Godello

Zisola Azisa Grillo Sicilia DOC 2024

De Rigueur Sicilia en Primeur 2025

Aug25

Modica

From May 6th through 10th, 2025, the 21st Sicilia en Primeur signalled the annual return of Assovini Sicilia’s proper, correct and yes, also decorous event. Journalists from all over the world arrived by invitation only for a week during which de rigueur was encouraged and for best results, most definitely required. A strict precision needed in adhering to the dictates of weather, cultural fashion, tasting and taking in the final night gala at a luxurious palazzo. The 21st edition’s title “The Culture of Wine in Sicily: A Thousand-year Story that Looks to the Future,” was defined by Mariangela Cambria, President of Assovini Sicilia as “the culture of wine today also translates into a culture of travel.” This is why the abiding delegation of 100 journalists were focused on this essential part of this journey, with their charge to bring the message back home. They came from Italy and many parts of Europe (France, Poland, Sweden, Germany, Norway), also from non-EU countries (Canada, USA, Japan, China, South Korea, Israel, Brazil, and the United Kingdom). Together they engaged in a collective etiquette to celebrate Sicilian wine, food and culture, inclusive of gorging on piping hot finger foods between en primuer tastings at lunch under a hot Modica sun because in Sicily, eating Arancini with your hands is de rigueur.

Neapolis Archaeological Park

As always the Sicilian Ante-Antreprima sees groups of international journalists making pilgrimages to wineries geographically positioned within a particular quadrant on the largest Mediterranean island. In 2025 Godello joined Zedcomm’s Lucia Boarini and JustSicily’s Marcos del Rio, along with journalists Fernanda Roggero (Sole 24 Ore), Christer Byklum (Mywinesandmore), Giuseppe Lauria (Weinwisser), David Ransom (The Connected Table) and Matthias Stelzig (Weinwelt) for an Enotour around the area of Noto. The group took in the ancient urban ruins of the Neapolis Archaeological Park, the seaside village of Marzamemi, Noto city (Including a caffè and dolce at Corrado Assenza’s Caffè Sicilia) and a stay at the beautifully charming and calming Villa Giulia Hotel. Visits were paid at Zisola, La Giasira, Ramaddini, Feudo Maccari and Planeta. When all was said, tasted, travelled, assessed, satiated and done, the group then joined the rest of the journalists fresh off of their own tours for the two-day Sicilia en Primeur at the Castello dei Conti di Modica.

Godello in Noto

Assovini Sicilia was founded in 1998 by Giacomo Rallo, Diego Planeta and Lucio Tasca and today has 101 member companies producing approximately 900 labels. After a day of technical tasting everyone convened at the Teatro Garibaldi in Modica for more de rigueur talks, including a discussion about “the culture of wine understood as informed and conscious drinking,” led by Dr. Sara Farnetti, Ph.D in Pathophysiology of Metabolism and Nutrition. Master of Wine Andrea Lonardi spoke on the “S factor: The uniqueness of the Sicilian wine continent.” Words from Dario Stefàno, President of the Wine and Oil Tourism Centre (Lumsa University) and Antonello Maruotti, Professor of Statistics (Lumsa University) concerned “The south innovating through events, e-commerce and new hospitality models for wine tourism.” Then finally it was Alessio Planeta, President of the SOStain Sicilia Foundation, speaking about “the sustainable future of Sicilian wine.”

With Corrado Assenza – Caffè Sicilia, Noto

The event concluded on the 10th of May, again at the Castello dei Conti, with tastings of wines from the 57 Assovini Sicilia producers. As always Godello wishes to thank the professional and gracious organization of Zedcomm’s Cecilia Zanasi, Delia Demma, Martina Romeo, Lucia Boarini and Michele Marmino; JustSicily’s Giusi Macchiarella, Giuliana Palazzolo, Giuliana Licata di Baucina, Silvia Mantegna, Marcos del Rio and Federica Matranga; Assovini Sicilia’s Liliana Rosano. These are Godello’s 188 tasting notes from Noto visits at Zisola, La Giasira, Ramaddini, Feudo Maccari and Planeta, along with the wines tasted at Castello dei Conti.

Filippo Mazzei at Zisola

Zisola

Filippo Mazzei and family have spent 20 years managing the biodiversity of Zisola, where lemon, pink grapefruit, clementine and almond trees line the vineyard. These are white soils though in Sicily they do not reflect the sun and raise temperatures, as they do in Tuscany. “This kind of soil can keep humidity for a long time,” explains Mazzei. “Even in July and August we don’t have A/C at Zisola.” The first plantings were 20 hectares of nero d’Avola plus one each of syrah and petit verdot. Later on grillo and catarratto, all within six to seven kms of the sea and three to Noto. There are now 25 total hectares of vines and the fermentation cellar was built in 2004.

Zisola’s Parmigiana di Pesce Spada

A visit to Zisola will surely include a walk through one of Sicily’s great vineyard blocks followed by a tasting of highest calibre wines. A word of encouragement will say that three dishes might also show up on the table. Parmigiana di Pesce Spada, Penne con Finnochietto and Gelo di Limone. Should you be so lucky, karma would not be a b@%&h. Karma would be calm, neutral, reasonable and generous.

Zisola is not a place where there is a tradition for white wine and there is just one hectare of grillo planted. The name is an extension from Azisa which can translate as “beautiful.” A small percentage is fermented on skins for 36 hours, “to increase body” says Filippo Mazzei. Balances well with the freshness and waxy-aerosol style for a white that screams citrus with a combination of lemon and especially clementine. Surely owing to the plethora of fruit trees growing about the vines. A rarity for Zisola, not only Sicilia and truly a saisfying wine. Drink 2025-2026. Tasted May 2025

Mazzei Zisola Bianco Contrada Zisola 2023, Terre Siciliane IGT

The most unique of the Zisola wines is this white catarratto made like a red, fermented on skins for three months in “cocciopesto” (as opposed to calling it what we know as amphora), a medium specific to the area. The third vintage for a sku started with the purchase of the vessels in 2021 and each are completely different, a matter of happenstance and not conscious changes or alterations. The 2023 is bloody delicious, suggestively salty, in delivery of an agreed upon “guarantee” of verticality, crazy complexity and something peculiar. Hard to describe and yet also a factor of Alberello (bush) vine training. The grillo is so very clementine but catarratto is more lemon, pink grapefruit and a finishing kiss of almond. Aging should bring about real curious transformations. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted May 2025

Mazzei Zisola Bianco Contrada Zisola 2022, Terre Siciliane IGT

A glimpse into how catarratto can begin to age and truthfully (yet also technically) nothing has yet happened. A citrus explosion, lemon first and last with great freshness and intensity. Clean and though it may be a new breed of Noto white wine it already shows an ensconced maturity with a precocious character belying its years. Last tasted May 2025

The second vintage of a 100 percent catarratto from plants that went in back in 2015 on white calcareous soils. Only bush vines and at first made into a blend with grillo. The change was made to do some skin contact and aging in amphora. Really that simple and that is the advantage, no overdoing or distraction in trying to impress. But this does just that, with vibrancy and succulence. Really taut, lemon tight, nearly but not quite piercing. Will change after three years and get honeyed. Reminds of really young Hunter valley sémillon. Top echelon decisions and so bravo Filippo Mazzei and team. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted May 2024

Zisola Sicilia Noto Rosso DOC 2022

The flagship, calling and business card from 80 percent of Zisiola’s 25 planted hectares, a nero d’avola made in the freshest of Sicilian styles. Clocks in at 12.5 percent, picked early (September 8th) for brightness and well-captured high(ish) acidity. You can feel a bit of wood (from one-third new) and there is no doubt that 20 years into this Mazzei tenure what now matters has been figured out to make nero in the way it should be made. Climbs to the current peak and while better wines are sure to come, this 2022 hits the proverbial and varietal nail on the head. Last tasted May 2025

Zisola is a project for Filippo Mazzei that began with a 700 km drive around Sicily accompanied by Diego and Alessio Planeta. Noto was chosen because of the biodiversity of the flora, to Filippo not unlike Tuscany. He also fell in love with the old Baroque town and could see a comparison between nero d’avola and sangiovese. “The decision was made based on a feeling.” The 2022 is so much fresher than the nero of 15 years ago, not to mention the balance accrued by way of alberello trained vines. Open up the dictionary and here it is. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted May 2024

Mazzei Zisola Sicilia DOC Noto Rosso 2016

Seven years later and keep in mind that Zisola is the nero d’Avola made in the largest quantity and not the Rosso destined for extended aging. But in can and 2016 is a perfect example of potential. The lustre and energy are waning though there is little secondary character, just now softening with amiable pleasantries on offer. Last tasted May 2025

Tasted with Filippo Mazzei in Palermo, Noto Rosso is nero d’avola from the Cantina in Sicily owned and operated by the Castellina in Chianti estate that produces Fonterutoli. A stainless ferment is followed by 50 per cent aging in stainless and 50 in 2nd and 3rd passage oak barrels, It’s a perfectly rich and plummy nero with great red liquorice tang and a distinction to celebrate pure, honest commerce. Very nero, very Noto. Drink 2018-2021. Tasted May 2018

Zisola’s Penne con Finnochietto

Zisola Effe Emme Petit Verdot Sicilia DOC 2021

Effe Emme is varietal petit verdot from just one hectare planted, the album rock radio red of Zisola and monogram for Filippo Mazzei. He might prefer to see this PV stitched as if by tailored cloth but the spicy aromas, exotic bouquet and volatility suggested frankly indicate something more progressively oriented. The wood is generously, suggestively and importunely employed to exaggerate notes for extended play. Requires some further aging to settle the barrel and finish the score. Last tasted May 2025

Varietal petit verdot planted in 2004, only 1.5 hectares, just about at the very beginning of Zisola. Incredibly chalky to say that it really speaks for the calcaire but time has come to effect changed so that the vines have come into balance. As petit verdot Effe Emme is not as dark and concentrated as it once was. Really showing its colours, what it is, a child of limestone soils. “Effe Emme,” F.M., long-play radio, well-spoken, one who tells things as they are, Filippo Mazzei. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted May 2024

Zisola Effe Emme Petit Verdot Sicilia DOC 2014

Second look ten-plus years forward for petit verdot that would have come off of not yet 10 year-old vines at Zisola. Showing most of its age, a smoky varietal red with truffle and a held reserve of concentration and persistent local Balsamico. Violet aromas as well, they are the beauty of perfume while the wine drifts into liquid chalkiness. On the decline but interest still holds and will do so for another 12-18 months. Last tasted May 2025

A 100 per cent petit verdot, 4,000 bottles made, big structure and at 15 per cent a massive wine. Needed to be held back an extra year and still needs two more years in bottle to soften, release and re-integrate. Big boned, spicy, wood massive and intense. Hematic with welling black fruit. Drink 2020-2027. Tasted May 2018

Zisola Doppiozeta Sicilia Noto Rosso DOC 2021

Doppiozeta is at least twice as concentrated and focused as compared to the nero d’Avola “classico,” Cru in origin on the more calcareous soils of the estate, picked just two days after the bulk of the nero and yet acidity is not insignificantly higher. Owing to the limestone but also 50m higher in elevation which surely brings just that extra amount of wind. The style of Doppiozeta is ever evolving and this 2021 marks a height of freshness and drinkability, but with a seriousness and focus to share space with top quality nerello mascalese, sangiovese and nebbiolo. Would give the ’21 another year to realize its true potential. Last tasted May 2025

Yes another fine Doppiozeta nero d’avola from the Mazzei family and their Sicilian estate. Crispy exterior, chewy interior, spice and herbs as accents, salt and pepper seasoning, chalky tannic, reasoned and knowably fine. Consistently well raised, made and delivered, signed and sealed as a really good wine. The freshness is always there and the acidity so ideally suited to grape and style. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted May 2024

Zisola Doppiozeta Sicilia Noto Rosso DOC 2017

Many hot vintages have powered through Italy as of late, including 2017 and yet Sicily was not that way, not in Noto, not anywhere. And so there is a fine and persistent freshness to Doppiozeta for ’17. A seductive sweetness from a time when the nero d’Avola was made in a more extracted, concentrated and barrel-aged way. Nevertheless in 2025 the wine is showing with distinction. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted May 2025

Mazzei Zisola Achilles 2021, Terre Siciliane IGP

Just one hectare of syrah as part of the original plantings at Zisola for one of three ultra distinct varietal reds. The most hematic meets sanguine is in a way the closest cousin to all that famous Mazzei sangiovese made way up yonder in Tuscany. In other words the syrah here seems to take on a mineral-elemental feel as notable as any red wine in Sicily. Deeply serious, concentrated and in 2021 also structured, namely because of the season. Also uniquely southeastern Sicilian and yes a few years having passed in bottle has resulted in some movement, though barrel and secondary notes are both just barely detectable. Drink 2026-2031. Tasted May 2025

La Giasira

La Giasira is Piedmontese Giovanni Boroli and his wife Veneta Isabella dating back to to 2004. The estate is 130 hectares with 13.5 under vines, of grillo, moscato, catarratto, nero d’Avola and nerello mascalese. They produce 60,000-70,000 bottles annually from vines grwoing in 10-30 cm of soil atop pure limestone bedrock. Tilling happens maybe once a year on this site at 250m above the Telaro Valley (within the Noto Valley), 20 km to both Noto and Modica, equidistant between the Ionian Sea and Sicilian Channel.

La Giasira Bianco 2024, Terre Siciliane IGT

A blend of chardonnay, moscato bianco and catarratto, picked earlier than just about ever, begun in the last week of July. From serious calcareous soils for just 5,000 bottles of Noto area clarity fermented and aged in just Inox tank. Aromatic, all in citrus and freshness captured despite or maybe thanks to the early pick. Bit of almond both floral and raw, the scents of roses and blossoms from clean start to salty finish. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted May 2025

La Giasira Grillo Sicilia DOC 2023

The grillo stands apart and alone in style when tasted side by each with the catarratto and bianco blend. Here the focus is all fruit, lemon and stone fruit, ripe and fleshy, juices running for a very full and refreshing expression. A capture of southeastern Sicilian sunshine, many heat days accumulating in this juicy grillo. Pour it cold and drink it long. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted May 2025

La Giasira Keration 2023, Terre Siciliane IGT

Varietal catarratto made with specifically catarratto lucido, just 8.000 bottles (of 60,000-ish total) from the thin soils above limestone bedrock at Giasara. Just stainless steel for six months and three in bottle ahead of release. Noticeably different to the Bianco blend, a decrease in floral citrus and jasmine, an increase in fruit (including the smell of spun sugar) and accompanying viscosity. Immediate level of gratification from a wine with luxe mouthfeel. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted May 2025

La Giasira Keration 2022, Terre Siciliane IGT

Tasted side by side with the 2023 and the consistency is more than obvious, namely by mouthfeel and viscous feel. A citrus yet reminding of bergamot in curd or granita form. Really persistent white, lingering for a minute with a moment of almond at the finish. More sapid than salty, even more so than the still truly fresh 2023. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted May 2025

La Giasira Rosato 2024, Terre Siciliane IGT

Made with 100 percent nerello mascalese from the early pick of vines planted back in 2006. If it smells and tastes like mascalese than it must be mascalese, of roses and tart red berries, here salted and finishing at rhubarb. Rosé that quenches by doing what it should for a simple and specific purpose. Ends on a sapid botanical note. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted May 2025

Unbelievable Risotto con Pesce at La Giasira

La Giasira Morhum 2023, Terre Siciliane IGT

Morhum is 100 percent nerello msacalese off of hybrid Cordone Speronato/Guyot trellised vines planted in 2006, aged nine months in (25 hL) botte grande. Several intensities noted, first floral and then an implosive tart palate style with more than impressive controlling acidity. Surely picked early extending forth to fineness and a finesse wound up in the tension. Tannins are fine and also wound tight for a light yet currently aggressive nerello mascalese. Drink 2026-2029. Tasted May 2025

La Giasira Nero d’Avola Sicilia DOC 2021

One of ten small production skus, here at 6,000 bottles of nero d’Avola raised on Cordone Speronato trellising and the serious calcareous geology at Giasira. Spends 12 months in botte grande, followed by six months in bottle ahead of release. Current vintage and so six months is more like 30 to mature a tannic nero d’avola ready and drinking in balance, just as its 13.5 percent alcohol frame would want. Forget the big, wooded and thick nero you may know and see the nebbiolo meets pinot noir forest for the Noto nero trees. The conceptual origin is kind of obvious, that being Piemonte so that here you might almost believe this to be a cool climate red. For Giasira the pick is later than most of the rest of the farm, in the last 10 days of September. There is some verdancy but it works and in all the right ways, finishing with good and proper tension. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted May 2025

La Giasira Nero d’Avola Sicilia DOC 2018

More than a notable amount of persistent freshness yet now a whole lot of exotic spice going on. Getting cardamom and cinnamon (but no clove) from a nero d’avola now at the epitome of “morbido,” in this case smooth as opposed to soft. The nose shows development if not age in terms of oxidation or secondary character. More maturity on the palate with dried bokser pod and carob. In other words classic for nero d’Avola from a warm climate made just six years ago with more wood and concentration, though nothing like some other very wooded peer examples. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted May 2025

La Giasira SIC! Spumante Metodo Classico Brut Rosato, Terre Siciliane IGT

Just nerello mascalese aged 24 months and finished below Brut with what feels like just a few grams of residual sugar. Quenching and not so serious while in delivery of great satisfaction. The clarity is palpable for such a clean sparkling wine. Taste this nerello bubble with a risotto blessed with fresh mussels and capers for a true gustatory experience. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted May 2025

La Giasira Passito di Noto Sicilia DOC 2022

A passito from grillo not produced in every vintage, citrus zesty and aerosol though teasingly dry on the nose before unveiling its sweetness and tang on the palate. Lemon gelée with the bite of granita and truth be told the limestone of Giasira’s soils surely effect the dessert wine as much as the dry whites and reds. Nice botanical edgy finish too. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted May 2025

Sicilia en Primeur Enotour 11 – Noto

Ramaddini Perla Marina Vino Spumante Brut, Terre Siciliane Bianco IGT

Charmat method sparkling wine made with the local moscato di noto, soup sugary, neutral and vague selvatica meets macchia aromas. Sweet but in a typical Brut way and number with more than vague bitters at the finish. Tasted May 2025

Ramaddini Grillo Nassa Sicilia DOC 2024

Nassa, a fishing reference for the catching of fish (owing to the nearby seaside), a 100 percent grillo grown in the Rammadini Contrada up in the hills four kilometres away from the cantina and five from the sea at Marzamemi. Lemon through and through, pith and seeds included for a bitter tonic of grillo, yellow and also green. High vigour and yields make for an insipid, vapid and diluted white wine. Tasted May 2025

Ramaddini QuattroVenti 2024, Terre Siciliane Bianco IGT

A blend of chardonnay and catarratto aged in wood and the notes waft out immediately, like smoke from a chimney. The aromas are problematic, as a baked potato which indicates the challenge of diethyl acetate. The palate does not improve much and the vanilla overpowers the fruit. Tasted May 2025

Ramaddini Nero d’Avola Sicilia DOC Noto Nere 2022

A varietal nero d’Avola aged in 70 percent steel and (30) barriques as smoky and vanilla-toasty as the whites. Surely some residual sugar fills in the holes and mellows the greenness in the wine. Waxy, sappy and syrupy. Tasted May 2025

Team JustSicily

Ramaddini Syrah Sicilia DOC Noto Nere 2022

Purely syrah as smoky and toasted as the nero d’Avola to a point where distinguishing one from the other is like trying to identify the difference between identical twins Richard and Geoff Saunders back in high school. I wonder if the syrah can write nero d’avola’s Math exam and nero can go sub in for a date with syrah’s girlfriend? But seriously there is nothing to distinguish this as Sicilian syrah, nor is their any charm, or joy to be found. Tasted May 2025

Ramaddini Patrono Nero d’Avola Riserva Sicilia DOC 2021

Longer wood aging and the signature varietal nero d’avola that takes Rammadini’s work to the next level. Not necessarily a wine that speaks to more attentive farming but instead to more attention in the cellar. The philosophy concentrates on how the wines are made and aged with the most focus on Patrono and it shows. The notes of vanilla, lavender, red berry and white chocolate shake exert themselves with impunity. You can age this for a few years and see it mellow into a soft, creamy, thickened and emulsified red. Drink 2026-2028. Tasted May 2025

Ramaddini Al Hamen Passito di Noto Sicilia DOC

Strange mix of marmalade and diesel in a moscato passito as botanical as it is gaseous. If apricot was a metal and orange slices were urinal pucks. Flawed.Can’t fathom what happened here. Tasted May 2025

Feudo Maccari

The Sicilian exploration of Tuscany’s Moretti family of Tenuta Sette Ponti. As with several other Noto area estates, Maccari was set up 25 years ago on 200 hectares with 65 planted to vines, most trained to Alberello (medio). Much like the others the location is heavily influenced by limestone soils set halfway between the Ionian and Mediterranean seas. There are predominantly nero d’Avola and grillo, but also seven hectares of syrah. The company also farms 11 hectares on L’Etna (called Etnae), namely in the Contrada Santo Spirito.

Feudo Maccari Anima Lucente Etna Bianco DOC Contrada Santo Spirito 2024

Anima Lucente is the only Maccari Etna Bianco, made with 85 percent carricante and (15) minella grown in a 700m, 60-plus year-old “garden vineyard,” on Passopisciaro bush vines. Natural ferment, half in steel and half in ”blanched” second passage French wood. Just bottled a few weeks ago and already the wood is easily integrated, subtly specialized without so much as a toasty, vanillin or buttery trace. Racy Etna Bianco from head to tail, judged, interpreted and translated as a garden blend should. Quite edenic for the ilk and of dreams realized. Not the most complex, nor does it need to be but it’s so hard not to be seduced through to the mineral-metal finish. 10,000 bottles produced. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted May 2025

Feudo Maccari Anima Vulcano Etna Rosso DOC Contrada Santo Spirito 2022

Red counterpart to the white Anima Lucente, moving from luminescent to charcoal volcanic in Rosso that spends only a reasonable and amply fortifying eight months time in barrel. Perfectly professional, seasoned, stylized and straight up the middle road taken for the DOC and more importantly but also specifically the contrada of Santo Spirito. Speaks in the clearest double “S” vernacular, explains and delivers just what is expected and frankly wanted from a contrada-specified Etna Rosso. Acids are in synch with the rusty grit split between fresh and dried elements. Stamp of guarantee. 3,000 bottles. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted May 2025

Feudo Maccari Animardente Etna Rosso DOC Contrada Santo Spirito 2022

Slightly higher elevation also from the Passopisciaro contrada of Santo Spirito, here at 750m and same vine age in and around 60 years. This time the qualifying suffix “ardente” refers to passion or a burning for something, that surely being the raising of impressive Rosso from out of the Etna lava stone flows. The reference also elicits the heat and colour of the magma fused with the current orange-hued basalt. A more serious Etna Rosso of depth and tannic intensity, doubly structured and needing time. The botanical feels mixed with structural elements more than grip the palate, hold on tight and show no immediate sign of letting go. Give this two more years. 3,000 bottles. Drink 2027-2032. Tasted May 2025

Feudo Maccari Animantica Etna Rosso DOC Contrada Santo Spirito 2022

From the owners of Tuscany’s Tenuta Sette Ponti. Animantica, a compounded abbreviation of anima and mantica, i.e. “soul and divination.” A spiritual combination for the smallest of Etna Rosso productions from Contrada Santo Spirito. Exhibits the freshness and accessibility of Anima Vulcano juxtaposed against the tannic frame and freight of Animardente but the expression is subtle, restrained and without the ardent flaunt of necessity. The vines here are 100-plus years pre-phylloxera grown in the “garden vineyard,” inclusive of some (white) minella. Rosso as graceful as any on the Etna and therefore fully qualifying as mountain wine. The tannins are suave and fluid to see a “divinazione” of 10 years or more. Just 800 bottles. Drink 2027-2036. Tasted May 2025

Feudo Maccari Grillo Sicilia DOC Olli 2024

Olli, part of grillo read backwards and a local name for the grape. A reminder how it arrived as a cross between catarratto and zibibbo, developed by Baron Antonio Mendola of Favara. Clean, fresh, ripe and accessible to all, for all the correct reasons and any time at all. Yellow fruit and flowers, some sapidity and the easiest drinking white anywhere from Sicily. Vines averaging 20 years bring the knowhow and concentration. Drink 2025-2026. Tasted May 2025

Feudo Maccari Family and Friends 2023, Terre Siciliane Bianco IGP

The wine once made for, you guessed it, family and friends that first became a commercial label with the 2012 vintage. Vineyard is now more than 20 years old with grillo vines growing in sand and limestone. The label advocates “only the best grapes” and the amenability meets style of this varietal wine suggests that to be the honest truth. A lemon intensity in concentration and bursting fleshy segments are juicing through the entirety of the wine. Again a sapid (as opposed to salty) element, not quite botany or “macchia” but savoury nonetheless. Hides the 14.5 percent alcohol frame with ease. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted May 2025

Feudo Maccari Vigna Firraru Family and Friends 2023, Terre Siciliane Bianco IGP

The most important grillo comes from the black-soiled clay vineyard above the cantina, a.k.a. Fabbro, from Sicilian dialect the name Firraru describes the colour of that terroir. Alberello vines are 20 years of age (as with all the grillo plantings) and now having come into their zone. A ferric element emerges as per the soil to separate this grillo from the other Family and Friends varietal white. Even more sapid, metallic surely and length increases. The French wood, richness and generous alcohol all impress while doing their part in well rehearsed integration. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted May 2025

Feudo Maccari Rosé di Neré Sicilia DOC 2024

More than obviously stuck to Provençal style guns with a Rosato made with nero d’Avola softly hued, pale and simple. Just two hours of skin contact plus five months of aging in steel. A lees effect, however soft and in restraint though consistently designed and presented with the Feudo Maccari sapidity up front. Showing some true to from nero notes, of ripe berries and sweet herbal savour. Well made and reachable for all. Drink 2025-2026. Tasted May 2025

Feudo Maccari Sicilia DOC Neré 2022

A mix of nero d’avola vines young and old, of 10 and over 30 for the signature varietal business card of a red wine. Dusty and notable Balsamico with a local nickname for the most important variety, not only for Noto but all of Sicily. Neré is more restrained and quaffable than ever before, with crusted, skin musky fruit and high acidity. A wine to chill and spill without thinking too much on anything at all. Drink 2025-2026. Tasted May 2025

Feudo Maccari Sicilia DOC Saia 2022

Saia comes from Arabic, a word making reference to centuries old rainwater collecting irrigation canals and the first label produced by Feudo Maccari in 2002. These are the oldest estate bush vines, now more than 30 years of age with the eyes, canes and fruit of experience. More obvious depth and layers to nero d’Avola as Saia, a treasure trove and trough filled with fruit and accompaniments in complexity. A nero adorned but also soft with some pruning of the fruit while still amply structured. Not grippy or with tension per se but in control and able to age. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted May 2025

Feudo Maccari Nero d’Avola Sicilia DOC Sultana 2022

A single vineyard nero d’avola from white limestone soils of 20-plus years that sees 10 months in tonneaux, coming out in the 15 percent alcohol range. Just one hectare like Guarnaschelli and aromatically speaking the most mineral-elemental and therefore salty nero d’avola for Feudo Maccari. Genuine depth and ideal push-pull posit tug between fresh and dried elements with a chalky understreak that speaks to the brown skeletal soil and its limestone content. A wine made in the vineyard, as they say, exaggerating and celebrating the local Balsamico and singular savoury improvisations. “Autentico.” Just 1,000 bottles made. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted May 2025

Feudo Maccari Nero d’Avola Sicilia DOC Guarnaschelli 2022

A single vineyard nero from black volcanic soils of some 60 years that sees 10 months in tonneaux, coming out in the 15 percent alcohol range. Just one hectare like Sultana and the terroir directs the result. Greater intensity and grip but also a converse style due to the ulterior elements that come from basalt as opposed to limestone. There is a richness to the mix of dried and fresh fruit, Balsamico and macchia, a layering that continually delivers more and more. The clarity and finesse from Guarnaschelli do well to balance and smoothen both the new wood and elevated level of alcohol. Just 1,000 bottles made. Drink 2027-2035. Tasted May 2025

Feudo Maccari Syrah Sicilia DOC Mahâris 2022

From seven hectares of syrah, the second label produced at Feudo Maccari, first vintage 2005. The name refers to Arab watch towers along the sea coast and it is the wine “that symbolizes the meeting of different styles and cultures.” In other words syrah brought to Sicily and how it has prospered, with FM being one of the pioneers in terms of scale and time having worked with the French variety. Then again the legend of Marcus Aurelius, Syracusa and the variety have by now become one to make this one of the island’s own. The 2022 is full and wooded, seasoned to the hilt and within good reason because this is what the grape wants from Noto. Fruit and structure are tied by sweet acidity as much as they are by tannic freight. Full wine and one to impress. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted May 2025

With Santi and Alessio Planeta in Noto

Planeta

Diego Planeta. Pioneer, visionary and a man who considered the entire island an agricultural playground where anything was possible. The Planeta family has Spanish origins and roots dating back five hundred years. Diego Planeta was the former president of the Settesoli Cooperative and founder of Planeta winery. His passing in 2020 left an irreplaceable hole but 15 cousins, including Alessio, Francesca and Santi Planeta are the beneficiaries of their uncle’s plans and legacy. Five family members run the day-to day operation and more than 200 vinicultural, viticultural, administrative and marketing artisans share in the collective vision. Today they work, farm sustainably and reap the benefits of five distinct estates but more than that they bring the fruits of these locations to the world. No other producer in Sicilia does this, not with the scope and breadth they do.

Noto is the birthplace of nero d’Avola, graced with calcareous soils like Jerez and Champagne, not really comparable to anywhere else. Noto is close to Vittoria in how the wines come to be but it’s a mobile texture, silken and with velvety tannins. The soft hills of Buonivini are blessed by soft breezes arising from the meeting of two seas, ideal for nero d’Avola and moscato, but also almonds, carobs and olives, symbolic plants of the Mediterranean location. The three vineyards are agliastro, buonvini and zuppardo on 45 hectares, acquired piece by piece, today producing the DOC wines Santa Cecilia, Moscato di Noto and Passito di Noto.

Country lunch at Planeta, Noto

Planeta Noto DOC Allemanda 2024

Always the (totally) dry moscato from Noto, white grape that has been a focus for Planeta not quite but almost since the beginning. From the Bounivini – Agliastro vineyards built of lime, soy marl and whitest of white chalk. A low production vintage because of drought and small berries though the aromatic variety translates as high and expressive as ever. Freshness and botanicals meet at the middle where citrus predominates. No questioning the quality and intensity for what must be viewed as a singular style and effect of white wine. Never searing and of a sapid notion that seems too bely the calcari, but that is exactly why this moscato works as a dry white wine. If you like top echelon dry palomino then this will induce interest along a similar line. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted May 2025

Planeta Noto DOC Allemanda 2020

A fine Sicilian vintage with ideal climatic conditions and looking back four years you get some evolution in the way you might think about what happens with dry sémillon or riesling. Now an arriving mix of honey and petrol to compliment the concentrating mandarin and lime blossom notes. In a way it feels like a sweetness is developing but that is a faux reality because there is literally no sugar in this moscato. Testing 2020 in 2025 seems just about right – another year and things will really go secondary. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted May 2025

In the Noto cellar with Alessio Planeta

Planeta Noto DOC Allemanda 2014

More than 10 years have passed and forget secondary because tertiary has come to town. Fully developed maturity between the honey and petrol, sapidity strong and metal savoury, everything having coalesced into a finished and now finishing wine. This is where moscato will go, here with distinction because of how clean and competent it bagged character all those years ago. Drink 2025. Tasted May 2025

Planeta Nero d’Avola Noto DOC Controdanza 2021

The first vintage of this specialized dance in Noto was 2016 and here five years later we begin to see the balance and personality really showing forth. Also from where and how the heavy presence of white limestone grabs ahold of nero d’Avola’s soul and hauls it straight down to the ground. All the carob and some liquorice define the flavours of Controdanza for a full and satisfying experience, replete with fine acidity and elastic intensity. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted May 2025

Planeta Santa Cecilia Noto DOC 2022

A preview yet to be released but a finished wine bottled a year ago. The first vintage (as a reminder) was 1997 and 50 percent is aged (12 months) in new wood, the rest of the nero d’Avola in used barrel. Two parcels of the Zuppardo and Agliastro they are, both contributing to the mille-feuille layers that deliver wave after wave of varietal flavour, character and soul. They are the most importantly identified white (calcareous) soils chosen for this flagship varietal red in the Planeta world. Santa Cecilia owns a chalkiness in its tannic profile that feels singular, non-inimitable and willing to take 10-15 years to fully transform. The 2022 is a prime example of a latest vintage produced serving as its best. Drink 2027-2035. Tasted May 2025

Planeta Santa Cecilia Noto DOC 2021

Not much movement as of yet, save for a moment of carob, naturally honeyed with caramel and earthiness. Speaks to ripeness as much as maturity. The acids from 2021 are at the fore right now, loudest of clamour and opening the window for clarity and the complex fruit component coming into focus. Yes there is a minor feeling off secondary character but just in infancy to suggest three more years in this stage. Last tasted May 2025

Such a fine iteration of nero d’avola as Santa Cecilia, a 2021 more mature and open than before but is that not what it should be? Fruit so naturally curated, sweet and generous to speak of a great potential and long future. Fine acidity as well while also necessary and yet as the wine sits on the palate those credible and knowable quality of nero tannins remind of Cecilia’s past. Anyway this is both handsome and beautiful, vulnerable and strong. Fluid and confident, loving and powerful, with a spoonful of Noto nourishment to last a very good long time. Drink 2025-2034. Tasted May 2024

Planeta Santa Cecilia Noto DOC 2011

Now well into secondary with plenty of tertiary having come to take over the personality of Santa Cecilia 2011. Still there is some freshness of fruit and especially how acidity affects the development of original elements transforming into later life pleasure. Now showing as a perfectly gorgeous 13-14 year-old nero d’Avola from a second stage understanding within the overall Planeta idiom. Last tasted May 2025

Santa Cecilia from 2011 is a special nero d’avola, balanced in silent but sweetly deadly acquiescence of Noto’s white chalky soils. Her tannins are abundant and smooth, running in one direction and so it’s a wonder how un-evolved and yet so involved this nero d’avola is equipped to believe about and with great kindred spirit with itself. That it presents this youthful and yet to advance is a thing magical and sincere. Inner strength is one thing but outward beauty is the real deal. Or is it the other way around? Either way they combine for one of Cecilia’s greatest acuity and remainder of structure. Drink 2018-2026. Tasted May 2018 and April 2022

Tasting at Planeta, Noto

Planeta Frappato Vittoria DOC 2024

Great freshness and red berry fruit define frappato for Vittoria, “a grape that is magic and if you plant it outside of Vittoria it is not so interesting,” explains Alessio Planeta. “In my opinion.” The aromas and flavours of the grape are expertly preserved, here bursting and the herbal or savoury aspect is so much sweeter from Vittoria, noting like basil or chervil. What matters is the soil’s origin, that being marine and when the grape is frappato the handling simplifies so that the freshness, fleshiness and simple beauty is exulted. This may be simple but it’s also brilliant. Low alcohol (12.5 percent) and above average pH matched by just below tart acidity to result in fragrance and balance. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted May 2025

Planeta Frappato Vittoria DOC 2023

The first vintage of Planeta’s Cerasuolo Di Vittoria was 2001 from the area of Acate and vineyards of Dorilli and Mogli. Acidity just a bit higher than varietal frappato and pH conversely lesser. The effect of nero d’avola leads to this wine’s balance between fresh fruit and linear structure. Quantity was down 20-ish percent in 2023 and concentration feels elevated, corresponding to healthier levels of quality and tannic structure. Not always a 60-40 nero d’avola to frappato but that does seem to be the comfort zone, although Alessio Planeta is not adverse to a much higher number for the nero. I mean this is just perfectly balanced, juicier than ever and subtly structured for a five-plus year run. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted May 2025

Planeta Cerasuolo di Vittoria Classico DOCG Dorilli 2022

Dorilli is the single-vineyard nero d’Avola residing at the pinnacle of Cerasuolo for Planeta. Brighter and upwardly airy to ethereal than ever before, here with a 10 percent increase of the nero d’Avola from the classico Cerasuolo and yet alcohol, acidity and pH are almost always aligned within a tightly defined spectrum. This regardless of how much of each grape are employed which tells us that soils and place, clay-limestone soil and Vittoria are the greatest determining factors for results. That being lithe, fresh and frankly also exciting. Cru Beaujolais lovers must not turn away from Cerasuolo, not when it is made in this style. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted May 2025

Planeta Passito di Noto DOC 2024

From Noto’s Buonavini winery/vineyard and also that of Agliastro and their whitest of white limestone terroir. Lemon and mandarin incarnate in any way your imagination can conjure, from curd through gelée to granita. Pure and focused, clean and all about the fruit. The best thing you could do is put a glass of this Passito next to a plate of Sicily’s finest master pastries made by Corrado Assenza at Café Sicilia. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted May 2025

Planeta Nocera Sicilia DOC 2023

A world unto itself with few peers making the yeoman work of nocera production and yet this grape holds plenty of potential. It may be ancient and perceived as rustic but in the hands of Planeta it’s tamed and gifted as something easy, satisfying and quite complex. You can drink this with ease and without tension, its fruit more musky and leathery than say frappato but with nary a meant of drying, tough chew or earthiness. This 2024 is youthful and got right for a varietal teaching moment that also delivers a true sense of pleasure matched by pace. Last tasted May 2025

