.

The Rosso and Brunello of Montalcino have for decades been recognized as residing in the premium realm of Europe’s finest red wines. You might think that a territory with such rich history, iconic figures, foremothers, forefathers and next generation figureheads would be content to rest on laurels and see little need to fix something that isn’t broken. Not so and while the new or next era of wine producers are certainly the obvious catalyst for exacting evolution, if at times gentle revolution, the answers run deeper and the interconnectivity with the past is well, unavoidable. In the trusted duty as ambasciatore for Montalcino and its vital sangiovese next month I will play host and moderator to two dozen of the territory’s most prominent and illustrious producers in six pivotal seminars. In trying to get to the source of what in recent years has been the impetus for a more than discreet across the board profound rise in quality, I recently asked a gaggle of Montalcino producers some pressing questions.

Tasting at Benvenuto Brunello in Montalcino, February 2020

Brunello inspired to the best wines made by my grandfather produced between 1970 and 1980

… Donatella Cinelli Colombini

Ten producers, six questions

What recent vintage would you say marked the turning point for your winemaking, to bring your wines into a place and style that speaks of your particular vineyards, their location and terroir in Montalcino? What or why is the reason?

Francesco Ripaccioli, Canalicchio di Sopra: “2013 may have marked the turning point for our winemaking, in looking for their particular sense of place, for a unique eastern to northeastern Montalcino sapidity in our wines.”

Tommaso Cortonesi, Cortonesi – La Mannella: “2006 was the first vintage during which I have followed every aspect, from the vineyard management to the winemaking. So that was a benchmark for me. 2012 is a reference vintage in terms of style, with the introduction of the family brand “Cortonesi” and the two different crus La Mannella and Poggiarelli. From this vintage, Brunello “La Mannella” is made just with La Mannella vineyards grapes. Two different Brunellos from two very different Montalcino terroirs. I had in my mind the idea of Brunello di Montalcino as pure expression of his terroir.”

Lorenzo Magnelli, Le Chiuse: “2006, my very first one. From the very beginning it was clear from me how it’s necessary making wines that speak about sangiovese and Montalcino, that’s what make unique a wine from this region and it’s even more important when you have an important historic background like we do here at Le Chiuse.”

Riccardo Talenti, Talenti: “The 2010 vintage, not only for the beautiful quality expressed, marked the definitive passage of an awareness and an approach to wine that I am still following today. It was the first to be done in the new cellar where we chose to carry out the fermentation in conical steel with the use of punching down at controlled temperatures. In addition, since 2010 a good percentage of new vineyards have been in production which have helped improve agronomic management. The 2004 vintage marked the awareness of a differentiated management of the vineyards given their different exposure and different terrains. For my youth and little experience they were years and harvests difficult to interpret.”

Elisa Fanti, Tenuta Fanti: “Our vintage is absolutely the 2006. During the harvest and the aging of the Brunello 2006 we have learned the characteristic of a very elegant Sangiovese and we have loved this! We started to select the different Sangiovese from different vineyards, to select also our four different areas of the vineyard and we have started to make our two selection of the Brunello di Montalcino, the Riserva before (on the 2007 vintage) and the Vallocchio later ( 2010 vintage).”

Stefano Cinelli Colombini, Fattoria dei Barbi: “We have had some turning points. 1931 was the first vintage with “important numbers,” 35,000 bottles instead of the normal 5,000/10,000 we had for a century because my grandfather Giovanni Colombini decided to try to sell it more widely. By mail and through agents in Rome, Naples, Florence and Milan. It was a success, the wine was more alcoholic and very austere. 1964 was rated the best red wine of Italy by the Italian Ministero dell’Agricoltura, obtaining the “Torchio d’Oro” It was a rich, powerful Brunello in a very traditional style, and our first vintage in which we produced more than 100,000 bottles. This was our first vintage appreciated by the Italian journalists, and also the first widely sold abroad. 1975 was a very classic Brunello but more “easygoing”, a turning point in style and marketing. Not so tannic as our previous wines, ready to drink after only five years but able to age very well for decades, it was the final result of years of research on fermentation and on a shorter period in wooden vats. This was very probably the first “modern” Brunello, a style that became the normal one for all the producers. It was an unbelievable commercial success, 235,000 bottles sold from the USA to Japan. 1995 was again something new, still in a very traditional style but larger, bolder even if very elegant. It was our first “fat” Brunello, in a period in which the wines had to be more and more “important” we reached this result avoiding any mechanical concentration with osmosis or similar devices. We increased the vineyards from 50 to 100 hectares, and reduced very strongly the production per hectare. 2007 was another important turning point, after five years of experience we could use for all our production dry ice, the new Ganimede fermenters and a completely “vintage program” which reduced to less than one hour the time from the picking of the grapes to the arrival in the fermenting vats. The result was a better extraction and a better concentration of the traditional flavours of Sangiovese. A more typical and more intense one.

Riccardo Campinoti, Le Ragnaie: “In 2006 I started working in a more traditional style with longer maceration time and only big barrels. Also I started focusing on single vineyard sites.”

Conte Francesco Marone Cinzano, Col d’Orcia: “At Col d’Orcia we pride ourselves in producing traditional wines with long aging potential since even before the arrival of my family in 1973. When we conduct vertical tastings (often going back 50 years) the most important aspect for me is that tasters find aromas and tastes that are constant over time. The key of this approach is that we use only grapes grown on this hill and that we are true to the character of the soil and climate of this estate. Of course there has been an evolution over time, but rather than adopting different manipulations to the wines, we have improved our quality control and the equipment that allows us to follow with greater precision the fermentation and aging process in order to intervene with greater timeliness on decisions such as pump-over, end of maceration on the skins, racking, contact with air, etc.”

Donatella Cinelli Colombini, Casato Prime Donne: “In the vineyard the year of change was 2012. This was the first year with very high temperatures, hydro-stress and intense rainfall just like monsoons. We have leant how to trim back the vines in a different way, using the leaves too protect from the sun. We have learnt that we must reduce the surface of active leaves to reduce the transpiration and so to lower the canopy. We have also learnt that the de-leafing usually done in September (and unfortunately still done by many wineries) damages the grapes because now the UV radiation is much stronger than before. In the harvesting of the grapes the 2017 vintage was a turning point for us. It marked the return to a selecting of the clusters, just as my grandfather used to do, for opposite reasons. 50 years ago his problem was too little sun, we now have too much. In the end, to pick the grapes at their maximum level of ripening we need to pick the clusters one by one, going through the vineyard several times. Since 2017 we have continued to select the clusters. The concept of “Vigna” as was intended at the end of the 1900’s must be revisited so as to obtain qualitative excellence. For fermentation maybe 2011 was the year that marked the change. The year that taught us most in the management of the grape and must PH. In 2011 the Montalcino wineries encountered Brettanomyces, which previously, was practically unheard of thanks to the high acidities. Now attention on PH and the cleanliness in the wineries are much superior to before.”

Giacomo Neri, Casanova di Neri: “With 2010 we have reached a balance between perfume, structure, length, finesse and elegance which has had a constant following in the following years. The age of the vineyards, a greater experience in the management of woods and in winemaking.”

Filippo Chia, Castello di Romitorio: “The vintage that most changed my life was the 2015 vintage. It was the first year that our new vineyards produced Brunello quality fruit, the marriage of the new vineyards and old vines coincided with one of Montalcino’s most interesting growing seasons. It was a slightly warm vintage that tested the health and vigour of the vine pushing it to the limit but not beyond. Fruit was beautiful and crunchy and with ripe seeds and stems which gave way to wines with a good potential for ageing but also very generous and voluptuous also in youth. A confluence of factors, climate, vineyards, and careful choice of oak framed the 2015 as one of Romitorio’s best vintages of all time.”

Tasting hundreds of Sangiovese over the course of 10 days in Italy would be inconceivable without the tireless work ethic, attentiveness and dedication of all these talented sommeliers. #aissommelier #italiansommelier #associazioneitalianasommelier

What mistakes have you made and how have you learned from them so that you can make better wines and the wines you need to make from your property?

Lorenzo Magnelli, Le Chiuse: “I always make mistakes and always learn from them, every vintage it’s another story and every time I try to do the best choices for my vines and wines. I love it because those mistakes could makes your land-wine-feeling connection stronger.”

Riccardo Talenti, Talenti: “I started in 1999 with the first harvest made entirely by me, not having too much direct experience. I can say that the first five harvests were difficult as an approach in the vineyard and then in the cellar. The agronomic part was the same in all the vineyards, but with completely different vintages; hot 1999, very hot 2000, very rainy 2002 and very hot 2003. This diversity made me understand on my skin that the vineyards had to be managed differently. The research on the grapes as well as having excellent ripeness and health is to manage the acidity in the best way during the ripening in order to have an elegant and persistent character on the wine.”

Elisa Fanti, Tenuta Fanti: “Our principal mistake in the past was to “clean” too much our wines. We had left much space at the perfect analytical parameters, at the perfect wines with very definite characteristic. Now we understand it is important to have the real characteristic of the vintage and the terroir in the bottle. Sometimes a little shades and also a little imperfection (why not) are very important to respect the personality of the wine.”

Stefano Cinelli Colombini, Fattoria dei Barbi: “I am really lucky, because my ancestors take notes of the many mistakes they did in the last two centuries. In vineyards they tried at least two times very dense plantation, 1.5 metres per 0.80 and then in 1930 2 metres per 1. They tried alberello, guyot and cordone speronato on two levels. They tried to anticipate the vintage or to delay it. They tried chestnut vats. They tried warmer fermentation, and fermentation from three days to six months with the skins. Any kind of chemical, organic or mist fertilization. The modern Brunello is the result of centuries of mistakes of a group of producers, frequently friends and sometimes parents, which shared their good and bad results. I did just some small mistakes, because somebody else did the big ones.”

Riccardo Campinoti, Le Ragnaie: “Plenty, in the beginning I was trying to go a bit more modern and more approachable style. Also I was doing lower yields for no real reason and picking too late sometime. Now I just go for balance.”

Conte Francesco Marone Cinzano, Col d’Orcia: “Up until the turn of the century, we had a tendency to submit the wines to excessive extractions during fermentation, often extracting dry tannins that needed a very long time in wood and in the bottle to soften. We are now using a much lighter hand thanks to the use of the spectrophotometer as a quality control equipment that tells us exactly when the wine has taken from the skins all it needs to achieve a balanced and elegant wine.”

Donatella Cinelli Colombini, Casato Prime Donne: “To begin with, when I left my family’s activity in 1998 to create my own, I needed to differentiate myself, do different things, to experiment a little…A bit like the Barolo boys in Piedmont. Slowly I understood the value of the century-old expertise of the Montalcino grape growers a now we are doing practically the same as them. We are even planting old varieties of wheat on the soil before planting new vineyards. My various Brunello are not powerful and neither fat. My wines are fine, lengthy, harmonious, complex and apt for long ageing. My grandfather was able to produce such wines only a couple of times every 10 years but we can do it practically every year because the climate gives us a helping hand.”

Giacomo Neri, Casanova di Neri: “Each harvest has given us something to grow and given the possibility to correct some details, over the years I believe that our wines have bought a lot in complexity, balance and finesse.”

Filippo Chia, Castello di Romitorio: “The mistakes have been many, and it takes time to find the perfect balance between making wine in the vineyards and in the cellar. It all starts with a vision and intuition and at times the first try can seem to be a mistake and over time prove to be a resource. For instance in the early 1980’s sangiovese had a hard time ripening and most wines barely reached 13%. This was especially true at higher altitudes and often wines from the hills maintained a green “stemmy” character when compared to the wines from the valley. Today things have changed drastically. Advancement in viticultural practices during the 1990’s changed the way that Montalcino practiced its winegrowing as we start to see new methods of planting – closer spacing and more vines per hectare. New farming techniques, lower yields, de-stemming and sorting had an incredible impact on the quality of Brunello di Montalcino. However climate change has been felt also in Montalcino and areas (such as those of the Romitorio) which once may have seemed like a mistake unable to produce world-class Brunello today express some of the highest quality Brunello di Montalcino.

Francesco Ripaccioli, Canalicchio di Sopra: “We are learning from our mistakes, such as those we made in 2007. We are now much more going in the direction of purity in fruit and clean clarity out of the cellar. Brunello is all about freshness, verticality and depth. These are the three parameters of necessity, especially for Riserva.”