One of the very few pleasantly made varietal nocera on the island and the only one presented here at the ’24 Anteprima. Surely found to exist along similar lines to nero d’Avola, with a touch more rusticity, also chewy liquorice and leathery fruit character. The 2023 is a good if not high acid nor rather tannic vintage, assembled and delivered for earlier drinking than some. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted May 2024

All the wines of Sicilia en Primeur

Sparkling

Alessandro di Camporeale Método Classico 2020

Solo catarratto, vibrant, exciting, exploding, 36 months on the lees. Crazy flavours on your palate. Ginger and smoulder. Drink 2025-2026. Tasted May 2025

Alessandro di Camporeale Método Classico 2017

This is the second vintage and for a catarratto that spent 72 months on the lees it’s actually mind-blowing. The wine is crisp, crunchy, salty, expansive, vertical and frankly exceptional. Next up 96 months? Drink 2025-2030. Tasted May 2025

Cantine Fina Pas Dosé 2019

A proper smoulder leads off for this 70 percent chardonnay and (30) pinot noir blend finished clean and unadulterated. No dosage? No problem because of the toasty, umami-savoury, macchia-laden, of plants identified and also those not. Palate exhibits some peanut shell which speaks to a momentary temperature drag in the processing but with all the exotics running amok there is terrific interest nonetheless. Last tasted May 2025

A mix of chardonnay and pinot noir, 70 and 30. Toasty style, sharp and focused, 36 months on the lees to give it aromatic volume from the get go. Certainly not an oxidative style, far from it and the middle ground for Bruno Fina’s sparkling program that began with 24 months and has progressed to 60 on yeast time. More volume on the palate and even fleshiness than expected to suggest that Fina is a natural at making sparkling wines. No wood – only stainless steel. Experimentation has come thus far and perhaps wood aging is coming in the future. Wishing for more length but the linger is full and positive. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted May 2024

With the Sommeliers of AIS Sicilia

Fazio Brut Blanc de Blancs Erice DOC

Concentrated and pulpy fruit forward fizz from chardonnay picked at higher ripeness than most. Feels like Cuvé Close style, big fruit and carbonation doing their best to get together. Simple and juicy-frothy with neither issue nor complexity. Drink 2025-2026. Tasted May 2025

Feudo Dsisa Rene’ Sicilia DOC 2017

Über reductive and reactive chardonnay sparkling not perfectly clean. Not quite bitterness in the flavours but more like toasted almond skin. Medium toast and mid-level persistence. No excitement or positive linger neither. Drink 2025-2026. Tasted May 2025

Principe di Butera Metodo Classico Nero d’Avola Pas Dosé 2019

A classic method sparkling wine 36 months on the lees, charged and excited, rich and buttressed for full mouthfeel with bubbles that elevate the game. Harvested in the second part of August also off of plants that were first planted 27 years ago. The higher parts richer in limestone are used for the Pas Dosé and those in the valley clays more for Brut. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted May 2025

Principe di Butera Metodo Classico Nero d’Avola Rosato Extra Brut 2019

A 24 months on lees after a couple of hours on the skins for Extra Brut with some sugar but nothing gratuitous and vines growing in the lower parts where limestone gives way to clay. Smooth, really with uplifting acidity and rusty red fruit character. Professionalism incarnate and ideal stylish personality for Sicilian sparkling wine. Drink 2025-2028. Last tasted May 2025

Not labeled as such and this is the first vintage release but the vintage is in fact 2019. Twenty four months on the lees and this being the beginning to introduce the wine but subsequent vintages that will likely age longer. Extra Brut so right around 6-7 g/L with explosive acidity so the balance is spot on. Orange and lemon, no pith and less bitters to speak of. Really clean and good length. Tasted May 2023

Tenuta Ferrata Etna DOC Spumante 2021

Fine fizz work with the local nerello mascalese stripped of skin muskiness and replaced with a volcanic savour so distinctly if discreetly basaltic in nature. What should sparkling wine from L’Etna do? This actually, with linger and persistence. Grows on the palate and finishes with edible fungi, umami in nature, all in all a positive result for those who are carriers of that “other” positive sensory gene. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted May 2025

Tenute Nicosia Sosta Tre Santi Etna Brut DOP “Sessantasei” Método Classico 2018

Quiet, admittedly demure entry, of nerello mascalese and the trenchant intention to develop all three essential tenets of sparkling wine. Aromas, textures and flavours are all slowly and incrementally enhanced by serving a long time period upon the lees. In the vicinity of six years for this bubble and dio mio, man how things have come to a combination of curiosity and softness. Spicing yes, but texture is key, mouth-filling, reaching all corners and edges through a lengthy journey resulting in rolling waves, oscillations and blanketing couverture. Substantial sparkling with grace. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted May 2025

Terrazze Dell’Etna Blanc Brut 2020

Reductive and flinty bubble unique to Etna with a can’t miss the chardonnay character. A sharp and crunchy bite into a just picked yellow apple. Balanced and softening on the palate for one of the most tenable blanc sparkling wines ever to try from a mountain producer. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted May 2025

Rosato

Benanti Etna Rosato DOC 2024

High aromatic substance, tree fruit blossoms, fruit forward with concentration. Stone fruit, nerello mascalese skin muskiness, though never pungent. Caught at reputable ripeness for Rosato, its verdancy a matter of natural extension, acidity never sharp, nor failing. Palate luxe and soft though the savour persists and it all falls into place for the category. Drink 2025-2026. Tasted May 2025

Cantine Fina Rosato Hanami 2024, Terre Siciliane IGT

Rosé of merlot and syrah, lithe and salty, a vague earthy funk that comes from a mix of soil and how these grapes interact as such. First vintage was 2019 and the path is getting clearer. The tang is extremely high which makes for a slightly vivid example out of this vintage. Drink 2025-2026. Tasted May 2025

Cottanera Etna Rosato DOC 2024

As straightforward, generous and fruit-centric as Etna Rosato can be, open for all blush needs. Summer is a glass as they say and no, Etna Rosé was not like this just 10, or perhaps even five years ago. Yet here they are and come to the world with all the fulfillments the genre could offer. Plenty good and good for plenty of reasons. Drink 2025-2026. Tasted May 2025

Feudo Montoni Rosé di Adele Nerello Mascalese 2024, Terre Siciliane IGT

Intense nerello mascalese aromatics, of floral red berry bloom perfume and into savoury flavours, of all that lives and breathes in a natural Sicilian world. Perhaps a smaller crop and size of berry is the reason for these results but regardless the concentration alters the ’24 course of a Montoni Rosato. Would love to sip this alongside any of the many eggplant preparations by Montoni’s Melissa Muller. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted May 2025

Girolamo Russo Etna Rosato DOC 2024

Finely composed and balanced Rosato from Giuseppe Russo, ideally mixing ripe nerello mascalese with sweetly captured acidity. You can sip his 2024 and feel the composure straight away, plus enough generosity and grace befitting of all the wines in the strongest of portfolios. Here Rosé is a gift because the fruit is precious in that it should rightly have become Rosso. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted May 2025

Planeta Rosé Sicilia DOC 2024

A mix of nero d’Avola with syrah and sauvignon blanc for more spark and sharpness which Rosato by Planeta most definitely has. Crisp bites, herbal, some macchia and provider of thirst quenching abilities. Drink 2025-2026. Tasted May 2025

Cecilia Carbone – Serra Ferdinandea

Serra Fernandinea Rosato Sicilia DOC 2024

It rained on the 9th of May and then not again until the 19th of August. Picked between the 11th and 14th of August (with Ferragosto in between) and with this in glass most will have no idea it’s even Rosé. Vin gris is the look but not the intention because when you press nero d’Avola it’s a matter of minutes between this and colour. Remember the owners are Provençal and in southern Sicily the same effect is desired. That would be lithe, salty, fresh and with unlimited spirit. The spirit and nature of the place. As this does and is just that. First scent speaks to Rosato of a distinct and singular nature, like a marine breeze blowing in and through the macchia-mediated and reconciled fruit of the vine. Of nero d’avola used for all essential Rosé purposes under the southwestern Sicilian sun. Not entirely sure if the yields were lower in 2024 (they likely were) but the high levels of concentration and sneaky controlled energy put this in a new echelon for a Serra Ferdinandea Rosé. Would make for both a curiosity and a scientific test to age this two years and see what new impact comes about. Only the independent variable of time changes and the conclusion should rightly seek and mount higher ground. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted twice, May 2025

Tenute Navarra Rosemosse 2024, Terre Siciliane IGT

Full outward wave of red berry fruit, a capture of frappato in fizz, its mousse creamy and soft. Strawberries in cream, a shortcake because of some faux autolysis and pretty much just really simple. Holds a place for reasons like Valentine hearts and others that represent an amenability to all. Drink 2025-2026. Tasted May 2025

Terra Costantino Etna Rosato DOC deAetna 2024

Fine mix of fruity and also savoury elements, all understated and trickling forward, low and slow. If a fruit were needed to be invoked it would be white cherries, conjured from a quick soak and maceration before stripping away nerello mascalese skins while capturing both their perfumes and a modicum of their structure. For Etna this is the Provençal style albeit with volcanic properties instilled and made whole by natural processes. Come for the fruit, stay for the minerals. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted May 2025

Rosso

Arianna Occhipinti BB Frappato Vino di Contrada 2022, Terre Siciliane IGT

BB, a.k.a Bomboliere feels like the OG for a contrada-designate frappato in the Vittoria occupied Occhipinti world, a varietal expression from the home front with more experience and acumen to treat all things equal, they being available and worthy of leaning against and leading towards ultimate balance. As here from a fine and rocking 2022, crunchy exterior and chewy interior, a Balsamico crust and mix of fruits captured within. Though the Villages frappato is the most accessible it is this BB that ranks as the most well-rounded and if there is any austerity it won’t cause any psychosocial pain. Yet BB is tannic enough to age, stirs up emotion and is truly representative as a best of all worlds wine, more so than either the FL or PT. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted May 2025

Arianna Occhipinti FL Vino di Contrada Frappato 2022, Terre Siciliane IGT

Not all of Arianna Occhipinti’s three contrada originating frappato are created equal and FL (Fossa di Lupo) is the one with most up front and forward extending fruit. The fruit comes from just 15 year-old alberello frappato out of Arianna’s original six hectare vineyard. This from the outstretched arm of generosity, more like the Villages label than either the BB or the PT. More obvious as frappato and still there is some structure, high acid pulse, saltiness and earthy to funky beats. Likely owing to this soils of brown sand over limestone rock. Then again FL is cleaner and more understandable with varietal clarity, that which speaks to terroir, obviously and without equivocation. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted May 2025

Arianna Occhipinti PT Vino di Contrada Frappato 2022, Terre Siciliane IGT

One of three contrada frappato for Occhipinti and immediately obvious how different (at least this PT, or Pettineo) is from the Villages label. Structured with impunity and its immunity keeps maturity at bay. Hard to believe how tight an expression this is when you consider the grape, but this contrada means serious terroir business. Of crucial significance is the fact that the less than one hectare parcel is home to the oldest (60-plus years) frappato vines in all of Vittoria. The vines grown on fine orange sand over tufa (a porous limestone) and the grapes are harvested ahead of both BB (Bombolieri) and FL (Fossa di Lupo). There is a volatility in PT that for some will be challenging to understand, though should patience be exercised than all will eventually be resolved and subsequently revealed. Drink 2027-2032. Tasted May 2025

Arianna Occhipinti Frappato 2023, Terre Siciliane IGT

Frappato the solo artist is Arianna Occhipinti’s “Villages” red, a mix of contrada fruit for her classic or classico expression marking the entry point into her multifarious varietal world. The most crunchy and yet juicy frappato imaginable, high in intensity come to the world with open arms and in turn the world should embrace this wine. If your goal is either to introduce this most getable of grapes and/or a keen desire to enter the varietal gates then Occhipinti’s is the one. Come on in. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted May 2025

Arianna Occhipinti Grotte Alte 2020, Cerasuolo di Vittoria Classico DOCG

Were Grotte Alte tasting blind you would not be judged for thinking you might have Brunello di Montalcino in your glass and from a producer with ancient wisdom crossed and forward thinking. A true terroir-driven Balsamico marks the entry and the construction is a bit severe which means the tannins are austere. Volatility swirls like sangiovese but here are nero d’Avola and frappato co-mingling in their rarefied air. Some will find the grip and the volatile elements severe and yet others will check their egos to wait and allow these grapes to be ratified and conjoined after years of settling and care. Choose the latter and great reward will follow. Drink 2027-2033. Tasted May 2025

Cantine Fina Vitraolo Vino Rosso 2023, Terre Siciliane IGT

A purely Sicilian red wine, something of history, culture and remembrance, of freshness and sheer drink-ability. Tart for certain, that and a chewy character but without weight or density. The fiercest passion in an authentic, austere and rustic red. This despite a challenging vintage of heat, humidity and low yields. Drink 2026-2029. Tasted May 2025

With Giovanna and Rosanna Caruso – Caruso e Minini

Caruso & Minini Perricone Perripo’ 2022, Terre Siciliane IGP

The pretty dabs of perricone perfume come easy out of the dialectical sounding and expressive Perripo’ because, well clarity and purity. Plump and juicy raisin to plum with more freshness than leathery feels and sneaky structure partially shrouded beneath. Proper varietal effort, vintage fun, in and out, especially with fine and gifting 2022 as the source. Really something unique, finishing at a local Balsamico, especially like mint. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted May 2025

Caruso E Minini Frappello 2023, Terre Siciliane IGT

A blend of frappato and nerello mascalese, first vintage was 2004, now 20 years later, same strong colour contrast from the first to less out of the last. Tannins are the opposite and so the wine has remained the same. Gustatory in every way, “the wine for everybody,” says Giovanna Caruso. From a vintage “non facilisimo,” she says because of heat but Caruso E Minini’s growing zone sees strong winds to help maintain freshness in spite of the temperatures. Full and satisfying with really sweet acidity. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted May 2025

Tasting with Giovanna Caruso – Caruso e Minini

Caruso E Minini Nero d’Avola Sicilia DOC Vuvalà 2022

The solo nero d’avola from western Sicily where strong winds and sea air make for some of the saltiest on the island. Persistent keeper of faith and fruit freshness when it really wants to dry out and head into the local Balsamico. It does not but stays a most hospitable marine airy course. The vines also grow in round stones (very similar to Rhône Galets) which keep the soils cool. Delicious and dreamy for nero. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted May 2025

Caruso E Minini Nino Rosso 2015, Terre Siciliane IGT

Four grape blend made in appassimento, a.k.a Amarone style in honour of grandfather and his red suspenders. Persistent and somehow still showing some fresh fruit despite the austerity and aridity created by the methodology. A juicy explanation to remind just how fine things can be when attention to detail and passion put collective hearts into making a wine. The mix is nerello mascalese, perricone, frappato and nero d’avola for just 7,636 bottles produced. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted May 2025

Cos Frappato 2024, Terre Siciliane IGT

Beautifully clean, fragrant and fruit blossom perfumed frappato of immediate and seductive engagement. A whirl of controlled volatility, sweet acidity and carry over to palate flavours in mimic of the florals up front. All the fruit that could be desired, of a focus and a finesse to bely any pre-conceptualized DOC limitations and simply a varietal red you will want to taste and drink on a consistent basis, by the glass, to share with others and as a varietal teaching moment for what is possible. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted May 2025

Cos Cerasuolo di Vittoria Classico DOCG 2022

Unexpectedly, remarkably and acceptingly fruit forward Cos Cerasuolo for which 60 percent nero d’Avola and (40) frappato occupy the same place and time. Sharing the stage of open generosity and to elicit immediate gratification. Welling with fruit (as opposed to bursting), expressive of skin muskiness and layered for notable purpose. That is to gift the DOCG by way of introduction and without challenge, neither by grip nor out of austerity. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted May 2025

Gabriele Di Paola and Enrica Spadafora – dei Principi di Spadafora

Dei Principi Di Spadafora Vignaioli In Sicilia Principe N 2022, Terre Siciliane IGT

Only nero d’avola from concrete followed by steel though still not quite as expressive as it should be because of having just being bottled. From Spadafora’s central location towards the western half of Sicily of classic nero fruit from red through black, high acidity, intensity and spirit. Can’t wait to see what happens after another year (and even better two-plus) in bottle. Drink 2027-2031. Tasted May 2025

Dei Principi Di Spadafora Sole dei Padri 2012, Terre Siciliane IGT

The first vintage of a signature red one year in bottle, only syrah from the highest vineyard on top of the hill at 450m. Very exposed with direct sun which would have been a challenge for nero and so, syrah. Richness at the height for grape and style, woody still and this is 2012 but freshness will persist and the wine will integrate. This may sound absurd but truth is truth and Spadafora likes old wines. As will you. Last tasted May 2025

Sees one year in barriques and the rest in tank, bottled in July of 2022. Lengthy aging but just a short wood stay so don’t come expecting heavy vanilla, lavender or other French barrel notes. Come instead for the florals, spices, spiciness, liquid pepper, but no smoke. Chalky, tannic and all soil-related, created and driven. Can last for another 10 years. Clean and varietally obvious though not the iodine-meaty syrah kind. Perfume and texture are everything. Balsamico and mint at the finish. ”La terra,” shrugs Francesco Spadafora. Drink 2024-2034. Tasted May 2024

Firriato Perricone Ribeca Sicilia DOC 2019

Singular styled perricone, about face and in complete opposition to those from both central and western Sicilia. Here more related to macchia and Balsamico, brushy, herbal, botanical, verdant and dusty. A stand alone and idisosyncratic varietal red that teaches so much about the triad of place, style and effect. You only need to taste to believe and be aware that this is the sort of Sicilian red to surely show up in masterclasses through time. Drink 2026-2029. Tasted May 2025

Gulfi Cerasuolo di Vittoria Classico DOCG 2020

The aromas are all fruit skins, of 70 percent nero d’Avola and (30) frappato musky and dried fruit grippy. The aging time in bottle has done the work to bring this Cerasuolo into the initial stages of secondary character which means the ideal drinking window is right where you stand with bottle in hand. With thanks to steel and neutral oak there is just enough freshness and vibrancy to make it work. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted May 2025

With Anna Ruini – Pellegrino 1860

Pellegrino 1880 Perricone Capoarso 2022, Terre Siciliane IGT

And then, and now welcome to perricone from western Sicily at the hands of a producer with a long and winding history of research, development and investigation into varietal wines. Here this combination of spice masala and richness, low and slow developed flavours and macchia. A savoury event run through and many complexities to discover. Last tasted May 2025

A varietal perricone, a.k.a pignatello, always strong and spicy, best raised in richer soils. Pellegrino’s is simply, unequivocally and unmistakably true to the variety, of a rustic edge and yet here undeniably pure as it not only should, but will be. Not a tannic example, nor is it particularly long, but it does what wants and needs. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted May 2024

Pellegrino 1880 Nero d’Avola Sicilia DOC Gazzerotta 2022

From Pellegrino’s main estate near to Mazara del Vallo and Campobello di Mazara with views across the sea to Pantelleria. Rich, chalky and seriously spicy nero at the height of intense heights. A wine that needs time to settle into its skin and be good to itself. One made for good times ahead. And BBQ. Just sayin’. Drink 2026-2029. Tasted May 2025

Planeta Eruzione 1614 Nerello Mascalese 2021, Terre Siciliane IGT

To be sure a different vintage than Feudo di Mezzo 2023, with two years in bottle and yet elevation (between 840 and 890m) does everything to create, install and define freshness for nerello mascalese aboard L’Etna. Time, barrel and place have come together and the volcanic sense of earth and rock is inseparable from the varietal fruit, even from a 2021 that in some other cases is having a time maintaining its distinction. Eruzione is a lone wolf, a nerello as if by blood dripping from the animal’s mouth. Drink this with iron-rich meat – Fegato, either as Pâté or skewered and grilled. Drink 2025-2031. Tasted May 2025

Planeta Nero d’Avola Sicilia Menfi DOC Plumbago 2022

If only because tasting with the team at Planeta is equal parts revelation and comedy, it’d hard not to think about and invoke finning things. Like “I want you to cut down the mightiest Plumbago in the forest…with a herring!” But not too big. But this is the biggest of the Plumbago because the vintage gave great heat and therefore the Plumbago shrubbery could not help but take over the entirety of the savoury elements in this nero d’Avola. Full on Menfi Balsamico, or an otherwise named local macchia, like fragrant hay, a.k.a. Plumbago. Drink 2025-2031. Tasted May 2025

Principi di Butera Inzolia Serò Sicilia DOC 2018

Varietal insolia and from the central Sicilian producer having long ago made the decision to see a white variety that should and can age. Made in a reductive way, now into full on flint and smoulder, a lit paraffin note meeting something petrol-like in the wild ways of sémillon. Surely as curious as it is inviting and while by itself there is this feeling of curiosity it’s all in fine and helpful fun to enjoy when the timing is right. Which can be said for 2018 right now and so a good choice to pour at Sicilia en Primeur 2025. Last tasted May 2025

A new soil which is both a blessing and a curse, a pain and a joy to work with. Quality comes from lower yields and specific soils. Here insolia grazes into hyper-metallic and mineral territory, protected from the heat of the sun, in avoidance of saturated copper, sunflower and gilded gold. Very short skin-contact and nurturing care turn insolia into this, sapid and even salty, expressive of the calcareous soil and the sea breezes coming from a mere eight kilometres away. Drink 2019-2023. Tasted May 2019

Serra Ferdinandea Rosso Sicilia DOC 2021

Still from a time when the team was working with young vines and not yet having reached the point where they could express the true nature of Serra Ferdinandea. Of syrah set to elevation and nero d’Avola, the latter planted in the windiest and driest place. This for fruit meeting backbone and the hope they will find each other, layer, integrate and create spemthing special in their shared space. The style is invoked even if the full finesse is not yet found. Oh so close to what really matters and whole bunches used in 2022 will help encourage this next level of reality. Rosso at stage one is primary, a work in progress and a harbinger for what is to come. Just a bit woody and chalky-grainy at this time. Drink 2026-2028. Tasted May 2025

Tasca d’Almerita Tenuta Regaleali Rosso Del Conte 2020, Sicilia Contea Di Sclafani DOC

One of Sicily’s most famous red blends with a track record for aging, of nero d’Avola and perricone out of Tasca’s grand Vigna San Lucio. The large block was first identified and isolated in 1959, now 60 years into its tenure. Aging is multifold, in chestnut barrels, Slavonian cask and small French wood. This 2020 is officially the 50th anniversary of the Rosso del Conte label with one of the most developed richness of them all, all the while maintaining its recognizable grace and every subtle aspect its always meant to express. Poise and focus but also impressive fitness. Will age two decades. Drink 2026-2036. Tasted May 2025

Tenuta di Castellaro Nero Ossidiana 2022, Terre Siciliane Rosso IGT

From Massimo Lentsch’s Lipari Island winery with the seedless grape corinto (well actually one central seed) which means high acidity, low pH and also tannin. Not to mention lessening of alcohol that barely reaches 13 percent. A spoonful of nero d’avola augments but changes the sharp and basaltic obsidian nature of the wine. Sees 18 months in cask and you can serve this lightly chilled. This due to the relative low tannic profile and elevated acidity which also means juicy, summery and fresh. Don’t let the colour fool you. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted May 2025

Tenuta di Castellaro Corinto 2021, Terre Siciliane Rosso IGT

Pure corinto, seedless and more straightforward than Ossidiana but both are made for drinking cool, fresh and long. A bit more rusticity and also richness because there is some (third passage) tonneaux aging involved in the maturation. More tannin but still nothing austere or causing any real tension. Just 3,000 bottles made of this unique Lipari red. Drink 2026-2029. Tasted May 2025

Tenute Navarra Disiato Frappato Sicilia DOC 2024

Riper fruit, dark and later picked, rusty edging for black cherry style. Easy style of frappato but surely readied sooner and with more colour needs than fruit substance as compared to many. No sense holding onto any of these bottles. Drink up. Drink 2025-2026. Tasted May 2025

Vall Dell’Acate Frappato di Vittoria Frappato 2024, Sicilia DOC

Extremely fruit evident and forward, distinctly frappato as its varietal source, a dictionary entry and open window into its Vittoria world. Crunchy red, of pomegranate, cranberry and red crabapple, tart and juices flowing for thirst quenching activities. Open the wine glossary to “F,” scroll down to frappato and this wine may very well be there to explain what it is you are tasting. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted May 2025

Vall Dell’Acate Frappato Vigna Bidone Sottana – Vino di Contrada Vittoria Frappato DOC 2024

The single vineyard slash contrada wine is a different beast as compared to the Vittoria DOC “Villages” label because it really is a tannic beast. The fruit chosen must surely be blessed with a certain ability to work with austerity and depth in its tannins. Vigna Bidone Sottana is both harder to approach and currently unclear to comprehend. A crusted exterior holds importance within, of fruit and acidity in layered composure and intendment, each working through machinations together and for a later, greater purpose. Needs a year, better yet two to come together and begin to express itself. Drink 2027-2032. Tasted May 2025

Bianco

Alessandro di Camporeale Catarratto Monreale DOC Mandranova 2020

From the cru called Mandranova in Monreale and a a little portion of tonneaux used to induce flesh but also texture and expand the possibility for some time in bottle. Ambitious to a degree but there is no taking the place out of the wine. Stone fruit pulpy, sapid, sweetly herbal and with citrus meandering through lemon, lime and mandarin. Check back in two years. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted May 2025

Cantine Fina Catarratto Fiorente 2024, Terre Siciliane IGT

From the most northern zone for Fina and yet distinctly western Sicilian in origin, style and effect. A bounce back vintage for the winery and ideal for the grape to express its sense of place. Crunchy and salty, mineral and satisfying. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted May 2025

Tasting with Sergio Fina – Cantine Fina

Cantine Fina Grillo Firma del Tempo Sicilia Riserva DOC 2023

A stand out and alone grillo because Riserva and therefore we intuit part of the ferment being sent to wood. An ambitious way to approach the variety, to give it the chardonnay touch for a fuller, richer and even buttery expression. French barrel but still there is the marine saltiness and sandy soil inscriptred sapid character. You can take grillo out of Trapani but you can’t take Trapani out of the grillo. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted May 2025

Cantine Fina Grillo Kebrilla Sicilia DOC 2024

The second of two grillo, also raised partially in steel and part in French wood. The younger and fresher one, with green apple bite, more sapidity, less wood and similar styling. Crunchy and with green Chile capsicum bite on the back end. Just a bit overdone yet without the concentration of Riserva. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted May 2025

Caruso e Minini Grillo Lillo Sicilia DOC 2024

Hard not to see this as vehemently Western Sicilian grillo, from the sea and the winds for a slice of experience but also one that assimilates some skin musky aromatics to enhance the grillo fruit. Ideal mix of salinity and sapidity with some metal at the finish. Never a wrong time for a sip of Lillo. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted May 2025

Giovanna and Rosanna Caruso – Caruso e Minini

Caruso e Minini Catarratto Catalù Sicilia DOC 2024

Not only unique for catarratto but authentic and existing right at the heart of the concept of ARCA, “associazione regionale catarratto autentico.” The story of grape coming from place with its marine airy and salty entry morphing through rusty fruit, citrus, fennel and finally into a sapid, botanical finish. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted May 2025

Dei Principi di Spadafora Vignaioli in Sicilia Catarratto 2024, Terre Siciliane IGT

The catarratto is timeless and you can drink it any time of the day. Literally and expalins Enrica Spadafora, “in our area the freshness of the land is what determines what comes from the grape and place.” A bit tannic however, sneakily so and things will change if you allow them to. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted May 2025

Dei Principi di Spadafora Vignaioli in Sicilia Don Pietro Monreale Bianco 2024

Only catarratto which qualifies as a varietal wine for the Monreale denomination, no longer inclusive of grillo, from concrete to steel in terms of fermentation and maturation. The feeling of skin contact is palpable even though it is just four days because a salve texture and tannic profile settle into the palate. Still the acidity and freshness are preserved for a balanced varietal wine. Drink 2026-2029. Tasted twice, May and June 2025

Dei Principi di Spadafora Vignaioli in Sicilia Principe G 2021, Terre Siciliane IGT

Just grillo and six months on lees for body and spirit with time having brought about some maturing notes to create great varietal curiosity, like preserved pears or peaches and a settling on the palate. Persistent but not of a waxing energy per se. Plenty of texture and flavour to mull over, on and about. Drink 2026-2029. Tasted May 2025

Feudo Montoni Inzolia Sicilia DOC Fornelli 2024

A rebound vintage but at Feudo Montoni consistency is king because Fabio Sireci will never force a square peg into a round hole. The 2024 season was an easier fit to produce varietal wines as he sees fit, here with that great mix of the salty and the sapid. Just spot on and poured at the right temperature inzolia is just so, so good. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted May 2025

Feudo Montoni Catarratto Sicilia DOC Masso 2024

Sharp catarratto, cut through fruit and palates like a knife, a specific mineral that of course is a bit saline but in catarratto it’s really all about sapidity. Fabio like his whites with some austerity and this is the white that has the most, with bitter almond notes come out in the aroma, as marzipan at the finish. This can age, you better believe it. Drink 2026-2031. Tasted May 2025

Feudo Montoni Grillo Sicilia DOC Timpa 2024

More aromatic than catarratto, not quite moscato floral but scenting yellows and whites, a honeysuckle imagined with lemon citrus blooms. Still ’24 grillo is taut with vague austerity (thought not catarratto austerity) and as with all the Montoni whites the grillo too is so very linear and vertical. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted May 2025

Gulfi Carjcanti 2021, Terre Siciliane IGT

From the wine with the dialectical name for carricante and a beautifully bittered tincture that speaks to sunshine for fruit first and volcanic feels second. They come together but will only improve their relationship with tome in bottle. Drink 2026-2029. Tasted May 2025

Pellegrino 1880 Grillo Sicilia Superiore DOC Senarià 2023

Senarìa means “cold” for a clone of grillo planted in 1980 ’s since been propagated by Pellegrino for more hectarage. The only grillo produced as a superior in Sicily with age and clonal specificity creating the identifiable DOC. Almost like serious chardonnay in style and effect, a Burgundian bite and crispy character that’s part unexpected and part intense. The richness comes from the palate, as it should for a two-part experience growing and will continue to grow in stature. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted May 2025

Pellegrino 1880 Isesi Pantelleria Bianco DOC 2022

A Bianco in which zibbibo is the key with altitude and exposition to the winds being the catalyst. Different plots in several contrada are chosen as contributors of their varietal fruit expressed as a white wine that should and will age for years. Falls into the semi-aromatic, cousin in style to moscato sort of way and the tannins lay really low. They are the underscore, the horizontal backbone that fruit but also acidity glide over and develop their motion. This is a wine of journey, never static and one to look forward to tasting when it passes five to ten years of age. Last tasted May 2025

Pellegrino 1880 Vergine Marsala Riserva DOC Single Barrel Nº 018 2005

Vergine means marsala fortified with soy alcohol and as Riserva (2005) it means more than 20 years of aging. Mainly grillo with (30 percent) catarratto and inzolia, limited production, 2,163 bottles and finished at 19.5 percent alcohol. The sugars developed could imagine honey, brown sugar or maple syrup but they are so much more complicated and therefore unnamed. Also fruit like apricot and pineapple but think moire exotically or better still just admit that something unusual and ethereal is happening. The palate is dry as the desert, the flavours, brown butter nutty, intense and spicy. This is not a dessert wine by any stretch of the imagination but something much more gustatory and ready to receive culinary inspiration. Drink 2025-2040. Tasted May 2025

With Planeta winemaker Patricia Tóth

Planeta Eruzione 1614 Carricante 2022, Sicilia DOC

At a time it was the high elevation and now it’s really more about the established appellative functionality that dictates the specific DOC labelling of Eruzione 1614. There are varietal carricante on L”Etna and there is Eruzione, a Bianco as definitive to tell an old story and relay the message of soil, stone and place. The 2022 is exceptional, rising and seemingly hovering above the ground, something very hard to do for fruit grown on volcanic terroir! Yet here is this levitating Etnese, a Bianco of weightlessness and incredible acidity. Will drink well for five years, in another terrific alternate state for five more and then who knows what magic through five more after that. Drink 2027-2037. Tasted May 2025

Planeta La Segreta Bianco Sicilia DOC 2024

Ninety percent of the blend is three-fold, of grillo, grecanico and chardonnay, plus 10 percent “others” which includes the aromatic viognier. All adds up to one of Sicily’s most drinkable whites and there can be no argument there. Cool, chill, kick back, sip and relax. Here, there and everywhere. Put on the Beatles or whatever makes you tick. Just drink it. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted May 2025

Planeta Chardonnay Sicilia Menfi DOC 2023

Warmth begets riches and yet 2023 is not the warmest of Ulmo vintages but chardonnay has so much experience, developed vine age and proven track record to get into this full and substantial place. Without fail and the fans of this large production Sicilian pioneer will again be granted their wish. Chardonnay is big and it is grand, with the benefits of barrel and sun, all in balance. Drink 2026-2029. Tasted May 2025

Planeta Chardonnay Sicilia Menfi DOC Didacus 2022

For Didacus chardonnay rises to the island’s highest level because it receives the respect and elévage it so deserves. Hard to find a vintage as firm and as tight as 2022, weather related of course with heat units having come fast and intense, but also elongated through to the earliest pf picking times. That would be the first week of September and thankfully so because acidity keeps the dream alive. Didacus is drinking at peak right now – do not sleep on it’s power or potential and find a way to get there now. Last tasted May 2025

Production began in 1995 while the vines are now nearly 45 years of age. In the southwest part of Sicily, in the Ulmo area around the village of Menfi where a corridor of wind, “our favourite friend,” tells Santi Planeta, blowing through between the lake and the sea. Through vines growing between 100 and 450m, breathing cool life, especially in the summer. The 2022 vintage saw plenty of rain though not concentrated at any particular time and so the constant events of moderation were something remarkable considering how often extreme climate events are increasingly more prevalent. The coming vintage of 2023 and 2024 will be affected by them, mostly because there was no rain. This chardonnay is impeccably balanced between fruit and acidity, acidity and texture, texture and tannin. The progression is seamless, the result precise and anyone who does not the recognize the experience and continued work put in may not be paying close attention. That’s fine but know just how special a (relatively) large production, semi-cool climate chardonnay this truly is. Planeta’s year-to-year consistency is truly impressive. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted at i4C, July 2024

Serra Ferdinandea Bianco Sicilia DOC 2023

A 50-50 split between grillo and sauvignon blanc from a season with drama because of early heavy rains and yet there no Perenospera (mildew) developed up on the vineyard’s hills. In this vintage the directness and linearity of the sauvignon takes control but this is also the style, from clean maceration for a capture of saline intensity to keep fleshy and golden maturity at bay. The grillo plays along but never speaks up or steps out of place. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted May 2025

Tasca d’Almerita Tascante Chardonnay C’Eragià 2022, Sicilia DOC

Etna chardonnay made with French wood completely un-toasted out of Rampante where a chardonnay vineyard already existed when Alberto Tasca bought the estate. The wood is virtually unnoticeable, lemon attacks the palate and the energy is simply great. Graceful while volcanic spirit adds the intangible pizzazz. Drink 2026-2029. Tasted May 2025

Tasca d’Almerita Fondazione Whitaker Grillo Mozia 2024, Sicilia DOC

Grillo from Mozia island off the coast of Trapani and Marsala, the only important variety and 40 year-old vines for the most unique expression of the grape. An ancient expression if you will and quite possibly the saltiest of them all. Some will find this sharp and austere but there is sneaky richness and intensity that belies the sear and strike of the grillo. Drink 2026-2029. Tasted May 2025

Tasca d’Almerita Tenuta Capofaro Malvasia Vigna di Paola 2024, Salina IGT

Saltier and more vertical of the two Salina malvasia, less fleshy but also juicy character, instead a more briny caper measure and mix of marine elements. Volcanics come into the soul of this malvasia with impunity and the mineral austerity is nothing short of intense. If Didyme intoxicates it is this Vigna di Paola that takes full control of your senses. Drink 2026-2029. Tasted May 2025

Tasca d’Almerita Tenuta Capofaro Malvasia Didyme 2024, Salina IGT

Iron volcanic sands make for vines and grapes that develop a relationship only Salina will own, different even than Lipari and in terms of malvasia there is nowhere else in the varietal diaspora where it comes way like this. A mineral that gets in you, an intoxicant that runs through the veins and causes a true stoning. Imagine capers and ricotta, shrimp and lime. It’s all there in sweet, salty and semi-aromatic intensity. Drink 2026-2029. Tasted May 2025

Tenuta di Castellaro Bianco Pomice 2024, Terre Siciliane Bianco IGT

A blend of malvasia (della Lipari) and carricante as an extremely youthful and so in certain ways playing the part of a 2024 preview although it’s a finished wine. There really is nothing like this, nine months on lees with bâttonage every month. Consider this as “Etna Bianco plus” with more marine influence, a spirited buzz about it and a fleshiness matched by this mix of flint and isle mineral feel. Just bloody delicious. Drink 2026-2029. Tasted May 2025

Tenuta di Castellano Eúxenos 2022, Terre Siciliane IGT

Just malvasia di Lipari, ”lightly” fermented on skins in one cacciopesto amphora, a lightly permeable type for just 1,800 bottles. Simulates an imagining of a history of sunken greek amphora and so a message is felt and transmitted for making a wine that just needed to be made in reference to the lore. Ultra textural and a fascination with fate that requires one to abandon a perspective firmly embedded within a knowable methodology of winemaking culture. Drink 2026-2029. Tasted May 2025

Tenuta Regaleali Catarratto Sicilia DOC Buonsenso 2024

Intensity and concentration of sweetly herbal and salty fruit with persistence as much as any varietal wine in Sicliy. Happens to be catarratto, one so full, expansive and linear. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted May 2025