Tommaso Cortonesi, Cortonesi – La Mannella : “One of the biggest challenges for me has been finding the right aging to enhance the terroir of Poggiarelli. Paolo Cagiorgna, our consulting enologist, has helped a lot to find the right balance. Now we do 24 months of aging in French oak tonneaux and then long bottle aging and I think we have found the perfect equilibrium for a Brunello di Montalcino from a very rocky soil rich of Tuscan limestone with big structure.”

What effect do the Tramontane and Grecale winds have on your vineyards and can you pinpoint a particular vintage when the winds made a big difference in the wines?

Stefano Cinelli Colombini, Fattoria dei Barbi: “Montalcino is always very windy, so windy that our vineyards are accustomed. The only vintage in which I was able to note a special difference due to wind was 2013, at the beginning of September we had four days which dried the grapes on the top of the hills, which normally are the best places. The valley vineyards, which normally have mould problems, had a serious increase in quality.”

Riccardo Campinoti, Le Ragnaie: “They usually help keeping the vines less moist, they are helpful during ripening.”

Conte Francesco Marone Cinzano, Col d’Orcia: “Winter winds such tramontana and grecale have limited influence on the growing seasons of the grapes. Summer winds are a constant at Col d’Orcia as we are in the part of Montalcino closer to the coast and have a truly Mediterranean climate. Please remember that Riserva Col d’Orcia vineyards is called Poggio al Vento (windy Heights).”

Donatella Cinelli Colombini, Casato Prime Donne: “I can remember only one occasion, twenty-odd years ago, something really impressive, at the end of August a wind so hot it resembled a hair dryer that dried the vineyards.”

Giacomo Neri, Casanova di Neri: “(These winds) are very important for the quality and health of the grapes. If they weren’t there, it would be a real problem.”

Filippo Chia, Castello di Romitorio: “The Tramontana winds are usually seen as a negative, cold northern winds that brings with it disease and molds. If in the forest you need to find North you just look at the side with more moss and that is North. That said Tramontana can have varying effects throughout the growing phases of the vines, in winter and spring it is the main wind that informs the plant when to start waking up from winter, and it can help delay and cool the vines throughout the also summer months. It’s famous for coming in three’s, 3-6-9. Any wind coming from the same directions for too many consecutive days can have a negative effect. The Romitorio lives and thrives in the Tramomtana as it is located in the Northeastern quadrant of Montalcino, therefore as tricky as it might be we are extremely grateful for its powerful cooling effects which are vital for keeping a crunchy sangiovese. The Grecale winds have a similar effect though they tend to be more common during the harvest months and brings serves as a source of cool and dry air also beneficial to the health of the vine.”

Francesco Ripaccioli, Canalicchio di Sopra: “In 2018 the Tramontana wind came on September 16th and the harvest began on the 29th for Rosso. The second wind called the Grecale also blew in to cause up to 30 per cent drying of the grapes. The resulting reduced yields meant for grapes of concentration in both fruit and acidity but also a high number for dry extract.”

Tommaso Cortonesi, Cortonesi – La Mannella: “Both are very important winds, especially in the months of September and October to guarantee the health of the grapes and a good temperature range between day and night for a better aromas evolution. I think they are very important for the whole area of Montalcino, but especially for La Mannella area that is a cool zone of the northern slope of Montalcino, so dry and cool winds are crucial to have a great vintage.”

Lorenzo Magnelli, Le Chiuse: I like those winds as that means cooler temperatures and dry conditions witch give you a very good maturation of the grapes and elegant, vibrant wines. 2013 is a vintage that was influenced by this special condition.

Riccardo Talenti, Talenti: “All the vineyards are in the south/south-east part of Montalcino between 400 meters and 250 meters. The influence of the winds is fundamental for the health of the grapes especially in vintages where in September there may be rain or morning mists. Fortunately the mists are not so frequent in the harvest, but in case of rain the ventilation helps to keep the grapes healthy. Certainly recent vintages such as 2008, 2013 and 2014 the winds have helped to have excellent characteristics.”

Northwest Montalcino

The passion and the strong link with mother nature of the winemaker are the best factors to make original and outstanding wines

… Tommaso Cortonesi, Cortonesi – La Mannella

How or why did 12 or 24 months, or in rare cases, 60-plus months further become the defined reason for how to make and qualify Riserva?

Lorenzo Magnelli, Le Chiuse: “We release our Riserva 60 months later than our Regular Brunello because I believe it helps the wine to get a stronger identity from Brunello showing a better balance and more complexity. Brunello Riserva, it’s not the wine that you want to drink young, in this way you really can’t.”

Riccardo Talenti, Talenti: “As a philosophy we do not exceed 36/40 months of aging for the Riservas and we do not produce the Riserva every year, but only in vintages that we believe have high aging potential, making a selection of barrels from the vineyards around the company positioned at 400 meters.”

Elisa Fanti – Tenuta Fanti: “The Riserva is a selection of the best Sangiovese in the vineyard. This Sangiovese, in the beautiful vintage, probably has a big structure, complexity and acidity and it is necessary for more time of aging (in the oak or in the bottle), to have an important wine with all its aromatics feature well integrated.”

Stefano Cinelli Colombini, Fattoria dei Barbi: “In my opinion any true Brunello is at his best between eight and 20 years, it is due to the peculiar character of the Montalcino Sangiovese grapes.”

Riccardo Campinoti, Le Ragnaie: “I am not a big Riserva guy, I keep all my wines three years in barrel and I think it’s enough. I much rather prefer single vineyard expression, I keep my best sites for single vineyards. Lately I prefer colder vintages. Warm vintages are too extreme and the wines are not that interesting.”

Conte Francesco Marone Cinzano, Col d’Orcia: “When my father arrived at Col d’Orcia in 1973 he found wine in the large barrels dating back to vintage 1968 (60 month). This was the tradition in Montalcino and still is the practice at Col d’Orcia when a vintage requires it.”

Donatella Cinelli Colombini, Casato Prime Donne: “The Brunello Riserva is born in the vineyard, not in the cellar. The clusters must have grapes that are very small, perfect in health and with thin skins. In other words we cannot produce Riserva with just any old cluster of Sangiovese. For this reason the amount of Brunello Riserva we make increases or diminishes, and so aggravates my sales office. Obviously the perfect grapes create wines that need a longer stay in barrel and then in bottle.”

Giacomo Neri, Casanova di Neri: “We do not produce Riserva, our Brunelli at most spend 42 months in wood. Brunello Cerretalto comes out in the sixth year but with twelve more months raised in the bottle.”

Filippo Chia, Castello di Romitorio: “Sangiovese is a very finicky grape that is really tied to the climatic conditions of the vintage, every so often in great vintages its power and abundance can withstand additional ageing in oak, large or small, and most producers tend to go to bottle sooner in order to avoid keeping the wine in stainless steel or wood for too long. Usually it’s a barrel selection and when tasting the wines it is apparent when you can make a Riserva without cannibalizing your “Vigna” and without over-oaking and oxidizing the wine. Therefore normally only the very best and most balanced and structured fruit can give way to a Riserva.”

Francesco Ripaccioli, Canalicchio di Sopra: “The oak is not an ingredient. It’s a kneading for the wine.”

Tommaso Cortonesi, Cortonesi – La Mannella: “The Production Requirements ask for 24 months minimum for Brunello Riserva, but many wineries do a much longer wood aging. We do 48 months in large barrels and our Brunello Riserva is only produced in the best vintages from our oldest vineyard in La Mannella.”

Montalcino

Va a macchia di leopardo

… Stefano Cinelli Colombini, Fattoria dei Barbi

Do you prefer the oldest vines for Riserva or Vigna? And do you prefer them in colder or warmer vintages for these wines?

Conte Francesco Marone Cinzano, Col d’Orcia: “Yes, for Poggio al Vento Brunello di Montalcino Riserva we use older vineyards. For the one Vigna we currently bottle (Vigna Nastagio) we use a recent vineyard planted in 2006. Poggio al Vento is produced only in the best vintages, on average 5 vintages out of 10. For all Brunello’s I tend to prefer balanced weather with cool ripening season.”

Donatella Cinelli Colombini, Casato Prime Donne: “Evidently I prefer the older vines. I adore wines obtained from older vineyards and I have bought a sort of mechanical mole to burrow holes to substitute the new vines where others have died. We are also learning the Simonit and Sirch technique to save the vines from Esca disease. We are, in other words, doing our upmost to allow our vineyards to age healthily. It would be ideal to have old vineyards with healthy vines and all with a regular quantity of clusters. To produce Brunello Riserva we need winter and spring to be rainy, summers to be hot interrupted by some showers, September with cold nights and sunny days. Just like in 2019.”

Giacomo Neri, Casanova di Neri: “Certainly the oldest vineyards give us the possibility of having much much more complexity. Cold vintages often give great satisfaction after 15 – 20 years, often with big positive surprises.“

Filippo Chia, Castello di Romitorio: “The blend of newer and older vineyards is vital in all phases of production of wines from Montalcino. The tension in any work is always a balance between chiaroscuro which sangiovese embodies in such a magical way. It can be a brooding dark powerful brick coloured wine as it can be a dancy, perfumed and transparent wine. What’s great about Montalcino is that there is such a wide variety of terroir and cellar practices that give way to a multitude of different expressions of Brunello di Montalcino. Romitorio is a northwestern hill Brunello and very proud to embody this aspect in our wines and we hope to communicate this from our Rosso di Montalcino all the way up to our Brunello di Montalcino Riserva.”

Riccardo Talenti, Talenti: “For the production of the Riserva there is our 40 years-old vineyard together with other younger vineyards all around the cellar, where the microclimate and the characteristics of the soil are the same and homogeneous, but the selection of the wine is the result of a choice of barrels and aging tonneaux. We do not produce the Riserva every year, but for characteristics I would say that the cooler vintages are more elegant, even if in warmer years we have produced the Riserva (see 2007 or 2012), but in any case vintages with very high potential. In the most difficult years where even the quantities of selected grapes are high, we hardly produce Riserva.”

Elisa Fanti, Tenuta Fanti: “I prefer the Riserva because in general it is the best wine of the vintage with important characteristics (the structure and in particular the acidity) well integrated with the aging in the oak. A perfect wine to drink old! I prefer colder vintages, I don’t like the wines very strong and with low acidity.”

Stefano Cinelli Colombini, Fattoria dei Barbi: “I tried to find a mathematical connection between colder or warmer vintages and quality, but I had so success. The same happened with the rains. I prefer the best vintages for Vigna and Riserva, but sometimes these are warmer vintages and sometimes are the colder ones. Frequently the top vintages are the most “balanced” ones, but not always.”

Francesco Ripaccioli, Canalicchio di Sopra: “With vintage variation I prefer the oldest vines (Vigna Mercatale at Canalicchio) in the coldest vintages for Brunello and Vigna. For Riserva I choose the vineyard on the Montosoli hill.”

Tommaso Cortonesi, Cortonesi – La Mannella: “I prefer to use the oldest vineyards to produce Brunello Riserva. I am a fan of warm vintages because with the selection systems that we have nowadays we can have a great selection of the grapes when they are at the perfect stage of ripening. In cooler vintages, where there are typically abundant rainfalls, it is more difficult to get a perfect ripening of the grapes to obtain wines with a great aging potential as Brunello di Montalcino has to be.”

Lorenzo Magnelli, Le Chiuse: “We don’t do a single Vineyard as Le Chiuse is one block, so for my choice it’s necessary for Riserva. Usually I’m for excellent cold vintages that guarantee a wine full of energy that doesn’t end by the long aging.”

Lorenzo Magnelli, Le Chiuse

Il Brunello vada molto meglio di altre denominazioni.

Lorenzo Magnelli, Le Chiuse

The last question I posed to the producers concerned the current state of business and affairs in Montalcino.

How are things going for Montalcino?

Lorenzo Magnelli, Le Chiuse: “Montalcino is at a very good health level, we have not had COVID cases for a long time, certainly better than in other parts. On the other hand, economically it depends on the producer, there are those who have many bottles in the cellar and have sold well. In general, however, I think Brunello is fairing much better than other denominations.”

Tommaso Cortonesi, Cortonesi – La Mannella: “In Montalcino almost restaurants are open. We have a quite good European tourism now. The business is not too bad actually. Imperative now is to survive from this 2020. About the grape season, until now it’s a beautiful vintage, but August and especially September are the most important months. This week should be one of the hottest (34-36° C). The Consorzio del Brunello are investing some resources on our main markets like Canada and US. We hope to give some help to our producers and to their agencies/importers promoting our denominations and our wines.”

Stefano Cinelli Colombini, Fattoria dei Barbi: “Va a macchia di leopardo. It goes wild. More than a third of the Brunello “vintage” has already been sold and there are only two vintages in the last ten in which more has been sold. The prices of the bottles have not dropped. However, the bulk Brunello market (only 8% of the total) is at a standstill and the bulk price has dropped by 40%. Those who have an advanced commercial and / or a large brand suffer little or nothing, while the less organized ones have some problems. But there are not many. Bolgheri is fine, Maremma and Mo rellino benino, the rest of Tuscany ouch ouch.”

Conte Francesco Marone Cinzano, Col d’Orcia: “Montalcino is very quiet this year. Some Italian tourists around. Very few foreign visitors. We had a good season in terms of rain and heat, but the harvest is still a long way away.”

Donatella Cinelli Colombini, Casato Prime Donne: “Sometimes, like in 2019, we had a quantity of super grapes never seen before and so we immediately ordered more barrels. It is a shame that the lockdown blocked the delivery of the barrels and the wine went into barrel late. Unfortunately the splendid harvest 2019 has suffered the effects of the Coronavirus too.”

Giacomo Neri, Casanova di Neri: “For now the grapes are beautiful and healthy, we expect an early harvest. Let’s see what the months of August and September will give us. In Montalcino, given the situation, well, we don’t complain…”

Riccardo Talenti, Talenti: “Everything is fine even if it is really a strange period, to see Montalcino without tourists without fans who come to the company to taste.”

The Consorzio’s members come together each February at The Montalcino Chiostro del Museo and home to the Consorzio’s offices for Benvenuto Brunello, a two day showcase of the most recent vintages to wrap up Anteprime di Toscana. Though the prospect is dire for this gathering to take place in 2021, Montalcino’s wines will and always need to be tasted around the world. Let’s travel back a bit in time. At Benvenuto Brunello in February 2020 I tasted the following 150 samples of sangiovese, 36 Rosso di Montalcino DOC and 114 Brunello di Montalcino DOCG. These are my notes.

Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2018 (31 notes)

Altesino Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2018 ($27.95)

Altesino’s is consistently rich and baritone for Rosso, even in light ’18 and gone in all for one with not much left to the imagination. An amenable, commercial and viable proposition for anyone and everyone to take part. Drink 2020-2021. Tasted February 2020

Argiano Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2018 ($29.95)

Full intention and focus for Rosso here from stalwart house Argiano in sangiovese pertinence. The combination of wood and a mosaic of ripeness means flavour packet bursts and structural stumbles. Seems a bit wooly and high acid distracted but the youth is important in knowing or at least intuiting what this Rosso will become. Drink 2021-2025. Tasted February 2020

Baricci Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2018

Carries all the 2018 Rosso attributes that set the vintage apart, including full fruit and old school structure but what separates Baricci’s northerly Montosoli is the sprezattura savour. Wild strawberry and a texture that reaches back for more sangiovese. Very specific to this hill that only a few other appellative wines can touch. Pretty structured stuff for Rosso. Drink 2021-2027. Tasted February 2020

Bellaria Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2018

From Gianni Bernazzi and a Rosso treated to a full compliment of Botti wood, adding a sweet vanilla and candied floral spice to his sangiovese. Old school and pure, clear and clean at the same time. Well made, not as crunchy and bright as some though as itself it speaks a true vernacular. Drink 2021-2025. Tasted February 2020

Canalicchio Di Sopra Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2018 ($39.95)

Only raised in big barrels but not the 2500L larger oak used for the Brunello. Lovely red fruit purity and transparency from a vintage that was at a near all-time low pH. Higher acidity conversely and serious enough to use for food matching ability. Just a hint of pressing is felt but it’s really just a matter of de-stemming that makes a push but not a crush. A little bit of whole berry helps ward of oxidation and the freshness is truly a matter of gentile handling. Such a fine, drinkable and complex Rosso. Drink 2020-2025. Tasted February 2020

Caparzo Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2018 (333575, $19.95)

Though the fruit source is an amalgamation of Montalcino in a multi-disparate form you can’t help but feel or at least sense the Galestro of Montosoli young vines making their way into this Rosso. Wet stone, crumbled earth’s elements and a crust of decomposition meets the cherries head on for a salty and sharp sangiovese. Really proper wine here. You know it, I know it, they will know it. Drink 2021-2027. Tasted February 2020

Casanova Di Neri Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2018

Giacomo Neri lends his name to the bottle of Rosso which speaks to his desire that meaning is to accompany the appellation. Seemingly combed from Neri’s three or four vineyards dotting the north and east of Montalcino for an estate agglomeration of dark fruit, high tones and great accumulated acidity. Here the baby Brunello concept acquiesces to the notion of strictly made Rosso and for great purpose. Big wine, fine sangiovese, lots of possibility. Drink 2021-2026. Tasted February 2020

Castello Romitorio Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2018 ($38.99)

From a hectare and a half of a Rosso vineyard that produced 1,000 cases. The general matrix is unique because Colli Senesi is DOCG and this Rosso is a DOC though it commands a higher price. Cool, racy, lean, tight and mean. A fighting machine, just bottled, intense and ahead of the impending magic so use your imagination to the Rosso fullest. There a fulness and a flesh behind that veil of acid secrecy. Drink 2021-2026. Tasted February 2020

Collemattoni Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2018 ($28.99)

Such a consistently fashioned Rosso from Collemattoni, also a posit tug between freshness and structure, always to the proper precipice and edge of tang, tart and sour. Lingers with texture and wood rendering. A subtle wine that gains flesh as it works through the nervous system. Drink 2020-2023. Tasted February 2020

Cortonesi La Mannella Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2018 ($31.78)

Tommaso Cortonesi’s Rosso ’18 is pure La Mannella, expressly northeasterly Montalcino and bright as a February Benvenuto Brunello day. Crunchy and raised with all the land caught inside, the fruit expressive and elastic, the finish blessed with just a few years notability by structure. Promising and effective, proper and precise. Still showing some wood so wait a year. Drink 2021-2026. Tasted February 2020

Risotto, Sangiovese and Taleggio

Fattoria Dei Barbi Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2018

Barbi’s vintage acceptance and celebration is commendable to the degree that 2018 from vineyards ripened for pleasure is to be set this way. Such fruit, sweet thing, like “gardens misty wet with rain.” The kind of tart and tang on cherry and more cherry is what you want from sangiovese meant for the table each and every night. So right, walking and talking without ever growing old. Fresh youth is a beautiful thing. Drink 2020-2022. Tasted February 2020

Fanti Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2018 ($33.84)

Gotta love a Fanti Rosso, for its outpouring of sangiovese heart and in the way it so professionally proffers what you know Montalcino is so fully capable of gifting. The fruit is high, the aging possibility nigh and the pleasure probability at the limit of the sky. All in, together of parts as one, for a proper rest day, preferably in the sun. Drink 2021-2027. Tasted February 2020

Gianni Brunelli Rosso Di Montalcino DOC Le Chiuse Di Sotto 2018 ($54.00)

Gianni Brunelli’s ’18 Rosso’s brightness shines as the vintage lights the way, yet also embraces deeper sentiments, from generational impressions to modern perceptions. That is confirmed on a palate brimming with sweet fruit and a salt and pepper seasoning that makes for a complete experience in sangiovese gastronomy. Just a shake of bitters on the finish indicates the request for Rosso patience by way of a year’s settling. Drink 2021-2025. Tasted February 2020

Il Poggione Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2018

Top quality reach in expertly crafted ubiquity makes this a Rosso from the brightly lit vintage for all to explore. Take this road oft taken and use it to gain understanding of the DOC, the village and the ways of local sangiovese. High toned, generously oak spiced and really transparent. Drink 2020-2023. Tasted February 2020

La Màgia Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2018

A deeper, warmer, confident and comforting Rosso from the cerebral and intentional La Màgia, a bit tight and demure in youth. A Rosso that needs some time and in its Brunello-like empathy. More extraction and depth for Rosso in a vintage where some frazioni could not do what this is capable of putting into depth effect. Structured for the appellation. Drink 2022-2027. Tasted February 2020

La Poderina Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2018

From the younger (10-15 years of age) and lower downslope vines in Castelnuovo dell’Abate and located in front of the historical Benedectine abbey of Sant’Antimo. Insular, taut and tight Rosso, especially for 2018 so the feeling is of a site that when these vines grow more mature will surely feed Tenuta del Cerro Brunello with structured fruit. A long linger in this precocious Rosso, so very red fruit and while a bit nervy, quality and promise of site is all there. Drink 2020-2023. Tasted February 2020

Le Chiuse Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2018

Not a vintage if you are looking for concentration. If you are looking to drink it is perfect. From the same vines employed for Brunello but as per Lorenzo’s idea, only the largest clusters are grabbed. “For our culture it is an important wine. As winemakers we make Brunello but don’t drink it every day. This is what we drink.” Aged in the youngest large barrels for one year (plus two months) and in this vintage it’s back up the truck, glug-glug, pour half the bottle sangiovese. So fresh and with ultimate sangiovese spirit. Drink 2020-2024. Tasted February 2020

Le Ragnaie Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2017 ($45.00)

Still sitting, waiting and I suppose stabilizing in concrete is this Rosso 2017 that will be bottled in April. The aging requirements met would actually qualify it for Brunello and we’ll just leave it at that. The entire fruit source in ’17 is Castelnuovo dell’Abate harvested between the 8th of September through to the last days in the highest reaches. Fresh and far from heavy though there is a liqueur depth and a skin-contact feel. Youthful tang and sharpness with a minor tannic herb-verdancy and good but not that super-sangiovese 2016 length. Drink 2021-2028. Tasted February 2020

Lisini Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2018

Quite tonal, up there is the stratosphere where some Rosso lie, especially with a vintage like 2018. Richer and more texture on the palate with liquid chalk, wood vanillin and plenty of seasoned tang at the finish. Could use a year or two to integrate. Drink 2021-2024. Tasted February 2020

Mastrojanni Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2018

The best of all Rosso worlds emanates from Mastrojanni’s ’18, part effusive light and part deep rich tonality. Hits the high, the lows and everything else in between. Good acids keep the balance with darker fruit and silken wood texture. All in with great expectation for 2018. Drink 2021-2026. Tasted February 2020

Mocali Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2018 (286260, $19.95)

Racy, stark and slightly feral Rosso here with some volatility of distraction. Good core of fruit, fully extracted and in that pressing some bitters and bacterials come along for the ride. Drink 2020-2021. Tasted February 2020

Fried Artichoke, La Sosta Montalcino

Podere Brizio Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2018

Seriously polished, stylish and full compliment filled Rosso from Brizio, very much in the post-modernist Dievole vein. No expense spared to elevate the game, freshen up the fruit and the appellation. A chic wine for current consumption and replete with necessary acidity to capitalize the freshness with a proper “F.” Drink 2020-2023. Tasted February 2020

Salvioni Rosso Di Montalcino DOC La Cerbaiolo 2018

What is the question? Taking this Rosso lightly, passing it by or presuming anything on just a whiff and a sip would do it great injustice. There’s a wealth of knowledge and character on the nose, a depth not yet reached because the elemental layering is hard to bypass, just as roots through the fissures in the stone will take a few years to zig-zag for to find the water table below. Segued and extrapolated into this Rosso’s structure, when the integration happens it can be imagined the salts and the minerals to really step forward. La Cerbaiolo for the Rosso ages is the answer. Drink 2022-2028. Tasted February 2020

San Polino Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2018 ($48.95)

Here the loosely ambient Rosso stylistic meanders with carefree sway into a world occupied by the natural and the free. Wooly tannins surround variegated red fruit and the matter is so much fun to behold. Not for the masses, perhaps a bit esoteric for you and yet the clarity is dubious in its own singular realm. Drink 2021-2025. Tasted February 2020

Sesti Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2018

Sesti’s is serious Rosso but please, enjoy. Ripe red fruit with a decidedly mineral Galestro feel, liquified and run through with hematic and blood orange citrus. This could very well be Rosso Riserva, not exactly Brunello and surely Rosso with more wisdom and beauty. Impressive to be sure. Drink 2021-2026. Tasted February 2020