Etna Bianco

Benanti Etna Bianco DOC Contrada Cavaliere 2023

Cavaliere as a contrada white is getable and found in mid course for carricante of middle weight, fleshiness and structure. In other words a balanced Etna Bianco that has arrived early and readied for consumption ahead of the other single place wines. The metallic notes are purely basaltic and while fruit is plenty pleasant it’s not really the lead driving factor. Cavaliere is specific and noted for that. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted May 2025

Benanti Etna Bianco DOC Contrada Rinazzo 2023

Rinazzo as a contrada Etna Bianco is surely more reserved and stoic especially as compared to (Cavaliere), as if it were let’s say Vaucopins and Cavaliere were Beauroy. Unnecessary wine region comparisons aside there is a richesse and a golden sun meets volcanic mineral accumulation to set Rinazzo aside. Definitely its own Bianco, at once structured and then feeling mature. Feels like a wine having arrived and yet not quite there. Makes for another great and curious Etna Bianco study in contrada-designed peculiarities. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted May 2025

Benanti Etna Bianco DOC Contrada Monte Serra 2023

There is Cavaliere, Rinazzo and then there is Monte Serra. Hard to imagine three Etna Bianco from the same producer could each act so different. Monte Serra is the reductive and hard to access carricante, stuck in the basalt, shut tight and currently immovable. Not exactly expressive nor seemingly looking to act so any time soon. Would give this a year to sort out its thoughts and reconcile its differences between parts. That said the distribution of weight in Monte Serra’s design creates a sense of stability and harmony in its architecture. Thinking further we’d all consider waiting two years to see a release of the magic and fantasy. Drink 2026-2031. Tasted May 2025

With JustSicily’s Federica Matranga

Cottanera Etna Bianco DOC 2024

First ’24 out of the gates, clean, open, fragrant and fresh. Apple juiced and as readied in simplicity without fuss, obfuscation or muss, in as much as it seems possible from Etna Bianco. The time to drink is now. Drink 2025-2026. Tasted May 2025

Cottanera Etna Bianco DOC Contrada Calderara 2023

Next level interest and complexity comes from this Etna Bianco out of the Contrada Calderara where reds shine and whites like this are golden proud. Equanimous mix of stone fruit and volcanic savour come together and do so with seamless ease. For someone who wishes to experience the next level above and beyond regional or say “Villages” Etna Bianco it is this carricante that will help show the way. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted May 2025

Cusumano Alta Mora Etna Bianco DOC 2023

Rich, luxe et volupté carricante for the sort to seduce and reel in hundreds of new varietal consumers. Also that which should surely please many who have already attended the party. More than ample freshness, crisp bites, orchard fruit, mineral sparks and finishing bitters. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted May 2025

Donnafugata Etna Bianco DOC Sul Vulcano 2022

Oh so specific style of Etna Bianco from carricante tucked into the volcano and scenting like a garden wet with rain. As if petrichor soaked into basalt, effusive and smelling like nothing ever before, especially when the Ginestra joins the mix. Crunch and sway, crisp apple bites and varietal oscillations. Top vintage for this Donnafugata Etnese white, clean and yet leesy, complex and inviting. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted May 2025

The team of Generazione Alessandrio

Generazione Alessandro Etna Bianco DOC Trainara 2023

Of 85 percent carricante and (15) catarratto near Lingualossa which being on the eastern slope increases the marine influence. Push-pull posit tug between the volcanic and the botanical or perhaps they are actually one in the same. Clean and focused Etna Bianco in any case. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted May 2025

Girolamo Russo Etna Bianco DOC Nerina 2024

Rich and fulsome, as concentrated as Nerina will ever be and surely a factor of tight, small and low yielding bunches. These as a sub-factor from a condensed vintage of heat units and less water accumulated in each berry. Nerina as Etna Bianco 2024 travels right up the rising angles of the palate, gets into that nook at the top of the jaw before receding into full golden fleshiness. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted May 2025

Girolamo Russo Etna Bianco DOC Feudo 2023

Feudo as the cleanest of Russo’s carricante, crisp and of a contrada clarity for whole rounded expressiveness. Good clean lees living from 2023 Feudo with segments of lemon and white grapefruit providing a plethora of fresh citrus flavour. Nothing herbal or savoury about it, just the facts, of fruit and mineral. Last tasted May 2025

New Bianco for Giuseppe Russo, a selection of 100 percent carricante from three hectares within the Feudo di Mezzo vineyard and contrada. Feudo is not San Lorenzo but it is something remarkable in its own right. More botanical and phenolic but also a level of citrus preserve not noted anywhere but Feudo. Crazy level of implosive citric intensity and taut character. The behaviour is so different to San Lorenzo with flavours that mean business in the most impressive way imaginable. Intensity off the charts, concentration so impressive, energy that builds and builds. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted May and September 2024

With Giuseppe Russo and Alberto Graci

Graci Etna Bianco DOC Muganazzi 2023

Graci’s Muganazzi is a true blue contrada Bianco from stone, of mountain reduction by way of its processes. The palate gets past the wall of aromatic sound to tell us what we need to know, or at least part of what the future holds. This is serious and protractive carricante, cased in a hard protective shell, waiting to be released. Crispy and encrusted but time will do what’s necessary. There is a great an substantial amount of fruit which is what matters most. And of course the volcano. Drink 2027-2033. Tasted May 2025

Graci Etna Bianco DOC Arcurìa 2023

Apposite to Muganazzi is Arcurìa, a contrada carricante with more immediate flesh and plenty of backbone in support. Arcurìa is also the truly leesy Etna Bianco, built on the yeasty stuff and more akin to wooded Chablis than almost any other. This reminds of Fourchaume if such a comparison could be tolerated, but either way the wine is built to last. Drink 2026-2031. Tasted May 2025

I Custodi delle Vigne dell’Etna Bianco DOC Ante 2021

Smoky from its reductive and flint stone struck moments, the fruit not only behind but well back with volcanic sand after a rain wedged expressively in between. Everything about Ante screams volcanic Etna, in stone, rock, sand, mineral and elemental style. A must try to begin believing. Drink 2027-2032. Tasted May 2025

I Custodi delle Vigne dell’Etna Bianco DOC Imbris 2020

I Custodi is the kind of place to raise cariccante and Imbris the kind of label to speak in Etna Bianco clarity. The cool-climate factor and style might make you think the area is cold as hell but oh,no,no,no and Imbris is a kind of rocket man. The 2020 holds such a beautiful combination of lees driven fruit and volcanic mineral so there is no doubt a new age is upon this estate. The wines have been working towards this moment and here they are. Beautiful and inviting, welcoming and fine. Last tasted May 2025

Varietal carricante at 800m fermented in steel, put to barrel and then one year in bottle. So much corporeal flesh on the body of a seriously developed Bianco. Has come into a fine place but my goodness so much texture, citrus and length. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted May and September 2024

Maugeri Etna Bianco DOC Superiore Contrada Volpare 2023

Confident, cool and still presently stoic holding on to a controlled, yet to open the gates and be released intensity. Perfectly clean lees living within a structure of carricante built for pleasure and also aging. Really fine work from Contrada Volpare with many years of expressive reveal still to come. Last tasted May 2025

Youthful is the understatement and Volpare the name, so say it loud. This is indeed singular Etna Bianco, as they should be but some are in a league of their own, as Mugeri’s eastern wines clearly are. The estate has taken it to the next level with an ascension of elevated mountain fortuity but also depth determined by terroir which can only be transmitted when agriculture abides. Abides because the maker makes it happen and Volpare delivers generously while also with precision and finesse. Leave this for 18 months or more to settle the relationship between rocks and acidity. After tasting Frontebosco and also Frontemare you realize the latter is the true catalyst to propel this cuvée selection. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted September 2024

Maugeri Etna Bianco DOC Superiore Contrada Volpare Frontebosco 2023

Seemingly an understatement made but its only by the music this Etna Bianco will be free. No doubting more finesse, focus and precision from the carricante out of the vineyard facing the forest, an herbal cooling coming in, upping the botanical feels, its development low, slow and perhaps still far away. The taut nature of Frontebosco means the requiem to await what’s coming should be at least a year. Last tasted May 2025.

Versante est which separates Mugeri from not just the north but also the south and the future will surely look to this area for greatness. Not only Volpare contrada but a section within, here called Frontebosco, as in facing or in front off the forest and so the herbals here within are assumed to be elected by the nearby woods. Makes for freshness but also a fruit fleshiness that the more general Volpare does not show. A full, substantial and impressive Etna Bianco that might just appeal to everyone. Superiore indeed. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted September 2024.

Maugeri Etna Bianco DOC Superiore Contrada Praino Frontemare 2023

From the first to the sea we now receive the carricante out of the vineyard facing the Ionian, a stiff breeze blowing through, keeping the sails taut and the speed up, all the while a finish line yet far away. More lees coming from Frontemare mixing with sea spray for an Etna Bianco tight as they come, yet airy and rising. Would wait two more years for parts to come together and waves to calm down. There will be smooth sailing ahead. Last tasted May 2025

Frontemare, “facing the sea,”as opposed to Frontebosco, “facing the wood.” As such this would be east facing from Etna’s east sector and so the block with the view creates a unicorn of an Etna Bianco as fascinating as it seemingly gets. The most crisp, crunchy, fresh and intense of Mugeri’s whites, citrus squeezed throughout and long as the zig-zagging wind of a single road down to Catania and into the sea. Just wow, with layers upon layers to unreel, unfurl and unroll for a long aging period ahead. Drink 2026-2034. Tasted September 2024

Palmento Costanzo Etna Bianco DOC Bianco di Sei 2022

Perfectly expressive carricante from 2022 for a vintage not always caught at optimum, however the Costanzo team’s relentless. Last tasted May 2025

A cuvée of all parcels from different contrade, including the homefront Santo Spirito, along with Cavaliere. On average 90 percent carricante with (10) catarratto. Only raised in stainless steel, persistently fresh and if any region in the world might be compared with it would be Chablis AOC, direct, salty, smart and widely purposed. Tasted September 2024

Just have to say wow because Bianco di Sei comes equipped with a level of intensity that was not quite expected from 2022. Not so much a volume or an explosion aromatically speaking but an extreme set of eccentricities that crash aboard the palate. Likely needing some rest and down time to integrate because the level of extract here (including volcanic activity) is simply off the charts. Etna incarnate, pointed and exciting. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted May 2024

Palmento Costanzo Etna Bianco DOC Contrada Santo Spirito 2022

In reality these last three or four years have always been warm but ’22 was frankly very good, warm yet without any real challenges. What drives this carricante is an unwavering focus and persistence, a balance from start to finish without dips or oscillations. The relationship between Costanzo and Santo Spirito in Bianco is seamless, now seven years into their partnership. Last tasted May 2025

High level aromatic volume and concentration from Santo Spirito ’22 and we know right away that this wine knows exactly who it is, where it comes from and where it wants to go. Volcanic salts are also present on the nose from a Bianco of great stage presence and such a smart textural weave that gains every bit of the palate’s confidence. The connection is prescient, reaction calming and conclusion poignant. This is how you make and present Contrada-specific Etna Bianco. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted September 2024

Palmento Costanzo Etna Bianco DOC Contrada Santo Spirito 2021

High spirit from the Contrada specific blocks to speak on behalf of local saints and soils. Volcanic vernacular, citrus and herbal, gelid cool, leesy clean and indefatigably healthy. Fine carricante for 2021 and a vintage that is sometimes confounding. Not here in an expressive and beautifully made example. So very 1879 in terms of volcanics and therefore Santo Spirito tells the story. Last tasted May 2025

Note the colour of the lava soil on the label, lighter brown for Santo Spirito, from the contrada vineyard at 700m on the northern slope that comprises one out of three “islands within the island” of L’Etna. Still just an infant, implosive and insular, wound so tight, yet to explode. Give this another year, just as the first taste had indicated for months prior. Tasted September 2024

A fine vintage and and even finer Contrada, that being Santo Spirito where carricante (and 10 percent cattarrato) are given every soil, geological and micro-climatic advantage. There is an accumulation of ripeness and stone cool mineral groove from location and acumen that make this move with incremental ability. It will slowly define itself over along period of time that will be fascinating to watch every step of the way. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted May 2024

Palmento Costanzo Etna Bianco DOC Contrada Cavaliere 2022

The most recent bottling for the cru Bianci and this out the contrada vineyard down slope from Palmento Costanzo. Perhaps not the tension of Santo Spirito and surely more richness yet still the balance between fruit and the structural parts. Cavaliere is remarkable for its quality consistency year in and year out. Unwavering Bianco. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted May 2025

Palmento Costanzo Etna Bianco DOC Contrada Cavaliere 2021

Very different to Santo Spirito, riper and richer, more cumulate golden sun, lees still a major factor in the overall expression. Just a touch of reduction, tart with tight lines and increased juxtaposition between stylistic parts. Not as focused as Santo Spirito but surely seductive and generous. Last tasted May 2025

Note the colour of the lava soil on the label, darker brown for Cavaliere, from the contrada vineyard at 700m in the southwest “island” of L’Etna. A different expression to that of Santo Spirito, volumetric in terms of aromatics and less austere or rather locked tight. Here more sapid and botanical, less basaltic salinity and fleshier early on. More fruit forward, pulpy stone fruit like, amenability run higher and the Contrada-designate Bianco to drink while waiting for Santo Spirito to mature. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted September 2024

Pietradolce Etna Bianco DOC Archineri 2023

Archineri as a Bianco is really open and expressive, delicious and generous from the word go and ready to please. Clean lees, a cool basaltic factor and white peachy stone fruit. The citrus is a bit neutral yet surely supportive and helpful in the overall feel of the wine. Really good quality and clean winemaking results in a wholly accessible and aiming to please white from L’Etna. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted May 2025

Tasca d’Almerita Tascante Etna Bianco DOC Contrada Sciaranuova 2022

Lees shows to be so integral and essential in the early development of Tascante’s Etna Bianco 2022 from the very important Contrada Sciaranuova. There is a play of current confusion while this youthful because the parts inside are bigger than the house that fits them. Expanding from within and needing more room to grow, to shed its weight even after eight months time. Last tasted May 2025

Vinified and aged in Slavonian Grandi Botti, “to preserve the verticality and freshness of the carricante” explains Tasca d’Almerita agronomist Michele Brusaferri. Plays hard to get and acts demure inside the halls of its aromatic silence but you know that the elevation and fine basaltic soil are the portents of Tascante’s main Contrada Sciaranuova that will see to conditions for change. Though soft you feel the wood, present with confidence yet the thread of cool, herbal and botanical rins from Buonora into this Bianco. Fruit will soon peek through and announce a scintillant’s arrival, blossoms too, namely orange and then to salty lime later on. Just takes some air, agitation and swirl to coax out the excitement and up into the stratosphere. Turns out to be crunchy and seriously salty Etna Bianco, like flakes of Maldon or Slovenian platinum for what can best be described as living the high seasoned life of Etna Bianco. Structure is there and so this should age quite well. Drink 2025-2031. Tasted September 2024

Tasca d’Almerita Tascante Etna Bianco DOC Buonora 2024

Both the good hour and bonaire as from the French and carricante just about as fresh as you will ever experience. Fresh and fleshy, fleshy and delicious, delicious and satisfying. Just what you desire on the 12th of May at 650m above sea level aboard L’Etna. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted May 2025

Terra Costantino Etna Bianco DOC deAetna 2023

The term “deEetna” comes from a Latin pamphlet dated to 1494 expressing the sacredness of the oenological universe. Terra Costantino’s is one of the finer examples for 2023 by way of a blend led by carricante plus (15 percent) catarratto and (5) minnella. Ripening to fruition happened in the last ten days of September off of vines averaging 20 years. Yes to the palpable feeling of gainful concentration in juxtaposition to a fine and chiseled example with more wiry flesh hanging tuat on the mineral frame. Really well composed. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted May 2025

Tornatore Etna Bianco DOC 2024

The straightest and fullest of Etna Bianco expressions with all in clean lees bulking up the substantial aspects of the wine. This is the entry point, the gate for which to walk through into the ever expanding idiom that is Etna Bianco. Start here and then explore the rest. Last tasted May 2025

The vintage is represented in a most viscous way. Almost an oily character to 2024, indicative of the variable vintage with September having delivered some much needed warmth and sunshine for full phenolic grape development. A sapid iteration, botanical notes pervading and in the end it is texture that drives this Bianco machine. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted March 2025

Tornatore Etna Bianco DOC Pietrarizzo 2022

Full on sun cumulate carricante from Pietrarizzo for what is surely as ripe and calculated an expression as they come. Full advantage taken of 2022 fruit for all that can be wanted from a Contrada Bianco example. Last tasted May 2025

Pietrarizzo is both available and confident, not idiosyncratic like Zottorinotto and also richer of fruit. There is an herbal and botanical way about this cru Bianco with splashes of catarratto bringing seasoning to the carricante. A bit spicy and even humid though the fruit is the thing and the volcanics an accent making for even more spice entertained. Such a solid Contrada based Bianco. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted and September 2024

Tenute Tornatore Etna Bianco DOC Zottorinotto 2021

No comparison between Pietrarizzo and Zotorinotto, first of course because of location but in this case also dramatically caused by vintage. The 2021s are not holding up with the same stage presence as wished for last year and the year before. In fact they’ve transformed into this idiosyncratic space. No different here with a carricante of reductive meeting wet stony elements. Feels like some diesel creeping in, not petrol per se (akin to TDN) and smoky rather than smouldering. A bit of a strange advance with likely something new again on the horizon. Last tasted May 2025

Of Tornatore’s cru-designated Bianci it is Zottorinotto that acts the most reductive and hard to crack. Great shell of protection and disguise, needing agitation and better still time. That said the 2021 is also fully formed, developed and very much ready to get at – make sure to aerate, decant if you can and allow the pleasures to be released. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted May 2024

Etna Rosso

Benanti Etna Rosso DOC Contrada Monte Serra 2023

Strong aromatic presence and pulse for Monte Serra 2023, mildly and effectively reductive holding parts known and unknown. Not to say the aromas are stifled because they burst if within a bubble and yet to explode without. The epitome of nerello macalese filling our hopes, thoughts and dreams with anticipation. Cuts from stone some dreams of its own and though restrained it keeps a watch over the distance with a look to the future. Monte Serra is always an Etna Rosso with the grip and structure to look farther on, to hold back the fruit and preserve it for later days. The 2023 is balanced and prepared for longevity – that much is clearly true and in view. Drink 2027-2032. Tasted May 2025

Benanti Etna Rosso DOC Contrada Cavaliere 2023

Tasting Monte Serra and Cavaliere 2023 side by side reveals much about place of origin because while the former looks farther on, the former engages today. A nerello masaclese that makes us see where we’ve both been, reaches us with immediacy and in turn we pay close attention. So much fruit interned so early, so little time to realize just how much is right there in this glass. It’s just that not opening and consuming bottles in the present will be hard to avoid. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted May 2025

Cottanera Etna Rosso DOC 2023

Knowable bricks and mortar nerello mascalese as Etna Rosso and dictionary entry for the DOC. Sweet vintage fruit, competently concentrated, simply and effectively structure. Does what needs and does it very well. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted May 2025

Cottanera Etna Rosso Contrada Feudo di Mezzo DOC 2021

Feudo di Mezzo of clout, expressiveness of largesse from the fullness of its old vines nerello mascalese fruit. Still a bit of a reductive nut to crack, a force field to break through, a softening needed to find full pleasure in the wine. A 2021 neither too hard nor to soft, the Goldilocks vintage as they say though the pressure is still applied. This FdM should come into its best years in six months or so. Drink 2026-2031. Tasted May 2025

Cottanera Etna Rosso DOC Contrada Zottorinoto 2020

Give Zottorinoto an extra year an it will express itself with utmost generosity and here the Contrada’s Rosso is more than ready to go. Fruit sweeping and swelling across the plate, acids mellowed and tannins as well. As drink now a Rosso for the Contrada, as compared to any or all of this ilk on the mountain. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted May 2025

Cusumano Alta Mora Etna Rosso DOC Feudo di Mezzo 2020

Dusty and Balsamic terroir expression, especially for Etna Rosso and also Feudo di Mezzo. A high acid style to compliment and even more so extenuate the circumstance of nerello mascalese. A specific style as well and one that garners attention, namely because its persistence and length are really quite outstanding. Last tasted May 2025

Middle ground traveled and promise delivered for the large Feudo di Mezzo as Contrada sizes come, with fruit able to defend itself against generous wood though all parts launch a collective attack on the senses and palate. Big Rosso for Etna, strong boned and willed with the intention to impress. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted September 2024

Donnafugata Etna Rosso Courdilava Dolce & Gabbana DOC 2020

Red stone fruit skin’s aromatic musk, pulpy to chewy within and fresh enough to keep a leathery character at bay. More tannin than expected and in fact they build quickly – this despite some four plus years having had the chance to settle the score. Still quite grippy and with a level of tension needing to subside. Impressive Etna Rosso. Drink 2026-2029. Tasted May 2025

Donnafugata Etna Rosso DOC Fragore Contrada Montelaguardia 2021

Noticeable ulterior as an expression of Etna Rosso in comparison to the Dolce & Gabbana Donnafugata label. A fullness of nerello mascalese pressed, dressed and prepared for success. Clearly one to serve up and explain the nature but also importance of a single contrada wine, lacking for nothing and of layers far from being shed. Give time because otherwise this wine will attack with impunity and not let go. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted May 2025

Firriato Cavanera Etna Rosso DOC Contrada Zucconerò Sciara del Tiglio 2021

Grainy if fine in that respect from specialized and decomposed volcanic sands that lend a very specific profile to Etna Rosso. Also quite ripe and so the palate holds a liquorice, leathery fruit chew character which speaks to drinking sooner rather than later. No doubt a singular wine and one that screams for best food accompaniment. The duck at Cavanera Wine Resort is ideal. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted May 2025

Generazione Alessandro Etna Rosso DOC Croceferro 2023

Only nerello mascalese off of the northeastern slope of Etna and the place where the iron cross, therefore Croceferro sits in the vineyard. A rich and tannic nerello with a tease of immediate gratification but the austerity in this tannins reminds that time will be the operative and necessity for best results. Drink 2026-2029. Tasted May 2025

Generazione Alessandro Etna Rosso DOC Scaramantica Vigna Vecchia 2021

Oldest vines are 80 years of age and nerello macacesle is joined by several others for a true Etnese field blend. Increases the fruit immediacy with concentration but even more so the tonic profile with fine-grained ruling and austerity that requests time, plenty of time. Seriously structured Etna Rosso no matter how you slice it. Drink 2026-2029. Tasted May 2025

Girolamo Russo Etna Rosso DOC San Lorenzo 2022

Open for business, fruit and acids intertwined at their combined sweet heights. Good palate spiciness and a riveting sense of energy. Liquid chalky tannins still in transformation, likely to finish their movements in another year or so. But don’t hesitate as San Lorenzo is drinking beautifully right now. Last tasted May 2025

The gifts of San Lorenzo are of a slow release ilk the other cru and vineyards of Girolamo Russo are not, but this from 2022 is so full of riches it brings early joy. A great pleasure to have a glass even now with gregarious perfume and readied flavours, of red berries, liquid chalky to candied palate swaths and immediacy from this bottle of wine. San Lorenzo shows off the most glyercol and silken texture – it’s almost candied but of course it’s not. Spicy on the back side, sneakily structured and all the while with a glass we’re feeling fine. Can only improve and integrate with a couple of years time. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted May and September 2024

Girolamo Russo Etna Rosso DOC San Lorenzo Piano delle Colombe 2022

If San Lorenzo is drinking at early peak right now then Piano delle Colombe should rightly be close behind. Yes in one sense and that would be more intensity of fruit concentration but then again no, because of this landslide of grippier tannin. There is no argument about seeing 2022 as a top Etna Rosso vintage and still the wood on 2022 Piano delle Colombe persists without melting or dissolving in. Some might find a bit too much while others will beg to strongly differ. The 2022 is right there where elements should rightly want to connect, intersect and layer. Perhaps not right away but in time, which will only embolden this Rosso with the wisdom and grace it is destined to express. Wait and anticipate seeing its reflection in the snow covered mountain. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted May 2025

Girolamo Russo Etna Rosso DOC A Rina 2023

Put a ring around A Rina because no other Russo Rosso comes into view any sooner. None exhibit this level of juicy, luxe and getable richness and none shall pass, not for any reason at all. A Rina is a full and substantial nerello mascalese out of 2023, with the most liquidity come after dissolving grains of tannin for earliest drinking. No reason to wait. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted May 2025

Graci Etna Rosso DOC 2023

A reminder about origin, they being estate vineyards at 650-750m and aging of 18 months in concrete though this ’23 feels as though at least one big barrel was involved. Not quite as linear and serious an Etna Rosso as the previous 2022 surely was and still is. Youthful yes but more chew than crispiness in 2023, ripeness and sweetness in acidity. No reduction, open for business and read to rock. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted May 2025

Graci Etna Rosso DOC Arcurìa 2022

Spicing, spacing and perfume define Arcurìa with equal an opposing reflections for signs of Etna Rosso perfections and imperfections. Arcurìa from 2022 is showing quite the amount of barrel at this early stage, notes indicative of spice and challenge. Fruit is up to the task, metered, rising and falling in waves, there to speak of the open and closed spaces. All this to say the journey will end up in reflection in regards to a Rosso drinking forward for eventual gratitude. Drink 2026-2031. Tasted May 2025

Graci Etna Rosso DOC Arcurìa Sopra Il Pozzo 2020

The piece of Arcurìa needing two extra years of aging and settling time is Sopra Il Pozzo, ad esempio a me piace il sud. Or the north as it applies to this slope of L’Etna and this piece is expressive of the sweetest spicing over fruit as any on the mountain. Yes the southern section is also liked but here Pozzo is an Etna Rosso of wood that needs to melt in, puddle below and allow a rising of fruit. That it will with the nerello mascalese climbing the firm backbone of this 2020 with fine and upstanding repose. Impressive and structured for a very long life still laid out ahead. Drink 2026-2034. Tasted May 2025

I Custodi delle Vigne dell’Etna Rosso DOC Aetneus 2020

Fascinating study in Etna Rosso because these from I Custodi are different, stand out and alone nerello mascalese with (20 percent) nerello cappuccio. More than just the cappuccio but soil and location add up and amount to what’s in this glass. A certain kind of dried fruit, rich and leathery, studied and mature, weighty but without density. Now a settled wine with heavy mineral presence, a volcanic factor specific to I Custodi and when mixed with the winemaking style it all comes out a very certain way. Do you like it? Try it and find out. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted May 2025

I Custodi delle Vigne dell’Etna Rosso DOC Saeculare 2016

The consistency of style from one I Custodi Etna Rosso to another is remarkable, to a wine, in all the wine. Yes the 20 percent nerello cappuccino is partly responsible for the semi-rustic, chewy dried fruit character but look further, or rather deeper into fine decomposition of basaltic soil. Location of course but whether you have 2020 or this 2016 in glass they all seem to be at nearly the same maturity. As here with Saeculare although it’s particular grip and structure see it age longer than Aetneus and this is prime time for tasting and in turn drinking this label. It will seem mature to some but know that this is the way and style of the house. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted May 2025

Palmento Costanzo Etna Rosso DOC Nero di Sei 2021

Fine verticality even from Rosso di Sei because, well 2021 and also the lava. Feels firmer than eight months ago and as a result may live even longer. Last tasted May 2025

Nero di Sei 2021 comes quicker to the point with near-immediate gratification because of vintage and also by way of the team allowig and even encouaging this to happen. Or abided more like it, with red berry fruit aromas that nerello mascalese can gift when the conditions are right. This is not to say that 2021 will fade into early light because it is in fact equipped with volume, concentration and backbone. A truly exceptional vintage that will appeal to all. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted September 2024

Palmento Costanzo Etna Rosso Doc Contrada Santo Spirito Pre Phylloxera 2021

Not that the wine isn’t tight but my goodness how the tension is matched by fine verticality from Rosso with an intensity of volcanic chalkiness so specific to Santo Spirito’s 1870 lava. When vines are pre-phylloxera they have a true connection to the actual eruption and basalt because the lava had barely cooled when the first grapes appeared on the vines. A “no lo so” factor in this nerello mascalese character cools the Rosso so that herbal and stony notes prevail and persist, long after the wine has passed over the palate. A remarkable wine (isn’t it always) and another near perfect vintage. Drink 2027-2037. Tasted May 2025

With Fosca Tortorelli

Pietradolce Etna Rosso DOC Barbagalli 2020

Grand and expressive, epically proportioned, factor of a remarkable vineyard brought to life through the coursing of its nerello mascalese. Hard to imagine an Etna Rosso so fine and linear could be considered crushable but this is Barbagalli and its vines more experienced than just about any aboard L’Etna. Crushable as a fleeting feeling but everything is truly in place, all parts inclusive of fruit, minerals, elements and constructions right where they should formulate. The last of the wine is no such thing because the weights, measures and taciturn moments linger for seemingly ever. Wowed and energized by Barbagalli. Drink 2027-2039. Tasted May 2025

Pietradolce Etna Rosso DOC Archineri 2021

A different and singular animal for Pietradolce is Archineri, chewier and more palate workable than the rest of the Rosso portfolio. Lots of wood still noted on the 2021, changes yet to take effect, not here, not anywhere. Not tight as much as unable to come to be on the other side. Remains to be seen where this road will lead. To be honest it’s a bit resinous but youth is rebellion and maturity will come to experience. Drink 2027-2030. Tasted May 2025

Pietradolce Etna Rosso DOC Rampante 2021

Effusive perfume from Rampante 2021, more floral than Pietradolce’s other reds, tannins sweeter and less austere. An approachable character though we know that structure is built for a long and full experience. The most immediately recognizable balance and still time will be kind to this Rosso. Air is on side now, time as well for 10 years forward. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted May 2025

Pietradolce Etna Rosso DOC Feudo di Mezzo 2021

Some dried fruit and a maturity in the feels of Feudo di Mezzo 2021 but oh my goodness what a charming, graceful and lovely bit of nerello mascalese love in this bottle. Opens slowly and I also feel like their is some sort of obfuscation but the truth is the truth and FdM ’21 is in a very good and right place. Drink this while Rampante and Archineri work through their challenges. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted May 2025

Pietradolce Etna Rosso DOC Santo Spirito 2021

From the opening salvo Santo Spirito is notable for its restraint and a closed aromatic tilt still very much a factor involved. Like Archineri, floral along with Rampante and so residing either in-between or as a combination of the two. A Rosso of layers, stepping stones taken up towards its eventual plateau. The barrel is melting here so slowly, the fruit fills full and substantial, the power less than intense and the energy still rising, Wait some more and then some more after that. Drink 2027-2031. Tasted May 2025

Planeta Etna Rosso DOC Feudo di Mezzo 2023

First vintage as a solo Feudo di Mezzo and labeled this way. Not that this Contrada ever creates the darkest nerello mascalese but 2023 is at the peak of lithe, airy and transparent. The vintage takes over from the Contrada with ever-persistent and linear consistency controlling its volcanic destiny. Without density or extravagance, not in any shape or form but instead a fineness that seeks no desperate gratification. Will it age? Of course it will. These are really old vines growing in volcanic rocks, though if perhaps not for decades. Tasted a second time, May 2025

Full and substantial Etna Rosso for Planeta and 2023, a challenge accepted and met, the effect positive and gaining. Spicing is essential, cumulative macchia also a matter of great importance with layers yet to be peeled away. The reveal is coming, let’s say after another 12-18 months, at which time we will speak of fruit leading and tannin trailing. Grande. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted May 2025

Tasca d’Almerita Tascante Etna Rosso DOC Contrada Pianodario 2020

Varietal nerello mascalese only grown at 790m in Contrada Pianodario raised for one year in large Slavonian cask. This Etna Rosso is exactly what nerello mascalese is today. It may take a consumer three of four times and vintages before they get it but once they do they will never go back. High acid, transparency, brightest of red fruit, no rusticity and refined tannins. Delicate and at the same time serious. Just keeps getting better each time. Last tasted May 2025

Lighter of body but not aroma as it now enters with the volume turned up, a feeling of idiosyncrasy and high-level curiosity. Wild and exotic spicing owing to a 17th century lava flow now in a state of degradation to make certain the nerello mascalese growing in its sands are the recipient of its mineral profile. Tasted September 2024

High-toned, spirited and transparent nerello mascalese from Tasca’s L’Etna Tascante out of Contrada Pianodario. Red berry shine, acids excited and fruit a willing participant. Tarragon and Basil herbal, so very basaltic stony and truly a wine of place. Crunchy and ever so slightly resinous with balsamico mixing into the sweetness of fruit and acidity. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted May 2024

With Sofia Ponzini – Tenute Bosco

Tenute Bosco Etna Rosso DOC 2022

Spiced and lifted aromatics create an effect to deliver Etna Rosso with linearity, grace and stature. Scan a room and you will not miss this nerello mascalese because its confidence, poise and presence stand out in a crowd. Beautiful in a post classic way, part demure and beyond a doubt unmissable. Barrel that needs to settle down and in will do so in two years time and see five-plus years of ideal drinking after that. Brava Sofia, as always. Drink 2027-2032. Tasted May 2025

Tornatore Etna Rosso DOC 2022

Straight shooter this Etna Rosso, accessible and amenable to all, now and for all the right reasons. Fruit first, ripe and delicious, aromatically charged and energizing the entirety of the wine. Rosso for Rosso’s sake, crunchy and palatable with great toothsome character, A guarantee and stamp of quality in the most professional of Etna Rosso ways. Unwavering consistency from Tornatore. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted May 2025

Tornatore Etna Rosso DOC Pietrarizzo 2021

Etna Rosso as Pietrarizzo is nothing short of expressive, energetic and impressive. Fruit comes in waves, in and out of every pore and this “etichetta” exhibits finer and sweeter acidity than so many peers. Commercially viable for a lifted Etna Rosso to explain much about the mountain’s nerello mascalese. Quite fine, true substantial and very composed. Last tasted May 2025

If Tornatore’s classico Etna Rosso is the most understandable and straightforward 2021 DOC entry point there could be than we should expect Pietrarizzo to hyperbolize that idea. Exaggerate and also exist in a vacuum where great acidity and sneaky formidable structure combine for all that could be wanted and needed. Such is the case and with the estate’s glide into maturity because ripeness happens and getting to the point always in season. Fine work, as always, expected and desired. Should be ready, fully and completely in the late winter months. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted October 2024

Tornatore Etna Rosso DOC Trimarchisa 2018

A cumulative experience in Etna Rosso, fruit three ways, acids and tannins in and out off every layer, a wine to imagine all the mountain can deliver. Tart, tight and substantial, all the nooks filled with elements fruity and minerally volcanic. As they should be. Drink 2026-2029. Tasted May 2025

Good to go!

godello

Modica

Castello Di Ama Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Vigneto Bellavista 2020, Gaiole

Report and reviews from the 2025 Chianti Classico Collection

Apr4

At the Chianti Classico Collection 2025

Warm days have awoken the vines in Tuscany, the defiant 2025 Ontario winter has been reluctant to end, Spring has not sprung and 45 days have past since the 32nd edition of the Chianti Classico Collection came to another decisive and triumphant conclusion. Sustainability was the central theme in 2025 with talk of a new commitment by producers in their move towards a “sustainable future and respect for the region.” As always sangiovese remained the star for two-days of intensive tasting and continuing education studies with never enough thanks afforded to the organization of the Consorzio Vino Chianti Classico and execution of the Tuscan sommeliers. The most recent vintages showed off their prowess to a macroscale contingent of fully attentive international journalists seated at the Stazione Leopolda tasting tables for two immersive days. Between 2016 and 2024 recurrent hyperbole has been expressed on these Godello pages about the consistent forward strides made by Chianti Classico producers and still their passion and ethic persists. Chianti Classico wines have never acceded the level they are at right now, reputation is at an all-time high and the peak is far from reached. Should you either be blind to the obvious or just beginning to realize the importance of the Gallo Nero, fear not because the best is yet to come.

Godello tasting at The Chianti Classico Collection 2025

Hai le fette di salame sugli occhi

A short note from Consorzio Vino Chianti Classico President Giovanni Manetti on US tarrfis: “We are particularly concerned about the repercussions that the 20% tariff imposed on imports could have on the export of our wines, and we must have faith that the choice made by the Trump Administration will be addressed as soon as possible by our Italian and European leaders. Us producers will now have to work together to shoulder the heavy economic burden that will result from the imposition of these tariffs on the U.S. market. We will continue on, though, strong in our conviction that the American consumers who have always loved and enjoyed Chianti Classico will remain loyal to our quality wines, the Black Rooster, and to our unique region that’s present in each of our bottles.”

Chianti Classico Collection 2025

What to expect from 2024 Chianti Classico?

Near the end of 2024 Godello speculated on the quality of the 2024 vintage, but also how it may resemble some blasts from the past. “The summer of ’24 was typically hot and dry but all that changed after September 7th because in some parts of the region nearly 400 ml of rain fell over the following seven weeks. Unprecedented amounts of water, well at least if you look back at the previous 30 years. August of 1995 saw rain like that and previous to that there was plenty of precipitation and cool harvest temperatures in 1991 and 1993. Fast forward again to 2024 and the the constant deluge of mid-September through to late October ends up becoming the cruelest stretch. Days on end when tractors are unable to enter the vineyards, harvest crews repeatedly pause on stand by because picking wet grapes is a cardinal sin and prayers are made for two straight days of sunshine to happen anytime and anywhere. From Greve to Castellina, San Donato in Poggio to Castelnuovo Berardenga, Vagliagli to Gaiole, San Casciano to Radda, in Montefioralle, Panzano and Lamole. Bunches are dropped because tight sangiovese clusters encourage the development of mold from within and the waiting game is excruciating for many. Patience is the greatest virtue and yet sugars are developing slowly, like the old days, piano-piano, as they like to say. In the end a classic vintage in the ways of days of old is declared, with phenolic ripeness achieved because of the longest hang-time since 1993, the same year Juventus’ Roberto Baggio scores five goals in seven international matches for Italy. Drinkable sangiovese, elegant, ripe, low alcohol and a good number blessed with sneaky structure. Producers are pleased with the freshness and ethereal beauty. The tank samples are bloody delicious. Pure sangiovese. Retro Chianti Classico.”

“First and foremost on so many producers minds are the alcohol levels topping out at 13.5 percent. If you see 14.0 abv on a bottle in 2026 or beyond you can bet the actual number is just above that 13.5 Mason-Dixon line and in some cases 13.5 could in actuality be just a shade above 13.0. Lighter wines as a general rule, but age-worthy because of phenolic ripeness, at least in cases where producers waited, waited some more and picked as late as possible. Expect to see straight through the transparent hues of Chianti Classico sangiovese for 2024, to sense, taste and feel the brightest and potentially sweetest acidities, then finally the silkiest if also most elastic tannins. The 2024 acids will be the catalyst for aging these sangiovese. Anyone under the age of 50 will have likely never experienced a Chianti Classico vintage like 2024 and potentially never will again.”

With Michaela Morris at Stazione Leopolda, Chianti Classico Collection 2025

A reminder that any Chianti Classico anteprime report on the Florence Collection must make clear that it is always a multi-vintage presentation. Also incumbent on a journalist is to express the importance of understanding the Annata in terms of what kinds of wines will come from a same vintage Riserva and Gran Selezione. The three appellative wines are intrinsically connected and so the Annata will foreshadow the future. There are producers who choose to present their just bottled Annata each February, if only because they qualify for what can be released under Consorzio rules, which in this case means the 2023s and this year unfinished tank samples account for 35 percent of that season’s total. The bulk (meaning nearly three out of every four) Annata made available to taste are from 2022, 2021 and 2020. The assessment of the campione is more of a trial and error exercise because hit or miss raw samples are so often challenging to get a read on. For the 2025 Collection it is safe to say that the 2022 Annata are to be considered as the current vintage. They are a powerful lot and though lower in quantity, they arrive in stark contrast to 2021s of truly exceptional quality. The 2022s are stringently stubborn, requiring time and several producers choose to keep their wines behind, to give these next releases a few more months in the bottle.

The 2025 Collection also marked the 50th Anniversary of the Chianti Classico DOP Olive Oil Consorzio and included a record number of Black Rooster exhibitors. There were 2018 wineries presenting 790 labels to the press, industry professionals and general public. In addition to the Collection presentation in Firenze, this most recent trip also included visits made with producers within the territory. As a follow-up, a second report will publish next week to include the wines tasted at those estates. There were 544 wines available at the sommelier-assisted tables and the following are 185 reviews covering all 11 UGAs for the three appellative levels of Chianti Classico DOCG tasted over two consecutive days in the Stazione Leopolda at the February 2025 Chianti Classico Collection.

Gagliole Chianti Classico DOCG Rubiolo 2023, Nessuna Unità

Campione: Juicy as they come and while a sample it is simply too early to fully assess the full extent known of this very forthright Rubiolo 2023. A pure sangiovese of high fruit content red and juicy, open and generous, nearly ready to express itself. Another six months and this could not only be bottled but rearing to please. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Istine Chianti Classico DOCG 2023, Nessuna Unità

Campione: Really full and substantial sangiovese if like many 2023 barrel samples there is a tightness about its aromatics. Not close fisted like other vintages but also not completely open or generous either. Tannins are a bit grippy and their muscular pipes must come down from the mountain and relax before any sort of joy can be found. And it will. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Istine Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Levigne 2021, Nessuna Unità

LeVigne, Riserva from the Istine vines in Radda plus Gaiole to create Angela Fronti’s full scale selection. LeVigne and the reason why these vineyards all need to be the best they can be, to justify a Riserva label, especially now that each of the three are giving fruit to produce Gran Selezione. No severe loss for Riserva although it may take a few years for allocations to truly be figured out so that this wine will continue to stay at peak. Last tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, 2025

After experimenting for a few years this is Angela Front’s first use of whole bunches intero, approximately 20 percent in the mix, to wildly aromatic acclaim. Seriously, for better, worse or best, of a floral intensity now announced, with immediacy and the flavours burst, pop and finally explode upon the palate. Wholly complex notions and diversions that take you, here, there and everywhere. Dios mio Batman! Fronti has mixed in different percentages of whole bunch, 10 at first, 50 in the fermentative middle and 40 at another to arrive at the average of 20 and the final result is something extraordinary. You simply can’t look or turn away. The energy is palpable and infectious. Drama! Emozione. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted February 2024

Castellina

Banfi Chianti Classico DOCG 2023, Castellina

Juicy, soft, amenable, drinkable to each and every degree. That is the point and the exclamation. Just the faintest hint of grainy texture and vanillin by wood that will integrate with six more months in bottle. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Brancaia Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2022, Castellina

Big bones and a wave of exotic perfume defining the vintage and for Castellina. I mean it’s Gran Selezione and so 2022 is really young. Feels like the wine is still refining while it stiff arms your palate to ward off the tackle and so surely too early to be tasting. Speaks to the idea of a window opening before a some other number UGA ‘22s but the time is far from nigh. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, 2025.

Buondonno Chianti Classico DOCG Podere Casavecchia Alla Piazza 2023, Castellina

Warm and inviting aromatic condition with this high elevation part of Castellina’s eastern ridge effecting a combination of sweet volatility and cool factor. A curious and potentially profound juxtaposition provided time chooses to sooth the grip and force that exists in the earliest stages of this wine. Just sangiovese and meaningful, raw and powerful, boozy to a degree but know that this place makes this kind of Chianti Classico. Return two years from now for the opening salvo. Drink 2027-2033. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Buondonno Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Casavecchia Alla Piazza 2022, Castellina

Big and bountiful, rich and powerful while always just restrained enough to feel the natural beauty in the face of fruit meeting alcohol brawn. The place determines the result and 2022 could do nothing but make a big Buondonno as Riserva. A wow factor mélange of fruit and fine-grained tannin looking for the catalyst of acidity to control this manifest destiny. Two years rest will secure the result. Drink 2027-2033. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

The beautiful family of Marta Buondonno

Capraia Chianti Classico DOCG 2023, Castellina

Wood off the top with a blush of make-up in vanilla, lavender and almond paste. Coats the palate with a salve and while the hope could be for a soft and creamy sangiovese – the wine does not come to that. Drying and chalky but in a liquid grainy way. Drink 2025-2026. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Capraia Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Effe 55 2021, Castellina

Spices all over the nose, baking and those that define the stews and braises of Toscana. A truly woody Gran Selezione, grabbing our attention, letting us know it’s there for the taking. Tannins do dry out at the finish but do not wait because the fruit will not improve or get any younger. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, 2025

Casale Dello Sparviero Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, Castellina

A most pure and surely glycerol sangiovese with (five percent) canaiolo as soft and creamy as they come from Castellina, or anywhere in the territory. Generous and amenable, a veritable mouthful of fruit and wood softened and melted into the fabric of the wine. Very modern, plush and easy. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Casale Dello Sparviero Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Paronza 2019, Castellina

Paronza 2019 has bided time and allowed itself to mature into an adult version of Gran Selezione. Now mature and settled, caramelizing into secondary character and showing like a sangiovese having entered its postmodern age. Chewy, of liquorice and dried persimmon, its acidity expressed in the reduced Balsamico way. Last tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, 2025

Unique example with aromatics unlike any other but for now they are mostly caused by the stay in wood. Vanilla yes but also what feels like the effects of American oak. Coconut like Rioja mixed with Napa Valley but sangiovese is rendered “different” because, well sangiovese. Needs two years to come fully together and will outlive many, darkening and thickening as it matures. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted October 2024

Castagnoli Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, Castellina

A grand mix of aromas, in part from the surround of forest and the other a vineyard exposition at elevation and open to the elements. A lightning strike of sangiovese as bright and intense as any you will find in the whole of the territory but that is the crux of this Castellina situation. Intensity thy name is Castagnoli. Last tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Great example of juiciness and acidity in the face of a dry, concentrated and hydric-stressed vintage. Alternatively crispy but there is some reserve-style, reductively backward actionability and yet conversely also forgiving character. Tart and expressive with two years needed to integrate and complete this picture. Drink 2026-2031. Tasted February 2024

Castellare Di Castellina Chianti Classico DOCG 2023, Castellina

Well made, drink early sangiovese with acidity in tow behind fruit though just sapid enough with thanks to (five percent) mitigating canaiolo. A thoughtful and well judged Annata with 2023 bones and flesh for open season Chianti Classico hunting. Get at Castellare now because it offers more than most without the necessary requiem for aging. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Castellare Di Castellina Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2022, Castellina

Solid construct in Riserva form from Castellare, rich and fulsome, dark fruited, red-faced and fine. Elegant sangiovese, so well thought about and crafted, spicy, spiced and open. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Castello Di Fonterutoli Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2021, Castellina

High tonality, brightness and also lightness of red, red fruit though this sample of the 2021 Castellina Gran Selezione houses some Brettanomyces. Sweet fruit and acidity though tannins are somewhat hard as a result. Hoping for some relief after time brings all the elements together. Last tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, 2025

This Gran Selezione is in fact 2021, shown here as an anteprima because the rules allow (after January 1st), but it surely won’t be released on the market anytime soon. The hold on the fruit is serious and the wine is still ground into a masala paste without having rehydrated, settled and showing what it should become. Nevertheless there is plenty of substance and tonic weight to rely on for a Gran Selezione that shall provide, like 2016, but also with modern timing in pocket. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted February 2024

Castello La Leccia Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, Castellina

Fine liquid elixir of sangiovese without adornment or distraction in this pure example of Castellina Chianti Classico. Simple and so bloody effective for what the Annata needs to express and how they should attract a willing audience. Drink without any care in the world. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Cecchi Chianti Classico DOCG Storia Di Famiglia 2022, Castellina

The story of a family – this to explain the reasons behind a Chianti Classico Annata of accumulation, of the years and a season. Warm and peach fuzzy, red cherry stylish with a hint of citrus pit bitters and acidity as cracker sharp as ever. A touch lactic and therefore tang is the operative word. Last tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Campione: Tight, reductive, a swirl of glycerol syrupy red fruits held in a tight acid embrace. This will be rich and also emulsified sangiovese made doubly thick and ready to impress one or two years from now. Take note and be ready. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted February 2024

Cecchi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Valore Di Famiglia 2021, Castellina

Taut and still somewhat reductive Gran Selezione from Castellina, not yet ready to calm, settle and release. A red fruit profile quite intense and acidity doing much the same. Needs to chill, relax and integrate, melt in its upfront barrel and come away with a new attitude, in new light. Drink 2027-2031. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, 2025

Fattoria Pomona Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, Castellina

Still working through its motions and machinations, this for a sangiovese from Castellina that fits the vintage profile, of fruit darker than almost any since 2016. Quite tannic, still a bit grainy and the impressive stature by structure is in charge. Big for Pomona, likely higher in alcohol than many, not a throwback by any stretch and drying at the finish. Give this time, plenty of precious time and look to better days ahead . Drink 2026-2032. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Gagliole Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Gallule 2021, Castellina

Riserva may be on its own but it already reveals much about itself. The separate entity that is Gran Selezione (from Castellina, not Panzano) does the opposite with wood so very much upfront and a tannic touch weighing down as freight below. As full a wine as Gagliole will make, however the barrel holds all the current cards. Comes away creamy and there needs to be some integration to get where it wants to go. Drink 2027-2033. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, 2025

Lornano Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, Castellina

There has never been a Lornano Chianti Classico with more upfront dark fruit and manageable structure as this out of the 2022 vintage. Nothing previous has acted so open and generous as this Annata, nor have we not had to wait for so short a time for grip and tannin to subside. Perhaps they were never fully there? Well no, the wine shows the stuffing of a warm and fulfilling year but there are few from Castellina that act this way. What sorcery is this pray tell? So curious and frankly also delicious. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

La squadra – Casale Dello Sparviero

Nardi Viticoltori Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, Castellina

Sangiovese with five percent colorino and canaiolo first produced in 2014 now with the image of Siena’s skyline on the label. Soils are clay with some limestone and for Giacomo “the 2022 is better in the mouth.” Aged in a mix of Tuscan, Slovenian and French oak, “essential for aromatic complexity.” Now just in bottle for a bit more than a month, expressive of fruit in a broad way and the tannins are present in two parts, of softness and then in fine grains. Nardi picks on skin and alcohol – not on the pips. He insists they don’t necessarily have to be crunchy and brown. Surely a reaction to climate change and because he wants to make a wine of drinkability. Makes sense in Castellina and yes, there is more than ample ripeness in his 2022. Well done, Giacomo. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted February 2025

Nardi Viticoltori Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Vigna Del Pino 2021, Castellina

The first vintage was 2016, the following vintage was so hot and dry but Nardi did the yeoman work and made a truly drinkable wine. The 2021 is blessed of the good if basic red fruit vintage, here with more polish and refinement as compared to the Annata. You can feel the passion and the piety in this work. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted February 2025

Piemaggio Chianti Classico DOCG Le Fioraie 2020, Castellina

Campione: A 2020 and still not bottled which can only be for two reasons. Either the wine has been a serious challenge to clean up or the tannic structure is so formidable as to be the requiem for further time. In any case there is some noted volatility but no major faults or issues with sweet fruit, equal acidity and yes the backbone of the wine is sangiovese serious. Upright, vertical and the tannic profile demanding. Needs more time. Last tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Campione: Tight, peppery but only slightly reductive and quite fresh. Breathable and no oxidative moments as with so many samples taken from cask. Still the wine is far from shwoing any semblance of openness or readiness. Tasted February 2024

Querceto Di Castellina Chianti Classico DOCG l’Aura 2023, Castellina

Herbal entry, a pesto of sweet greens swirled into tomato and tart fruits for another unique 2023 when many others feel cut from a similar cloth. In any case the unction runs deep and the flavours too, the acidity keeps pace and the structure is solid, if not the kind that measures quite the same. Adds up to a promising mid-term Annata. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Rocca Delle Macìe Chianti Classico DOCG 2023, Castellina

Unsurprising as a 2023 already bottled and ready for the market. Prèt a porter, fruit set up to talk the Maciè talk without hesitation and for all to take in right here, right now. Acids are soft and sweet, tannins never there. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Rocca Delle Macìe Famiglia Zingarelli Tenuta Le Maciè Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Sergioveto 2022, Castellina

Indubitably Famiglia Zingarelli as a Riserva and for that matter any or all of their sangiovese. A mix of ripest fruit available at Le Maciè put to great barrel for thickening effect. This is the sort of Riserva you can chew on, swirling around the palate with creamy, red berry goodness. There are no holes or moments taken off, just a seamless and consistent wine from start to finish. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Rocca Delle Macìe Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Sergio Zingarelli 2021, Castellina

Really quite amazed at how approachable the Sergio Zingarelli Gran Selezione 2021 is acting this early in its tenure. A great vintage no doubt and yet not necessarily a sangiovese with it’s back against the wall, nor is there any reason to fear it’s tannic presence. No, fruit is king, generous and beautiful. A fine and fortuitous example that leads with its best foot forward, open and likely to stay this way for a few years. Drink 2025-2031. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, 2025

Tenuta Di Bibbiano Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, Castellina

Visibly luminescent, highly aromatic and distinctly seasoned for 2022 Chianti Classico Annata. Crisp and vocal, crunchy and liquid chalky, squared at its corners, yet not far away from softening, rounding and curving those edges. Tannins are still firm and in command. Last tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Arch classic Bibbiano for Annata, fresh, impeccably clean and open, more so than most 2022s. No reduction, oxidation or volatility but a pleat of substance and noble power. The acids of ’22 improve upon ’17 and ’18, tannins follow suit and all is known to be on the right track. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted February 2024

Tenute di Bibbiano Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Vigne Del Montornello 2021, Castellina

Montornello shows its stripes and flavours, wearing its emotions on the sleeves of its structure with all the vineyard notions in tow. Magnificent array of colours, aromas and flavours, in reds, blacks and blues, never relenting, welling up from a well of mineral and elemental happenstance. Big vintage for this Gran Selezione. Drink 2027-2032. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, 2025

Tenuta Di Lilliano Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, Castellina

Youthful and yet reductive, lightly white peppery infiltrate through the red rose floral bouquet. Syrupy in mouthfeel with high level tang and a fullness welling for the palate and low down at the finish. Lots of glycerin and a slight paste feel at the finish. Drink 2026-2028. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Tenute Squarcialupi La Castellina Chianti Classico DOCG Cosimo Bojola 2022, Castellina

The work of next generation winemaker Cosimo Bojola and his natural of natural procurements, the firsts from ’21 and ’20 with their classic earthy funk – but no more, The clean and crisp clarity out of 2022 is a cause for sense of wonder and the precocious abilities of said maker are in plain view. Fruit is securely ripe, tannins are severely restrained and the orange citrus acidity does the rest. The risk has clawed back to a safer space which sterilizes the wine just a touch. The best is still to come and yet with 2022 you have to give credit because it’s due. Bravo Cosimo. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Tregole Chianti Classico DOCG 2023, Castellina

In bottle from 2023 and so not a sample but for a maker who picks relatively late (often well into October) the time spent before bottling is less than many. And so come expecting some awkward moments, even from the beginning because the wine has just not settled and transformed into what it will be. Not for a moment and many will be confounded if tasted this early. Revisit in eight months time. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Tregole Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2021, Castellina

The world of Tregole comes to the Gran Selezione appellation with late harvested fruit for it to translate as a fuller and more concentrated wine. More tannic freight then Annata and Riserva combined, now weighing in with trenchant and layered intention. Needing time to settle and find its way, this 2021 from Sophie Conte is some kind of unexpected tour de force. Drink 2026-2031. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, 2025

Villa Trasqua Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Castellina

A Castellina Annata always held back and aged longer than most, at least one year and released as much as two later than the current 2023s coming to market. With thanks because my goodness the tannic profile is a tight and immovable one. Getting there slowly, nearly in stride and the wine should offer its height of pleasure by this time next year. For now there should be a lean cut of beef on the grill, a baseball top sirloin if you will, rested and sliced rare alongside. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Castelnuovo Berardenga

Carpineta Fontalpino Chianti Classico DOCG 2023, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Campione: Reductive and über primary with a sweet volatility in charge of the aromas. So very much in the house style where fruit is large and structure larger. There is no reason to expect the world and pass early judgement because there is little to see here in terms of a finished wine. Time needs to pass before it finds its way. Tasted twice at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Carpineta Fontalpino Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Montaperto 2020, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Mineral, material, meaningful and of a clarity that Dofana does not show nor declare in 2020. Montaperto is clean living, sharp and focused Gran Selezione. Ripeness secured, acidity rising and tannins seething like a slow-simmered sauce, never rushed and developing complexities. A fine GS that shows the way for this Castelnuovo Berardenga terroir though still needing a few years to realize its potential. Drink 2027-2034. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, 2025

Castell’In Villa Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, Castelnuovo Berardenga

To taste a Castell’In Villa this early seems unusual to say the least and maybe even wrong. These are some of Chianti Classico’s longest lived wines, even at the Annata level and yet…and yet there is joy, light and promise right from the start. Hard to believe but here we are in the modern world and the house rolls with the changes – with no compromise to structure. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Castell’In Villa Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2019, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Well settled and comfortable within its Riserva Skin, softening and yet acidity persists at every turn. The driver is just that, sweet and salty, lightly caramelizing the deep red fruit into a state of its maturing accord. Feels like sangiovese from a warm southerly Chianti Classico location surrounded by all the macchia brush and herbs that a forest will provide. The development here tells us this will not be the longest aging Riservas from this estate. Drink 2025-2031. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, 2025

Castello Di Bossi C. Berardenga Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, Castelnuovo Berardenga

A clear reflection of the house style and the coolest, smoothest and silkiest iteration of Castelnuovo Beradenga. Elevation helps, as does riposte fruit caught at ideal maturity, but also the hands of knowledge, calm demeanour and experience. Bossi’s is such a well-judged, layered and syncopated sangiovese, Bio and proper, come to the world with great effect. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Castello Di Bossi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2021, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Bossi’s 2021 is truly a different animal as compared to its Riserva, less forthright, not quite as open or soliciting of immediate gratification. A vertical solo sangiovese expression, seriously structured and needing time. That said there is a brightness and citrus aspect that’s quite invigorating. Drink 2026-2031. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, 2025

Castello Di Bossi Berardo Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2021, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Lovely perfume from Bossi’s Riserva and a 100 percent sangiovese that immediately attracts in just this way. A deep well of red fruit rises, coats and then fills the palate for what is simply definitive Riserva for Chianti Classico. No lack for tannins here neither and so come back year after year for five or more for the enhanced and continued experience. The work of a winemaker honing his or her craft is more than apparent. Drink 2026-2031. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Fèlsina Berardenga Chianti Classico DOCG 2023, Castelnuovo Berardenga

An early release 2023, realizing its potential ahead of usual to mark a minor shift in design and expression from Fèlsina. Never missing the evergreen note always prevalent in these sangiovese of southeastern Castelnuovo Berardenga and Chianti Classico. A touch dusty and with the Balsamico of the località, though never shocking and really quite expected. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Fèlsina Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Colonia 2021, Castelnuovo Berardenga

There have been great Colonia made over the past 12 years but does it not just feel like Giovanni Poggiali and his intelligent team have been waiting for 2021 to come along and take this cru to another level? The can’t ever miss style and macchia notes are present and accounted for, but here in the most hyperbole of ways. An exaggeration of riches, a highest level of fitness and fullness not yet uncovered. The 2021 is an amazing wine, minty and white chocolate woody but always evergreen and cool in the face but also as a compliment to its warming heart. Virtuoso performance by ’21 Colonia, a Gran Selezione with the nurturing care of Pietro Pettinaio, in the school of Giuseppe Collignon and Domenico Beccafumi, all in the name of Castelnuovo Berardenga. Drink 2027-2036. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, 2025

Losi Querciavalle Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, Castelnuovo Berardenga

There’s something happening in Castellina from 2022 because there are wines with darker fruit and more depth than most of the Chianti Classico UGAs. Here with grip and this feeling of sangiovese liqueur exaggerated in colour and heft by the 10 percent colorino in the wine. Quite the extraction and the tannic presence for a profile bigger than Losi of the past. Another curious ’22 Castellina that can’t be ignored. Drink 2026-2029. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

San Felice Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Quite the silky Castelnuovo sangiovese seasoned with salt, pepper and spices by 10 percent altri vitigni and there is no doubt the team led by Leonardo Bellaccini have found the sweet spot with this vim, relish and vigour 2022. Fruit and structure, one, the other, then back again for more. Incredible considering the quantities produced. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Tenuta Di Arceno Chianti Classico DOCG 2023, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Campione: Quite forward and understandable as a sample, fruit certainly full, ripe and still a touch dusty. Not exactly rigid though not yet malleable in terms of mouthful and certainly structure. Well reasoned and so will round out into a good Annata, seasoned and understandably forward. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Tolaini Chianti Classico DOCG Vallenuova 2023, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Nothing else scents like a Tolaini Chianti Classico, no matter the appellative level and in Annata the florals, mint and chocolate are at the height of heights. As is the luxe showiness, strut with feathers extended and beauty for all to see. Tannins are fierce and extensive, not to mention stretched far and long. Wholly impressive at this appellative level. Drink 2027-2032. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, 2025

With Gregorio Boscu Bianchi Bandinelli – Villa di Geggiano

Villa Di Geggiano Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Intensity from an ultra specific località with its descending fluvial screes between two hills. A microclimate unlike those on either side for which the sangiovese receives a mineral deposit all its own and 2022 brings the metal forward in full and proper distribution. Cuts through the fruit with sapid intent while fine if persistent tannins surround the whole. Best to let this ’21 sit for a couple of years. Drink 2027-2032. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Villa Di Geggiano Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2020, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Big vintage for Geggiano’s south-westerly Castelnuovo location transmitted through Riserva with all the fruit, and more. All the silky, cool and gelid feels there could and would ever want to be. Intensity of minerals, Alberese namely and who could not feel this mouthful of metal, gemstone and elements in the mouth. How could you possibly miss it? Sangiovese that stays with you for minutes on end. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, 2025

Gaiole

Badia A Coltibuono Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, Gaiole

Not exactly closed yet not particularly expressive and so maybe the wish would be for this 2022 from Badia a Coltibuono to wait another year ahead of release. Still it has aged in bottle a year longer than some ‘23s now being presented and time will shift the gears for the wine to express its Coltibuono località. The savour and acidity of forests, elevation and mixed indigenous varieties accenting sangiovese delivers another ultra-specified Chianti Classico Annata. Close your eyes, conjure and recall BdC’s of the past and the 2022 will fall right into line. It could not have been made by just anyone nor have come from anywhere else. Drink 2026-2031. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Badia A Coltibuono Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2020, Gaiole

A bit seductive this Riserva from Badia a Coltibuono, it should be supposed because of the vintage and fruit stands up to counted with more immediacy than memory will try to recall. Ripeness to the edge and lingering, suggestive of maturity but in a holding pattern. Liquorice on the palate and again this sort of palaver involved, but then the wine steps back once again. An immediate gratification, in other words a phrase not ever used before to describe a Coltibuono Riserva but there it is and so this vintage is more ready to drink. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, 2025

Bertinga Chianti Classico DOCG La Porta Di Vertine 2022, Gaiole

The door to “Vertine,” a località within Gaiole that Luca Vitiello and his Bertinga team have chosen to exult, explain and present to the world. Their’s brings more fruit and modern styling to Gaiole and in turn to the whole that is Chianti Classico. A ready for drinking, juicy and openly generous, 100 percent sangiovese for every reason to believe. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Cantalici Chianti Classico DOCG Baruffo 2022, Gaiole

A new epoch for Cantalici’s Baruffo begins with this feeling of a transition having happened. Not just because of the clean, cool and ultra clear modernity but also the absence of barrel, or the feeling that wood sheds little importance into this wine. Only sangiovese, expressly Gaiole and yet new for the UGA, or at least different. There is substantial chew in texture that reminds of liquorice and because of aromas meeting style, but also a chalky tannin underneath. No bitters at the finish confirm the change in direction where less has become more. Drink 2026-2029. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Castello Di Ama Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Montebuoni 2021, Gaiole

A mouthful of acidity, tannin and mineral direct and defining Ama’s Montebuoni 2021, a wine not yet mature enough to say the window has opened. Quite woody at this age while the dark fruit is so very substantial and so time is needed to melt them into one another. That acidity and seriousness of Balsamic quality speaks to the Gaiole origin as the source for this level of appellation. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Castello Di Ama Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG San Lorenzo 2021, Gaiole

San Lorenzo the concept comes from the vineyard with that name and now the ideal conceives of Gran Selezione as a wine to speak for all of Ama’s Gaiole. The vintage is renowned to be important and so arrive expecting fullness of everything involved, but also a fortress yet to be breached. A tough one indeed still at this stage with verticality and immovability. Needs at least two more years. Drink 2027-2032. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, 2025

Bellavista is first and foremost the Gran Selezione only made in select vintages, inclusive of 20 percent malvasia nera and also the one of ripest fruit with a view. The depth in 2020 is serious, the wine at once grounded and then acidity of a Gaiole nature kicks in to lift and see this Bellavista rise. Full and beautiful, seamless, orchestrated by a master of decades and artistic appreciation while delivering a modernist’s virtuoso performance. Drink 2027-2035. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, 2025

Castello Di Cacchiano Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, Gaiole

Southerly directed Gaiole, Monti in Chianti sangiovese with the bits of malvasia and colorino lending colour and spice accent with liquorice and bokser pod for a dried herb, leathery fruit and botanical iteration. Nicely balanced affair with ample freshness and a settled disposition. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Castello di Meleto Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, Gaiole

Just five percent merlot softens the sangiovese with many vineyards of the 130 hectares in total contributing. Usually the youngest vines and also some of the plots that experience the warmest climate for the season. Ages 15 months, half in cement and half in large (really old) French cask. No tannic impart and this is about as correct, clean, acid retentive and well adjusted a Chianti Classico as you are want to find. Warm vintage yet freshness and fruit quality is knowably ripe and easy. Less savoury and more fruit centric than in years past. Last tasted February 2025

Intensity of red fruit, almost searing while this young and immovable but surely a far cry from overly pressed or done. Surely a matter of Gaiole and vintage with Meleto sure to respect and deliver what it’s meant to bring. Another ’22 that must be waited on, again confirming how different these are to 2017. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted February 2024

Fattoria San Giusto A Rentennano Chianti Classico DOCG 2023, Gaiole

Campione: I mean of course its tight and yet to resolve but this sample by San Giusto shows more wealth of upfront fruit than could have been expected. Darker fruit than 2022 and also 2021, closer to 2020 but once again the individual character of modern vintages can’t be denied. Feels a bit serious at this very early stage but substance at this level will mean a wine that will be held in high regard. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Fattoria San Giusto A Rentennano Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Le Baròncole 2022, Gaiole

Campione: Unsettled sample here from San Giusto, chalky and finely grainy at this earliest of stages. Just a glimpse into what 2022 will become, years further down the road. Can’t really recall a sangiovese from the house showing wood like this but the vintage will show more taciturn moments in wines built to last. Far more tannins present than noted in the last several years, a freight of weight tethered to the fruit, keeping it low and below. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Romantic dinner for two

Le Miccine Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, Gaiole

Sharp and clean while oh so 2022 but how could it not be? Well to be honest Le Miccine gets the vintage so bloody correct because the mix of fruit and body come together as one. There is no doubt this Annata is just where maker and place wanted it to be so kudos to both for abiding by their mutual bond. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, 2025

Campione: Stewed and pruned. Oxidative barrel sample that gives no indication as to the quality or any sense of what the finished wine will be. Palate tells a better story though it’s challenging to fit the pieces together when the launch point is problematic. An example that speaks to avoiding tasting samples. Tasted February 2024

Marchesi Frescobaldi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Tenuta Perano Rialzi 2020, Gaiole

In Gran Selezione terms for Chianti Classico Rialzi is about as singular as it gets. Just drive up the road from La Villa in Radda, into Gaiole and through to Perano to know what you are dealing with. Olive trees, cypress, pine, other evergreens, rosemary, sage and brushy greens on your left give away to the single Rialzi Vineyard on your right. All that verdancy translates into these 25 year-old, cordone speronato vines for a very specific Balsamico, drawn from the greens, through the experienced vines and into the fruit. The vineyard was called “I Rialzi,” literally “the lifted up,” or now “the steps, or terraces. Lamberto Frescobaldi always insists “the vineyard matters most,” and in this case that is simply true. Aromatic confusion in a way but more so volume, palate tension and also vintage. Incidentally warmer than 2019, lending more volumetric credence and tending towards a bigger iteration of Gran Selezione. Feels more like the Rialzi of expectation and the kind of structure to go on and on. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted October 2024 and at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Podere Ciona Chianti Classico DOCG Proprieta Gatteschi 2021, Gaiole

Freshness incarnate from the small single hillside Gaiole estate, a quintessential extension from a forest località, whole and fulfilled of its own accord. As equanimous as any Chianti Classico that exists. Silk-threaded and sumptuous from the first through filamented acidity and elastic texture. Tannins are fine, unobtrusive and acquiescing. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Ricasoli Brolio Chianti Classico DOCG 2023, Gaiole

Francesco Ricasoli sets the 2023 up by describing it as “crispy,” which translates as freshness but who could not think of Brolio ‘23 as juicy. Classic black cherry for this label of 600,000 bottles encompassing all five soil types, 250 hectares and everything that is collected, layered and transcribed as the Ricasoli estate. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted February 2025

Campione: Youthful, still a bit reductive in a sweet bell peppery way, herbal amaro yet to stretch and let the fruit speak first. Good fruit however, substantial and showing Gaiole’s abilities for 2023. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Ricasoli Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Brolio 2022, Gaiole

Riserva is truly the extension of Annata, from across the entirety of the Ricasoli estate and aged longer. Accedes to more concentration but still the Ricasoli style must be attended to; sharp, clean, drinkable and a provider of joy. This much is true and yes, the clarity is on display, so obvious in its openly generous and frank transparency. If there were rustic aspects 10 years ago they have long since left the building. It has been a matter of fine tuning, vintage after vintage. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted February 2025

Rocca Di Castagnoli Chianti Classico DOCG 2023, Gaiole

Another ready to rock 2023 Annata and if any commune slash UGA is set up to deliver early it feels like Gaiole is the one. The naturally matured fruit and especially sweet acidity mixes with plush tannins that need not grip the wine but inserted allow for ease and drinkability. In fine form with a real neural swirl throughout. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Rocca Di Montegrossi Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, Gaiole

Still in rapid pulse mode, agitative, unsettled and excited. High tones and fruit working from left to right, red to black, low to high. Croccante and crackling to the nth degree, rigid and vertical, structured as Annata can be but with a light, bright and transparent Burgundian like character. Remembering tasting this from barrel and not surprised to see this as the next stage result. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

With Federico Pini and Riccardo Bucciolini – Torcibrencoli

Greve

Carpineto Chianti Classico DOCG 2023, Greve

Indelible stamp of the house, estate style present, accounted for and oft repeated, again as here, in perpetuity. For 2023 there is a deeper well of sweet fruit that hides the macchia and so a less savoury Carpineto is the result. Quite fine and openly generous this early to allow access ahead of most contemporaries Drink 2025-2027. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Carpineto Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2021, Greve

Consistently a matter of dark fruit, dusty qualities and Balsamico swirled into reductive syrup. Maximum ripeness from 2021 while località and winemaking style make sure to remind of every vintage that came before. There is no mistaking a Carpineto wine, exaggerated in Riserva and doubly so as Gran Selezione. Without any shadow of a doubt. Drink 2026-2029. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Carpineto Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2021, Greve

The dusty song reminds of the same and in such a Carpineto way, from Annata to Riserva and straight through to Gran Selezione. Also from vintage to vintage and expect the top from 2021. That it delivers in terms of fruit if just some overripeness and yet still the acidity, Balsamico and as a combinative result, also here Amaro. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, 2025.

Castello Di Querceto Chianti Classico DOCG 2023, Greve

Rich and unctuous 2023 from the Dudda Valley, still quite tight, yet layered and fibrous. A fabric of place quilted into a tapestry of fruit and acidity with tannins at the edges to roll up and lock it all in. Should unravel, reveal its textures and brighten with time. Will be welcomed. Drink 2026-2029. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Castello Di Vicchiomaggio Chianti Classico DOCG Guado Alto 2023, Greve

One of the earlier released and drinking sangiovese is this from Greve in all its accessible and amenable glory. Classically styled with red fruit that speaks to what so many know and understand as Chianti Classico. Crisp and ultra fruity, like a bite out of a perfectly ripened piece of stone fruit, juices dripping with natural sweetness in overload. So well judged and made. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Castello Vicchiomaggio Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Agostino Petri 2022, Greve

Classic Vicchiomaggio styling for an up the middle Riserva road with ripest fruit and sweet acids before the softest and mildest tannins say hello. Easy, creamy, generous and correct. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Castello Vicchiomaggio Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Le Bolle 2021, Greve

Time has done well to bring Le Bolle into a fine light and this from a Gran Selezione never pushy, heavy or tense. Does not demand too much form our palates and gives senselessly of itself. Quality wine in good temper and very much alive. Last tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, 2025.