Talenti Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2018 ($30.00)

The Rosso vineyards here are part estate Sant Angelo in Colle and also lower down the valley closer to Castelnuouvo dell’Abate. The prominence is of sandy loam, argiloso and stony soils to make for a full expression that while holding the 2018 wild energy card is represented as deeper than many. Rich and also expressive, full on red fruit of berries fresh picked and a solid core of Rosso tannin. Easily one of the bigger 18s available. Approximately 3,000 bottles made. Drink 2021-2027. Tasted February 2020

Tenuta Buon Tempo Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2018

Tenuta Buon Tempo’s is a deep one, first in fruit and then welling with acidity. The fruit runs a wide gamut, from tang by berries through blackening red currant to dusty plum. Quite full and worthy of the warm climate from whence it came with an elevated 2018 sentiment in mind. Drink 2020-2023. Tasted February 2020

Tenuta San Giorgio Rosso Di Montalcino DOC Ciampoleto 2018

Quite the expressive Rosso here at heights across the valley from Sant Angelo in Colle and situated at a half tier away from parent Poggio di Sotto. A well extracted and healthy macerated sangiovese that brings some structure, multiplied by the rich barrels making their seasoning statement. Really like the finish on this flashy wine. Drink 2020-2024. February 2020

Tenute Silvio Nardi Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2018

Very cherry, ripe mainly, some sour edges and all dominant in a very fruit forward wine. Explores the essence of sangiovese with a heart struck and set into a Montalcino land. Could be from nowhere else and demands drinkable attention. Drink 2020-2022. Tasted February 2020

Ventolaio Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2018

On the high tone, fruit rising on an acidity elevator up to the upper floors of character. A bit wooly as compared to previous vintages and shows a consistency of style that adheres or more so fully accepts the tenets of the vintage. One of the more effusively sour ‘18s. Drink 2020-2024. Tasted February 2020

Villa Poggio Salvi Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2018

Simple red fruit Rosso as per the giving vintage of high acidity and ease of structure. No real bones, road blocks or requests for time. Play on through to a draw at the final whistle. Drink 2020-2021. Tasted February 2020

Riccardo Talenti

Rosso di Montalcino DOC (other vintages, five notes)

Podere Salicutti Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2017

Organic, biodynamic and unfiltered, from the then first in Montalcino, at the hands of Francesco Leanza, in 1995. Now (and since 2015) in the custodial hands of Felix and Sabine Eichbauer, halfway between Montalcino and Castelnuovo dell’Abate. Here ’17 is clean, pure, silk threaded and simply put, juicy. One of the longest Rossos you are likely to taste and a triumph for the vintage. Drink 2020-2025. Tasted February 2020

Canalicchio Di Sopra Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2016

The ’16 Rosso takes all the extract and acidity of the combined coming two vintages and gleans every ripe aspect for the ambitious way that Rosso can go. Deeper and less crushable and truth be told the Brunello appellation is cozied up to. Salty and full of proper tang with seasoning and spice. Drink 2020-2024. Tasted February 2020

Carpineto Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2016

Carpineto’s 2016 comes from higher (450-500m) elevation than many, is aged longer (three years in large oak barrels) and so 2020 is just about the perfect time to enjoy its charms. This 100 per cent sangiovese off of marl and clay was picked into October and it so dutifully expresses the appellation, grape and territory. The all in fulsome red cherry is now joined by a silkiness of texture because the calcaire and the wood have softened, liquified and swirled right through the fruit. A fresh one from a structured vintage and put succinctly into that five to six years Rosso di Montalcino aging window. Drink 2020-2023. Tasted February and November 2020

Le Ragnaie Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2016

Most of the grapes come from Castelnuovo dell’Abate but some are also off of estate vines. A late release Rosso, nearly 18 months after most other Montalcino wineries. Has really settled since October and is drinking beautifully right now. Last tasted February 2020

Top quality vintage, elegant and balanced, from the non disposto star of Montalcino, Riccardo Campinoti. His is a Rosso for Rosso sake, discriminant, linear, vertical and come up for the rising. If Rosso can be spiritual it would be like this, poignant and effen-solid good. These are the acids of Montalcino and the depth of earth which holds you firm in the face of a fluent perfume. It’s all in this bottle, fluid and affluent. What you need to know and what you want to drink. It can live for a dozen years. Drink 2019-2029. Tasted October 2019

Canalicchio Di Sopra Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2010 ($39.95)

Wildly fresh considering Rosso was not often thought to show such longevity, but in can and will exhibit such tendencies. Potential ability is magnified in a dark fruit vintage that advances with wisdom, morphs and settles. Lives and evolves within itself. Sweet fruit persistence is more than admirable, it’s outright amazing. Scents of carob, dried orange and liquorice, now coming into a baking spice place with persistent acidity. Drink 2020-2023. Tasted February 2020

Col D’orcia Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2010 ($39.95)

From a vintage that is increasingly showing its stripes at the 10 year mark for Rosso and why should we be surprised? Evolved and into a next level freshness, sideways, sidled, savoury and yet still sweet. The alcoholic and comforting warmth persists, as does the ripeness of 2010 acidity. Proper 10 year move, just past peak and happy to gift another few pleasurable winters. Drink 2020-2023. Tasted February 2020

Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2015 (71 notes)

Agostina Pieri Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015

As ripe as it ostensibly gets for 2015 in this sweet scenting and viscous sangiovese with real spice cupboard seasoning and a piquing of gathered acidities. The grain of chalkiness runs through and should take this into an umami set of values in the not too distant future. Drink 2021-2026. Tasted February 2020

Altesino Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015 (994095, $59.00)

Very polished and made Brunello with a wealth of statuesque parts sculpted out of the high level materials presented the team that crafts this wine. Speaks to a very broad swath of place and a perfectly good drink of consumer appeal. Last tasted February 2020

From the vintage where agriculture, winemaking and now selling came and will come easy so you can expect the warm, fuzzy, generous and soft. Perhaps too straightforward to be what the powers that be call a five-star vintage but if Brunello is what you want or even what you think you need then begin or continue the journey right here. Very berry, ultra liquorice and über morbido. Soft, amenable and unencumbered. Positive but certainly not overbearing structure. A now and through mid-term years drinking Annata. Drink 2019-2024. Tasted October 2019

Argiano Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015 (15460, $59.959)

Argiano goes all in for this sumptuous and unctuous ’15 of fruit, earth and acids long, sharp, linear and long, Big expressive and chocolaty sangiovese with wood a major factor and structure a fact of the matter. All purpose Brunello and so bloody effective. Drink 2022-2027. Tasted February 2020

Armilla Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015

The tiniest production delivers a very pretty Brunello from 2015 and this Armilla is just the right mix of wisdom and forward purity. There is little ambition, the fruit picking was spot on and the gentle extraction a matter of great gentility. A little Ribena but this is surely a sangiovese of terroir, left to its own devices, without distraction or interference. Drink 2020-2030. Tasted February 2020

Baricci’s Federico and Pietro Buffi

Baricci Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015

There’s just nothing that scents, acts, tastes or structures like a Baricci Brunello. At the height of traditional excellence and slow change improvement there is so much nobility and perfectly seasoned bitterness that allows this linear and purposed Brunello to rise above. No less fruit than structure and more solidarity amongst the parts than so many others. This my friends is Brunello made the way it was and has to be, without compromise and for all the most righteous reasons. Quality is in effect the highest order. Drink 2023-2034. Tasted February 2020

Bellaria Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015

Bellaria’s sweet and strange sangiovese is part terroir and part barrel, like walking in the woods the other day, scents of wet forest and sweet foliage in a warm season. The humidity of this Brunello smells like the past, “seems like 100 years ago.” Needs time to hide away and allow the melting, oozing and scenting wood to dissipate and allow the wine to do its thing. Last tasted February 2020

Remarkably alternative vintage for Gianni, fresher and more effusive to be clear and sure. Shows with great immediacy and tells a story of vintage variation, especially at altitudes like Bellaria (550-600m) and from soils so poor in organic materials. It’s luxe but also so perfumed, pretty and expressive. Just gorgeous Brunello with fine acidity and sweet tannins. The window will open wide sometime early in 2021 and stay that way for as much time as you need. Drink 2021-2031. Tasted October 2019

Canalicchio Di Sopra Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG “Canalicchio Di Sopra” 2015

Back to prominence for Brunello quantity is what 2015 does for business while delivering great quality without causing any undue relative stress. Both Canalicchio vineyards and Montosoli cru fruit make up the cuvée. Welcome to the beauty in cherry liqueur and outright unction from the generous vintage out of which every extra day meant more ripeness, more extract and more texture. The acidity factor is what drives this Brunello because staggered picking equates to an agglomeration of perfect timing. The true estate expression in no unspoken terms. Drink 2022-2031. Tasted February 2020

Capanna Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015

Quite a wood compliment to Capanna’a 2015, much like its 2009, here six years later with more fill in the middle and less angst. Creamy, delicious and soft though not without the possibility for extension to drink well into its fifth season. Drink 2020-2025. Tasted February 2020

Caparzo Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015 (579094, $49.95)

Caparzo is surely driven by the wood it spends quality time in getting to know and the material sent to those barrels is up to the mixing and swirling task. You understand this fruit and its dark cherry upbringing. You inuit the way vessels work through the pores while acidity flushes and raises the level of ability. Finally you get to know these sweet tannic grains and chains that work magic for the fruit. Will all come together soon, or at least sooner than many vintages. Drink 2021-2028. Tasted February 2020

Casanova di Neri Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015 (85498, $84.00)

Very polished Brunello tome here from Giacomo Neri, a memo from Montalcino, a song in process. A slide guitar bending entry with a spoken monologue in hushed tones and the agglomeration of soils playing beneath the words. If a Casanova di Neri Brunello could sing, it would sway your impression through its ability to conduct business with swagger and chord change artistry. This one just has a way about it. Files a quick flash of fruit, covers it with micro-oxidative blanket tracks laid down by the grandness of barrels. Then allows for it to breathe by acids, leaves for a break and returns to leave it in slumber while tannins figure out the refrain. The final verse is yet written and that’s just fine with us. Drink 2022-2032. Tasted February 2020

Montalcino from Castello Romitorio

Castello Romitorio Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015 (236356, $63.95)

A vintage of hue and the dichotomous relationship that bridges power and drinkability. A matter of accumulated acidity from a northwest Montalcino vineyard that doesn’t receive a whole helluva lot of afternoon sun. Salty from growing up in brackish mud and oyster shell from an ancient sea. The wood now speaks for the wine as expected and will fall away again. Last tasted February 2020

Bottled, finished, now as is for three and a half months in. Pretty like the previous declared Annata from Sandro but truth be told the level of richness and power is raised up albeit without any compromise to construct and yes, elegance. The E word applies here, like it or not because this place demands it and you would absolutely know were this messed with, made up or polished by wood, pomp and circumstance. These are some stretched, elastic and elongated tannins. Will extend for hours, days, months and years, open forever, long before it bounces back. Drink 2020-2029. Tasted October 2019

Castello Tricerchi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015

Reductive and underage this sangiovese toys with the idea of youthful ambition and blind faith. A touch past ripe in the teasing vintage of available exceptionalities and the race for potential glory. Certainly a Brunello very close and at the edge of excellence were it not a bit pressed and gone for the win. Drink 2020-2025. Tasted February 2020

Castiglion Del Bosco Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015 (956391, $63.95)

The beautiful middle ground of Brunello di Montalcino expression is graced by Castiglion del Bosco’s 2015 and also because it does the same for the vintage. High level ripe fruit, supportive acids and creamy if spiced chocolate comes across the palate in texture and piqued energy spice. Takes what gives and gives back. Drink 201-2026. Tasted February 2020

Cerbaia Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015 (652446, $66.95)

Cerbaia’s is warm, comforting and blessed Brunello of fruit ripened to the maximum for the most ease imaginable out of 2015. It’s quite creamy and regardless of a northern exposure there’s no lack of unction from this sangiovese. Drink in the early stages of its energetic youth. Drink 2020-2023. Tasted February 2020

Col d’Orcia Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015 (306852, $53.95)

Classic closed Col d’Orcia youth, nose of earth crusted berries and not nearly the mature notes of what the future surely holds. Though meant to be consumed much earlier than Riserva or Poggio al Vento there’s no escaping the place and the winemaking ways of the house. It is truly appreciated how youth in a Col d’Orcia sangiovese does not mean chocolate or vanilla, nor any overbearing barrel notes. It does regard spice and piqued feelings that bode well for a long future. Drink 2023-2030. Tasted February 2020

Corte Pavone Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015 (237263, $57.95)

Heady and high floral aromas beget a formidable Brunello of fortitude and strength. Deep as black cherry emits in sangiovese from a certainty of high elevation, warm vintage solar radiation. A different sort of ’15 from the northwest adjacent Romitorio and surely a soil so different despite being so close. Rich, strong acids and loose tannin. Drink 2022-2028. Tasted February 2020

Cortonesi La Mannella Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015 ($89.41)

Tommaso Cortonesi’s 2015 Brunello is a ruby-red, spice studded star in 2015, high-toned and so very expressive. What spice oh my, what tripping fantastic light across the tongue and so very taut in its youth. Intensity does not begin to explain the freshness and the youthful nature of its being. Need to revisit La Mannella in one year and the 2015 sangiovese it has gifted in five years or so. Last tasted February 2020

I’d like to say the tannins on 2015 Annata are sneaky but they are so much more than that. These are grippy, layered and nearly formidable tannins. Good thing the easy, generous and lush fruit is somehow capable of defending itself. Boom this is one of Tommaso Cortonesi’s most accomplished Annata and more capable of aging than even he would probably have guessed he was making. Power and beauty. This is that and more. Drink 2021-2031. Tasted October 2019

Cupano Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015

Cupano’s is a beautiful Brunello from 2015, aromatically gregarious, fruit sweetened in two times ripe ways but most importantly a phenolic access that lifts the spirit. ’Tis a red citrus acidity and a clay depth that combines for ultimate levels of strength and complexity. Lovely wine here and with just a smile of Brett to keep things stylish and rustic. Drink 2022-2030. Tasted February 2020

Donatella Cinelli Colombini Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015 ($74.95)

The 2015 is a deeper study in DCC soil and Brunello invention. You need to know that the northerly Donatella Cinelli Colombini terroir is more than offset, singular and testable. The makers of these Brunelli investigate every grain of sand, mould of clay and tumble of stones to forge the various cuvées of their sangiovese stable. This Annata carries a lyrical contralto in as much as that is a thing in Montalcino. A Cher, Annie Lennox, Nina Simone voice. It is precise and profound. It will live longer than the men. Drink 2023-2033. Tasted February 2020

Fanti Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015 (112607, $74.00)

Hello, hello Fanti, you beautifully factual and racy Brunello you. Hello to your calm, your controlled tension and your seamless transitions. Hello to how you say salve and open your arms. Hello to your mind, your body and your soul. Every bit of tradition, soil and acumen runs delicately and with purpose through your mineral veins. Hello to you beginnings, your full middle and your sweet endings. “Just one drink.” Of your loving cup. “In the sweet summer sun.” Drink 2022-2029. Tasted February 2020

Fattoi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015 (33498, $46.95)

Always pleasure, always balanced, always proper. This is the Fattoi Brunello world, fruit sweet, energy running high and wine all tolled running long. You can count on this fruit to lift you up and the bones to stay propped up. Never waning, failing or faltering sangiovese with charm and grace. Drink 2020-2026. Tasted February 2020

Fattoria Dei Barbi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015 (928028, $54.95)

C’mon classic Barbi here and the request is for this effectual realization to continue on forever, through the decades of vintages and their Brunelli. You come to expect the sort of juice that needs time, more time, precious time, endless time. You look for this tug of firmness, this posit strength and this creamy centre that ties the sangiovese room together. This does not and don’t ever abandon these roots Stefano, always keeps the Cinelli Colombini family’s Barbi faith alive. They are the lifeblood of this wine. Drink 2023-2030. Tasted February 2020

Fattoria Del Pino Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Il Pino 2015

Now for something set in the purity of the modern Brunello world. Though labeled Annata and therefore fashioned in a Classico estate-driven way there’s just something specific and particular about where this was surely born. A vineyard, a block, a plot, a Climat, a piece of terroir, a place of origin. Has that no lo so of a very special soil, likely fine clay and Galestro because it’s so smooth, confident, non-plussed, focused and finessed. Drink 2022-2031. Tasted February 2020

Fornacella Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015 ($54.00)

Fornacella’s brings a fine perfume of candied roses and fennocchio into Brunello quite linear and finely textured. There’s some cocoa dust and dark bitter chocolate shavings melting in and they are well integrated indeed. This is crisp, clean and properly structured sangiovse set to linger over a pretty long run. Drink 2021-2027. Tasted February 2020

Fossacolle Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015

Reductive and immediately glycerin noted Brunello with so much attraction and ephemeral beauty. The closed circuit is anything but a distraction or a problem because the core of fruit purity within is nothing if not a mass of great expression. Wild cherry, definite new leather and lots of sweet herbs in puréed pesto feel. Very silky and powerful though never cloying or obstructive. Very impressive. Drink 2022-2030. Tasted February 2020

Franco Pacenti Brunello Di Montalcinio DOCG 2015 ($63.00)

The Franco Pacenti Brunello 2015 is an impressive beast. A sangiovese of hearty warmth, strength and openly fragrant but edgy red fruit. This is a vintage Brunello that takes a little risk, knows the fruit has transferred over the line into a world fully phenolic, then exposed to ultra violet light. There’s no hole to fill, no barrel to overwhelm and all the best attributes to gain. So promising and exceptional. Drink 2023-2034. Tasted February 2020

Fuligni Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015 ($67.95)

Fuligni’s is a 2015 intoxicant, a hypnotizing Brunello with no aromatic restraint. The apposite is true about its sympathy, taste and soul-searching proposition, all of which are served in great restraint. There’s a circulative musicality with unexpected and intermittent jangles, bass notes, harmonies and rapid beats. The barrel is so much a part of its present and will melt away in just a few years time. The future looks so bright for this elegant ’15. Drink 2022-2029. Tasted February 2020

Gianni Brunelli Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Le Chiuse Di Sotto 2015 ($90.00)

You can heart this Brunello’s beat from a thousand miles away. On its sleeve, in the air and through the fine sense of sangiovese sense of elixir humour. Serious and graceful, reasoned, seasoned and saucy spiced. Gives crazy love. Opens up, every time it smiles. Drink 2021-2028. Tasted February 2020

Il Grappolo Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Sassocheto 2015

“Stone quiet,” signature wine for Il Grappolo, from 20-plus year-old vines in the south-facing Piano Nero vineyard, planted at 300m near Sant’Angelo in Colle. Schist soils are strewn with Galestro, Alberese and sandstone, the whole Montalcino masala, all in veritable contribution. Sassocheto, exacting sangiovese, as in Brunello that is just like looking in the territory’s mirror. Pure and harmonious with sly power both “subdolo” and “furbo,” because tannins like these wind in two directions, depending on which was the fruit winds just happen to blow. A worthy “campione” of the 2015 vintage, to set an example for how to win when your vineyards gift such exemplary fruit. One of the great values of the year. Drink 2021-2029. Tasted February and November 2020

Il Marroneto Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015 ($46.95)

Completely new set of parameters applied and noted in this 2015 Brunello with an aromatic waft that’s off the floral charts. What is that exotic perfume? ’Tis a rose petal and fresh tar, sweet herbal pesto and even sweeter fruit interned demi-glacé. Rich and far from dusty, like the cool feelings from dusk to dawn, if “nobody knows where it comes or where it goes,” this Brunello has the reds and blues to live long. Drink 2022-2030. Tasted February 2020

Il Poggione Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015 (551176, $72.95)

Il Poggione’s tells a Brunello vendemmia tale, in delivery of that vintage’s generous fruit, followed by a generosity of barrel and all the spice it can carry forward. High constituent parts, syncopated for possibility and most likely, probability. That says age will not catch up to a wine of great health because it was taken care of and will continue to take care of itself. You should pay it the same respect. Drink 2021-2027. Tasted February 2020

La Gerla Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015 ($76.95)

Le Gerla strikes as always, heady and impressive, big-boned, deep and serious vineyard exhumed Brunello. A mouthful of sangiovese like few other in Montalcino, of swagger, fully formed, developed and entrenched in vintage. Boasting of the kind of humid fruit swell that adds up to a sour cherry, leathery chew of Brunello. Full exaggeration and impression, as generous as it gets, deep and mounded in 2015. Drink 2022-2029. Tasted February 2020

La Poderina Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Tenuta del Cerro 2015 ($82.99)

Located next to Barbi and near to the Sant’Antimo Abbey La Poderina is a dichotomy in Montalcino expressiveness, at once Amaro, botanical herbal and then silky smooth, a liqueur of digestif proportions. Fruit comes from the top of the Bellini Vineyard’s hill, from 15-35 year-old vines facing southeast. If you are a fan of dry Amari-spiced and in liquid chalky grain of tannic addendum then you will relish this Brunello. Drink 2022-2028. Tasted February 2020

Le Chiuse Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015

Tasting Lorenzo Magnani’s 2015 Brunello only four months later tells an exacting story and speaks to how long his sangiovese holds the capability to age. The medium sized clusters are picked second (after the largest for Rosso) and ahead of the smallest for Riserva. They are the ones that gift this tempered extraction, concentration and texture. Impeccable balance from 2015 that is the one thing showing up early. Last tasted February 2020

There is a perfume about 2015, a ripe cherry that stands apart for the vintage and even more specific to Le Chiuse. There are cherry trees planted by Tancredi Biondi-Santi here that mimic or rather the aromatics do so, especially in this wine. It’s all texture and a true sense of the land, a feeling of Galestro, rich clay in mouthfeel and Le Chiuse, the place where the dam closed the water off for irrigation. So much fruit and harmony, between acidity, alcohol and tannins. Drink 2020-2029. Tasted October 2019

La Colombina Di Casseli Anna Maria Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015

An older style, not so old as to bring out the grey but rather a wisdom, an educated guess, a planned parenthood. Rich savoury excess like few Brunelli and formidable of sangiovese acidity. The penultimate one for this undeniable and tractive local delicacy, in efficacy and naturally occurring phenomenon. The old is new again. Drink 2022-2030. Tasted February 2020

La Lecciaia Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015 (121905, $66.95)

The vintage question is far from a concern with respect to ripeness and a far more important consideration is more about the management of extraction, wood and acidity. La Lecciaia’s work is so properly executed because the acids secure, lift and place the fruit where it needs to be. That is on a mid-level precipice where structure can take over without much ado. All in balance here for mid-term perfection. Drink 2021-2027. Tasted February 2020

La Màgia Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015 ($59.95)

Rich and wealthy fruit variegated Brunello here from La Màgia, of blues, reds and blacks all layered and interacting together. That’s so necessary here because the wood sheathing is equally magnanimous and this sangiovese ultimately plunders my soul. So much warmth, depth and deep blues though to be honest I wanted more restraint. Drink 2021-2026. Tasted February 2020

Le Gode Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015

Le Gode farms a plot on the hill of Montosoli and while there’s a level of that elemental push there too is some less than pure fruit, Brettanomyces and creamy chocolate. Drink 2020-2022. Tasted February 2020

With Riccardo Campinoti, Le Ragnaie

Le Ragnaie Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015 ($115.00)

The Brunello that sits on its skins for three months and so sure of itself that the maintenance on that ferment is really low. A testament to the vintage because this is the longest skin-contact period Riccardo has ever attempted. Still showing its teeth and the great fruit of the year. Still, hands off, don’t touch. Last tasted February 2020

The come and get me vintage but don’t be misled, distracted or misunderstood. The fraganza di Ragnaie is an intoxicant of the highest order from the highest elevations. This is tonality of verified airy exceptionality. There are fruit landings and destinations, from patches and orchards, without pith and with stone seeds. From only six hectares of the 15 total planted and the balanced one, with Montosoli fruit joining Petroso, Castelnuovo dell’Abate and the four vineyards at 600-plus metres around the winery. Still firm and shadowy so wait three more years. A redux of ’13 but in a wholly antithetical way and only in the ways of Le Ragnaie. Drink 2022-2033. Tasted October 2019