Le Bolle, the name of the cluster of houses in a specific locality and therefore in the register inside the frazione of Greti within the commune of Greve. A Gran Selezione single vineyard of just sangiovese, initially made in 2006 and first presented as a GS at VinItaly in 2019. More aromatic volume and power than La Prima but also a smooth as silk sensation on the nose and also on the palate. Stylish, certainly more woodiness and perceived sweetness because the tannins are in fact ripe and the mouthfeel classically scorrevole. Longer and more persistent from a GS that represents the house style. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted October 2024

Podere Poggio Scalette Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, Greve

Wildly aromatic Annata from Jurji Fiore’s Greve UGA (hill of) Ruffoli Annata for Chianti Classico individuality. Fruit is on the darker side of the hill’s spectrum to speak for 2022 and not only ripneness, but how things ended up to be. Complex and structured, vertical, mineral and zested by dark citrus, inclusive of the imagined feeling of juiced pomegranate. So well made, unforced, non-plussed and yet to reach its peak. Drink 2026-2031. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Querciabella Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, Greve

Now here is a 2022 that shows us the greatness of the finest agricultural work, followed by studious attention in the cellar. Adds up to am Annata that truly abides by what the last 10 years have all been about. There is a balance and flow to this 100 percent Ruffoli sangiovese that some ‘22s struggle to find. Fruit first and foremost but then this proper mix of acidity and tannin, neither demanding more than the other and both supportive. So well managed and executed Annata, nearly ready to drink. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Richiari Porciglia Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Greve

First vintage of the “regular,” non single vineyard Chianti Classico was 2009. An Annata conceived from vines between 250 and 350m at the base of Greve’s Ruffoli hill. A perfectly correct Classico, dark of fruit, easy to enjoy, fine though never tart, acidity spot on and smooth. Clean as there could be and a clarity that speaks to style, precise winemaking and place. Made with 95 percent sangiovese with (5) canaiolo. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted February 2025

Richiari Porciglia Chianti Classico DOCG Il Paccio 2020, Greve

The single vineyard Classico from the oldest vineyard of 40 years where Alberese and Pietraforte predominate the soils. Not made in every vintage because, well quality and passion matter dearly to brothers Leonardo and Alessandro. You can clearly see the choices passed down from father Emilio and the stubbornness to only make quality wines with the season dictating the choices. Made in ’20, skipped in ’21 (though Riserva was made) and aged for six months in 15hL Botti after fermentation in stainless, followed by one year in cement vats. Il Paccio the name is just what every generation called this vineyard and place but no one really knows why it is called this. Such a proper Classico and representation of the designation “cru” because there is something so specific and distinct about this sangiovese (with eight percent canaiolo) in its sapid style. Ready to drink though you can see this aging five more years without any real change and certainly zero decline. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted February 2025

Terreno Chianti Classico DOCG Le Tre Vigne 2022, Greve

Le Tre Vigne, two in Greve and the third in Montefioralle, three individualistic places, three separate geological entities drawn upon, gathered and collected for great Annata complexity. A liquid chalky, openly assuming and stand up to be noticed three vineyard set that struts but does not sit down, or still. Exercise some patience to allow it all to come together. Drink 2026-2029. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Torcibrencoli Chianti Classico DOCG Maria Giaconda 2020, Greve

The boys of Torcibrencoli have not only found something special for Gran Selezione but also the kind of sangiovese in Annata that takes their work to another level. Dark fruit of depth and breadth for this northerly Greve location and a saline undercurrent to cut through the drupe. Amazing work from young winemakers feeling their way through this appellative world. Last tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Still a sample because it won’t released until next year but it is a finished wine. A vintage of quality though not completely there in terms of quantity. Unfortunately the next three years will be even smaller but things will turn around in 2024. Les flesh as compared to 2019 but the linear quality seems highly appropriate and the backbone will serve this wine well. Some austerity in the tannins to resolve but they are part of the trenchant plan. A masala of spice defines the finish. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted October 2024

Lamole

Castellaccio Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2019, Lamole

In the hands of young Davide Bottai after the work from Lorenzo Bottai and Federico Lozzi. A light, bright, nearly ethereal Chianti Classico now with vines growing up at the highest part of Lamole above 700m with Monte San Michele looming overhead. This is impressive sangiovese from Lamole deserving of attention. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, 2025

Castellinuzza E Piuca Chianti Classico DOCG 2023, Lamole

Campione: There are Classico and then there are Lamole Classico which this emphasizes with a capital “L” as a cool, savoury and airy sangiovese. With a few percentage points each of endemic varieties canaiolo and malvasia which do effect an alteration with their ability to inject complexity into sangiovese. There is liquorice and Amaro, herbal pesto and a liquid chalky underbelly that speaks in the clearest of sandstone soil voices. Proper and reflective of 2023. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Castellinuzza Proprieta Cinuzzi Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Lamole

So much more modernity from 2021 in the Cinuzzi label for this faction of the Castelinuzza Lamole cartel with more glycerin and softness on the mid-palate than seemingly ever before. Can’t previously recall this much ripeness and in this style yet here we are with a sweetly generous and warming 2021. Get at it. Drink 2025-2026. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

I Fabbri Chianti Classico DOCG Terra Di Lamole 2021, Lamole

Susanna Grassi’s 2021 continues to be the vintage of record and the extra year in bottle has done wonders to see her sangiovese (with 10 percent canaiolo) come through its period of transition. Aromas have concentrated, flavours conjoin with fleshiness and the wine now fully justifies the nomenclature. Terra di Lamole, master of its own terroir, terraces peeking upwards from 550m to 600-plus for a destiny above. Red fruit intensity elevated by the quintessential Lamole perfume forever and always. Terra di realtà, Lamole di cuore. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

I Fabbri, Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2020, Lamole

Full sangiovese for I Fabbri, high acidity working alongside Lamole perfume with a feeling of wood because of the vintage. Quite a bit of earth on the nose in 2020, spice cupboard and liquorice. Unique for a Susanna Grassi sangiovese and nothing soft or light about it. So curious! Drink 2026-2030. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, 2025

I Fabbri Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2020, Lamole

Like Riserva there is a wealth of fruit in I Fabbri’s Gran Selezione but this time the Lamole minerals strike first and fast. They take aim to inject an elemental jangling into fruit and coupled with the local perfume there is this wild at heart feeling about the wine. Major happenings in 2020 GS, complexities found throughout, bound up in the book of Lamole and with length from Greve to Casole and back. Drink 2027-2035. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, 2025

Montefioralle

Castello Di Verrazzano Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, Montefioralle

Worthy exercise to taste 2022 next to the settled 2021 because you see how much bolder this next vintage really is. Silky sangiovese impurezza as it is said, warm and sun-ripened at elevation with a look to the Chianti Mountains due east. A syrup of fruit and acidity swirled and seductive, acids purely Montefioralle and a balance discovered throughout. Deeper and darker fruit, sinking into brooding and a sangiovese that will need time to shed it’s weight and rise up again. The acidity will see to that rising and when the weather warms in 2027 this Verrazzano will begin to drink as it should. Fine Annata and one that resembles the Gran Selezione, albeit as parts of the appellative whole. Drink 2027-2031. Tasted twice, at the winery and at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Conte Capponi/Villa Calcinaia Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Vigna Bastignano 2021, Montefioralle

One of three Capponi Gran Selezione and in 2021 this just has to be the succulent one with the most up front mastery. Easy to understand, full and persuasive, flowing, languid and long. Bastignano is the sangiovese that takes it all in stride, of verse flowing into refrain, a composition never delivering a moment of gratuity. There without forcing anything, balanced as they come, earlier drinking than the other grippier Selezione. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, 2025

Conti Capponi/Villa Calcinaia Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Vigna Contessa Luisa 2021, Montefioralle

Contessa Luisa, closer in style to Bastignano then to Fornace with more glycerol and silken texture. Also a metal-mineral cloud burst through, like ink in slow motion, injected into water. Fruit feels purple or nearly so and here again the 2021 vintage is full of fruit so ripe and expressive. Memories of discussing the April frost and the state of Chianti Classico with Sebastiano Capponi flood back with a taste of Contessa Luisa. Such a fine Gran Selezione. Drink 2027-2033. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, 2025

Conti Capponi/Villa Calcinaia Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG La Fornace 2021, Montefioralle

The grandest statement of the three Capponi Gran Selezione is made by La Fornace, of the vineyard nicknamed “the furnace,” a place where solar radiation, especially in a vintage like this brings all the fruit out to play. More tension than the others, a greater demand made on our palates and a sapidity unlike the rest. Serious Selezione, perhaps less finessed and one to savour for years, but not quite yet. Drink 2028-2034. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection

With Neri Capponi

Maurizio Brogioni Chianti Classico DOCG H’Amorosa 2023, Montefioralle

A rare reductive 2023 though nothing serious, however there is a candied shell in surround of cherry/red candy apple fruit. Wood imparts vanilla and it’s hard not to feel a sense of syrupy style. A bit cloying while admittedly flavourful. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Montefioralle Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, Montefioralle

Quite the rich and famous sangiovese to lead the Montefioralle charge with dark fruit for 2022 and more character than in many of its neighbouring UGAs. A liqueur of fruit and acidity in great swirl for Chianti Classico unction. Namely sangiovese with (five percent each) canaiolo and colorino, full and substantial, tannic primarily at the finish. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Viticcio Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, Montefioralle

Quite the full and substantial fruit-filled ’23 from Viticcio, an estate on a Montefioralle roll. Still taut and chalky but there is great promise from this set of presented probabilities. A relished effort that will lead to a just reward. Drink 2026-2028. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Viticcio Gran Selezione Chianti Classico DOCG Prunaio 2019, Montefioralle

Prunaio is beginning to resolve, to see a next level of integration and a drinkability not too far away. Fruit is persistently fresh, acids sweet and fattening, structural parts in play though without any austerity or great tannin. There is some mind you, but in good control and working well alongside the pleasurable parts of this Gran Selezione. Fine work here in 2019 from Vitticio. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted October 2024 and at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Shenanigans at Enoteca Baldi, Panzano

Panzano

Cafaggio Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, Panzano

For 2022 this represents perfectly fit and proper sangiovese with balance accorded and afforded all the way through. A wine of Panzano riches but also tannic austerity connected by the acidity made available and captured to strengthen the overall bond. A Cafaggio vintage that impresses with its mix of fortitude and charm. Drink 2026-2029. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Ca’ Di Pesa Chianti Classico DOCG Burrone 2022, Panzano

Grippy and glycerin sangiovese from 2022, a reflection of Panzano through more recent times, here magnified out of Ca’ di Pesa’s corner. An exaggeration of warm vintage riches confiscated and expressed in this near simple Galestro syrup sangiovese. Wood is still an early factor and needs to dissolve into the fabric of this wine. Give it more time. Drink 2026-2028. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Fattoria Rignana Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, Panzano

Consistent with the warmth and specificity of red fruit from 2022 that just keeps on keeping on. It’s uncanny how many Annata of the vintage are juiced from the same sangiovese vine, expressed as citrus in the most ripe and pith spiced way. Not a bitterness per se and nothing like black cherry but there’s something so distinct and unprecedented about the sangiovese, at least not as a profile that has come around in the last ten years. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Fattoria Rignana Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2021, Panzano

One of the only Chianti Classico using cabernet franc (at 10 percent) to spice up sangiovese. This is Rignana’s use of the Loire (but in Tuscany) more so Bordeaux-styled grape variety for great sense and full expression. Brings another kind of verdancy and spiciness to Riserva and also to Panzano. More than curious, always sumptuous and for 2021 resulting in a great combination. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, 2025

Fontodi Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, Panzano

Just only recently bottled, a 100 percent sangiovese from a very hot season and the challenge faced because of a devastating hailstorm that occurred on the night of August 15th. Thirty hectares (of 105 total) were lost to this rarest, once in a century happening. “It was revolting,” says Bernardo Manetti, “if you smelled the grapes after the hail.” The approach for 2022 became one of lower extraction and less aging, the wines taken out of wood in July after just nine months. The severely reduced crop yielded this concentration and inedible stamp of Conca d’Oro richness with a fine tannic presence and ripeness at peak both adding to the compaction of the wine. Drink 2026-2031. Tasted February 2025

Fontodi Chianti Classico DOCG Dino 2022, Panzano

Dino is the sangiovese fermented and aged in amphora, from the southwest facing vineyard lower down in the Conca d’Oro overlooking the Chianina stables. A strangely low alcohol wine at 13 percent “and we don’t fully know why,” says Bernardo Manetti, but it is in fact a cooler site where temperatures really drop down in the night. Bottled in June of 2024 after three months of maceration and just a year and a half of aging. Always the push-pull between earthy and musky, as here with high poly-phenolic character. There is a presence to the 2022 with thanks to the lithe frame housing fleshy red fruit. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted February 2025

Fontodi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Pastrolo 2022, Panzano

Like Dino (in amphora) the aging time in wood for Pastrolo is shorter and so this 2022 put to bottle in June of 2024. From the Lamole (UGA) vineyard pruned in a variation of alberello or goblet training style but the vines run higher due to Pastrolo’s steep terraces. The soils are unique, marine in origin and called marna di macigno, in other words a Galestro type of cracked or flaky manifestation, but in this case from sandstone. The grace and harmony of ’22 Pastrolo is soothing with a delicasse that no other Gran Selezione will ever show. It’s remarkable from this more than warm vintage and the 14.5 percent alcohol is barely perceived. This will wake you up, especially if you are tasting in the first part of the morning. Thank you Pastrolo. I needed that. Drink 2027-2035. Tasted February 2025

Fontodi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Vigna del Sorbo 2022, Panzano

A finished wine because today is bottling day and what serendipity to taste it on the day. Vigna Del Sorbo is one of the vineyards that escaped the August 16th hail because it’s on the other side of the (Conca d’Oro) valley. Full quantity as a result, approximately one-third matured in new wood, the second year spent in older cask. Freshness captured and as always Vigna del Sorbo is the spiciest of the Gran Selezione but also the one of the three with the finest, if grainiest tannic profile. This after an aromatic wave of floral and mineral before giving way to a sangiovese that integrates with impunity. You’ve got to figure that the age of the vines are responsible for handling the heat of 2022. Drink 2027-2036. Tasted February 2025

Fontodi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG San Leolino 2022, Panzano

Just being bottled as we speak and the quietest opening pronouncement as compared to Pastrolo (Lamole) and Vigna del Sorbo (Panzano – Conca d’Oro). This from the terraces below and in surround of the Pieve up on the hill where Alberese soil predomimates, unique to Fontodi because schisty clay (with Galestro), Pietraforte (calacreous sandstone conglomerate) and Marna di Macigno (marine sandstone) define the other wines. The Alberese limestone makes for a crispier and more croccante sangiovese, magnified in 2022 and while this is also quite tannic the catalyst to exaggeration is made by the highest acidity of the three. Vinoso but even more succulenza, a very specific character that is San Leolino. In fact this Gran Selezione will take longer to come together, but again the vintage dictates and solicits this response. Drink 2028-2037. Tasted February 2025

Gagliole Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2021, Panzano

Pietraforte conglomerate sandstone in full relatable regale suggests a most mineral Riserva from Gagliole for 2021. A Riserva of its own accord, owing less of a connection than some to the estate’s Annata or to Gran Selezione. Mainly because the former works with Castellina fruit and the latter is more block specific. Riserva from Panzano comes replete with exciting acidity and a blues note that bend…and hangs. Fruit in the middle with great confidence and tannins on the periphery. As good as it gets. Last tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, 2025

Truly youthful Riserva from Gagliole and a representation of 2021 that we as tasters simply want to drink. The nose delivers sweet mineral sensations drawn through Pietraforte stone and simply rendered juiciness with negligible to almost no noticeable barrel. Spicy and tart, tannic and linear, vertical and built for the perfect space between Annata, Gran Selezione and big boy IGT. This is what we call the sweet spot. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted February 2024

Il Molino Di Grace Chianti Classico DOCG 2023, Panzano

Tasted as a Campione (sample) just five days ago and now the finished blend just bottled is in remarkably ready condition. As far as 2023 is concerned the combination of freshness and structure are about as connected as it gets. A Pietraforte meets Galestro mineral juiciness that bleeds terroir, Panzano and the purity of sangiovese. No reduction, nor volatility neither. An Il Molino di Grace Chianti Classico cleans up really, really well. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Il Molino Di Grace Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2021, Panzano

A bit closed, not locked in or shut tight but quiet, in waiting, always the hardest part. Not the palate however, expressive, shot through with acidity, quite intense and with a few minutes passing the aromatics begin to come around. What is that scent? What perfume is that? A Panzano savour, Balsamico, Pietraforte as active rock in transference to sangiovese. Sneaky tannins and conspicuous if clear-cut structure, elegant wine, not ready, a true Riserva. Would that it were a blast from the past but manifested clean, crisp and modern. Tops for Molino di Grace at this appellative level. Last tasted February 2024 and at the Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Campione (Sample): Riserva is high quality in 2021 though lessened in quantity thanks to an angry April frost around Easter time. Nothing much has changed in that Riserva takes the best fruit from special vineyards including that of Al Bosco. Very youthful so bottling in November or December may by necessary but there is tension, a twitchiness and an aggressive personality that speaks to top level structure. This will age very well. Smaller production of 18,000 bottles. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted October 2023

Il Palagio Di Panzano Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Panzano

Just sangiovese from the Panzano perch where Pietraforte runs through the ridge and only these sangiovese reek and taste of this particular mineral-rich sangiovese blood. As here with one that takes this thought to a high level from the vintage. Still quite a bit of structure here. Last tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

The crunchiest and most piqued of Panzano vintages is juicy and peppery in the hands of Il Palagio di Panzano. Just ever so slightly reductive and in that space caught inside a hard shell, acids and tannins circulating like protons around the atom. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2024

Geology of Panzano

Le Cinciole Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, Panzano

A vintage predicated sangiovese as much as any and evev more so one that speaks to Panzano’s reaction to the season. There is a tendency to extract just a bit too much but Le Cinciole hits the proverbial nail on the head. The capture is precise, restrained and the wine acts undeterred. This to say it shows balance and potential, especially for Annata. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Le Cinciole Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Aluigi Campo Ai Peri 2020, Panzano

Panzano expression incarnate, red fruit ripe and silken without glycerol gratuity and flirting with untethered gravity. A richness while also barrel work lending a creamy mouthfeel that still needs to soften further, integrate the associated spice and see this become a Gran Selezione of parts develop into the whole. Just some austerity in the structure stands in the way. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted October 2024 and at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Le Fonti Di Panzano Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, Panzano

Juicy and forthright 2022 as much as any in Panzano and perhaps the 10 percent (9 + 1) merlot and cabernet sauvignon are to thank for the softening of this wine. Without their additions this might be one serious and tough nut to track. As it stands there is great structure involved and the expert blending has led this ’22 in a very proper direction. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Le Fonti Di Panzano Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2021, Panzano

Le Fonti’s is a 100 percent sangiovese from east facing Panzano vineyards with all the morning sun captured for Gran Selezione of truly effusive character. Tannins are a bit in charge however and there needs to be a reckoning sometime soon. A wealth of flavour, touch of mocha and so much more. Drink 2027-2032. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, 2025

Monte Bernardi Chianti Classico DOCG Sangió 2022, Panzano

The unmistakable touch and feel of a Monte Bernardi sangiovese here from 2022, up in the air where rare and vacuous receive the fruit of a most passionate and discerning labour. Sangio’ is Annata born in the fields and nowhere but, cumulate of proper but also determined decisions to make full use of every grape available. Once in the cantina it fends for itself because it is equipped to do so and yes this is the most natural of wines in the way you would ask for it to be. Acids are elastic but will become even more so as the sangiovese stretches, fleshes and finishes its giretto. Last tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025.

Fourth vintage of Sangio’, second of two Annata made by Michael Schmelzer, namely from the younger nine hectare parcels grown at the highest elevation. Brighter and yet chalkier than Retromarcia, though increasingly less of an almost “Riserva” style that the Retro M. has become. Delivers that blood orange sensibility in sangiovese. Tannins feel less experienced and stylish but the potential (looking ahead five-plus years) is nevertheless striking. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted again, February 2024.

A windy place between 550 and 600m above Panzano a few kms northeast of the estate, a wine with a less serious name but not so in terms of the classicism that defines cool climate sangiovese. Crunchy or as it is said croccante, a beautiful and important use of (10 percent) stems, profoundly Monte Bernardi and the sort of tannins that grab hold of the senses, hold on tight, smiling and we in turn nod knowingly each moment along the way. A cooler yet sunny place, Alberese limestone helping to maintain the acidity and 16 months aging (barrels but skewed more towards concrete) so that in the end the wine you want to drink flows consistently from the bottle. Tasted February 2024

Monte Bernardi Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2022, Panzano

Purity and natural beauty for this Panzano Riserva. Something primary about it to be sure but c’mon it’s 2022 and the wine has barely touched the sky. Down to earth yes but bright and of a purple fruit exclusive to this estate and label. Monte Bernardi’s tastes like none else, in a class of its own and a sangiovese (with five percent colorino) such as this will change your mind about how to grow, ferment and bottle Chianti Classico. Just those three tenets of the process. Especially when they are as clean and pure as this. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Renzo Marinai Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Panzano

High quality fruit, ripe and luxe, expressive as any and thankful we all are for the wait. A 2021 kept a year (and in many cases two) longer than much of the rest, well executed in composition and all this in light of just a bit too much wood still on top. Nevertheless this will resolve and a very good Annata will impress with its wealth of fruit and complex character. Drink 2026-2029. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Tenuta Casenuove Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Panzano

Another beautiful season, not at the beginning because of the April 7th frost which delayed development by a month – though in the end the wines showed with great balance. In part because of less bunches and bunch weight per plant but also because of a great September rain that followed a hot summer for the latest finish to harvest in recent times – September 25th. Everything in this wine moves in unison, all parts working together for a polished and luxe example of Chianti Classico. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted February 2025

Radda

Arillo In Terrabianca Chianti Classico DOCG Sacello 2022, Radda

You can feel the warmth and lack of precipitation from the vintage, not quite 2017 aridity but the Macchia and Selvatica are surely present in every aspect of the wine. A mix of brushy and rosemary character, dried herbs and still the Raddese acidity keeps the fruit buoyed and alive. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Arillo In Terrabianca Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Poggio Croce 2021, Radda

Just the second Chianti Classico Riserva turned out under the new ownership at Terrabianca and quite the refined example here from 2021. There is beauty and restraint, far, far less wood than in the past and a transparency that keeps things open, lithe and airy. Though the acidity is high in zest and piquancy there is a softness about how it presents on the palate. It results in a wine ready to drink but there is no hurry because it will stay focused like this for a few years yet. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Arillo In Terrabianca Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Terrabianca 2020, Radda

Some Gran Selezione 2022s are hitting the market and 2021 is the current main stage for the appellation but still there are estates staying focused on 2020. Like the new team at Arilla that must have watched this wine like a hawk over its aging tenure. Finally arrived and settled it has, not into maturity per se but ready to open and be consumed. Loving the captured acidity, so distinctly Raddese though not from the UGA’s upper reaches. A structural composition unto itself. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, 2025

Brancaia Chianti Classico DOCG 2023, Radda

More fruit and developed substance than the average and also compared to recent Brancaia Annata. The 100 percent sangiovese child of a long, slow, gentle and cumulative maceration to result in the most modern and seductive Chianti Classico. A pour of Brancaia’s 2023 Annata will be the one to convince world markets just how far the territory has come in the last 10 years. Definitive for the current state of the Gallo Nero. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Brancaia Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2022, Radda

The most exotically perfumed Riserva in the territory, at least from 2022, with the scents of lemongrass, fenugreek and in the oddest way the aromatics that create a Thai Curry. Unusual? Yes. Seductive? Absolutely. Feels like a percentage of American wood and 20 percent merlot are the answers to the questions and still the seduction is real. If you like Rioja Riserva this will be right up your alley and if you can appreciate the different than you should also be pleased. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Caparsa Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Radda

Bright and beaming, bursting with Raddese frescezza for a 2021 Annata now knocking on the door of success mode after nearly the right amount of extra time in bottle. Still quite crunchy, sure as Caparsa herbal and tannins not quite yet justified. Plenty of reserve in the tank for an Annata yet to fully reach its peak. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Castello Di Albola Chianti Classico DOCG 2023, Radda

Youthful early release of Albola’s Annata, still tight and yet focused, crisp, crunchy and as they say, croccante. Crushable but not quite yet because the rocks have yet to pulverize and melt into the fabric of this 100 percent sangiovese. Truly Radda considering the quantity and worthy of you $20 bill. Drink 2026–2028. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Castello Di Albola Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2022, Radda

A ripe and dark fruit organized Riserva with high skin to pulp feeling in the musky perfume and husky flavours filling the mouth. Plenty of texture and tannin involved in the make-up and positioning with wood a factor and age ability the promise. Solid construct in a fine if recognizable Riserva contract. Drink 2026-2029. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Castello Di Fonterutoli Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Badiòla 2021, Radda

Much darker, compressed and more seriously compacted of substantial fruit defining Badiòla’s Radda character as compared to the less distinct Castellina label. Here a Gran Selezione from a terrific concave vineyard next to the 11th century church with a view to die for. Richesse and sweet acidity, a note of forest Balsamico and full palate fills without pause. Top drop for the family Mazzei. Drink 2027-2035. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, 2025

Castello Di Radda Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, Radda

Distinct and recognizable for this south-central westerly part of Radda with an herbaceous edge to the scintillant of red fruit. Charged and semi-electric, black cherry stone bitterness to the fruit’s back side and the presence of quality tannins made edgy by bits of green. Drink 2026-2027. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Castello Di Volpaia Chianti Classico DOCG 2023, Radda

Campione: Quite a youthful mouthful of fruit and tannin from Volpaia’s serious 2023, long macerated and viscous with time so necessary to settle it all down. Even the 10 percent merlot does little to soften the Raddese intensity at a time when the wine is yet to be put to bottle. Poetry of crunch and chew, botanicals and tonic, things all needing time. Drink 2027-2031. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Castello Di Volpaia Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2022, Radda

Truth for 2022 is Riserva as only Volpaia can gift, that is to say with restraint and respect for vintage. Perfumed yet never gratuitously so and the barrel work is done with a slightly heavier hand than in recent years past. Effects balance for a 100 percent sangiovese that feels cool, gelid, mineral and elastic. The wood does well to integrate the parts for Riserva without airs with thanks to its micro-oxygenating effects. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Volpaia Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Il Puro 2021, Radda

The refinement of Il Puro is apparent from the start for a sangiovese as Gran Selezione 100 percent worthy of its grape and name. The pure one is Volpaia perfume incarnate, cool and floral, Chianti Classico spice masala developed low and slow, acidity as unctuous as any but always di Volpaia. Hypnotizing elements make this wine go straight to your head though there is clarity of thought. Also beating of hearts because of its philanthropy. The focus and finesse are grand, the hypnotic effect causing a loss for words. Il Puro 2021 is a thing of great beauty – what else needs to be said? Drink 2029-2040. Tasted February 2025

Castello Monterinaldi Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, Radda

Fine fruit-centric Annata from southeast Radda’s Monterinaldi with a gentle easing in and glide on through. Plum and orange citrus work the room to keep the energy up. Bigger than 2019, on par with 2020 and consistently extended from 2021. That’s the way you do it and like it. Uh-huh, uh-huh. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Castello Di Monterinaldi Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2020, Radda

Clean and bright, a 2020 Raddese acidity sharp and focused, so very different and as a whole in the vintage this sangiovese is day for night unlike the wines of nearby Panzano. As effusive and lithe as they come though wood is detected and not quite consumed. Still the light touch is noted and appreciated. Last tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, 2025

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 Monterinaldi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2020, Radda

A much more mature, fruit fulfilling and also barrel-affected sangiovese from Radda’s Monterinaldi for 2020. The wood speaks boldly yet within reason and under the bar. As with Riserva the requiem of time will aid but also abet the highest quality fruit wishing to be chaperoned through. The feels here are high and airy, acidity remains in charge yet also requiring some settling. The 2020 represents an early ideological approach for the category and might be viewed as a youthful work in progress. Drink 2027-2033. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, 2025

Colle Bereto Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, Radda

Knowably visible vivid seasonal style presented in the way of 2022, that is to say of dark fruit in a citrus vein, tart and intense but also a lactic quality involved. A different vintage, certainly warm but also one with a singular profile. Not a dried brushy or herbal one but something different, unique and without any obvious precedent. Unlike all previous vintages from this house. Still this from Radda is, well Raddese. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

With Angela Fronti at Enoteca de Giusti, Firenze

Istine Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Vigna Istine 2021, Radda

Now labeled Gran Selezione. Here the Radda vineyard for Istine delivers all the Alberese and more in one of the more salty sangiovese you will ever taste. Like squeezing the limestone rocks for the juice to run into the grapes. The entirety of the wine tastes, notes and feels this way, It’s truly uncanny, lending definition to Gran Selezione as lithe and transparent as any Bourgogne. Vigna Istine need not be powerful and brawny – it’s musculature comes from finesse, determination and core strength. Last tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, 2025

There can be little doubt that of the three Istine wines that could be Gran Selezione it is the homefront Vigna Istine that quietly settles upon the palate with the most elegance and grace. That and a private austerity, yet nothing to do with asilita, loosely translated as “skininess.” No, there is flesh and body but in an elastic and layered way. Then a return to the elegance and the grace. This is Istine of elevation and Alberese soils. Not labeled Gran Selezione. Drink 2026-2034. Tasted February 2024

L’Erta Di Radda Chianti Classico DOCG 2023, Radda

Campione: In the ways of L’Erta di Radda you will note the sapid streak through saline waters but more than ever there is the most naturally sweet and pulpy fruit swelling in mouthfeel for what has to be Diego Finnochi’s finest hour. The potential on 2023 Annata is as strong a guarantee as any of the vintage and in his tenure. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Poggerino Chianti Classico DOCG 2023, Radda

The Perenospera (resulting in downy mildew) vintage but Piero Lanza only lost 10 percent of his production. Yes – he fared much better than many in the region. He remembers the 24th of June, at the time of the festival of San Giovanni in Florence. “I woke up on the 24th, a foggy morning, I went in the vineyard and everything was white. We sprayed and managed it.” The 2023 is only sangiovese, of 15 different clones and vineyards, a sweetly herbal example, oh so glycerin textured, holding more Bugialla (Riserva) fruit because none was made in 2023. Freshness from concrete aging mixes with wood spice for an easy drinking, balanced and well made Classico. Just recently bottled in December 2024. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted February 2025

Tenuta Di Campomaggio Chianti Classico DOCG 2023, Radda

Campione: A barrel sample and the question is whether or not this should have been pulled for assessment. Does the choice help or hinder the estate? The open fragrance and specific Radda località perfume in this case answers the question with an emphatic yes, though it still depends on the finish of the wine. Again there is generosity and length, an extension of ripeness in all aspects of the cuvée and so again, yes. The issue is awkwardness and a middle palate section that feels gangly but all living things grow up and mature, as will TdC’s 2023. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Tenuta Di Carleone Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, Radda

Tenacious freshness initiates this 100 percent Raddese sangiovese of blooming perfume caught at the pinpointed moment of its opening salvo. The beauty inherent is a factor of many things but who could not think that acumen is the impetus and the driver. Of plants and place, people and maker. The it factor can be affirmed with unequivocal doubt for this to be one of the top and critical Annata for 2022, expressed with a clarity and a focus at the height of all these aforementioned ideals. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Val Delle Corti Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, Radda

Val delle Corti, Raddese to the core, still unknown to many but those who know are keenly aware of the fineness in these Chianti Classico. Roberto Bianchi’s 2022 is not as sleek and silken as some long macerated wines he has made before and it’s also quite tannic for Val delle Corti. In that sense I think newcomers to his work will see this as more classically Chianti Classico sangiovese and so a new breed of consumer will join the parade. Line up people – this should also not be missed. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Val Delle Corti Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2021, Radda

Full wealth of macerated sangiovese, nothing but the gold from old vineyards planted 50-plus years ago in high elevation and steep-sloped Radda. As textured in its silken robes as ever and also any, acids in line, fineness from entry to exit. Here the confluence of elevation, a vintage’s climate happenstance, worked to be cut from a new cloth and to the future coincide. No accident but a fully executed plan from a producer who gets it. Drink 2027-2036. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, 2025

San Casciano

Antinori Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Villa Antinori 2022, San Casciano

Villa Antinori label for Chianti Classico Riserva is far less consistent, or rather its consistency is not as refined as the Marchese label. More of a forced nature which is to say winemaking and styling take precedence over seasoning and complexity because of altre varietà complementari that round out the sangiovese. More palate paste, red crayon, liquorice and balm in this wine. Especially because of the vintage. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Antinori Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Marchese Antinori 2022, San Casciano

Consistency thy name is Chianti Classico Riserva, Antinori – Marchese Antinori. Close you eyes and imagine 2020, 2019, 2018 and now 2022. The repetition and same level of quality persists and educates about the power, the ability to refine, rinse and repeat. Liquid red gold, gemstone sangiovese with the mysterious addendum defined as altre varietà complementari. Could there be merlot and/or cabernet sauvignon? Likely. Endemic varieties as in colorino, canaiolo and malvasia? Probably. All adds up to the naturally sweet, accumulation of fruit, acid and tannin, come together at the hands of a top notch winemaking team. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Marchesi Antinori Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Badia A Passignano 2022, San Casciano

The Gran Selezione of 2022 are at the top of the perfume heap, exotically charged and seriously effusive. Case in point Badia a Passignano with its waves of tropical spice mixed with Amaro botanicals. Chewy mouthful of spicy fruit, liquorice and a touch of tar. Liquid chalky, structured for aging and looking ahead for truffles. Drink 2027-2032. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, 2025

Azienda Agricola Mori Concetta Chianti Classico DOCG Morino 2023, San Casciano

Young and brawny, tannic beyond the pale because truth be told this ’23 still feels to be in a Campione setting. As such the volatile elements, syrupy fruit, reduction and intensity are a bit over the top. Judgment of assessment must be stayed to allow for this wine to become more “finished” than it is in the current state. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Baciate Me Chianti Classico DOCG Avvenne 2020, San Casciano

“Kiss me,“ a play on words for the three men who own the winery, including Le Chiuse and Castello di Meleto oenologist Valentino Ciarla and a vineyard he purchased in San Casciano during Covid. Avvenne loosely translates as “please let me have some more of something, but in one word” and truthfully that is how you will feel after a glass of this wine. It’s is a sangiovese with some canaiolo of very old vines, truly San Casciano with a feeling of the local “macchia” and a natural wild quality, of great temper matched by restraint. The wine rolls and oscillates in waves, acts juicy, very aromatic, light, at times dusty and yet the texture is flowing. Never sharp and just the right balance from a super tiny production. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted at Le Chiuse in Montalcino, February 2025

With Stefano Marinari and Federico Pini

Calcamura Chianti Classico DOCG 2023, San Casciano

Campione: Primary, exciting and confounding in its profundity. A mouth full of sangiovese (plus 10 percent) canaiolo as if bled direct from the crush and run-off of San Casciano river stones. The aromatics are twisted and entangled, nearly strangled yet the palate expresses with intense platitudes. Oxymorons and misunderstandings commit to seeing a Chianti Classico of greatness when the wine will be bottled, settled and set free. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Calcamura Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, San Casciano

Now in the third vintage for Calcamura the aging is only in tonneaux, two Slavonian and one French. Only sangiovese from a vineyard in the middle of nowhere but a località called Poggio ai Grilli. Could that be the name of a coming Gran Selezione for Stefano and Andreita? The Annata will be a grand total of 430 bottles that spent a year in Slavonian tonneaux and one in ceramic Tava terracotta. A light touch for a San Casciano sangiovese for which acidity is tempered with 10 percent canaiolo to affect a sangiovese between salinity and sapidity. A wine made by experienced hands not trying to coax too much from the rockiest river stone soils available to anyone in the whole of Chianti Classico. Never ambitious, always respectful and a feeling gained from out of the receded waters (so to speak) to make Annata as pinot noir Burgundian, nebbiolo Piedmontesino or nerello mascalese Etnean as any in the entirety of the territory. A more precise and verging on profound Chianti Classico with that terrific combination of drinkability and structure. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted twice, at Borgo Machiavelli and The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Capaccioli Poggio Niccolini Chianti Classico DOCG 2023, San Casciano

Campione: Truly primary and still quite a reductive element in charge of the wine. As with other 2023 samples there is not enough in the aromas to really set the tone but the palate delivers a luxe wealth of fruit and texture. Acids are running high, mighty and amok while the overall structure seems poised to see this Annata get set for a long and fruitful run. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Capaccioli Poggio Niccolini Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, San Casciano

Beautifully perfumed Riserva from Capaccioli in 2022 with experienced fruit from an old vineyard knowing just what to do. Exotically charged with aromatics by seed and tuber, star anise to galangal for a south by south east Asian spice bouquet. The ripenesses are necessary to keep up and all three do their part, if also the bidding to secure longevity. That will be the case for Riserva that should drink dutifully for up to 10 years time. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Castelli Del Grevepesa Castelgreve Chianti Classico DOCG 2023, San Casciano

Lactic and confected, liquid chalky and tart. Hard in the end. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Castello Di Gabbiano Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2021, San Casciano

Rich, full and creamy, acidity sweet and supportive while tannins don’t seem so interested in causing a stir. A no fuss nor muss Riserva that fills the mouth and the heart. The five percent merlot feels significant, bringing another element of softness to a sangiovese eager to please. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, 2025

Castello Di Gabbiano Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Bellezza 2021, San Casciano

High and mighty, bright and airy, marked by macchia and a bit of reduction. Herbaceous for sangiovese like Loire cabernet franc and so curious this way. Crunchy and really quite fun withs sneaky structure for a really good Bellezza – different but good. Drink 2026-2031. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, 2025

Cigliano Di Sopra Cigliano Di Sopra Chianti Classico 2023, San Casciano

The brightest star shines from San Casciano with this ray of carbonic light, admittedly with a touch of Brettanomyces but one that hides in the layers, nooks and crannies of the wine. A 2023 and oh, so very young which says the wine will be cleaned and clean itself up given enough time. This is the natural world in sangiovese and Chianti Classico so be neither surprised nor alarmed because the risk-reward is palpable and should you accept the terms the price is worth the pay. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Cigliano Di Sopra Chianti Classico DOCG Vigneto Branca 2022, San Casciano

Riserva exists in a similar vein as Annata though it is chosen form the identified block known as Vigneto Branca. Let’s face it, the approach, the precocious idealism and the intention are the same. This sangiovese needs time, to settle and flesh so that the nervous notes fall into line. The natural world again approached and infiltrated is something many love to join and be a part of the unbridled fun. Still others are troubled by the naked aggression and willingness to let wines be wines. This is that, non-plussed nor deterred and unencumbered by the constraints of faculty and pedagogical education. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Conte Guicciardini Belvedere Campòli Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, San Casciano

Work in progress which means vineyards recently updated en route to becoming vines that will produce higher quality sangiovese. Also agriculture and winemaking assimilating the movement to prepare for Chianti Classico of a much improved, inching up to higher order. This is a next step but still one of the first for an estate on the precipice to deserving much greater attention. Last tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Solo sangiovese from “a normal vintage,” fruit from young vines not yet come into their own, aged for one year in large 25 hL French cask. Grapes are harvested at Belvedere Campòli, delivered to be processed and vinified at Castello di Poppiano and coming soon is a cellar project to the Chianti Classico property. Quite pure and yet savoury with the finest grainy structure laying below the pulpy red fruit. Missing a point of acidity to say that ripeness comes first. A factor of vintage and therefore necessity. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted October 2024

Belvedere Campóli Guicciardini Campoli Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2020, San Casciano