Lisini Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015

Lisini brings a mass of extraction and attraction from their 2015 Brunello, restless energy and a lusty precipice hard to reconcile in its youth. A wine you have a cup of coffee with “until the next time we say goodbye.” This is Brunello of expectation, tradition and once in a while affair. Meet up once a year to catch up and do this for a decade or two. It’s that kind of sangiovese. Drink 2022-2031. Tasted February 2020

Mastrojanni Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015 ($69.95)

Mastrojanni is an aromatic wild one in 2015, florals and full citrus scrape. There’s no letdown anywhere on this sangiovese, fruit having come to fruition and everything pulled from it’s phenolic capabilities. It’s über ripe and conversely tannic, crunchy, chewy, earthy, floral, all of the above again and more. So much length and more to come. Drink 2023-2032. Tasted February 2020

Máté Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015

Máté is strong mocker in 2015, high level at every angle, turn and precipice reached, namely by sour acids and gritty, brittle tannin. Not so much love at this early stage. But I can say this. Give this sangiovese 10 years and it will simmer down. dole out abbracci and make nice. It just won’t do so with generous fruit. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted February 2020

Mocali Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015 (64956, $44.95)

High toned and a bit lean for 2015 this does not elicit sentiments of the top, top terroir. A bit saccharine and intense with hard acids and overtly sensory edginess. Drink 2020-2022. Tasted February 2020

Musico Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015

Musico is at the far end of the ripe spectrum or rather sitting in fences at the edge of each. There is fruit of a sun-worshipped, solar-charred kind and then conversely a verdant group marked by dried herbs and legumes. This disparate blending makes cause for short term gain and gone long hollowness. Drink early for best response. Drink 2020-2023. Tasted February 2020

Padelletti Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015

Both rustic and reductive though filled to the inside brim with an impressive core of fruit. Quite raspberry and seasoned with spice that speaks to the edginess and headiness of the wood staying presently ahead. Will integrate in a few years and drink really well. Drink 2022-2028. Tasted February 2020

Pian Delle Querci Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015

A pretty sangiovese is a beautiful thing that makes for a beautiful life. This would only be said if a wine causes such a thought and so here, from the start, is that sentiment solicited. Sometimes roses emanate and while that may be a sangiovese peculiarity it is not something only reserved for nebbiolo. The palate too offers pretty flavours and red citrus joy. Might seem a bit light and sour-edged to some but like an enchanted old ruin, I appreciate it all the same. Drink 2022-2030. Tasted February 2020

Pian Delle Vigne Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015 (651141, $61.95)

The 2015 Pian delle Vigne is remarkably smooth, satiny and silky sangiovese. Plain to feel and see. The quality in this Antinori is undeniable so the level of rhythm, blues and soul is not really the point. The fruit is extended out of a mind of many and not just one so it rolls through the stages of its construction with effortless, lack of tension, ease. Classic steak house or cottage deck Brunello, perfect for men of leisure off the course or out of the boat, showered and ready for their steak. Drink 2020-2027. Tasted February 2020

Piccini Villa Al Cortile Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015 (434696, $45.00)

In full expectation that the Montalcino house that Piccini built will find seasoned and reasoned success in 2015 is proven by this proud and even profound wine from Villa al Cortille. An alignment of essential, recognizable and desirable aromas, tastes and sensorial aspects makes this as promising a restaurant pour as any from the vintage. Consistency and professionalism incarnate. Drink 2022-2028. Tasted February 2020

Pietroso Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015

From Andrea Pignattai, winemaker, gentle soul, humble man. A small estate on the northwest corner of the Montalcino hill where so few farm that sector. Only 35,000 bottles produced split between Rooso and Brunello. Andrea’s is authentic from the word nose, rich in dark scented fruit but cool climate herbal, almost minty. Tight, pointed acids, direct and simply the right stuff. Refreshing in so many ways. Grandi Andrea. Drink 2021-2029. Tasted February 2020

Piombaia Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015

High tonality straight away, up and away into the volatile and the inhalant of much repute. Also a touch roasted, like nightshades under the broiler. A bit lean up the middle. If seemingly lacking substance and grace it makes up for that with formidable structure. Rustic and austere and should drink better looking 15 years forward. Drink 2024-2032. Tasted February 2020

Podere Brizio Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015

Briizio’s is polished and stylish Brunello, perfectly seasoned and reasoned from and for the vintage. Clarity and purity are met with a set of palpable textures; crispy, crunchy and juicy. That’s the crux of what drives this lush and luscious sangiovese. Fruit and mouthfeel, both expressive and adding life, using attributes to the max. Drink 2021-2027. Tasted February 2020

Podere Le Ripi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Amore E Magia 2015

As per the moniker there’s a lotta love emanating from this unctuous and luxe sangiovese to make way with the generous vintage. Rich fruit of the red express kind is never relenting and while acids follow phenolic suit the tannins are sweet and mild. One of the better Brunelli meant for easy and early consumption. Drink 2020-2024. Tasted February 2020

Poggio La Croce Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015

Rustic and woody to be sure, with plenty of vanilla and a creamed caramel note, though there is some solid fruit underneath. With time it will improve though will always be on the side of hot and spicy. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted February 2020

Poggio Landi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015 (573980, $54.00)

From the ABFV group of estates that includes Podere Brizio in Montalcino and Dievole in Chianti Classico. Poggio Landi is taken from elevations between 300-500m on heavy clay soils. The is big and rich from 2015, of that there is no doubt though you’d hardly know it for there is too much wood at this stage. Vanilla and baking spice, sweet, confected and not yet conjoined, laying dominantly overtop the fruit. Too much ambition that may yet yield eventual results. Drink 2021-2025. Tasted February 2020

Poggio Di Sotto Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015 (337774, $180.00)

No less than a finessed coax of pure higher altitude sangiovese fruit delivers the southern territorial goods in 2015. That and a staggered pick, layered atop one another for a stack of juicy, ripe acid and fine grained chain of tannic goods. The seamlessness and positively structured finesse is beyond comprehensible commend-ability. It’s outright impressive. Last tasted February 2020

The red fruit of this place and only this place is amplified or better still exemplified in appellative Brunello. There is a glycerin derived and in possession of balance, from soils, elements and climate that is unparalleled for this specific area of Montalcino just to the west and below Castelnuovo dell’Abate. The fine shift from earth to fruit and into tannin through mineral bleed and finally peppery savour all works on the palate. This ’15 is proof of how a team continues to uphold standards of these vineyards no matter the ownership or the hopes, dreams or wishes of those who support and also those who drink from the deep well of this project. Drink 2022-2033. Tasted October 2019

Poggio Lucina Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015

Cheese and wood. Wet wool too. Drink 2020-2022. Tasted February 2020

Renieri Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015

From Bacci wines connected to Tenuta Renieri and Castello di Bossi in Chianti Classico. Here in the south of Montalcino at elevation (400m) and in the protective shadow of Monte Amiata. Renieri is nothing if not wise, well-rendered and compactly designed Brunello di Montalcino 2015. The fruit is ample to gainfully substantial and the exercise one that practices restraint in the name of balance. No demons needed exorcizing because the handling is one born of acumen, not desire. Another classic restaurant Brunello to represent the appellation and the vintage. Drink 2021-2027. Tasted February 2020

Ridolfi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015

Slightly reductive and also filled with Ribena and raspberry fruit. Fully tests the mettle and the ripeness factor of 2015 and seems acidified. Disparate and problematic. Drink 2020-2023. Tasted February 2020

Roberto Cipresso Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015

Truly big framework here in the Cipresso ’15 Brunello, fruit of another ilk, talent running through all parts from beginning to end. Full fruit compliment, rusty, dusty, plummy, ripe and sour, all in, all the way. The balance afforded by wood and time is estimable, attributable and accountable. Such a well-reasoned and silky seasoned wine. Drink 2022-2032. Tasted February 2020

Ruffino Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Greppone Mazzi 2015

A righteous and proper sense of tradition in rustic tones makes Ruffino’s Greppone a prosperous proposition if for a specific crowd that sticks to roads well trodden. Crunchy and earth crusted fruit, high tonal attitude and a linger that repeats the plays again and again. Amazing what consistency times vintage in Brunello such as this can deliver. Solid 2015 from the house built big. Drink 2021-2027. Tasted February 2020

San Giorgio Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Ugolforte 2015 (212431, $47.95)

The second estate of Poggio di Sotto delivers a solid core of sangiovese fruit swagger with more than a modicum of high acid tang in 2015. Tart, driven, ultra-phenolic and on the road to both freedom and happiness. I feel they are still figuring out the nuance and the possibility of the estate and 2015 is sending the team well on their way. Drink 2020-2023. Tasted February 2020

San Polino Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015 (14813, $89.00)

Consistently luxurious and while at the same time of a cure grounded in the natural world. Like salumi, slow-roasted eggplant and a warm pesto of fresh herbs; rosemary, oregano and basil. Plenty of orange pulp and tannin of a liquid chalky kind. Yes this ’15 from San Polino is consistent with what came before but the new advantage and next level formative components will take it deep. All the tenets of agriculture, vintage and cellar work are conspiring to great probability effect. Drink 2023-2032. Tasted February 2020

Sesta Di Sopra Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015

Fine parts, sways and directions travelled is the directive slowly parlayed in this sweet scenting sangiovese. The purity of fruit beauty is an unadulterated mix of real time agriculture lending a discretion of honesty to the hands that take over and make this wine. No lack of signal in the transfer makes for a palate, a mid-palate and a fleshy finish with fine chains, grains and strains of structure that carry the weight. Will live infamously as one of the better to best 2015s. Drink 2023-2033. Tasted February 2020

Sesti Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015 ($117.95)

Sesti’s is lightning red fruit meets high acid sangiovese for one of the lighter, brighter and sneaky powerful Brunelli. Creeps and climbs, moves, shakes and graces the palate with sharp fruit, raspberry in tang ways and then earthy, properly volatile and respectably edgy. Will seek and find balance between that tension and the other-worldly umami before too long. Drink 2022-2028. Tasted February 2020

Solaria Patrizia Cencioni Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015

Humbly submitted 2015 from Cencioni, well developed fruit gentle in mass, explorative in design and calm in the face of dark sensorial attraction. Acids are just a touch duro but do their parts to lift and support succulence, that plus a dollop of malic cream lending a softening and blanching hand. Perfectly lovely. Drink 2021-2025. Tasted February 2020

Talenti Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015 ($76.00)

Riccardo Talenti’s Brunello is always a combinative, bringing together of double entendre ideals in the name of achieving the great estate balance. Fruit for the sangiovese comes from vineyards both southwest and southeast of Montalcino, aging is done 60-40 in 500L tonneaux and grandi botti of French and Slavonian oak. The vintage that does it all, a largesse of fresh fruit, the earth liquified in sand, clay, Galestro mineral and finally, the most stretched and generous tannin imaginable. The pinnacle and epitome of professionally executed high quality Brunello that never abandons its sense of place. Drink 2022-2030. Tasted February 2020

Tenuta Buon Tempo Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015 (14856, $65.00)

TBT’s 2015 Brunello hits the middle notes with sumptuous ease, bringing a depth of vintage fruit into a house occupied by sweet acids, fine wood and mild tannin. The work here is proper, finessed and leads to a very drinkable wine. Perhaps a bit overtly refined in this vintage with the hopes for next level cause and effect. Highly recommended for a three to seven year run. Drink 2020-2026. Tasted February 2020

Tenute Silvio Nardi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015 (922054, $46.95)

Lovely little ’15 from Nardi that grows in stature as you work the glass. Begins with classic dusty cherry and leather earthy fruit then climbs upward with high level acidity. Crescendoes at a higher point and lingers well into the next hour. I can hear this one ‘knockin’. Great Brunello blues riff and groove. Vintage in, vintage out one of the most consistent Montalcino wines. Drink 2022-2028. Tasted February 2020

Tommasi Casisano Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015 (483800, $70.00)

A lightning red fruit Brunello out of 2015 from Tommasi’s Casisano with tight acids and a lightness that allows for a breath of fresh Brunello air. A thriller this one, not a killer and blessed with ease of amenability. Tannins build with more strength then expected though ultimately speaking the heights are scaled early and no great amount of time is needed to make headway with this wine. Terrific first five years sangiovese, for food expected and wholly unexpected ways. Drink 2021-2025. Tasted February 2020

Val Di Suga Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015 (713719, $54.95)

From Andrea Lonardi, incumbent winemaker at Val di Suga (since 2012) and while 2015 simply is what it is you can feel the work put in to make a proper sangiovese that speaks for the estate first and the vintage second. A balanced and professional wine that sets tor table for what will come, next vintage and going forward. Drink 2021-2028. Tasted February 2020

Ventolaio Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015

All in with all that 2015 can offer to an appellative expression that demands so much. For Brunello this is a weight-packed fruit first, tannin second wine. The drive or length in between is short even in youth, somewhat agitated and exaggerated for the vintage. This one does not trade riffs but gets straight to the point, but that point is set far off in the future. The established credo is all about strength and credibility. Be patient. Wait for it. Drink 2023-2030. Tasted February 2020

Villa Poggio Salvi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015 ($49.95)

Quite a rich and creamy Brunello, more wood in taste and texture than fruit from the hip. Some spice and tannin come about as a result of tannin that again, if at first was pressed from dark fruit now seems squeezed from the barrel. Drink 2021-2023. Tasted February 2020

Brunello di Montalcino Vigna DOCG 2015 (27 notes)

Argiano Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Vigna Del Suolo 2015

The vineyard down below is appositely named in apropos significance because the sentiment is high, lightning struck and quick as a whip. Crunchy and earthy fruit is ripe and near delirious, tripping the lights and adding fantasy to an already heady if effusive substance fantastic. So much going on in complex waves, severities and notions. Will transfer and oscillate, groove and titillate for a decade to come. Drink 2022-2031. Tasted February 2020

Azienda Di Franci Franca Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Tassi Di Franci Franca Selezione Franci 2015

A true sense of sangiovese volatility marks the entry in the Selezione from Tassi. So much wood and tannin, a compounding of big elements, attributes and more wood. Will need a decade to integrate. Drink 2023-2030. Tasted February 2020

Azienda Di Franci Franca Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Tassi Di Franci Franca 2015

Tassi’s Franci is antithetical to its Serlezione and it is surely a wine of higher energy and drive. More precision and focus as well, better integrated barrel and length for days. Still the chocolate and the creamy texture. Drink 2023-2031. Tasted February 2020

Fattoria Dei Barbi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Vigna Del Fiore 2015 ($79.95)

Vigna del Fiore. Salty number for the Montalcino location and yet this ease of amenability and the way the Barbi effort solicits affectation is undeniable. This secrecy of structure is a house and Vigna speciality and the sauce is spread liberally across the succulence of the fruit. No denying the effort, the acumen and the persistence of unwavering potential. Drink 2022-2030. Tasted February 2020

Canalicchio Di Sopra Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Casaccia 2015

Casaccia as in the name of the house and the registered name of the vineyard, here a monopole look at Brunello from the larger 14 hectares for eastern Montalcino’s Canalicchio. The idea here is to celebrate a place within a place but without compromising the larger cuvée expression. Takes extract, concentration and purpose to another level, not to mention polish, precision and potential. The acids are elevated and the texture more refined, converse and complimentary. A tightness makes for some early attack that needs time to get past. Quite cool, tannic and intense. Will hit its stride quite far down the road. Drink 2024-2035. Tasted February 2020

Canalicchio Di Sopra Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2015

A preview sample. Comes from fruit grown in the oldest two hectare vineyard of Vigna Vecchia Mercatale. The vines were planted in 1987 and in good vintages the potential is gifted, not a matter of grand impact but one of the land, the soil, the brown clay minerals and the elements. And so it’s a matter of longevity and potential, not brut strength. A beautiful example of Riserva, focused, precise and fine. And yet the style is poised in position along a line that includes the Brunello and the Riserva so homogeneity in these soils is more than apparent. This part of Montalcino makes this kind of wine and this house celebrates the consistency. Drink 2022-2036. Tasted February 2020

Caparzo Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG La Casa 2015 (20750, $79.95)

The ripeness of La Casa in 2015 is at the precipice if not the next step where denouement begins in descent. The aromas are quite fine and discreet while the flavours pool in a deep well of full on berry and plum, dusty and of a twinge that’s Ribena in twangy tang. It is what it is, this version of gregarious 2015, seemingly easy and generous but the pick was all you had. Great La Casa is spot on. This one misses by a hair. Drink 2020-2024. Tasted February 2020

Casanova Di Neri Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Tenuta Nuova 2015 (85241, $135.00)

Tenuta Nuova takes the sangiovese of Casanova di Neri to another level entirely with a finesse and a polish unparalleled. The wave is long and arcing, accruing flesh and fine liqueur as time passes slowly while you take your time with this fruit of natural sweetness and matching fineness of acidity. Truth be told there is a come and get me now quality about this Vigna designate 2015 and one that will seduce early, in as much as the seduced is willing to be taken. Drink 2020-2027. Tasted February 2020

Castello Romitorio Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Filo Di Sesta 2015

From two hectares and only 500 cases of wine are made from vineyards out of which a significant amount of bunches are dropped. First made in 2010, one of the earlier single-vineyard declared Brunelli. “The thread of silk” which refers to the little creek that runs through the forest. A little bit more tonneaux than big barrel and a wealth of riches inherently gathered, layered and reticulated in pocket. Acids are high, mighty and persistent and there is a chalky insistence that matches the energy stride for stride. Not so much a tight sangiovese as a variegated one. Pine, rosemary and darkening fruit, full of sprezzatura. Drink 2021-2031. Tasted February 2020

Cortonesi La Mannella Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG I Poggiarelli 2015

Skipping straight pass and over the sunless, tenebrous and obscured 2014 vintage it is this Tommaso Cortonesi 2015 I Poggiarelli that rises from the vineyard looking up the Montalcino hill to the southeastern side. Te offer is an ulterior one, an expression in contrast to what comes from northerly La Mannella. Warmer, fuller and without question more precise. Cortonesi has used the tools available to provide it a bigger architectural frame and the flesh of this vineyard dutifully abides, bedecking the incrustation of the facade and adorning the fills of the interior. Quite structured and yet fully fleshy of 2015 density and weight. Impressive stuff from Tommaso. Drink 2022-2032. Tasted February 2020

Croce Di Mezzo Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015

A slight note of rusticity grounds this sangiovese in salty earth while high toned acidity elevates and promotes a lifted sense of composition. Not sure if this comes or goes, weighs down or flies high. Needs to settle, play together in the sand and integrate for mature times in the sun. Will find the way. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted February 2020

Donnatella Cinelli Colombini Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Prime Donne 2015

Prime Donne is a highly specific single expression of the most important fruit raised by Donatella, Violante and team. The dichotomy here is more perfume cross referenced in adjacency to more barrel inflected structure. More notions to consider, vineyard dirt expressed through morbido tones and wood scents in gentle baking spice. Quite weighty in tannins, surely a love song so divine, certainly a wine that will stand the test of time. Drink 2022-2032. Tasted February 2020

Fanti Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Vallocchio 2015 ($89.95)

Vallocchio is just perfect for 2015. Vallocchio delivers fruit like that found in the Annata but deeper, purer and under a gastronomic integration of spice. Vallocchio gives and then gives some more. It gifts sweetness for that fruit mixed with the grain of the barrel. In the end the charm, warmth and caress of kissing tannin tells us not to demand this be the longest Vallocchio but surely expect one of the most graceful. Drink 2021-2029. Tasted February 2020

Franco Pacenti Brunello Di Montalcinio DOCG 2015 Rosildo

If the 2015 Annata from Franco Pacenti was the bomb then what does that make the Vigna Rosildo? Excuse my English but this Rosildo is the shit. The great shit. Grande. Rosildo fineness is that of regal sangiovese style. Acid, tannin, structure, all together seamless and hungry to integrate simpler parts, make them complex and whole. Here is what should and must be considered one of the wines of the vintage. Drink 2024-2038. Tasted February 2020

Il Marroneto Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Madonna Delle Grazie 2015

A taut and yet to fully express itself sangiovese is this tight stunner from il Marroneto. Madonna delle Grazie is full of a cherry depth from which you feel the liqueur and yet the reductiveness keeps the wine safe beneath a hard shell. One of the few 15s that act this way, seriously tight, yet to crack and with 20 years of life safely stored within. Serious wine here from Alessandro Mori. Drink 2024-2035. Tasted February 2020

Le Ragnaie Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG La Fornace 2015

A site in the highest elevation that used to be a lake bed so it’s rich in round stones. Picked earlier in 2015, kept away from jammy and suspended in the high sangiovese zone in which acidity keeps the dream alive. So beautifully judged. Last tasted February 2020

From Castelnuovo dell’Abate at 400m of elevation, planted in the 1980s. A former lake bed, with clay and round sand stones. Strikes the Brunello accord between richness and balance with more fruit than 10 other houses combined. The transparency is the thing; smells like fruit, perfume and the land, like rocks and sandstone. The bleed of Pietraforte into the blood of sangiovese. There’s really no reason to find fault and in fact there is every reason to breath, exhale and smile. That is what happens when you taste a Brunello like this special single-vineyard wine from Le Ragnaie. Drink 2022-2037. Tasted October 2019

Le Ragnaie Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Vigna Vecchia 2015 ($177.00)

All the Brunelli from Le Ragnaie were kept on their skins for 90 days in fermentation, longest ever for Riccardo. Not convinced anyone else is making Brunello like this. Fresh, lean and linear but not. At this stage the sapidity is raging, omnipresent, marvellous. “I think when they are young they change everyday,” says Campinotti. Well it certainly has done so since October. Last tasted February 2020

Planted in 1968 and from a warm vintage all the way to the end, into October. Riccardo Campinoti is smiling wryly, knowingly and confidently after he pours and begins to speak of it. “The longer you waited the riper it became” and the healthy grapes allowed for hanging to mid-October. Deeper and of more sponge-soaked earth in the old vines with a higher tone juxtaposed against the depth drawn by long vine roots. The aromatic complexities run, jump and ride off the proverbial charts and you may find yourself drunk and mystified just from the smells. Once you gain palate entry you are hooked and then you climb in, headfirst, unencumbered, no strings attached. A tour de force beloved of sangiovese, Montalcino and old vines. Vigna Vecchia is the epitome of a true structured wine, one which does not grow old, despite the passage of time. Drink 2023-2039. Tasted October 2019

Le Ragnaie Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Montosoli 2015

The vineyard was purchased in 2014, 50m on the right of the Baricci cellar. “In my opinion it was good right away,” tells Campinoti so a single vineyard wine was made straight away. Casanovina refers to the house on the property. Another example of a site wine, as opposed to Riserva stylistics which to be honest are not Riccardo’s style. “It doesn’t add much, in my opinion.” Last tasted February 2020

Riccardo’s first vintage from the Galestro strewn soils at 220m next to Baricci on the northerly Montosoli hill is a completely different animal altogether. The tannic structure is so opposite to the southerly wines, here taut, twined laces pulled oh so tight. Not without the Ragnaie tonality mind you and the transparency, clear, distinct and honest. Not necessarily a terroir vintage and fermentation occurred in oak vats (as oppsed to the concrete for the others) and yet it’s so bloody sangiovese. Blood of Montosoli. Drink 2022-2038. Tasted October 2019

Mastrojanni Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Vigna Loreto 2015 ($63.95)

Quite a heady and rich Vigna from Mastrojanni, full of dark fruit, caramel and chocolatey flavours. So rich and also youthfully reductive, fruit and acidity thick as thieves. The texture is outrageous, smooth and yet this is the grippiest ’15 around. A beast that attacks the senses with fervour and intent. Drink 2023-2032. Tasted February 2020

Podere Salicutti Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Piaggione 2015

Piaggione stands apart, namely because the vineyard is lower, lighter in clay and the vines are the oldest of the cru. Lay of the land is 420-450m facing south, taking in sun and developing the biggest muscle. Not just more muscular but also on a broad shouldered frame. The adonis of cru, grippy and ripped, but first from a fistful of fruit strong enough to stand up and be counted. Bigger, more brawn, higher in alcohol, older in school of a certain era, or one that just seems to keep coming around. Stash Piaggione away and forget about it for a while. Drink 2023-2034. Tasted February 2020

Podere Salicutti Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Sorgente 2015

Podere Salicutti Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Teatro 2015

Less than a hectare, planted in 1994 (same year as Piaggione) and as the name suggests the block spreads out like an amphitheatre. The yields on the vineyard are low but through the 2016 vintage they were far less than now because the team have been fighting the voracious eating nottua caterpillar, at night, picking them off buy hand. The oak on Teatro is 10 and 20hL because these are the size that work with the low yields. I love Ieatro it should be said, as it is, indeed dutifully herbal, rich yet ethereal, dry and resinous. Less muscular than Piaggione but more in common with that cru wine. Drink 2022-2032. Tasted February 2020