Belvedere Campóli’s ownership is Guicciardini of Castello di Poppiano – Chianti Colli Fiorentini and Massi di Mandorlaia – Maremma – Morello di Scanzano. Francesco Guicciardini was an Italian historian and statesman, a contemporary and critic of Niccolò Machiavelli and considered one of the major political writers of the Italian Renaissance. The Belvedere Campóli estate dates to 1915, was abandoned after the end of the mezzadrie system and purchased by Italian historian and mathematician Niccolò Guicciardini and family in 2015. They have been restoring and replanting vineyards since 2020. From the single vineyard called Tabernocolo, set just below the large forest above and indicative of the chapel on the estate. Identifying the vineyard as the one to define Chianti Classico as Gran Selezione was paramount while the aromas and palate notes remain so perfectly consistent with both the Classico and Riserva. Steps up the concentration, the mineral and elemental aspects drawn from the Pietraforte and the cool, almost minty savour in the flavours. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted October 2024 and at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Fattoria Di Luiano Chianti Classico DOCG 2023, San Casciano

Open, fragrant, savoury and of a lovely oxidative style from 2023 that brings this sangiovese to a welcome and ready place, even before it might have needed be. But it and we are happy to have it drink with such ease because sometimes Annata must be a defender against tannin and time. The 10 percent merlot demos well to soften the blows and arrows of sangiovese’s San Casciano seriousness, with thanks and praises. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

La Sala Del Torriano Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, San Casciano

High quality fruit from La Sala’s San Casciano vines for 2022 with a mix of warmth and a cool factor that cuts comfortably through. Some imaginative red crayon and liquorice notions put this in a bit off a rigid place to say that time is the requiem for the wine to flesh into the juicy sangiovese it wants to be. Loads of potential here. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Poggio Torselli Chianti Classico DOCG 2022 Il Contadino Cusano, San Casciano

The 2022 Annata and ’21 Riserva/Gran Selezione are the first set of wines to be made strictly as 100 percent sangiovese. As a reaction to the 2021 season’s severe reduction of yields there was no Annata produced and so this is the follow-up to the previous 2020. A new age of style and quality really begins with this vintage, of such sweet Balsamico character in a Chianti Classico of equally positive acidity and simple, if fine tannins. Great length on the Annata and a pleasure to drink. Last tasted February 2025

Campione: Second vintage with oenologist Carlo Ferrini with a different process and yes the difference is immediately obvious. New tonneaux and 30 hL botti now housing the Annata, old barriques tossed out the window and the new balance is felt in the most palpable way. Rosso di Montalcino comes to mind and while that comparison may seem sanctimonious or anti-Classico, well just taste the style and level of quality. Juicy, blood orange in that regard and pretty much a finished wine. Stands up to be noticed. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2024

Poggio Torselli Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2021 Il Contadino Cusano, San Casciano

The new brand “Il Contadino Cusano” takes flight in 2021 with Riserva (and no Annata produced) because of frost-related reduced yields. An exaggeration of the local Torselli Balsamico and also really tightly wound acidity matched with equal force by grippy tannins. This is a different wine than the Torselli Riserva of the past, now with greater vibrancy and energy. At this stage the wines are made by Alessandro Campatelli with consultancy assistance by Carlo Ferrini. Something special begins and brews with ’21. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted February 2025

Villa Le Corti – Principe Corsini Chianti Classico DOCG 2023, San Casciano

Not atypical for 2023 with blood orange juiced sangiovese of a high and mighty if also glycerol order and the intensity of savoury-herbal-higher acid (for San Casciano) tang. Fulsome and layered by all these aspects still unsettled and needing time. There is nothing ordinary happening here, in fact this is the sort of Chianti Classico that will wake you up should you fall into a slumber. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Villa Le Corti – Principe Corsini Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Don Tommaso 2021, San Casciano

Don Tommaso is Gran Selezione of the ripest order, satiny and elastic, metallic and sapid. A river stone vineyard reasoning, fullness of darkening tart acidity and serious tannins from 2021. Minty cool, Amaro herbal and again serious. Drink 2027-2032. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, 2025

San Donato In Poggio

Casa Emma Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Vignalparco 2021, San Donato In Poggio

Hello Riserva 2021 from Casa Emma’s important Alberese stone-strewn Vignalparco that delivers the fortune of fruit and structure to a dark red-black sangiovese moving right of centre with all its accumulated glory. All the blood orange and serum right there on display and for the taking, unfettered and ready for action. Big Riserva with a soft heart, generous, open and free. Consistency in Riserva thy name is Vignalparco. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Casa Emma Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2021, San Donato In Poggio

Though extremely youthful you can do nothing but imagine the rocky soils of Casa Emma from this excitable 2021. Lighter in hue, brighter and transparent by comparison to Riserva Vignalparco – which leads to the determining element and factor for calling this a Gran Selezione a most elegant wine. So stony mineral from the quantifiable Alberese found in these San Donato in Poggio hills. Drink 2027-2033. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, 2025

Castello Di Monsanto Chianti Classico DOCG 2023, San Donato In Poggio

Campione: Feeling another level of concentration from Annata which tells us two things: First is that Monsanto escaped the challenges of 2023 unscathed and second that the quality of their generous quantity of fruit was exceptional. Though this is but a sample and way too early to really capitulate there is no doubt just how blood orange citrus mixed into red fruit San Donato in Poggio this sangiovese truly is. The five percent canaiolo adds some drops of tonic while the colorino brings it all forward in technicolour. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Castello Di Monsanto Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2021, San Donato In Poggio

Another Riserva of a unique set of circumstances, so floral and gauged by the stoniness of soils. Rich and unctuous, high acidity in place, fruit set up for success and tannins clearly lining the floor below. Beauty incarnate, the proviso of sangiovese perfumes returning again and again, sip after sip, promising and providinf all that we ask for. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, 2025

Castello Della Paneretta Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, San Donato In Poggio

No shocker to find this San Donato in Poggio 2021 in a state of freshness, openness and availability without impediments, obstacles or borders. Just the fruit and a sweetness of acidity to match its ripeness stride for stride. Delicious as they say and ready to roll. Last tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Singular aromatic profile for Castello della Paneretta’s 2021 Annata, superbly perfumed if with a Ribena infiltrate cutting through the florals. More than obvious red fruit, especially citrus from the likes of blood orange and noticeable wood on the palate, Dries out and separates form the whole so be patient with this wine. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted February 2024

Fattoria Di Montecchio Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, San Donato In Poggio

Indelible stamp of Montecchio and incredible substance of fruit, darkening in the way of black cherry with nary a moment of bitterness. Adds much glycerol and unction into that fruit as much as ever from this estate. Taut acidity and fine lines with backbone as structure does its work to provide the basis for longevity. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Fattoria Le Masse Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, San Donato In Poggio

Wow! Something so different for 2022, of dark fruit but like something out of Chambolle, silken and so bloody complex you wonder where to turn. First you must sidestep the sweet and tender volatility and once that happens there are fruit and mineral notes clashing, mingling, singing and smiling. Dio mio, man this Le Masse is a mouthful to consider. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Martina and Alberto Fabbri – Il Poggiolino

Il Poggiolino Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, San Donato in Poggio

The vineyards at Il Poggiolino may reside at moderate elevations between 250 and 350m but there are no south by southwest expositions and so in a hot vintage like 2022 the freshness remains a guarantee. Just three percent colorino goes a long way to raise up character of a Classico that only sees concrete and stainless steel for aging. Sweet acids match the fruit stride for stride and what you want is what you get – A level of drinkability that represents Classico and this northwest corner of San Donato in Poggio. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted February 2025

Il Poggiolino Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2021, San Donato in Poggio

A terrific vintage and yes many estates in Chianti Classico lost production to the April frost but at Il Poggiolino the maximum loss was 10 percent. And so come for the quantity and stay for the quality. Rich and concentrated, lightly chalky with a clay and stony feeling. Structure asks that we wait a year before opening the window and set this sangiovese with three percent colorino for aging through to the end of the decade. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted February 2025

Il Poggiolino Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Le Balze 2021, San Donato in Poggio

From a north by northeast vineyard up on the hill overlooking the winery which may have been a expositional detriment 20 years ago but no longer. The change of climate puts this steep single vineyard sangiovese in great light today and so welcome to the third in a row of vintages that may just shock as to its character and quality. Le Balze 20 years ago was organized as large terraces and in Tuscany you say “le balze,” when you take a giant leap. This Gran Selezione has improved and grown by leaps and bounds in the last few years to join other greats to reside near the top of the appellative pyramid. Last tasted February 2025

Another perfumed and expressive Le Balze comes with as much if not more pulp and flesh a la mode than those San Donato in Poggio Gran Selezione that have come before. The depeche florals are Spring bloom fresh, the volume set at ideal pitch and you just need to keep putting glass to nose because, well you just can’t get enough. Richness is never compromised but it is belied by the beauty of a tannic caress about as graceful and gracious as there are. This is Il Poggiolino’s finest GS to date and that is saying a lot. “Just like a rainbow.” Drink 2025-2034. Tasted October 2024

Isole E Olena Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, San Donato In Poggio

Crunchy sangiovese from Isole e Olena and the first vintage of the new era, blended and finished by the next team of winemaking. The ten percent canaiolo serves this 2022 well, striking a sapid chord to infiltrate what feels like super salty sangiovese with a decidedly lime-elemental strike. Almost piecing but the toothsome quality keeps things moving swimmingly along. The blend shifts from its original form and yet the DNA will not be denied. Genetics are strong and many years will have to pass by before the memories are forgotten. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Podere La Cappella Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, San Donato In Poggio

Intensity of aromas so high and mighty for 2022 but also the tang, acidity and fine grainy texture to speak for San Donato in Poggio. Few ’22 Annata are this intense and implosive with the most blood orange juicing of any in the area. Ten percent merlot or not, all the aspects of this wine are at the high end of the spectrum and time is the requiem to bring them back down to a place of comfort. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Podere La Cappella Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Corbezzolo 2019, San Donato In Poggio

Going back a few years to look at the inaugural Podere La Cappella Gran Selezione, a wine that joins the appellative fray for the first time out of a high quality vintage. The artist formerly labeled as IGT was last made in 2016 and here three years later it joins the Chianti Classico pyramid’s highest distinction. More barrel than the past and therefore spice, espresso and finally structure are really in. So much so you will still have to wait on the wine to integrate. First showing and the future will surely see to greater results. Drink 2027-2030. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, 2025

Quercia Al Poggio Chianti Classico DOCG 2023, San Donato In Poggio

Heavy Chianti Classico at this earliest of stages and one wonders why it needed to be rushed to b bottle. Nothing open or nurturing about it, so primary and hard to access. Needs to be revisited several months if not at least eight to 12 from now. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Tenuta Cinciano Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2019, San Donato In Poggio

Still tightly wound and somewhat reductive with a skin to pulp ratio resinous effect in place. Still much to wait for and to receive from what will surely be a giving and abiding Gran Selezione that acts out a distinguished and defined San Donato in Poggio sangiovese style. Comes from relatively low elevation vineyards at 250m of medium textured soils, Alberese based, stony with some low-lying clay. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted October 2024 and at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Vagliagli

Bindi Sergardi Tenuta Mocenni Chianti Classico DOCG La Ghirlanda 2022, Vagliagli

The times it takes for a Chianti Classico estate to perfect a formula for turning sangiovese into beauty is long and those who figure this out make wines like these. Annata from estate vineyards treated and handled with the gentlest of touch, low and slow, collated through processes that identify the vintage, tempering and refining its challenges. Presenting La Ghirlanda which expresses its own balance involving fruit, texture and weight, making use of acidity to distract from tannin and find a wine that drinks proportionally from now through to the end of its tenure. To the next decade. Drink 2025-2031. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Bindi Sergardi Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG I Colli 2020, Vagliagli

Riserva of experience and layering, a of fruit and acidity intertwined, interchangeable and complimentary. One then the other taking turns at the wheel, got each others’ backs, defending from tannins coming forward sweet yet fierce. Full and substantial in most every regard but especially those parts that exemplify optimum ripeness. No lack for beauty and grace – never a doubt or question. Drink 2026-2031. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, 2025

Bindi Sergardi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Mocenni ’89 2019, Vagliagli

Mocenni 89 is a special Gran Selezione, open, ethereal and generous. And it is just now entering its window of beauty with new surprise at every turn. Last tasted October 2024 and at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Tenuta Mocenni presides at one of the higher points in the Vagliagli UGA at 500m with vineyard blocks impounded with great Alberese stones and outcroppings of Galestro. The south facing amphitheater is one of Chianti Classico’s most impressive sites and sights. The latest vintage is not yet released and there is no shock how youthful and tightly wound you will find this 2019 to be. The one that follows will proudly display the UGA on the front label. More than just a few years of time in more than one kind of vessel has equipped this major potion of fruit with ample layers of structure in a Gran Selezione so bloody big, substantial and beautiful. Will most definitely require five to seven years of unwinding. Drink 2025-2034. Tasted October 2023 and February 2024

Borgo Scopeto Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, Vagliagli

Tighter Chianti Classico than many from 2022, acids wound around fruit and less of a softening from merlot plus colorino than in some vintages past. More dried herbal savoury than the Vagliagli norm, dimming of the brightness and not quite one cast into the great wide open. Brushy and Mediterranean like Vagliagli will be. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Cantine Bonacchi Chianti Classico DOCG 2023, Vagliagli

Sweet perfume, a mix of fresh berries and Amaro, high in glycerin, quite concentrated and fully completely red, red wine. Juicy 2023, as seems to be the vintage case. Classic acidity and mild tannin make for early drinking. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Dievole Chianti Classico DOCG Petrignano 2022, Vagliagli

Warmth of a vintage becomes and begets something different in Chianti Classico. The season is different than any of the last 10 and really just be looked at within the parameters of itself. There is this blood orange and red citrus feeling that can’t be shaken, incrementally different from one UGA to the next and yet consistently run through the entirety of the territory. Has there been another vintage so consistently perceived since 2014 or 2013? This wine speaks to that. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Dievole Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Novecento 2022, Vagliagli

Big-boned Novocento from Dievole put of 2022, dark of fruit and very mineral. Shows the warmth of the season in its grip after a palate that can’t help but be full and satisfy. Truly mouth-filling, sapid, not particularly high in acidity and long. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Dievole Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Vigna Sessina 2021, Vagliagli

Vigna Sessina leads with its structure without apology or hesitation, of a palate attack taking hold straight away. A whole mouth of crushed rocks, very much in the way of packed and tannic Châteauneuf-du-Pâpe, warming and coating in mouthfeel. So full and substantial without a moment’s softening. Drink 2027-2034. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, 2025

Good to go!

godello

At the Chianti Classico Collection 2025

Twenty-four Canadian wines that rocked in 2024

Dec23

Godello and Hare

Composing a best of list is something that takes a sedulous amount of time, a year’s accumulation of thought and above all else, ultra careful consideration. When more than 1,000 Canadian wines are tasted in a calendar year, narrowing it down to 24 feels like a profound task and weighty sense of responsibility. These twenty-four Canadian wines that rocked in 2024 represent the twelfth consecutive such register first published in 2013, annually iterated and guaranteed, never gratuitously settled upon and always as a show of Canada’s highest level of quality. Integrity too, which will become clear by the time you finish reading this exercise.

Godello at Dobbin Estate

Seven out of 24 (that’s nearly 30 percent for those scoring at home) are sparkling wines, a number that will only come as a shocking surprise to those who haven’t been paying attention. The math is really quite simple. Cool climate viticulture means longer growing seasons for more developed, therefore riper phenolics matched dutifully by kept acidities. Climates have changed but Canadian growing areas have not yet lost their edge and besides, extreme events are more likely and increasingly the culprit when it comes to extenuating snafu circumstances like crazy cold snaps that take out wide swaths of grapevines. For the most part this country can still hang a wide variety of grapes to create killer sparkling wines. Seven sparklers are here, from five growing areas in three provinces.

WineAlign dines at Hidden Bench

Six of Godello’s 2024s are chardonnay, if for no other good reason than it always being on Canadian minds. What’s the best way to go about growing and making wines of the highest quality? Is chardonnay a victim of its own ubiquity and adaptability? What makes it so special then, as an expression of place, as well as production and technique? Chardonnay should taste like it has come from a place, but also from a time. No one said it was easy but one thing is certain, it’s a hell of a lot easier to make great chardonnay that has been planted in the right location. Still the endeavour is puzzling, like getting lost and running through a maze, fraught with wrong turns and dead-ends. It’s about hunch work, gauging probabilities, accounting for what has come before and extrapolating towards what might be. In Canada trying to find locations that gift the sweet spot is, as if at midnight, where sugar ripeness, acid structure, phenolic ripeness and fruit character will probably meet for optimum results. We who feel like this and nod at one another knowingly are lovers of chardonnay; eager and desperate to be one with its varietal psyche, to imagine it synched in sycophant fixation with our own. Yet all the salient facts and aspects of a wine’s journey, in viticulture, pH, residual sugar, total acidity, élevage and in tasting, are really nothing if we are unable to find the theory of the wine and by extension, the winemaker who made it happen. Fortunately for us the top six Canadian chardonnays chosen here (and the list does not stop at that number), have all made it happen.

Flight #1 at the 2024 School of Cool
(c) i4C

A reminder that “Chardonnay is never too cool for school.” The article published after i4C 2024 had this to say. “Will fully admit to having seriously considered not using the word “cool” in the title for this latest exposé on i4C, Niagara’s annual International Cool Climate Chardonnay Conference. Then good conscience and reality set in because the original dub for Canada’s most important and successful wine congress will always be too good to dismiss. They coined it, built it and people have most certainly come. To foresee and then to consummate this collective pursuit of excellence inscribes Cool Chardonnay into the lexicon of wine forever. Hard to predict just how many more of these joyous to potentially annual profound (four-day) weekends there will be, but were this the last then hundreds upon hundreds of producers, winemakers, media, influencers and consumers over the years will have walked away happy, better for it and with memories to last a lifetime. The extraordinary 2024 edition of i4C went deeper still, to deliver the coolest quality and finest balance between information, socialization, revelry, society and of course, chardonnay. Cool as ever, gotta be cool, relax and never too cool for school.”

Twenty Mile Bench

It was a very good year for tasting pinot noir and thus the grape is also well represented with five on the list. No other grape causes more of a stir, is responsible for more hair to fall and breaks more hearts. Does not play well with others, refuses to share, to be blended, to give anything less than 100 per cent. For many, there is no other grape variety. How often does a conversation begin with “what is your favourite wine” and end invidiously with “Burgundy?” While Bourgogne certainly persists as the historic locale possessive of the title “when it’s great, it’s the best,” pinot noir has found immense global success and Canadian soils are largely responsible for that. Thoughts with doubts about pinot noir’s viability in Canadian vineyards have long been laid to rest with proof arranged and clarified after yet another edition of the 2024 WineAlign National Wine Awards of Canada. The judging week saw the fourth most number of flights, all intriguing and arguably the finest collective showing of bottles poured from the fickle grape. From lithe, transparent, high-toned, red berry charmers to darker, brooding, seriously ripe and often tannic iterations. As it has been said, “beauties and beasts, belles et bêtes,” pinot noir the good can succeed one way or another, with harmony and in balance.

With Magdalena Kaiser

So what is the number one takeaway with regards to Canadian pinot noir? The answer lies in the way winemakers approach their product. Lowest of low cropping to achieve density and concentration is no longer the launching point towards making great pinot noir. Aggressive pressing, intense macerations and long wood aging, especially in newer (and smaller) vessels all lead to astringency and imbalance. All of these things are fading into the rear-view mirror, slowly but surely being replaced by first and foremost, sustainable and regenerative agriculture resulting in healthier vines. In the winery there is less handling, more finesse and attention paid to detail leading to more purity and also clarity in the wines. This is what pinot noir needs. If the most suitable and only the most suitable sites are used, the future will move from optimistic to auspicious. The number one takeaway? Canadian pinot noir has long been searching for and is now beginning to find inner peace. Let’s just hope it keeps on this path, despite and in spite of climate change.

Godello’s annual best of bundle feels easier to create because with each passing year there are so many more wines of wonderment tasted and yet, and yet the jumble is harder to defend. Great wines are not left off the list for reasons of inferiority, deficiency or lack of character. The game is one of numbers and the pool from which to choose grows exponentially every year. These are the twenty-four Canadian wines that rocked in 2024.

With Heather Rankin – Obladee, Halifax

Benjamin Bridge Nova 7 Sparkling 2023, Nova Scotia

Benjamin Bridge is indeed correct and fully justified in self-proclaiming Nova 7 as “Nova Scotia’s favourite wine” because, well it just is. The blend for this resilient, magical, a decade and a half in the making, lightly effervescent and low alcohol sparkler is muscat, ortega, riesling, geisenheim, l’Acadie, vidal and petite pearl. The latter is a cold-hardy hybrid cultivar bred using a cross between MN 1094 and E.S. 4-7-26, grown in 25 US states and four provinces of Canada. The acidity for Nova 7 at 9 g/L integrates with ease and swirls 49 g/L of residual sugar into a comfort zone like a balanced Spätlese, with the peachiest of flavours and a refreshing, thirst-quenching and salty iced tea finish. A throwback in many ways and yet the 2023 is quite frankly as good as any Nova 7 there has ever been. Age a bottle three or four years to see what happens. What could go wrong? Drink 2024-2027. Tasted October 2024

Blue Mountain Reserve Brut R.D. 2014, BC VQA Okanagan Valley

Aromatic complexity, a chardonnay and pinot noir (55-45) sear of raging citrus but never lean because there is flesh all over the palate. The lemon segments are ripe and delicious, the red fruit character compliments with added spice, the persistence endless and the winemaking clearly coming from a place of experience and respect to place. Last tasted blind at i4C, July 2024

Always pleased to welcome the BR R.D. into a glass and here is an old but a proverbial goody, that being 2014 and consumers must be reminded just how special this research and development is to determine the excellence of Blue Mountain’s indagative sparkling wine. A blend of chardonnay and pinot noir, the first 10 percent more than the last with some of the most restrained, reserved and demure aromatics in the Okanagan Valley. All ways to say this is lovely, quietly generous and so settled to gift pleasure above all else. A most complex game of citrus and orchard fruit, distillate by nature, expertly seasoned with fine sea salt, white pepper and lemongrass powder. Such a gift nine years after vintage at a ridiculously reasonable price. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted November 2023

Last House Joie De Vivre Blanc De Blanc 2021, VQA Prince Edward County

No dosage, categorically Brut Zero sparkling wine of leesy significance and gentlest positive oxidation. A bubble set up this way from the start and carrying the torch forward on a justifiably sound plateau that should see no significant changes for the next few years. Only chardonnay and no vintage heat to set its trajectory hastily forward, with full orchard and citrus fruit flavours on a sturdy frame backed by bedrock as backbone PEC limestone intensity. You need to try this – it represents a significant style and profound bottle of sparkling wine. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted November 2024

The Senchuks – Leaning Post

Leaning Post Blanc De Blanc Traditional Method Sparkling 2019, VQA Beamsville Bench

Old (35 year-old) chardonnay Hemeris Vineyard vines are the source for the LP traditional method Blanc de Blanc that sees four-plus years on the lees. The sugar is not quite zero but to be honest, nine-plus grams of acidity renders three g/L of RS essentially obsolete. And yet the mouthfeel is full, substantial and acting gregarious. Packed with aromas and flavours, seemingly impossible and so this from a less than heat-cumulate Niagara vintage (that would have made for seriously piqued and biting still chardonnays) is almost a sparkling oxymoron. As far from severe as B de B will be, instead generous and celebratory. Unexpected and mind-blowing in many ways. What sorcery is this pray tell, Senchuk and Senchuk? Drink 2025-2032. Tasted November 2024

Dean Stoyka and J-J Groux – Stratus

Stratus Brut Nature Zero Dosage 2013, VQA Niagara-on-the Lake

J-L Groux explains that the main factor for making this kind of sparkling wine is PH, “because the aromatics will be built upon six to seven years of lees aging time.” J-L feels this ’13 is going to be the winner now, and for 20 years. Not far off it would seem because of the “partial disgorgement” method, well within VQA rules and thus you arrive at a toasty smoulder unlike any other sparkling wine. The lees are the thing, in fact they are everything. They prevent the aromas and the wine from oxidizing. Amazing. Last tasted July 2024

Comes across a bit cloudy, at least as compared to the B de B with thanks to the natural, lees left intact style. The citrus component is so pronounced, as is the taut, direct, lean and intense manifold destiny of what is truly a singular Sparkling wine. That being a living, breathing, inhaling and exhaling wine, slowly releasing proteins, acids and realizing its B de B Nature dream. Just amazing what lees can do for sparkling wine. Tasted July 2021

Released side by each with the Stratus Blanc de Blanc 2013 and while vintage and grape are the same, the similarities almost seemingly, ostensibly and allegedly end there. Yes in fact this 100 per cent chardonnay is a child of the most excellent varietal vintage and like the B de B spent six years on the lees. Comparisons cast aside it is the very fact that because much of the lees were transferred to bottle by a minimalist’s disgorging that this cloudy bubble with a Canadian artist’s series set of labels can’t help but elicit another memory. The Lilies of Monet and their clouds represent neither the horizon, nor the top or the bottom. Nor does a bottle of this Zéro Dosage Brut. The elements of water, air, sky and earth become intertwined in a composition without perspective, or so it goes in this hazy, opaque and dry as the desert sparkling wine. So many layers of lemon can be peeled, juiced and scraped away. If a Stratus wine could be a a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma then here it is. The texture here is palpable and the intrigue factor surely high, so it should be imagined that longevity will be this wine’s calling card. It’s more austere than the Blanc de Blanc but I think in fact it will. Drink 2022-2029. Tasted November 2020

Tasting The Old Third at White Oaks

The Old Third Pinot Noir Sparkling À La Volée 2011, Prince Edward County

First bottle opened since last tasting this unicorn of a PEC sparkling wine back in October of 2015. Now in a state of settled grace, of a collected, stored and persistent slow release of energy that keeps on keeping on. Every County maker using pinot noir for a Brut zero (or near zero) style should find a bottle of À La Volée 2011 as a reference point because as interpreters they must translate still wines to become bubbles “on the fly,” without waiting for the end to begin, acting with hindsight. Last tasted December 2024

“On the fly” is not exactly what comes to mind from this 100 per cent Pinot Noir, first Sparkling wine made by Bruno Francois. Calculated, attention to detail and intensity of ideation more like it. Three years on the lees, no dosage and from a vintage to speak in more than whispered voices, of acidity that announces its arrival with immediacy and a summons to contest. The nose does yeast, toast, citrus and ginger. A first release revelation as ever graced Ontario’s waves, as dry as the desert and lingering with switch back traces of its yeasty, toasty self. A single vineyard can be this way, equally and in opposition of natural and oxidative, with a hue less than Pinot Noir, though unrequited as a triumph when you get a ripe white from such Pinot. The production of 1200 bottles is relatively house high in a stunner that needs no sugar to draw up its flavours. Drink 2015-2023. Tasted twice, July and October 2015

Marty Werner – York Vineyards

York Vineyards Reserve Brut, VQA Niagara-on-the Lake

York Vineyards’ Brut is a two-thirds to one-third chardonnay-pinot noir joint that sees 72 months on the lees. A sparkling sensation taking the country and apparently also the world by storm. The attention to detail, focus and determination are credible, felt with palpable energy and there is no doubt as to how much trial, experimentation and consideration went into making this and other York Vineyards wines. The Reserve moniker may at times feel like an add on but here one can imagine the assessment of base wines and the selection being both a stringent and anticipatory one. This is richness off the proverbial Ontario charts with a toasty-autolytic complex character that defies regularity. Toned, defined and appreciable because the flesh is yet to fully develop. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted November 2024

Emma Garner – Thirty Bench

Thirty Bench Steel Post Vineyard Small Lot Riesling 2020, VQA Beamsville Bench, Niagara Escarpment

An Ontario legend in terms of riesling and the one from Emma Garner at Thirty Bench that defies logic with a magical spell cast upon the grapes put to bottle. Probably the driest of the Small Lot series at just 11 g/L of residual sugar, impossibly converted and qualified by just 11.2 percent alcohol with what must be an acidity number that’s just about as high as the sweeter rieslings in the portfolio. The energy and vitality are exceptional, the warmth of the vintage delivers top quality, if absolutely pristine fruit and then there are the qualities of extract and tannin cohabitating at this highest level of composure. The potential here is unlimited. One of the finest rieslings ever made in Ontario and this one goes up to 11. Drink 2025-2035. Tasted March 2024

Charles Baker Picone Vineyard Riesling 2021, VQA Vinemount Ridge

The word “tannic” does not often first (second or third) come to mind when riesling is the subject but ’21 and Picone from Charles Baker strikes that way from the first sip. This after a most unique aromatic begin, dried herbals for one thing and exotic spicing in a cumin-coriander masala way. Even more so fenugreek leaf and wait for it…maple syrup. Hard to say why ’21 emits this way but when these scents give way to the riesling’s body politic the effect is both exotic and promising. Baker himself says that the “2021 CB from Picone is true to form and represents the vintage properly. Elegant, refined, absorbs the richness with fine acidity. Long floral green toned finish. Will age beyond me.” Indeed this may just turn out to be Charles Baker’s longest lived of the Picones, right up there with the ’06, ’11 and ’16. Drink 2024-2036. Tasted October 2024

Morgan Juniper – 16 Mile

16 Mile Cellar Civility Chardonnay Single Vineyard 2020, VQA Creek Shores

From a block called Susan’s Vineyard, wild ferment, full malolactic, raised in oak puncheons of light toast. The growing location may be the lower Escarpment’s steppe of Creek Shores but who would not feel, see and recognize this 2020 as truly Bench chardonnay. No ambivalence in the method, execution or design, ample and plush, of an all in lemony curd to speak of the finest and cleanest lees. Truly singular style and without a doubt winemaker Morgan Juniper’s most comprehensive chardonnay to date. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted June 2024

Maenad Wine Co.

Maenad Wine Co. Chardonnay Unfiltered And Bottled With Lees 2021, VQA Lincoln Lakeshore

From the young vines of Grimsby Hillside Vineyard and while this label shall remain nameless, the block is actually 295. “A wild terroir exploration” says the winemaking show that is Yvonne Irving, a winemaker used to making a full bodied style of chardonnay from the Queenston Mile Vineyard. Unmistakably GVH and if you’ve tasted a Senchuk or Bachelder iteration than you’d know the vineyard wins every time. The richesse is belied by this specificity of intensity that is unequivocally GVH. This northern spot produces the most brightness against the backdrop of ripeness, barrel fermentation and oak-aging. Full malolactic but always beneath the fruit, full on lees and amazing crunch. So full up the middle and yet vertical. Real deal, whole package and so much more to come. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted March 2024

Henry Of Pelham Speck Family Reserve Chardonnay 2022, VQA Short Hills Bench

There is some truth to the advantage of tasting a stellar ’22 like this from Henry of Pelham when a great deal of other chardonnay being poured alongside are ‘21s, but letting chardonnays be chardonnay it matters less than we should actually be talking about. The SFR ’22 lives up to its blind billing and thrills without a moment’s hesitation. End of story. Last tasted August 2024

The only reductive chardonnay in this flight of nine which speaks to an overall change in winemaking and in fact there have only been three like this, out of let’s say 50 tasted these days. Reductive as much as any chardonnay though the fruit can stand up and hang tightly on the upright frame. Notable style, bit of pyrazine, Behind the veil is most excellent and concentrated varietal fruit that to this mind celebrates a very specific sense of place. A Bench on a step up against a hillside or escarpment and its maker’s care is more than evident. Tastes akin to high end Marlborough chardonnay. Well thought out, serious intention and should age well. A seriously structured and balanced wine that drinks well now but will only improve over the next two years. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted blind at #NWACS24, June 2024

Jessica Otting – Tawse

Tawse Chardonnay Quarry Road Vineyard 2021, VQA Vinemount Ridge

No shock or surprise that Quarry Road ’21 is a mineral bomb, coming away on that rocky side of the 50-50 fruit to stone compendium. Forget everything you’ve heard or read about this arch-cool Vinemount Ridge chardonnay, but also ignore all the noise about unmitigated disaster by vintage. Niagara winemakers should always make quality cool chardonnay these days and Tawse holds more water and responsibility than most. Jessica Otting is ten times equal to the task with a Quarry so precise and focused it may just make a tooth or two feel the mineral pain. A chardonnay chillingly representative of its vineyard yet, rewriting the jazz because of the shall not be named vintage. The naysayers can run away and hide in their holes because history will be kind to these wines, especially when they shine on in tastings ten years forward. No crutch or apology, sorry not sorry. Remember 2011 and 2013. Now forget them and only speak of 2021. Just great chardonnay. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted at i4C, July 2024

Alex Baines – Hidden Bench

Hidden Bench Chardonnay Felseck Vineyard Unfiltered 2021, VQA Beamsville Bench

My goodness this is special chardonnay, coming as no surprise and if your thoughts and emotions for 2021 Niagara chardonnay need buoying than begin the bob right here. Precise aromas, immediate and echoing, more fruit than frankly necessity should expect as the mother of invention because mineral and saltness demand our utmost attention. Yet the fruit stands firm and even pulpy in the face of the crushed stone infiltrate from a vineyard stop on the grandest of Niagara cru tours. Exemplary to speak on behalf of a vintage that separates wheat from chaff, pinpointed location from just anywhere and adults from the gambling trials of youth. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted July 2024

Wade Dobbin, David Lawrason and Peter Gamble

Dobbin Estate Chardonnay 2019, VQA Twenty Mile Bench

Not labeled as such but essentially a Reserve wine taken from a single barrel housing all estate fruit. High level of concentration and richness in the face of a vintage considered cool and challenging, but when you take a smallest of small lot wines like this that just does not apply. Everything about this is classic, basket pressed, natural ferment, full natural malolactic, 22 months maximum for oak aging, Burgundian obviously and medium of toast. “We come to barrel turbid – we like density,” notes Peter Gamble. (Peter) and Ann Sperling really liked this one particular barrel and decided to put it to magnums only. From late September and early October picks, finished at 14.5 percent alcohol and ultimately mouthfeel that rivals some pretty warm wine growing regions. A chardonnay that moves beyond Bourgogne to offer up its very own definition of Niagara’s Twenty Mile Bench. Last tasted July 2024

This may be just the first stages of Dobbin’s tenure making high end wines from the Twenty Mile Bench but auspicious does not begin to describe the level of sophistication marking these beginnings. The erudite oenological consulting team of Ann Sperling and Peter Gamble have taken chardonnay into territory they are quite familiar with but always keep in mind that top terroir, vineyard conditioning and uncompromising preparation are what collectively set this up for success. This 2019 is from a cool climate vintage out of a cool climate place and recent history tells us that these are chardonnay that live good, long and healthy varietal lives. Luxe yet still crunchy, high quality wood used generously if judiciously and in the end this kind of rocks the world. In a chardonnay way. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted April 2024

Spearhead Pommard Clone Pinot Noir 2022, BC VQA Okanagan Valley

A bit of aromatic restraint from a pinot noir keeping some secrets and what scents as some whole bunch percentage inclusive style. Good palate richness and berry to citrus emulsion like a fluid smoothie of reds, greens and acidity. Plenty of understated depth, so ample, focused and really well defined. Brightest of the flight, red fruit in flight, breathing easier, acids also up there and structure never too demanding. Could always drink a glass. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted blind at #NWACS24, June 2024

Thomas Bachelder in the wilds of the Twenty Mile Bench

Bachelder Wild West End Wismer Parke Vineyard Pinot Noir 2022, VQA Twenty Mile Bench

For Thomas Bachelder Wild West End, Wismer Parke Vineyard and pinot noir started out as the one of the most mystery, namely because Wismer could not name the clone and the first wine was even more sanguine than that of the Wismer Parke. Which says that the West End’s soil affects the clonal material in exaggerated ways and the question has always been, to tame or not to tame. The answer is vintage and not needing “a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.” Bachleder had to hang loose, stay cautious and learn about the vineyard’s situation, take other’s opinions into account and then proceed with action. This vintage feels like a culmination of necessity, a varietal mother of invention, a reality on display of full capabilities realized. The height of an epoch acceded by a grower and a winemaker on the same page. A wine of intelligence and acceptance because the ferric meets hematic parts oversee and tell fruit what to be and how to act. The people have learned how not to get in the way and the degree has been earned. The question is what’s next? Drink 2026-2033. Tasted November 2024

Kerri Crawford – Le Clos Jordanne

Le Clos Jordanne Le Grand Clos Pinot Noir 2021, VQA Twenty Mile Bench

As with Claystone Terrace the Grand Clos Vineyard blocks running from west to east move through this fruit gradation from structured and austere through to soft and amenable. For 2021 the middle ground is duly noted with a signature and arch classic Jordan/Twenty Mile Bench pinot noir that sings in youthful life as early as it ever has. The team (Thomas Bachelder, Kerri Crawford and Phillip Brown) have coaxed out the sweetest natural fruit. While it flows with ease it’s also equipped to slow down, reflect, and then re-emerge a few years thereafter, post pause and not atypical varietal dumb phase. Th3 2021 is found to be chic, suave and stylish as ever, fruit in a dark red cherry state and acidity meeting texture for mouthfeel of a most finessed kind. Drink 2025-2031. Tasted July 2024

Carrying Place, Prince Edward County

Trail Estate Winery Pinot Noir Revival 2020, VQA Prince Edward County

Has to be the top of the top drop for Trail Estate but also for PEC, not to mention perched up there at the precipice of breaching the Provincial price rubicon for all wines. Some are one dimensional, others expressed in two and then there is Trail’s, which most definitely incorporates a third. Reductive and diesel fuelled with almost no precedence towards understanding just exactly what this aromatic unfamiliarity is all about. Confounding and yet a sip quickly adjusts the viewpoint because layers of recognizable fruit glide over the palate. The vintage is worth waiting for, the phenolics so ripe that not a stem should be wasted, while the savoury pastry of said whole bunches makes sure no holes are left unfilled. When the lowest yields and the most stringent selection meet risk-reward winemaking techniques there can be something special to come from all these hopes and dreams. If revival speaks to the human condition, a.k.a. struggles with sin, forgiveness and redemption, well then this pinot noir may just be the answer to a winemaker’s struggle, quest and renewal. Now let’s see her repeat this every vintage, or at least one here and there deemed worthy of the pain, journey and prize. Oh, and please give this at least another year to find its way so that the enigmatic behaviour should wane and eventually subside. Those who can afford the cost will then see the forest for the trees and be granted some personal form of immediate gratification. In the end the question begs as to how we value Revival as a three-dimensional pinot noir? By definition three coordinates are required to determine the position of a point (and a pinot), namely those you can pick up, touch, and move around. But in the end the simple answer is depth, which is what Revival and all great wines simply have. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted April 2024

Jonas Newman – The Grange

The Grange Of Prince Edward Aurelia Pinot Noir 2023, VQA Prince Edward County

The golden one, Aurelia, from the Latin Aurelius and if you want to delve deeper, the name for Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, Roman emperor from 161 to 180. Even deeper still the character portrayed by Richard Harris in Gladiator. Also the top of the opus pinot noir at The Grange and what a golden one it surely is. Needs to be because it is bloody expensive but just 98 cases were made of a varietal harbinger that gets the full on spa treatment. Double sorted, first in the vineyard, then at the table. Whole cluster fermented, including carbonic for five days and then foot trodden. Ten days of délestage before being pressed off and blended to finish ferment in tank. Ages in the most expensive wood for 10 months, 33 percent new. Burgundy anyone? Yes this is the idea and the result is a pretty good approximation, all the while tended to by that County high life in acidity with a generous amount of volatile compound effect. Yet the fruit and that acidity are in cahoots, sweet, inviting and enlivening. At nearly $75 there is a whole lot of swagger, ambition and confidence but if money were no object I’d happily drink through a few bottles. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted December 2024

Roche Wines Amulet Syrah 2021, BC VQA Okanagan Valley

Semi-serious syrah, surely built upon an upright skeletal frame with flesh hanging on its bones and acids piquing through the supple textures of that flesh. Also floral and the meatiness seems to increase with every sip. Iron bloodiness and tannins also grow as you work with what is now becoming a fully serious wine. Chocolate melting and coating the back end with the same function as the tannins of the wine. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted blind at #NWACS24, June 2024

Phantom Creek Kobau Vineyard Syrah 2020, BC VQA Golden Mile Bench

Here is the syrah bomb that means serious business. Smoked meat, iodine, sanguine and that classic black olive tapenade. A veritable hematoma of red, black and blue, fruit, acid and tannic intensity. If it’s showing some volatility that’s just because of rebellious youth and unresolved structure. This is very serious wine. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted blind at #NWACS24, June 2024

Okanagan Valley

LaStella Cabernet Sauvignon La Sophia 2019, BC VQA Okanagan Valley

When you look at the last 10 years of Okanagan wine-growing there is no doubt that 2019 resides near the peak and is a vintage that should be filling collector’s cellars. La Sophia is one of those wines, a cabernet sauvignon with a track record that speaks to consistency and excellence. Imminently recognizable as both La Stella and their extension of Black Sage Bench terroir in Oliver. If any local cabernet will resonate with the Oliver equivalent of the Tuscan coast’s Macchia Mediterranea than La Sophia would be it. Not exactly balsamico or garrigue but yes something Italianate, of rich dark fruit set against fine-grained tannin and that brushy, herbal, vinous and resinous scents of the terrain. Black Sage Bench issue, nothing standard about it and it needs a name. Like Okanagan Briar or Chaparral, but regardless you can’t miss the outback in this wine. Yes the 50 percent new wood needs to integrate further and it will, given the requiem necessary, in air and also time. Drink 2026-2035. Tasted May 2024

Two Sisters Riesling Icewine 2023, VQA Niagara-on-the Lake (375ml)

Spicy waft from the 2023 riesling and a level of viscosity to speak of Icewine made in the most serious of ways. The haute and cultured fragrance makes one wonder why $89 should be the price when three times that amount might make sense, after consideration is taken for the time, effort and work required to make such a wine even possible. The fruit is extraordinary, the acidity at a high level for the vintage and Icewine in general. This is the what, how and why for the category to be celebrated, wines exulted, performance perpetuated and raison d’être defined. Give this two more years to fully see the riesling respond in the way it surely can. Drink 2026-2036. Tasted June 2024

Good to go!

godello

Godello and Hare

Arillo In Terrabianca Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Terrabianca 2019, Radda

Harvest report 2024: Retro Chianti Classico

Dec12

Sangiovese 2024, Chianti Classico

In Bernardo Bertolucci’s 1976 film 1900, an epic tale of class struggle in twentieth century northern Italy is told through the relationship between two childhood friends. One is of a proletariat family, the other born into the bourgeois and through their friendship the movie explores the struggle between socialism and capitalism. Sitting in a pub, Alfredo Berlinghieri (played by Robert de Niro) says to to Ada Fiastri Paulhan (Dominique Sanda), “November is the cruelest month of the year.” This may have been true for farmers struggling to survive in post-war Italy and through the era that saw the collapse of the mezzadria system. A climatic evolution over the last 50 years might just alter the argument to say that November is no longer the most troubling month. Take Chianti Classico as an example. In frost years there is April and the rains of May to June bring downy mildew, both potentially devastating issues that attack vines and reduce yields – very bad for business. Easter time can be cruel and the late Spring Perenospera an umitigated Oomycetes disaster, but when it rains heavily in September and October, an entirely new set of adversarial circumstances can occur. Grape rot becomes a real factor, grapes swell to increase their volume and the harvest can last forever. Welcome to la vendemmia 2024.

Sangiovese fermentation 2024 – Terreno

The age of freezing cold winters is but a memory now for growers in the territory where the Gallo Nero are produced and 2024 saw another stretch of new age warmth. Even if January and February nights drew temperatures dropping near zero, the daytime highs were often pushing into double digits. Milder days in the latter half of February meant you could bask in the sunlight of a Sunday afternoon, on the terrace with a glass of Rosato or in the thermal baths just outside Castelnuovo Berardenga’s southern border. You could count the coldest days with temperatures typical of winter seasons’ past “on the fingers of two hands,” so said Marco Ricasoli Firidolfi. Rainfall was ample and so 2024 would see no repetition in terms of drought, nor would frost become an issue, as was seen in 2017 and 2021. Precipitation was intermittently constant, upwards or more of 70 millilitres fell in January, 180 in February and 120 during March, which meant for saturated forests and vineyards across the whole of the Classico region.

Sangiovese – Lamole

What to expect from 2024 Chianti Classico?

The summer of ’24 was typically hot and dry but all that changed after September 7th because in some parts of the region nearly 400 ml of rain fell over the following seven weeks. Unprecedented amounts of water, well at least if you look back at the previous 30 years. August of 1995 saw rain like that and previous to that there was plenty of precipitation and cool harvest temperatures in 1991 and 1993. Fast forward again to 2024 and the the constant deluge of mid-September through to late October ends up becoming the cruelest stretch. Days on end when tractors are unable to enter the vineyards, harvest crews repeatedly pause on stand by because picking wet grapes is a cardinal sin and prayers are made for two straight days of sunshine to happen anytime and anywhere. From Greve to Castellina, San Donato in Poggio to Castelnuovo Berardenga, Vagliagli to Gaiole, San Casciano to Radda, in Montefioralle, Panzano and Lamole. Bunches are dropped because tight sangiovese clusters encourage the development of mold from within and the waiting game is excruciating for many. Patience is the greatest virtue and yet sugars are developing slowly, like the old days, piano-piano, as they like to say. In the end a classic vintage in the ways of days of old is declared, with phenolic ripeness achieved because of the longest hang-time since 1993, the same year Juventus’ Roberto Baggio scores five goals in seven international matches for Italy. Drinkable sangiovese, elegant, ripe, low alcohol and a good number blessed with sneaky structure. Producers are pleased with the freshness and ethereal beauty. The tank samples are bloody delicious. Pure sangiovese. Retro Chianti Classico.

La Squadra Canadese in Firenze

First and foremost on so many producers minds are the alcohol levels topping out at 13.5 percent. If you see 14.0 abv on a bottle in 2026 or beyond you can bet the actual number is just above that 13.5 Mason-Dixon line and in some cases 13.5 could in actuality be just a shade above 13.0. Lighter wines as a general rule, but age-worthy because of phenolic ripeness, at least in cases where producers waited, waited some more and picked as late as possible. Expect to see straight through the transparent hues of Chianti Classico sangiovese for 2024, to sense, taste and feel the brightest and potentially sweetest acidities, then finally the silkiest if also most elastic tannins. The 2024 acids will be the catalyst for aging these sangiovese. Anyone under the age of 50 will have likely never experienced a Chianti Classico vintage like 2024 and potentially never will again.

La Squadra Canadese – Piazza del Campo, Siena

Just two months ago La Squadra Canadese of seven sommeliers and Godello as their chaperone went all in for a mid-October excursion through the 11 UGAs with estate visits, tastings and round-table discussions in classic Chianti Classico boot-camp fashion. The theme could not help but concentrate on the 2024 harvest because first timing, but also its omnipresence as an all-consuming affair, on the minds and in the daily planning of every producer. The group’s seven members: Christian Perreault Hamel – Harbour60, Toronto, Lauren Hall – Scale Hospitality, Toronto, Ashleigh Forster – DaNico, Toronto, Jessamyn Box – Major Tom, Calgary, Lisa Baran – Savio Volpe, Vancouver, Heather Rankin – Obladee Wine Bar, Halifax and Montréal’s Elyse Lambert M.S. – Ritz-Carlton, Toronto. A tradition initiated by the legend Jeremy Bonia was carried on, to play a game aboard Enzo’s bus with music themes chosen by the leader (Godello) and each sommelier picking songs to be played throughout the course of a travelling day. Please feel free to peruse and listen to La Squadra Canadese Radio:

La Squadra Canadese Radio – First song you remember singing along to

La Squadra Canadese Radio – Pre-2000 Hip-Hop

La Squadra Canadese Radio – Country

La Squadra Canadese Radio – 80s and 90s jams

La Squadra Canadese Radio – Headphones on a beach

La Squadra Canadese Radio – Wedding Songs

La Squadra Canadese Radio – Dancing by Myself

La Squadra Canadese Radio – When you have a Hangover

La Squadra Canadese Radio – Non North American artists

La Squadra Canadese Radio – Favourite movie soundtrack song

La Squadra Canadese Radio – To play at your Celebration of Life

La Squadra Canadese Radio – Pairs with Chianti Classico

La Squadra Canadese – Panzano

There was an extensive Gran Selezione UGA Tasting at Casa Chianti Classico in Radda, 15 estate visits, an aperitivo with President Giovanni Manetti at Enoteca Baldi in Panzano, unforgettable dinners at Panzano’s Antica Macelleria Cecchini, in Siena and also Florence. As always, the planning and support from the Consorzio Vino Chianti Classico’s Carlotta Gori, Silvia Fiorentini, Christine Lechner, Caterina Mori, Laura Cavalleri and Simone Fabbrini. La Squadra came, they conquered and the Gallo Nero left an indelible stamp on their collective emozioni – forever. As for Godello, here are his 125 tasting notes from the trip – expected and as per usual, abided.

Gran Selezione Tasting – Casa Chianti Classico, Radda

Gran Selezione tasting at Casa Chianti Classico

Marchesi Antinori Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Badia A Passignano 2021, San Casciano

If it looks like, smells like and tastes like Badia a Passignano, well then it must be Badia a Passignano. Then again as a 2021 the fullness, generosity and natural phenolic grip meeting sweetness is unparalleled. Yes the underlying verdant savour is always there, always the Badia’s corner of San Donato in Poggio, but honestly the pulchritude of substance feels extant, furthered and extra level for Passignano. For Antinori. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted February and October 2024

All sangiovese and nothing but the sangiovese in one of the first iterations of Gran Selezione under the guidance of new and improved ownership. Brightest of red fruit for a concept and work in progress that seeks to deliver utter transparency for lower (relatively speaking) elevation out of Radda. Firm enough though the tannins are anything but austere. Drink early GS, again, relatively speaking. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted October 2023, February and October 2024

Banfi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Fonte alla Selva 2020, Castellina

Fonte Alla Selva, “fountain in the forest,” though there is less bosco influence in Castellina than say Radda, Gaiole or Panzano. That said the clay and Alberese soils of alluvial origin breathe freshness into a Gran Selezione with 40 hectares of vineyards from which to choose from. The 2020 is a big wine from a warm season though here cool, liquid smoky and glycerin textured sangiovese with the smooth consistency made whole by the “other” non-specifically declared varieties. Though by rule as of next vintage they must be local and make up no more than 10 percent of the whole. Tight, tart and chalky, surprisingly tannic, not sharp mind you but with a noted pointillism in its brush. The vanilla and lavender may be distracting but as far from over the top. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted October 2024

Bindi Sergardi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Mocenni ’89 2019, Vagliagli

Mocenni 89 is a special Gran Selezione, open, ethereal and generous. And it is just now entering its window of beauty with new surprise at every turn. Last tasted October 2024

Borgo Salcetino Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG I Salci 2016, Radda

Wildly perfumed and built upon a foundation of aromatic volume for a 2016 that needed all the time it has been given to come and express itself this way. Still tannic by way of a combination of chalky and austere, a crisp Gran Selezione and one needing food alongside to tame its drying second half. When will it fully resolve and what will the fruit be up to at that time? Remains to be seen but waiting two more two years will not make for the best result, or joy. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted October 2024

Borgo Scopeto Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2017, Vagliagli

Settling in, arriving near to its fruition and frankly this represents the most elegant side of 2017. A surprising vintage considering what was expected and Borgo Scopeto’s is much brighter and fluid than many. Surely a Gran Selezione that needed time, to soften the edges and allow freshness to shine through. This is the time to drink a ’17 that will work for its dinner. Hard to fathom how it came to be but this works at 13.5 percent abv. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted October 2024

Brancaia Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2021, Castellina

Fine, fine Brancaia, luxe and stylish while restrained in any needed way. The epitome of modern Gran Selezione, understated and always giving, with confidence and the understanding of why the appellation was conceived. Crunchy and savoury, still highly tannic and so make sure to concentrate on the beauty of perfume in this early stage of its tenure. Last tasted October 2024

The aromas and perfumes are so much more prevalent and open for 2021 with stoniness and Castellina as the instigator for how this Gran Selezione is want to express itself. Crispy, savoury and the sort to really bite down and sink your teeth into. Tasted April 2024

New label not yet printed that likely indicated this has not been in bottle long and as a 2021 Gran Selezione that must surely be the case. Keep this in mind when you feel just how implosive and locked in the fruit is kept behind the wall of tannic sound. The freight is loaded in the compartments but the train has yet to leave the station – though as a 2021 there will be joy at the end of the line. With stops along the way because the vintage does not demand too much nor will it crash and burn. Brancaia’s 2021 is a ripe and primed GS to live out the decade and then for a few more years in the next. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted February 2024

Cantina Castelvecchi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Madonnino Della Pieve 2017, Radda

Well-aged (and held back two to three years) Gran Selezione from Castelvecchi out of mid-elevation Radda and a sangiovese paying tribute to La Madonna of her church. From the warm and veritably dry 2017 season but there is both flesh and also acidity riding high in this Gran Selezione. A top vintage for this appellative category because the healthiest fruit destined for the top wine did well to create promise. Still a bit austere and this was pressed just a bit heavy so the wine will always show a certain level of verdancy and tightness. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted October 2023 and 2024

Capannelle Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2019, Gaiole

Seriously rich and liquid chalky sangiovese, concentrated as a Gran Selezione level example should be expected to be. Full and layering vintage, ripe in terzetto respect, including tannins and so this says drink sooner rather than later. Not quite yet mind you but the coming winter and a long-simmered stew will benefit well alongside. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted October 2024

Carpineta Fontalpino Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Vigna Dofana 2019, Vagliagli

A preview of 2019 that will shown at the Chianti Classico Collection in February of 2024 that are now finished wines “but to me they are young,” shrugs Filippo Cresti. The dried balsamic quality of 2018 is here replaced but more freshness and spirit. A richer wine in 2019 as compared to Montaperto with the wood more involved – while the wine this young is trying to figure out its way through adolescence. The clay is fully involved in just how textured and fruity Dofana acts in this inimitably generous vintage. Flesh will come, with time. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted October 2023, February and October 2024

With Dario Cecchini – Panzano

Carpineto Gran Selezione Chianti Classico 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 and October 2024

Carus Vini Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Gaudio 2018, San Casciano

Proper austerity and the yet to fully descry intention are what define this style of the Carus San Casciano Gran Selezione. The fruit combines that pitch of red and sway to speak of savour but as of yet never the twain shall yet meet. Two or three more years are needed, to get them together but tension needs to subside before anything meaningful can happen. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted October 2024

Casale dello Sparviero Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Paronza 2019, Castellina

Castelli Del Grevepesa Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2019, Panzano

The Grevepesa cooperative (out of San Casciano) grabs and works with fruit from Panzano and they have chosen to put the UGA front and centre on their label. This they do with Lamole as well. In both cases the Gran Selezione is written vertically, boxed and smaller in font. Celebrating an adjunctive location is most curious and when you think about it, quite clever. Their 2019 is clearly Panzano in origin with that notable combination of glycerin fruit matched by Galestro-Pietraforte mineral swirls. There is some astringency here – yet more importantly bright red fruit. Needs a year to further settle in. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted October 2023 and 2024

Castello Della Paneretta Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Torre A Destra 2016, San Donato In Poggio

Unbelievable how tannic and unrelenting this persists as a 2016 Gran Selezione. Crisp, crunchy, savoury and spicy, wood still a major factor and fruit continues to be hold back. How long will this take? At last two more years it seems. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted October 2024

Castello Di Ama Gran Selezione Chianti Classico DOCG San Lorenzo 2019, Gaiole

A reminder and to be clear – San Lorenzo comes from the San Lorenzo vineyard and also Montebuoni but not only. The Gran Selezione is both a name of fantasy but also connected to the vineyard that lends this top tier appellative wine its name. The step up in quality and precision from Montebuoni Riserva is really quite obvious though each are wines respective of their appellation and style. A very important vintage because there are times when Gran Selezione must be accessible early with unequivocal structure allowing it to age. This is 2019 from Ama as a personification of its maker. Marco Pallanti as Gran Selezione. Has a nice ring to it don’t you think? Drink 2024-2032. Tasted October 2023 and 2024

Castello Di Bossi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2019

Ultra professional, concentrated and fruit layered example of Gran Selezione, all parts sweet and tanned, from fruit through acid to tannin. A paced and measured 2020, plenty of warmth and wood seasoning, though all is liquid, elastic and fluid. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted October 2024

Castello Di Fonterutoli Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2020, Castellina

Clean, advanced to a finer point and really showing the sweetness of fruit at this stage. Open whenever you are ready yet can also be kept for four-plus years. Last tasted February and October 2024

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 and October 2023

Castello Di Monsanto Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Vigneto Il Poggio 2019, San Donato In Poggio

The arrival of an Il Poggio is greeted with great anticipation because luxury and fortune have beget tastings of several recent and also older vintages. So imagine what Monsanto’s 2019 will surely bring to the table out of San Donato in Poggio. No ordinary moment, but one likely to get frozen into time. Open heart and mind, dig into deeper understanding and intuitive possibility. Gran Selezione 2019 from the Bianchi family’s hilltop vineyard is sublime. Concentrated, understated, refined, precise and giving. Nurturing if edgy but always gracious and unselfish. A touch reductive, protected and of course stylish. A moment so vivid it causes ache, awe and longing. Too much waxing for a bottle of wine? Actually no but another Il Poggio for the ages. Drink 2026-2039. Tasted October 2023, February and October 2024

Castello Di Querceto Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG La Corte 2020, Greve

La Corte is “the court,” second of two Gran Selezione out of The Dudda Valley by Greve’s Castello di Querceto. The one with more precision and refinement (as compared to Il Picchio) and it is this warm vintage 2020 that really captures the sunshine as manifested in true sangiovese concentration. The complexity comes from liquorice and resinous evergreen oils, a note of graphite, creosote and something unknown, or unnamed. Nevertheless there is a lot happening here and the wine should unwind with great intersect over a ten year period of time. Drink 2025-2031. Tasted October 2023 and 2024

Galestro – Panzano

Castello Di Radda Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Il Corno DOCG 2018, Radda

Juicy Gran Selezione, integrating and resolving, coming into its own with fruit still at fresh peak performance, These are really fine Raddese acids, helpful and supportive, propping up the fruit. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted October 2024

Castello Di Verrazzano Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Sassello Vigneto Querciolina 2018, Montefioralle

Not yet released and will have at lest three more months in bottle before that can happen. A strong vintage and normally the release would be the fall but both wood and fruit need to time to find each other. The substance in Sassello 2018 is, well substantial, in fact something more than that. Richness at the height of Verrazzano’s abilities but my goodness this packs a punch while also showing off the modernity and harmony that define this estate today. Bravissimo. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted February and October 2024

Castello Di Volpaia Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Coltassala 2021, Radda

Always a concentrated sangiovese, from high elevation, solar radiated and night cooled vineyards. Still a five percent mixing in of ultra specific mammolo, spice bringer and catalyst to create this unique interaction with sangiovese. A fulsome vintage, fruit and tannins thick as thieves, luxe behaviour guaranteed and time on side for one of the longest runs to be had in Chianti Classico. The palate and mouthfeel are already showing signs of great activity and you could actually drink this now with the correct salty protein alongside. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted October 2024

Castello La Leccia Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Bruciagna 2020, Castellina

Quality sangiovese comes in many ways with this being the kind of fit concentration matched equally by conscious and confident full use of wood. A tight, tart, tannic and intense example showing both its strengths and also constraints. Give this two more to shed some new light. Last tasted October 2024

Here a Castellina Gran Selezione called Bruciagna, pure sangiovese sleek and hot-blooded. A 2020 of agility, speed, and spirit, well designed, fruit at the height of its powers and a sprinter as opposed to a long track runner. Structure is more power than endurance so drink in the near term for the win, place and show. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted October 2023

UGA Tasting – Casa Chianti Classico, Radda

Castello di Vicchiomaggio Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Le Bolle 2021, Greve

Le Bolle, the name of the cluster of houses in a specific locality and therefore in the register inside the “frazione” of Greti within the commune of Greve. A Gran Selezione single vineyard of just sangiovese, initially made in 2006 and first presented as a GS at VinItaly in 2019. More aromatic volume and power than La Prima but also a smooth as silk sensation on the nose and also on the palate. Stylish, certainly more woodiness and perceived sweetness because the tannins are in fact ripe and the mouthfeel classically “scorrevole.” Longer and more persistent from a GS that represents the house style. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted October 2024

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 Selezione. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2023 and October 2024

Cinciano Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2019, San Donato In Poggio

Conte Capponi/Villa Calcinaia Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Vigna Bastignano 2020, Montefioralle

Have waited just eight months and not only has nothing changed but the wine has gone into full slumber. Revisit no less than a year from now. Last tasted October 2024

Campione: A sample but one at the three and a half year mark so let’s take it at face value. One of the baller and brazen Gran Selezione in Conti Capponi’s work, doubled down by a vintage of similar character. Intense minerals and elementals streaking through chalky fruit that mimic and speak to the terroir – an Alberese stone that will not be denied. This is indeed serious and structured. Wait a minimum four years people. Please. Drink 2027-2035. Tasted February 2024

Dievole Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Vigna Sessina 2019, Vagliagli

A 6.4 hectare vineyard at 450m which qualifies as the highest point of Dievole. A south exposure with Macigno and outcroppings of clay to deliver more power than any other estate sangiovese. The aromatics are expressly consistent with Riserva (and also Casanova) but the musculature is taut and developed. That which Riserva commits to is magnified in this fourth vintage of the Gran Selezione, none more so than the tannins which grab, grip, secure and hold on tight. They compound and reside in the arena of the austere at the finish of this profound wine. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted February and October 2024

Fattoria Della Aiola Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Cancello Rosso 2018, Vagliagli

The red gate is a definitive Vagliagli sangiovese with its tell-take evergreen and pine forest aromatic crush. A warmest vintage means concentration, early picked jammy fruit and highest acidity captured. A proverbial food wine if ever there was because the acid cards accumulate for layers of sweet and sour edginess. Still needs time and in this case the fruit can hang around until the wine integrates to near fruition, if never quiet getting fully there. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted October 2024

La Squadra Canadese – Casa Chianti Classico, Radda

Fattoria Di Corsignano Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG L’imperatrice 2019, Vagliagli

High-toned, tannic and mid-season volatile behaviour, showing experience and location, or rather wearing these things on its sleeves. Just a bit of squeezing or pressing to bring out the natural fruit and along with it some verdancy quite savoury in nature though surely within character for Vagliagli. Curious or in other words unique Gran Selezione that after another two years will reveal much more. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted October 2024

Fattoria di Valiano Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG “6.38” 2019, Vagliagli

Notably wooded example of Gran Selezione from another warm vintage with years still needed to integrate though fruit freshness is nearing its peak. Tannins are near severe to speak of the season, spicing and intent. The goal here is structure and longevity, two ideals that are surely part of this 6.38’s DNA though by the time it gets to Vagliagli there will and should be tartufi and porcini on the table. Classically styled for a Piccini 1882 CC-GS. Drink 2026-2029. Tasted October 2024

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

Gelid and glycerol red fruit, into the San Donato in Poggio blood orange spectrum, naturally sweet and pulpy, a squeeze of omnipresent red citrus and something so very well understood. Fine work, likely showing at best if not quite integrated peak at this stage. Last tasted October 2024

Seductive Gran Selezione here from Montecchio, not atypical for 2019 yet Pasquino takes the style to another level entirely. Blood orange, glycerol, silken texture and just as it has been said, seductive. Chic and classy without pretension or precious personality. Little maintenance required, only a glass, some salumi and fine cheeses, good people with which to share. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted October 2023

Fèlsina Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Rancia 2021, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Inaugural vintage of the Rancia Gran Selezione, for many years the bigger Riserva from the grand southwest facing hill, now ready for top-level prime time in the eyes of Giovanni Poggiali. Took its time to make this grand change and no shock to find the cedar-cypress-evergreen component running ultra high. A hyperbole of who it was, now under the magnifying glass, full, heady and intense. A Gran Selezione of stature, structure and at this stage, immovability. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted October 2024

Fontodi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Terrazze San Leolino 2020, Panzano

How much does the human factor effect a wine like San Leolino? The answer lies in the relationship between the land, weather, vintage and in how the people who work the fields to maximize the gifts made available to them. From 2020 the quotient is high, above 2019 and ready to pass the torch to 2021. At least in these first three vintage the incline is palpable, the progression linear and more importantly vertical. This is great and 2021 will take it further. Allow the wood to settle for two more years. Last tasted February and October 2024

From the vineyards surrounding the 9th century Pieve and you know what they say. “Sangiovese is planted, consequences follow.” A 15th century drawing found in a Florence museum proves that monks cultivated grapes on this property at that time. More perfume than the Classico level Panzano and so there is proof that this terraced land with high level Alberese soils provides aromatics and great structure in the way a Lamole plus Panzano might hypothetically get together for a similar result. Leolino is not a go between but something unique, something other. Special and of an aging potential that may just be more promising than that of Vigna del Sorbo, but let’s wait 10-15 years to see if that will come to be true. Drink 2026-2034. Tasted October 2023

I Fabbri Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2019, Lamole

From the oldest vines, including those planted back in 1965 and aged for two years in large cask, a.k.a. grandi botti. The old vines show what can be done from lowest of yields, highest of concentration and by way of a contract that seeks and attains the necessity of elegance. Everything about Susanna Grassi’s Gran Selezione speaks to the Lamole UGA, in sweetly herbal and savoury perfume, a floral note connected to the botany and grace under the pressure of structure so well defined. Drink 2025-2034. Tasted October 2023, February and October 2024

Il Molino Di Grace Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Il Margone 2021, Panzano

An important selection, in 2021 mainly from the Al Sole vineyard but also some fruit coming out of Francesca. “A great vintage for us,” says Iacopo Morganti. Unfortunately the Easter frosts reduced quantity by 40 percent. No matter because Il Margone’s position is to offer a calm respite away from wines too big for their own good, pivoted towards elegance in a sangiovese so right and so pure. Puts this in the finest Panzano light as a wholesome Margone by Morganti and Il Molino di Grace that will slowly evolve over a near 15 year period with kept freshness and slow development. Last tasted May and October 2024

Campione: Take a little trip forward along a linear and precisely drawn line from Riserva to Gran Selezione and see what will be. Not as aggressive or intense as Riserva but its own kind of powerful and grippy while also more charming. I believe its elegance will begin to show sooner rather than later, say in the first few weeks of 2021. The wood is more noticeable on the nose and the sangiovese needs time – but charm and grace is there. This you can count on. Smaller production of 8,000 bottles. Drink 2026-2038. Tasted October 2023

Il Poggiolino Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Le Balze 2021, San Donato In Poggio

Isole E Olena Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2016

“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

Istine Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Vigna Casanova Dell’Aia 2021, Radda

From Angela Front’s (relatively) newer Radda planting and one to deliver sangiovese with a vineyard’s determination, not to mention the winemaker’s imprint. Will come across as lighter, brighter and less concentrated to some but they would not be paying attention to nuance, precision, stealth mystery and the many still to be revealed hidden meanings. Vigna Casanova dell’Aia 2021 is a restrained tour de force of a Gran Selezione, knowing full well its full intention is yet to be announced. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted October 2024

La Squadra Canadese – Chianti Classico Headquarters – Sambuca

La Croce Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG La Croce 2020, Castellina

High aromatic swirl and flush of floral fruit to draw us in and come looking for more. Many splendored and substantial quality in that regard. Were we to stay there the wine would continue to please. The palate whoever is sappy and gratuitous with its wood-effected vanilla and berry ice cream soft serve. Softens quickly and then trails away. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted October 2024

La Sala del Torriano Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Il Torriano 2020, San Casciano

When San Casciano brings aromatic wealth twofold between red fruit and sweet savour then you know you have really got something special in your glass. High chances it will be Torriano from La Sala. Warmth of vintage, expertly considered and arranged picking schedules, then finally winemaking respect has all fused to come to this. Amplitude meets tranquility and fullness transcribes as pleasure. Lovely spices and spicy piques arrive at the back and length is outstanding. Drink 2025-2031. Tasted October 2024

Lamole di Lamole Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Vigneto di Campolungo 2019, Lamole

As you would expect the Gran Selezione is a crunchy sangiovese, as only Lamole can deliver with more freshness and verdant character than just about anywhere in the territory. A different green than Gaiole or Radda, an almost humid rainforest breath of air, like running spring water through the canopy that expands the aromatics. Brings out the Lamole perfume more than the Riserva and five times that of the Annata. Also sanguine form the iron-laced Macigno sandstone and its own kind of char, like a seasoned cast iron on low heat. Up until three years ago there was some cabernet but now it is solo sangiovese. First vintage of this wine was 1985 and then transformed as Gran Selezione in 2010. Drink 2025-2031. Tasted October 2024

Le Cinciole Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Aluigi Campo Ai Peri 2020, Panzano

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 provides an experience and a half. Selezione ’19 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 and October 2023 and 2024

Livernano Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Purosangue 2016, Radda

Yet another aging Gran Selezione wound tight, austere tannins yet to relent and fruit in a remarkably fresh state. The level of concentration will not live to the fullest along with the wine’s longevity and yet wood is not an issue. Used and resulting in good gastronomical seasoning but never obtrusive. So reminds of nebbiolo, if more light, bright and austere like Barbaresco in style. Very old school Radda. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted October 2024

Lornano Gran Selezione Chianti Classico DOCG 2017, Castellina

Always stiff, reductive and vertical in youth which still includes 2017. Cedar and pine mulch, great savour all-around, fine-grained tannins and an aromatic thirst yet to be quenched. On the palate there is some incoming joy and so we see that the belt is loosening and the wine beginning to offer up some pleasure. Some will see too much wood and that opinion is perfectly valid but understand how Lornano’s wines at every level need time, The tannins are in fact fine and everything will make more sense after another year of time. Last tasted October 2024

The last Lornano Gran Selezione tasted was 2012, absence makes the heart grow fonder and five vintages later expectations run high. Their’s are the most austere in youth, especially for Castellina because the bright red fruit of the UGA does not always ring the bells of structural alarm. But Lornano’s position and high Alberese content make them immovable when young and so three extra years is warranted for seeing them open up to the world. As with this 2017 which has indeed done so and yet maturity still seems far away. Great and luxe, juicy and even fresh fruit considering the vintage and so Bravo to the team for coaxing this kind of elegance. Drink 2023-2030. Tasted October 2023

Marchesi Frescobaldi Tenuta Perano Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Tenuta Perano Rialzi 2020, Gaiole

In Gran Selezione terms for Chianti Classico Rialzi is about as singular as it gets. Just drive up the road from La Villa in Radda, into Gaiole and through to Perano to know what you are dealing with. Olive trees, cypress, pine, other evergreens, rosemary, sage and brushy greens on your left give away to the single Rialzi Vineyard on your right. All that verdancy translates into these 25 year-old, cordone speronato vines for a very specific balsamico, drawn from the greens, through the experienced vines and into the fruit. The vineyard was called “I Rialzi,” literally “the lifted up,” or now “the steps, or terraces. Lamberto Frescobaldi always insists “the vineyard matters most,” and in this case that is simply true. Aromatic confusion in a way but more so volume, palate tension and also vintage. Incidentally warmer than 2019, lending more volumetric credence and tending towards a bigger iteration of Gran Selezione. Feels more like the Rialzi of expectation and the kind of structure to go on and on. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted October 2024

Nittardi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Nittardi 2020, Castellina

Über Castellina sangiovese, full fruit compliment at Gran Selezione level and already openly generous. Crunchy fruit mixed with equally toothsome tannin make for a good appellative combination. Fine work out of the variable 2020 vintage. Drink 2025-2031. Tasted October 2024

Villa Le Corti Principe Corsini Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Don Tommaso 2020, San Casciano

The original Gran Selezione for Villa Le Corti, that being Don Tommaso, incidentally labeled with its UGA while “Zac” adds the Val di Pesa suffix, as per the commune. Quite the fleshy and substantially concentrated 2020, impressively so, rich, luxe and jam-packed with flavour. A mix of 80 percent sangiovese with merlot (that will not be available in 2023 due to no production because of downy mildew). A bit woody on the palate at this youthful stage but this will pass and Don Tommaso will drink dutifully if also effortlessly through the latter stages of this one and into the first stretches of the next decade. Drink 2024-2032. Tasted October 2023, February and October 2024

Radda in Chianti

Querceto Di Castellina Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Sei 2021, Castellina

Really pretty and voluminous sangiovese from Castellina’s Querceto, as bright and red fruit excitable as they come. Not edgy or twitchy though, but even paced and moving from strength to strength. Length is forever and tannins are present if never too demanding. Sei is a 2021 Gran Selezione that will go on and on, potentially through to the middle of the next decade. Drink 2025-2034. Tasted October 2024

Querciabella Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2019, Greve

The first commercially available vintage was 2017, from the highest reaches out of Querciabella’s vineyard parcels between 450 and 530m aboard the Ruffoli hill. Picked four weeks ahead of same altitude vines in Lamole because of exposure and well, Ruffoli. Treated to a submerged cap, i.e. capello sommerso methodology, a simmer of skins kept wet just as they have been doing forever in Barolo. This means a quality of tannin that comes out by infusion as opposed to extraction and with such an ideal vintage the result is uncompromising. Freshness captured, instinct incarnate, tannic freight compact, though the layers have breezes blowing through. Precise and focused as expected and the finale lingers forever. Drink 2027-2038. Tasted February and October 2024

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 and October 2024

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, February and October 2024

San Felice Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Poggiorosso 2019, Castelnuovo Berardenga

If you could close your eyes and sip Poggiorosso you would almost certainly realize that San Felice was in the glass because this is the result of their sangiovese. Tight, tart, youthful, unresolved and yet to realize its potential. This is a bit of a dumb phase, not fully expressive and seemingly light stage of its tenure. Need to refit and see what comes next. Last tasted October 2024

Almost hard to believe but 2019 seems bigger, broader and in a way wilder than the 2020 Poggiorosso and yet this single vineyard Gran Selezione is a force to reckoned with, no matter the vintage. The vibrancy and especially the acidity is the wild aspect of a sangiovese that acts a bit the rebel, with cause. Quality here is tops in every respect, fruit is ripe on both ends and that acidity is really quite sweet. Splitting hairs compared to 2020 but this is something special. Amazing work from all new 500L tonneaux. Drink 2024-2037. Tasted October 2023 and February 2024

Tenuta Cappellina Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Canto Dieci 2018, Vagliagli

A massive Chianti Classico Gran Selezione in so many respects, vintage being the impetus and catalyst for how this reached 15.5 percent alcohol. In spite of the spike the acids are raging high as well, the high tonality of the sangiovese also spiking with sharp and pointed style. The heat is like white light, or lightning rather and sometimes it’s hard to fathom how a grape from a UGA like Vagliagli can get this way. A hot season with big temperatures in late September but unavoidable is the truth of the matter. Does well to express place and style in the face of this adversity. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted October 2024

Tenuta Casenuove Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2019, Panzano

Serious, experienced, structured and vertical example of Gran Selezione. Maturity of fruit but also layered acids and most impressively developed tannins. This walks with great stature, sure of its meaning and intent. As a Panzano sangiovese it knows exactly what it wants to be. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted October 2024

Tenuta Di Nozzole Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Giovanni Folonari 2019, Greve

Western Greve brushy and herbal style of sangiovese with a dusty and evergreen feel. Aromatically exuberant, open-knit, bright and with just a hint of proper volatility. So bloody sangiovese and concentrated for a point to consider a specific style of Gran Selezione. Another proper vintage with fine work put in to factor for a well made Chianti Classico. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted October 2024