Salvioni Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG La Cerbaiola 2015

Salvioni’s is a deeply welling sangiovese with fully developed and formed 2015 fruit and no less than a 20 year architectural frame on which to hang. All the land’s attributes of growth are there in aromatic waves; brush and bush of herbs, mineral salts, essential oils. So much going on, character all over the expression and the sense of pace so high and squarely intact. Drink 2023-2032. Tasted February 2020

San Polino Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Helichrysum 2015

Very rich and crafty Vigna Brunello here from San Polino, rich in phenolics and chocolate though not so spirited in acidity and energy. Quite warming and caressing, a couverture of wood blankets and secures the fruit. Drinkable soon and in the near term for sure. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted February 2020

T alenti Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Pian Di Conte 2015 ($120.00)

A Sant’Angelo in Colle viilage treasure is this Riserva made from fruit grown on estate vines at 400m just northwest of the administrative frazione. There is so much wine, substance and intensity at play in this near massive 2015. It is one with a soft core in its heart and so you can imagine the elasticity, nimble agility and the incredible length that will be the matter when the time comes to right. That fruition is at least five if not to be 10 years away. So much fruit from which tonneaux, grandi botti and variegated soils support the idea. Drink 2025-2035. Tasted February 2020

Tenute Silvio Nardi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Vigneto Manachiara 2015

Serious wine here from Nardi, rich and nectareous, exotic and welling with big fruit flavours. The secondary and tertiary attributes can do nothing but lift and lengthen this wine towards epochs of imitable time. Look to open six bottles every three years for up to 20 in total. Drink 2022-2033. Tasted February 2020

Tenute Silvio Nardi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Poggio Doria 2015

Poggio Doria is the wild child of Silvio Nardi, a high acid, bigger tannic structure sangiovese of pulse, energy and drive. Fruit substance is high, tones are equally elevated and time will do great things to this wine. Full throttle, edgy, briny, intense, grippy and full of so much Montalcino love. Drink 2024-2034. Tasted February 2020

Brunello di Montalcino DOCG (other vintages, 14 notes)

Le Chiuse Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2014

The herbal-amaro-cool savour of the vintage really shows at the present time. That said the silkiness of the tannins and the later note of salty sapidity shows just hop\w long this is likely to age. Drinking really well. Last tasted February 2020

Just eight thousand bottles made in this vintage with no Riserva in production. A completely different look at 2014 with this bottle, at the top of integrity, with Le Chiuse savour, throwback complexity and great brightness, surely blessed and pushed upwards for the future. Showing the way it was meant to. A reflection of the vintage and proof of time afforded the vineyard. Last tasted October 2019

Le Chiuse delivers one of the realer deals in 2014 Brunello, with admirably pleasing and concentrated fruit set against a traditional backdrop of ripe acidity, minor Brettanomyces and full-bodied tannins. As it’s not an overly perfumed sangiovese it bucks the vintage trend if only because it avoids botrytis-affected atypical aromas. It’s quite a rich 2014, certainly a bit volatile and capable of going longer than most. Finishes by leaving you a linger of its chewy mouthful. Drink 2022-2030. Tasted February 2019

Canalicchio Di Sopra Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG “Canalicchio Di Sopra” 2013

This ’13 from Francesco Ripaccioli and Canalicchio di Sopra is sangiovese out of the excellent, variable, at times confounding and now at the seven year mark, nothing if not profound vintage. Perhaps even marks the turning point for a winemaker looking for his and his family’s sense of place, for a unique eastern to northeastern Montalcino sapidity in his wines. “We are learning from our mistakes,” he admits, “such as those we made in 2007. We are now much more going in the direction of purity in fruit and clean clarity out of the cellar.” Brunello is all about freshness, verticality and depth. The 2013 comes from what Francesco would still qualify as “not so easy a vintage, a vintage of interpretation.” Cold for a Montalcino season so he, his siblings and team passed through the vineyards on several occasions for preparation, timing and selection. “We like to clean the vineyard, to prepare for the harvest,” he adds. Picking happened in October “of amazingly floral fruit, finishing on the 11th, just as the rain arrived. Better to be lucky than good.” ‘Tis Brunello first of flowers in bloom, a candied scent and fresh herbs. Fulsome and openly fragrant, a silky texture, some chocolate and ultimately, beauty. Drink 2020-2030. Tasted February 2020

Canalicchio Di Sopra Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2013

Showing beautifully, in a calm stage even, a respite from power and now, simply attractive. All the Canalicchio elements from clay soil show up; mild sweetness, furthered salinity and a deep sort of sapidity. Nothing fully pronounced but all there. Great Riserva vintage. Last tasted February 2020

Riserva is a selection in the cellar though certain blocks from certain vintages are premeditated and in fact 2013 Riserva is solely selected from the Montosoli hill. The perfume stands apart, rising, haughty and full of fresh roses. The expression of rocks drawn into vines from the new age, climate-affected northern exposure are for perhaps the first time in the Cru’s history a brand new Canalicchio di Sopra Brunello. Salinity, sapidity, power and elegance. Truly. Drink 2022-2035. Tasted October 2019

Castello Banfi Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Poggio All’Oro 2013 (443267, $190.00)

Already having entered a secondary stage this from Banfi drives the point that a Brunello Di Montalcino’s aging is done for you, first in barrel and then in bottle, so that when you purchase and pop it is ready to go. Earthy secondary notes of wet forest, funghi and then balsamico are heady and deep. The acids remain strong and persistent for necessary energy and life. A well seasoned and thoughtfully crafted Riserva is the final result. Drink 2020-2025. Tasted February 2020

La Gerla Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2013

Somehow, some way this is how Riserva in Montalcino is imagined. The deepest inhalant of savour and the years of barrel aging for an aromatic amalgamation of epochs primary, secondary and tertiary. This ’13 already accesses the move to the next and the next. It is the epitome of what Riserva has come to mean and carries the torch as it has been passed forth. Drink 2020-2025. Tasted February 2020

Le Chiuse Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Diecianni 2013

Canalicchio Di Sopra Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2012

“Reduction is a way to preserve the freshness and the florals of the wine,” tells winemaker Francesco Ripaccioli. Sangiovese is better set up and suited this way and while some Balsamico is now speaking through this ’12 Riserva’s voice, much of the aromatics are still situated in the realm of a high-toned grace. Last tasted February 2020

A year previous to the ’13 Riserva (which will be made exclusively from Montosoli hill fruit) there is the depth of clay and controlled power out of Canalicchio cru vines. The absolute attention paid to patience and time is noted from a Brunello such as this, spoken out within the constructs of fruit extraction and wood usage. The tannins are red meaning they are ripe and request that you give this wine as much time as it gave before going to bottle and then to market. Lush, consistent from start to finish and just hinting at notes not quite Balsamico but something other, something derived from sangiovese grown in the grey clay of La Casaccia. Drink 2021-2032. Tasted October 2019

Le Chiuse Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Diecianni 2012

The ’12 will be released on January 1st, 2022, as per the moniker, a Riserva taken from the smallest grape clusters in estate vineyards and mainly the oldest vines, originally planted in 1987. But they were sold to Franco Biondi Santi (and the land was owned by Grandmother Ferella until she died in 1987) until Lorenzo’s parents (Simonetta and Niccolo) began making wines in 1992. Those vines were personally selected by Franco to graft from and plant at Le Chiuse. The name Le Chiuse is quite apropos for this 2012, a relatively big vintage and the wine is quite tight in spite of having already spent eight years in waiting. Yes the nose emanates an intoxicating liqueur and one of deep floral tones but it’s still a bit closed. Some 12s are very aggressive and this is one with the finest and the most balance. Almost too beautiful already so long but not forever. Drink 2023-2034. Tasted February 2020

Le Chiuse Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Diecianni 2010

The finest and silkiest of tannins and a natural complexity that has simply developed on its own. Four years ago this would not have been the case. Begin the drinking journey anytime if you can give it six to eight hours of air, or wait another year or two. The maker would want you to do it right. He held it back for the timing to be just right. Last tasted February 2020

“A muscle vintage, of huge character,” tells Lorenzo Magnelli. The name of the wine is Diecianni to tell us that Lorenzo’s Riserva is not released until the 10th year. Brings about all the complexities that come from such an extended elévage. Tobacco, savour, forest floor, frutta di bosco and frutto secco but don’t be succumbing to depths and sottosuolo because the freshness persists. A wine so wise beyond its years, like its maker. Sure you can release a Riserva one year after Annata but when it has been protected and taken care of for you then it presents as it was intended to. We are thankful for the triage and the investment on our behalf. The fruit persists with great natural sweetness out of 2010. Drink 2019-2035. Tasted October 2019

Col d’Orcia Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2010

Brunello at 10 years is like the Rosso in advance and then not at all. The fruit aromas are all skin, scraped, studded and seasoned. You can feel how special the vintage phenols were and continue to be, now in their twilight of first stage freshness. It may be remembered as a vintage less than eventful but you can also make note of what must have been great bold bitters and demanding skeletal framing that kept pleasure down. Rising now, flesh in pulse and equitable tacit celebration. Heady and big Brunello from a vintage gone long on stuffing. Drink 2020-2030. Last tasted February 2020

Largesse and a firmess of being as per the house style are rampant in Col D’Orcia’s 2010, a wine that reminds me of 1998 and 2000. A wine that will seem lean, mean and terrifying in its youth but will prove everyone wrong when it hits the 12-15 year stride. This is a monster bringing leather and chocolate to the table. It is nearly unapproachable at the present time but you can imagine and embrace the possibility of potential. Drink 2020-2035. Tasted September 2016

Col d’Orcia tasting on the ’00s

Col d’Orcia Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2000

So hard to know how Col d’Orcia’s Brunelli are able to glide so stealthily through time without haste and with so much slow moving grace. But here is yet another bit of restrained sangiovese power, wild of fruit heart and subtle in animal behaviour. The high acidity vintage spreads the energetic love with great and intentional fervour, showing as credibly and forcefully as could possibly have hoped or expected. Cold, cloud cover vintage does the yeoman work for sangiovese lifeblood to send it 20 years forward for all to believe. 2000, baby. Drink 2020-2027. Tasted February 2020

Col d’Orcia Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Poggio al Vento 1990

Sometimes a vintage of great repute and universal declaration does live up to its billing. And yet this from a time when the declarers knew a thing or two about soothsaying declarations. Thirty years and no great movement save for a transfer to the ethereal, the zeitgeist and the Italian version of said realm. No sully and all clarity with a marbling of strength, as in petrified balsamico and bitter chocolate made sweet by a powerful tempering. Tannins still shot out of cannons and leaving vapour trails of dried porcini dust. Drink 2020-2026. Tasted February 2020

Col d’Orcia Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 1990

Surely an exercise in comparative liturgies to taste two Col d’Orcia 1990s side by each, first the single expression of Poggio al Vento followed by Riserva. Why the first is poured to follow the second is confounding and then the acidity strikes, the power is freed and the understanding is gained. Riserva 1990, much like the 2000 poured 15 minutes earlier is a formidable thing and hopeful in an attempt at admirable restraint. Though it may have been born in the same vintage as the ’90 Poggio al Vento the sibling rivalry is in. Here the acids are aggressive, striking, searing and almost violating. Even more so than the 2000’s. Though the morbido finesse of the PaV wins one battle, the force and further estimable longevity of this Riserva wins the other. If you could pick only one, which would it be? Drink 2020-2029. Tasted February 2020

Col d’Orcia Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 1980

Oh my word 1980 carries plenty of residual acidity in an antithetically mild, wholly and utterly unexpected way. Energy, potency, drive and this unrelenting need to express itself. Tight, taut, slinging arrows of tension that make the fruit or what’s left of it almost inconsequential. In actuality there is fruit, namely red currant, sour cherry and pomegranate. Improves with these flavours away from the clay-earthy aromatics and lingers good and plenty. Stays with you, as it has done for 40 years. Drink 2020-2023. Tasted February 2020

With Conte Francesco Marone Cinzano of Col d’Orcia

Barrel Samples

Canalicchio Di Sopra Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2016

Canalicchio Di Sopra Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Casaccia 2016

Good to go!

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