Terra Di Seta Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Vendemmia Assai 2018, Vagliagli

Ha taken its time to arrive at what is now a truly drinkable moment, the generous wood styling and aging now integrated, smoothened and in delivery of silky texture. High in glycerol, some wood char still in the background but now more like liquid smoke, neither smouldering nor ignited to any developed flame. Relatively dark fruit, very black cherry, tannic and just ever so slightly oxidative. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted October 2024

Tolaini Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Vigna Montebello Sette 2020, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Youthful still and showing no signs of growing up, moving forward or coming away released from its wood and tannic shackles. A big Montebello Sette from a vintage that determined this course, with impressive bones, silken red cherry fruit and potential of the highest Castelnuovo Berardenga order. An important wine for Tolaini and the culmination of hard agricultural work put in to play. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted October 2024

La Squadra Canadese with Giovanni Manetti and Christine Lechner – Enoteca Baldi, Panzano

Vallepicciola Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Lapina 2021, Vagliagli

Red stone fruit, aromatically fleshy while also expressed through high tones. Acid-driven vintage, ultra believable as coming from Vagliagli and at a refined concentration level that clearly indicates Gran Selezione. A 2021 to pay attention to, cellar and take in the results five to seven years after vintage. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted October 2024

Vecchie Terre di Montefili Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2019, Panzano

The most amenable and accessible vintage there could be but ’19 is already beginning to show its fruit sliding into dried and dusty territory. Granted it was still relatively early in Serena’s tenure and understanding of the vineyards and even more so the appellation but at five years past vintage this is the Gran Selezione to drink straight away. Still some tannic austerity but otherwise a sangiovese in resolution. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted October 2024

Cecchi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Villa Rosa 2019, Castellina

Single vineyard sangiovese from Casteto at the highest eastern heights of the Western Castellina vineyard. Most freshness and elegance of all the Cecchi sangiovese and from 2019 a wine so ready to drink you will find it hard to keep any bottles in the cellar. Not that structure is an issue because Villa Rosa will mature slowly over a five year run. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted May and October 2024

Viticcio Gran Selezione Chianti Classico DOCG Prunaio 2019, Montefioralle

Valentino Davaz – Poggio al Sole

October 2024 Estate visits

Poggio Al Sole Sangiovese Bianco 2023, Toscana IGT

From relatively older plantings (1997 and 1998), harvested on average two weeks before the sangiovese used for reds. First commercial availability was 2019 but it has been experienced and played around with for 15 years. Quite phenolic, pH influenced, a sapid bianco of tonic and grip. Finishing with a lemon saltiness that ties it all together. Has grown from 1,200 to 17,000 bottles from 2019 to now. The ’22 was just a bit saltier and higher in energy. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted October 2024

Poggio Al Sole Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, San Donato In Poggio

Organic, 90 percent sangiovese with (10) canaiolo, 12 days of maceration, one year in mainly large cask. The canaiolo helps to soften the tannic austerity of sangiovese and “make it more accessible earlier,” explains Valentino Davaz. The “business card” of Poggio al Sole, notable acidity yet cut and texturized by the blending and style. This ’22 is substantial, full and filled in when you consider the mid-palate, just about ready as we speak and should be consumed in its first three years. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted October 2024

Poggio al Sole Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Casasilia 2021, San Donato In Poggio

Casasilia was the name of the estate before it became Poggio al Sole, opposite hill to the estate that owned Poggio al Vento on the other side. A Gran Selezione that transferred from Riserva and has been pure sangiovese since 2007. From plantings between 1992 and 1997, high acidity vintage and dry extract off the proverbial charts. Basically the best looking bunches that can then macerate longer and the result is a mix of fruit and acidity that travel the sides of the palate, up and down, unrelenting and working with the structural components of the wine. Intriguing, woody and inviting. The grandest wine that falls into the sweet spot between elegant and bold, lithe and massive. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted October 2024

Serena Gusmeri – Vecchie Terre di Montefili

Vecchie Terre di Montefili Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, Panzano

Just 50 percent of production from a warm vintage with low juice to skin ratio. Aged only in 30 hL casks for approximately 15 months before release. “The bottle you open must be of the place,” explains winemaker and agronomist Serena Gusmeri, “with the purity and freshness of the crunchy sangiovese.” Spicy and musky aromatics, not surprising because of the skins’ effect. Powerful vintage with bones, dry extract (more than 36 g/L!) and a purposeful saltiness. Puckering finish. Last tasted October 2024

Tasted side by each with the 2019 there can be no missing the darker hue, stronger fruit and bolder notes sung by Vecchie Terre di Montefili’s 2020. It’s the vintage and also Panzano that create the unavoidable, each as forceful and imposing as the other. Then agin the trilogy of terroir, weather and place are intrinsic to the sangiovese that arrive each and every season. Big wine, tannins equal to the task and yet evolution will happen faster than 2019. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted February 2024

Vecchie Terre di Montefili Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2020, Panzano

A selection from Vigna del Bosco from Montefioralle and also with some Vigna Vecchia Panzano fruit. In the next vintage the two will each make up their own, one labeled as Montefioralle and the other with the Panzano UGA. Depth and volume in so many ways, of hue, extract, aromas and concentration. Truly floral with Panzano’s Pietraforte ingrained within. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted October 2024

Vecchie Terre di Montefili Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2019, Panzano

Vecchie Terre di Montefili Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2016, Panzano

Serena Gusmeri’s second vintage at Montefili, harvested exactly one week after her daughter was born. In so many ways the perfect Chianti Classico vintage and even more so for Panzano and this corner of the UGA. Understated and far from powerful elements, especially tannins, like the sound from a cornet. That said this ’16 Gran Selezione is so persistently young and fresh. Almost no movement as of yet, still a sanguine and mineral quality set that keeps this sangiovese crunchy and pure. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted October 2024

Vecchie Terre di Montefili Vigna Vecchia 2019, Toscana IGT

Less than half a hectare planted in 1981, Panzano side at Montefili, the last year as an IGT ahead of its inaugural Gran Selezione labelling in 2020. High level of spicy savour, bloody quality and more tannic austerity than what comes from Panzano. This seems opposite to what would be expected but welcome to Chianti Classico where producer and location are everything. Richness meets structure, Alberese and Pietraforte conspiring for a muscular style. Salty conclusion and should age forever. Drink 2025-2034. Tasted October 2024

Vecchie Terre di Montefili Vigna del Bosco 2019, Toscana IGT

From Montefioralle and the highest elevation for Montefili at 540m, now an IGT but will be presented, labeled and introduced as Gran Selezione (DOCG) in the 2021 vintage. There are no neighbours to Vigna del Bosco, only the forest surrounding the vines and 62 different types of wildflowers right there. This is the sanguine part of the 2020 blend with a juiciness, a sweetly savoury note that makes for the freshest style. So crunchy, with currants, corbezzolo and pomegranate in such a red citrus way. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted October 2024

Le Fonti Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Panzano

Always 90 percent sangiovese with up to 10 percent (mix of merlot and cabernet sauvignon), now settled into its languidly structured skin. The spices have braised in to create a dual effect, of seasoning and emulsification. Last tasted October 2024

This is truly a preview of the Le Fonti Chianti Classico 2021 because this is the vintage that will be poured at the Chianti Classico Collection held in Florence on February 15th and 16th. When frost struck the area on April 6th and 7th, 2021 Vicky Schmitt-Vitali said “Le Fonti is positioned quite open to the winds so most vineyards fared OK with the frost. Only one small patch protected by trees and bamboo at the bottom of the valley got freeze-burned. The other side of the valley got hit worse so we have to be grateful. Lucarelli (the small village in Radda just below Panzano) is always very cold and our tractor driver lives there and said that his house was minus six the past few nights. All fruit trees burned but his vines had not been out yet so he was lucky.” The result here is a top notch, clean, fresh and harmonious Annata that also happens to be a sangiovese of higher quantity than many out of the vintage. The acids here are just about perfect and the flavours are as enticing as they are diverse. Without a doubt one of the finest Chianti Classico ever made by Guido and Vicky at this appellative level. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted January and February 2024

Le Fonti Fontissimo 2019, Alta Valle Della Greve IGT

One of only seven wineries with high enough elevation vineyards along this section of the Greve River between the Panzano and Greve villages, but also the only Panzano winery labelling with this “elevated” Alta Valle Della Greve IGT. A smack exciting vintage of acidity and wow does this Fortissimo attack the palate with the best of intentions. You are captured, captivated and ready for the fruit strafe that follows. Varietal obviousness, fortitude and pleasure to be had for seven years more. Easily. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted October 2024

La Squadra Canadese with Victoria and John Matta, Vicchiomaggio

Vicchiomaggio Chianti Classico DOCG Guado Alto 2022, Greve

Short-ish maceration, five to seven days, finishes in large cask. Never barriques for sangiovese. Leaves the austerity of the past well behind, forging the present and the future for easy-accessible, fresh, bright and refreshing Annata. Warm vintage brings high brim and mature fruit for truly early term drinking – but you can hold and see what will come. Tasted October 2024

Campione: Perfectly balanced sample of 2022 sangiovese, Greve and Vicchiomaggio, red fruit captured with as much perfumed ripeness as could be desired while also fulfilling palate needs. This is what should be expected and gifted from a Campione – a window to the drinking window and potential of the wine. No need for wonder or worry – you know you will get the right stuff from Guado Alto ’22. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted February 2024

Vicchiomaggio Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Agostino Petri 2021, Greve

The Petri family were owners of Castello di Vicchiomaggio between 1850 and 1910 and today their name graces the label for sangiovese with a small (more or less 10 percent) of cabernet sauvignon. Mix of small and large wood for the sangiovese with the cabernet staying in barriques. Refines in 50 hL grandi botti for a couple of months. Dictionary entry for what is perceived as Riserva, rich and mouth-filling though from 2021 the acidity really works the room. So much so the length on Petri ’21 is of the finest Vicchiomaggio ilk. More fulsome and also well-rounded vintage with extending structure than those of the bookending vintages from ’20 and ’22. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted October 2024

Vicchiomaggio Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG La Prima 2021, Greve

Bottled in April 2023, now 18 months fully settled, seasoned with a bit of merlot though under the new rules of Gran Selezione this will no longer be the case going forward. Of the two Vicchiomaggio GS this is the one with the earlier integration, higher acidity and less demanding tannin. Nearly drinkable, maybe anther six months away from the open window. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted October 2024

Vicchiomaggio Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Le Bolle 2021, Greve

Lamole di Lamole Chianti Classico DOCG Duelame 2021, Lamole

“Two blades,” a technically sound and silky smooth 100 percent sangiovese Chianti Classico of violet aromatic fruit and glycerol texture unequivocally polished above all else. A blend of the lowest and highest vineyards, wood more about spice than whatever other ideas there might be for its generous use. Might have been a bit spicy and woody a year ago but now settled and balanced. Ultra professional Annata. Last tasted October 2024

Full and substantial which is pretty much what we have come to expect from a Lamole (di Lamole) sangiovese and to a degree much higher than any other from that UGA. Perfumes yes but fruit and texture are the base ingredients to make this wine swell forth. Lots of love and deep space in L de L’s 2021 with a sleek Macigno feel throughout. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted February 2024

Lamole di Lamole Chianti Classico DOCG Maggiolo 2022, Lamole

Warmer vintage and for Lamole yet Maggiolo is expressive of more youthful freshness and also herbaceous character with a note of wood char more than spice. There are 10 percent combined merlot and cabernet sauvignon mixed in, along with their smaller barrel textures and flavours. Thicker, jammier and less glycerin, warm and freshness supplied by its youth. Some green tannin at the finish. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted October 2024

Rankin, Godello and Forster – Lamole

Lamole di Lamole Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Lareale 2020, Lamole

Lareale is the real sangiovese for Lamole di Lamole, a selection of two vineyards in Il Prato, lower at (relative for Lamole) elevation, set between 400 and 500 meters and this level, quality and concentration of fruit handles the wood with ease, accepts the spice and comes away as it seems like it should. A truly positive result, rich, fresh and ideally seasoned. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted October 2024

Lamole di Lamole Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Vigneto di Campolungo 2019, Lamole

Lamole di Lamole Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Vigna Grospoli 2019, Lamole

For Lamole di Lamole Gran Selezione means single vineyard. This vineyard section is two hectares of Alberello trellised sangiovese in a modern way on sandy Galestro soil. A block purchased from Fattoria di Lamole by Lamole di Lamole. More traditional feel, a gentle rusticity and a glide of fruit across the palate, but ultimately a truly tannic wine. Grainy and yet the texture really sells the sangiovese. Needs two years easy. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted October 2024

Terreno Método Classico Pas Dosé “Quatro Sorelle” 2016, Greve

Named for the four Ruhne sisters, Anna, Victoria, Kajsa and Sofia for a special classic method sparkling wine spent seven years on the lees. Real acidity captured is also preserved from a program conceived in 2012 with Federico Staderini using pinot noir. This however is sangiovese, as it so rightly should be, perfectly gemstone golden and oxidative, every aspect of the wine done on the premises by hand. The natural sweetness from a pied du cuve exemption comes out with about as pure, floral and precise a result as the team and we could possibly hoped it might be. One of the best sangiovese bubbles in the whole of Chianti Classico. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted October 2024

Terreno Chianti Classico DOCG Tre Vigne 2020, Greve

The three vineyards are Greve next to the winery, across the ridge’s rift at Solano (also in Greve) and then Greve west bank in the UGA of Montefioralle. A mix of three soils, they being Monte Morello, Pietraforte and Alberese. Called “Tre Vigne,” because it comes from the three plots for a layered sangiovese bottled in the fall after two years in cask plus six months in bottle. Quite impressive persistence in terms of both freshness and length. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted October 2024

Terreno Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2019, Greve

A blend, of 85 percent sangiovese, (10) cabernet sauvignon and (5) colorino, the small amount of the latter bringing colour and structure. A mix of vineyards again but here the youngest vines are driven to the Classico while more experience and potential for structure come Riserva’s way. They do what is necessary which tells us to wait another year before knowing this ’19 is ready to go. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted October 2024

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 and October 2024

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 and October 2023, and October 2024

Perano

Marchesi Frescobaldi Tenuta Perano Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Gaiole

Clearly driven by its acidity made whole by the elevation, which means high solar radiation and day for night temperature fluctuations. Wood now leaving the building and fruit singing. Great drinking sangiovese with canaiolo providing a sapid edge and cabernet sauvignon the black fruit spice. Aromatics are in top shape. The 2022 Annata will be released on November 21st. Last tasted October 2024

Today Tenuta Perano has a distinct advantage and that is elevation. Ten years ago that would not have been said but 550m is no longer considered a cold altitude and so critics and consumers alike should no longer dismiss this place. At Perano the sangiovese matures on both ripeness fronts and does so at a markedly reduced crop per plant. Results are more than simply a matter and meter of concentration. Lamberto Frescobaldi notes how the Chianti Classico from this part of Gaiole are those of “severity and specificity, and it can be tasted in the wines.” It comes from agriculture and can’t be missed. That is if the winemaking is expressed with humility. The verdancy and freshness by elevation are Gaiole and they foil the substantial elements, namely fruit and tannin. All of this is raised to the highest degree in the Annata 2021. “Especially when the plantings are on cooler sites but you really have to be careful, to push the harvest later.” The conclusions are captured acidity and a lovely expression on the nose. “You may not like sangiovese,” concludes Frescobaldi, “but you will always be intrigued by it.” Drink 2023-2028. Tasted December 2023

Marchesi Frescobaldi Tenuta Perano Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2020, Gaiole

Ten months have done little to see any wane of freshness or juicy character though there is the first note of sappy frostiness. Unique Riserva, obviously Perano and as an appellative wine still a work in progress. The 2021 will be released on November 21st. Last tasted October 2024

The 2020 Perano has arrived, showing know what it was once shy to do. Perano is at its juiciest and gifted height, crunchy of fruit still fresh, poised and in control, now into the best the two three years to express its Gaiole character. Tasted February 2024. 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 Gran Selezione DOCG 2020, Gaiole

In Gran Selezione terms for Chianti Classico Rialzi is about as singular as it gets. Just drive up the road from La Villa in Radda, into Gaiole and through to Perano to know what you are dealing with. Olive trees, cypress, pine, other evergreens, rosemary, sage and brushy greens on your left give away to the single Rialzi Vineyard on your right. All that verdancy translates into these 25 year-old, cordone speronato vines for a very specific balsamico, drawn from the greens, through the experienced vines and into the fruit. The vineyard was called “I Rialzi,” literally “the lifted up,” or now “the steps, or terraces. Lamberto Frescobaldi always insists “the vineyard matters most,” and in this case that is simply true. Aromatic confusion in a way but more so volume, palate tension and also vintage. Incidentally warmer than 2019, lending more volumetric credence and tending towards a bigger iteration of Gran Selezione. Feels more like the Rialzi of expectation and the kind of structure to go on and on. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted October 2024

Villa a Sesta Chianti Classico DOCG Il Palei 2022, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Polished like few other Annata, liquid black forest cake, height of ripeness. Last tasted October 2024

Campione: Strong willed, boned and still in a state of reserve for a 2022 that not only needs to find the bottle but also further in bottle aging to open up any cracks in the structure. Rich and caky, wood a serious factor at this stage with a structural comport that will see a ’22 follow the sun towards a good long life ahead. Drink 2026-2031. Tasted February 2024

Villa a Sesta Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Il Palei 2019, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Acid bomb, classic as Chianti Classico is known to be, acetone in control yet present and stylistically such a persistent Riserva. Last tasted October 2024

Riserva is expressive of some more warmth and also spice as compared to both Annata and Gran Selezione. In this respect it’s truly Riserva, the concept made even more notable due to the aromatic richness in layers of seductive perfume. If the others are crunchy wines with energy and freshness than this is the chewy one, with a different energy and style. More ruffiano, the kind of sangiovese you eat slowly and savour every bit of the sauce. Gonna need a few pieces of bread to get every last drop. 70,000 to 80,000 bottles produced. The 2018 sold like crazy and so this ’19 is out at the same time as the 2019 Annata. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2024

Chiara Leonini – Felsina

Fèlsina Vino Spumante di Qualita Brut Millésimato Método Classico 2018

Sangiovese (60 percent) with (20 each) pinot nero and chardonnay, 48 months on the lees. Labeled Brut but comes away with what only feels like 3-ish g/L of residual sugar. Indelibly stamped and toasty, seemingly autolytic but stoic to stark and serious. Spumante of character and personality, gingered, full of zest and life. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted October 2024

Fèlsina Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, Castelnuovo Berardenga

The thing about a Fèlsina Chianti Classico is you know exactly what you are going to receive. A full, herbal, fruity, cedar and floral sangiovese. The hyperbole of this comes from 2022, warm as they come for vintages that wrap the fruit up in a great flannel blanket. Typical can be brilliant. Last tasted October 2024

Surprisingly forthright and open knit for such a young and impressionable Annata from Fèlsina. Calm and relatively settled so soon after going to bottle. The acidity is both sneaky and essential with tannins so similar in their design and style. A full and complete Berardenga for Castelnuovo in 2022, getable earlier than ever before yet in no rush to mature. As clean and generous as ever from the estate. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2024

Fèlsina Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2021, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Tough frosty start in April at flowering but what remained for the Riserva’s top selection of vines gave ample stuffing towards developing, bottling, waiting and now drinking the quality at this level of appellation. Crisp, herbaceous, stony and with just that fine stamp of Fèlsina that adds up to 55 years of charm. Wild herbs growing between cracks of Galestro and veins in Alberese soils, of clay, sand and stone. Right proper stuff and in fact the 30 percent loss because of frost hit the Annata quantity most. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted October 2024

Fèlsina Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Rancia 2021, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Fèlsina Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Colonia 2019, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Settling calmer still, another six months or so into the first mature days of its tenure. And yet the tannins remain austere, the wine’s communion and reunion still a ways away from happening. Last tasted October 2024

The Colonia vineyard is an important tract for many reasons. It was where Domenico Poggiali tried to clear and prepare but had to abandon back in the late 1960s because it was too difficult. Giovanni Poggiali succeeded in 1993 and then in 2009 this Chianti Classico became Gran Selezione. Colonia meant heliotherapy because this is the place people with diseases came to heal. “Helioteapica” it was, a sunny place at a tme when things were dire, including politically. Today Colonia may be a stone and a half’s throw up from Rancia but aromatically the sangiovese coming from its Alberese soils still result in a wine that is so obviously that of Fèlsinà. A diesel and pine note, charcoal, tar and evergreen resin, all rolled up with great red fruit that’s just so pure and substantial. Rich but no overtly so and luxe if always tempered by acids, wood and tannins exhumed from the depths of the grape’s must. So young, so fay away and so not ready to express its long-term goals. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted October 2023

Cinzia Manca – Complicità

Complicità Chianti Classico DOCG Asolo 2021, Vagliagli

Aged in concrete, only sangiovese, no wood, only freshness and elegance, restrained power, naked to the world. Beautifully aromatic, perfumed, floral and unadulterated. This is what it’s all about, or at least en route, this being only the fifth vintage and in the midst of a winemaker (Cinzia Manca) transforming her vines from Cordone Speronato to Guyot. The future is wide open. Last tasted October 2024

A small and protective amount of reduction which helps in dramatic ways because this Vagliagli Annata comes at the palate in waves. Fruit for the most part with underlying spice but do not sleep on the sneaky structure of this Assolo by upstart Complicità. Complicated in the ways of complexity and variegation, aromatically stunning and then intricately woven with flavours and palate textures. A discovery of the highest order. Terrific work for sangiovese that feels like sangiovese born of a family and their land. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2024

Complicità Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Asolo 2020, Vagliagli

Riserva also as Asoslo, “the one,” referencing the solo varietal philosophy of winemaker Cinzia Manca, aged two years in tonneaux and six months in bottle, made at the facility of her business partner Sandro Bandini di Oliveira. As crunchy and fresh as Riserva could ever be, tonneaux or not and so the clay-limestone stony terroir is in the good hands of a young winemaker’s deft touch. Purity incarnate. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted October 2024

Complicità Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Asolo 2018, Vagliagli

Asolo as well, like the Annata and Riserva. “I’m sorry it’s my fantasy,” smiles Cinzia Manca. Philosophy more like it, again only sangiovese, 30 months in fourth or fith passage tonneaux, followed by one extra year in bottle. An intense vintage with extreme heat in Vagliagli, some dried grapes as a result which were stringently eliminated in the field at harvest. These are the best vines, healthiest and most concentrated berries, chosen after fermentation for Gran Selezione. Vintages change but the middle section of the vineyard ripens the best and consistently produces the finest wine. Silky without gratuity, pure and just about as honest and delicious as it gets. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted October 2024

La Squadra Canadese – Campomaggio

Tenuta Di Campomaggio Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, Radda

Youthful the understatement for a slightly reductive and pure Radda expression, created with berries destined to explain Radda, Raddese acidity and a freshness that can only come from this UGA. Red fruit that is Radda, simply and unequivocally, much in common with nearby Monterinaldi but also the southeastern corner of Panzano. Spice on the second half of this wine, just a mere 13.5 percent alcohol, remarkable considering the vintage but once again – Radda. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted October 2024

Tenuta Di Campomaggio Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2020, Radda

Repeat concrete use, before and then again after the middle aging in barrel. Once again the purity is pulled from above the curve in the Radda road at high elevation vineyards littered with a Macigno, Alberese and Pietraforte mix of soils, all layering for this slow release of sangiovese complexity. Another warm vintage and it shows at Riserva level, especially in mouthfeel, fluid and gelid, cool, salt-licked and ethereal. Bigger wine for Campomaggio but elongated and balanced. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted October 2024

Old-School Chianto Classico?

Tenuta Di Campomaggio Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Santa Teresa 2019, Radda

From a two and a half hectare site, a heart-shaped vineyard from which the best selection is chosen for this first Gran Selezione. Santa Teresa is built from Macigno and Pietraforte, sandy soils both but with calcareous factors within that bolster and structure the sangiovese. Still that omnipresent Raddese acidity and this time the tannins are grainy, fine in that way but grainy nonetheless. Still something held back, not reductive per se but restrained and closed. The five percent whole cluster use has something to do with that. No barriques, just large casks (15, 25 and 50 HL) that are 25-plus years old. Really just released a few days ago so just in bottle a bit more than a few months, a baby now and yet perfectly clean, crisp, pure and beautiful. Amazing when fruit can be so shaped and emulsified without any sense of jam, overt sweetness or thickened texture. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted October 2024

La Squadra Canadese with Sophie Conte – Tregole

Tregole Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, Castellina

A bright vintage following a darker one and high in acid. Still very tight, opening slowly and says Sophie Conte, “in a hay moment.” Dry, suspended in time, reflected in the light. All full berries, spontaneous ferment, simultaneously inoculated malolactic, the DNA of Tregole really coming through with cool-coloured intensity. Bottled January 2024. Last tasted October 2024

The latest from Sophie Conte (also tasted from barrel on December 4th, 2023) is her first crowing moment, at least to date and in terms of her young career in making Chianti Classico Annata. De-stemmed and no pressing, fermentation at 24 degrees (celsius), 10-12 days, saturated with nitrogen, taste every day, separated when the skins release no more. Made with three vineyards’ fruit; Vigna del Bosco, Vigna del Strada and Casa, right by the house. “I’m pretty happy (we hit the point) in 2022,” admits Sophie. Brightness and freshness found, the goal achieved and bitterness kept not only at bay, but fully away. An aromatic swirl of pinpointed Castellina intensity that draws from the winds and the slopes to translate soil as best and purposed as any. You can feel the energy waiting and wanting to be released. No lack for structure from Conte’s 2022, young and yet to evolve into the polished solo sangiovese it is destined to become. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted February 2024

Sophie Conte – Tregole

Tregole Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Castellina

For Sophie Conte this is a dark-hued vintage (as opposed to Panzano whien this happened in 2020) in between two with much more light. Inoculated on both fermentations with some whole berry inclusion. A sweeter tomato note as compared to 2020, running sanguine dark and a saltiness that does not appear in the bookending vintages. A matter of thick skins that only Tregole grows, a savoury-salty finish with vibrant tannin and equally invigorating acidity. Last tasted October 2024

The Classico may be Castellina but the feeling is just as akin to Radda, because this is the border, in the vineyards above the river and a micro climate that brings swirling winds in from Montevarchi and the Apennines beyond. No frost here because of 500-600m of elevation (incredible for Castellina), one of two best harvests because again, cool climate, elevation and Macigno soils are all ideal to create this kind of mineral and glycerin sangiovese. Spent 10-12 days in fermentation at 23-24 degrees, a matter of whole berries (because tannins can be austere at Tregole) and then under hydrogen for 5-10 days and skin maceration 18-28 days, longer with the Riserva and GS. So bloody lovely, walking a tightrope line, at first volatile but the fruit swells and vertically elevates up to the level you wish for in the Annata. In fact there is more structure in Annata then most Chianti Classico. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted December 2023

The Band at Tregole

Tregole Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, Castellina

Lighter vintage, certainly for Tregole as compared to 2021 and also more than 2022. Evergreen on the nose, tomato leaf and paste. A charred cherry and toasted element mix that feels specific to these ravines and valleys where sangiovese grows surrounding by heavy woods. A Chianti Classico no doubt influenced by the oxygenation provided by its full forests. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted October 2024

La Squadra Canadese – Tregole

Tregole Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2021, Castellina

When you step up into Riserva 2021 you bring the DNA of Tregole into hyperbole or better said, more intense light. The beautiful rusticity of Annata and its tomato-rosemary savoury quality is not just magnified but also refined. Now the true balsamico of the place comes through but only now after more time in bottle does the purity of the refinement come across with this level of finesse. Spices are green and they are what the surrounding woods breathe into sangiovese with added layers because of the higher quality fruit. Just beginning its trajectory into the finest of days. Last tasted October 2024

Bottled in November of 2023 and slated for imminent release. Floral yet reserved aromas and unequivocally sangiovese. La Riserva ages in (old) tonneaux of 700L and barriques. More brightness and freshness than the lion’s share of this appellative level in Chianti Classico, crisp and crunchy for Riserva but ultimately a matter of a specific vineyard, planted in 1985, as in the lower part beneath the younger vines. The warmest location where Ginestra blooms earlier and the fruit is saucy, a salsa of sangiovese sucoso, the juices running from rare roast beef. But also blood orange and so a pulpy sensation. Drink 2026-2034. Tasted May 2024

Belvedere Campòli Guicciardini Campoli Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, San Casciano

Belvedere Campóli Guicciardini Campoli Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2020, San Casciano

A mix of higher tones and also acidity for a Riserva that seems clear to have been given the best available fruit from the vintage. Fruit grown on stony Pietraforte soil derived from this unique lingua or “tongue” of Formazione di Silano. The savoury elements are consistent with all of Belvedere Campóli’s wines that have been tasted since the purchase of the estate in 2015. You can surely feel the lack of intervention, the respect for allowing the place to speak for itself and the thread of DNA running through all three levels of the wines. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted October 2024

Belvedere Campóli Guicciardini Campoli Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2020, San Casciano

Belvedere Campóli’s ownership is Guicciardini of Castello di Poppiano – Chianti Colli Fiorentini and Massi di Mandorlaia – Maremma – Morello di Scanzano. Francesco Guicciardini was an Italian historian and statesman, a contemporary and critic of Niccolò Machiavelli and considered one of the major political writers of the Italian Renaissance. The Belvedere Campóli estate dates to 1915, was abandoned after the end of the mezzadrie system and purchased by Italian historian and mathematician Niccolò Guicciardini and family in 2015. They have been restoring and replanting vineyards since 2020. From the single vineyard called Tabernocolo, set just below the large forest above and indicative of the chapel on the estate. Identifying the vineyard as the one to define Chianti Classico as Gran Selezione was paramount while the aromas and palate notes remain so perfectly consistent with both the Classico and Riserva. Steps up the concentration, the mineral and elemental aspects drawn from the Pietraforte and the cool, almost minty savour in the flavours. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted October 2024

La Squadra Canadese – Cigliano di Sopra

Cigliano Di Sopra Nuvola Del Cigliano 2022, Toscana IGT

Picked earlier to preserve acidity (5-ish g/L of TA) and says Matteo Vaccari, “we work with the lees for a good resolution. You can make mistakes with sangiovese but not with trebbiano.” Texture is of a terrific natural coarseness while energy improvises, improvise upon and rights the fabric of this white. Last tasted February 2024. A mix of 75 percent trebbiano and (25) malvasia, five days whole bunches for a quick syringe of carbonic and then a short, old wood stay. Comes away with just that quick strike of matchstick and a finish at 11 percent alcohol. Citrus is very lemon, juiced and gelid like curd but what stands out is the dry extract and sweet tannins. This can and will age – there is no doubt. Picked on September 17th, 2023 – a week later than previously – on the 24th. Less than 1,000 bottles made. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted October 2023 and 2024

Giampaolo Chiettini – La Vigna di San Martino Ad Argiano

La Vigna di San Martino Ad Argiano Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2022, San Casciano

“For us it’s important to have ripe grapes,” insists Giampaolo Chiettini, “and a balance from the vineyard.” Good thing because, well 25 days of maceration, with soft pump-overs, sometimes just with a bucket, meaning no punchdowns “that would violate the skins.” Infusion, not extraction until dryness and then put to 1000L casks and 500L tonneaux. The ’22 is ultra ripe with sweet acidity and unmistakable structure. All that could be wanted and needed. What a bloody hematic example of sangiovese. Last tasted October 2024

Campione: The tiniest of properties (one hectare) and smallest of productions (2,000 bottles) in San Casciano from Chiettini. A sample but one nose into this 100 percent sangiovese and you know you’ve found something meaningful. A wisdom in the wine born of great terroir and an agronomist’s acumen. The winemaker seems inconsequential or at least respectful to everything else. There is calm demeanour and a presence of freshness, soulful savour and weight without compression. Hard to know what it’s all about, but knowing more will be a next pursuit. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted February 2024

La Vigna di San Martino Ad Argiano Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2021, San Casciano

Perhaps not quite as ripe as 2022 but close without any deficiency, also less dark of fruit and very red cherry. Elevated acidity and a year make a difference – you can feel the first sign of maturity but just as grippy and underscored by structure with sweeter tannins than those in the ’22. The most classic sangiovese, lithe and conversely deep, pinning in the only direction it can and should, looking toward a future that will be long. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted October 2024

La Vigna Di San Martino Ad Argiano Chianti Classico DOCG 2017, San Casciano

Just the third vintage of the newly re-planted, one hectare vineyard when only 800 bottles were produced. No doubt what vintage this comes from because fruit is already acting dried into secondary character with frutta di bosco and dried porcini notes having already begun. A bit volatile, not unusual for 2017, a truffled element and while complex there is some trouble. The acidity captured is persistent which acts as the driver for the pleasure in mouthfeel and upon the palate. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted October 2024

La Vigna di San Martino Ad Argiano Vinsanto del Chianti Classico DOCG 2017, San Casciano

A Vinsanto that must be made with ripe grapes, the sort that would arrive at 24 degrees alcohol and then in Giampaolo’s world the drying is longer than most Vinsanto. This ’17 reached 300 g/L of residual suar, at the highest end for the appellation. Has been dried in the Pieve (though not 2017) and 400 bottles were made. So very caramel orange, almost maple syrup in its style of sweetness, crazy good acidity, a wholly deserving and respectful dessert wine made from 50-50 trebbiano and malvasia. Turns nutty toasty, keeps changing and changing again. Drink 2024-2033. Tasted October 2024

Castell’in Villa Chianti Classico DOCG 2019, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Indelibly stamped vintage for Castell’In Villa, richness incarnate, fully formed at the height of heights for Castelnuovo Berardenga Chianti Classico Annata. Then again you know with a year plus one more in bottle the sangiovese will adjust, morph and change into some thing more closely resembling the previous two vintages. The palate weight is further layered but it too will see a release into its next stage. Finally there is the length that indicates the quietest power structure to disassemble and then glide over a 15 years period of time. Last tasted October 2024

Imagine the baseline and then the ceiling for Chianti Classico. Draw from as much experience as you have and then extrapolate towards the greatest of a vintage’s potential. Then put your nose into Castell’In Villa 2019. Everything rises to the surface and presents itself to be noticed. Note the calm, the precision and finesse, reach out and touch the fruit, recognize the quality and fitness of the acidity and realize potential, compounded in understanding after allowing the purity of the sangiovese to rest upon the palate. As near perfect and essential as it gets for Castell’In Villa without boundaries or limitations. Last tasted February 2024

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

Castell’in Villa Chianti Classico DOCG 2018, Castelnuovo Berardenga

The 2018 weather conditions at Castell’In Villa’s location in Castelnuovo Berardenga were an anomaly for a vintage where so many parts of the Chianti Classico territory experienced late September heat, which sent wines upwards of 15 percent alcohol. Not out of this micro-climate with an Annata labeled at 13.5 and a good bet would say it’s actually closer to 13. Luminous, bright, dualistically and optimally ripe, void of confiture, ideally aged and ready to please. This is Annata made exactly as it was not only meant, but also expected to be. Drink 2024-2031. Tasted October 2024

Castell’in Villa Chianti Classico DOCG 2017, Castelnuovo Berardenga

If 2018 is singularly light and ethereal, so goes the solo artist trajectory of 2017, if in a most different way. More direct fruit, volume of aroma and surely colour, then finally a bit of salumi cure to indicate the finest if smallest advancement towards maturity. Crunchier in a way, but also with acids that bely the vintage, carry the tune and extend the life of a sku connecting this Annata to Riserva. To that next appellative level Classico Berardenga the Principessa Coralia Pignatelli della Leonessa only wanted to make a maximum number amounting to 7,000 bottles. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted October 2024

Castell’In Villa Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Poggio delle Rose 2010, Castelnuovo Berardenga

The top Riserva from the plot on the south begins slow and with 20 minutes of airtime it begins to open. An incredible sweetness of fruit is released to seduce the senses in every respect. Last tasted October 2024

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 fact 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

Castell’In Villa Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2003, Castelnuovo Berardenga

A library release of 20-plus years that realizes the future as we would have seen it, but are now afraid to admit. A Riserva from a warm vintage with the uncanny ability to steal longevity because the way wines were and continue to be made at Castell’In Villa. Sangiovese of a structure that must respect the diversity of 54 hectares distilled into two or three for a Riserva such as this. The aromas are just a bit muted, whether because of the particular bottle or the kind of tasting day. Either way it is not really known but the wine acts a bit shy. Still there are answers and they tell us the wine has plenty of life left to live. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted October 2024

Federico Pini and Riccardo Bucciolini – Torcobrencoli, Greve

Torcibrencoli Lo Stinto 2023, Toscana IGT

Only sangiovese picked two weeks ahead of the Chianti Classico, not Rosé but a light, refreshing, high acid and crushable example. Lo Stinco from the Tuscan meaning “the faded one,” yet ample, aged only in steel, textural because of the sangiovese skins and ultra phenolic. Kind of like green peaches. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted October 2024

Torcibrencoli Il Matan Orange 2022, Toscana IGT

Campione: More chamomile, less honey perhaps but to be honest the mellifluous quality runs high if also silken, especially for skin macerated trebbiano. Extra phenolic grip at this early stage but again, this will resolve and settle faster than 2021. Proper and you can tell the acumen meets experience of the work and the understanding for how to make a natural, orange and accessible wine. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted October 2024

Torcibrencoli Il Matan Orange 2021, Toscana IGT

First trebbiano vintage was 2016 for this skin contact, one year in acacia barrels orange wine. A most interesting take, phenolic and grippy but also graceful and clearly able to age. Peaches and green fig, iced tea savour and persistent which speaks to the winemaking out of which a pure and consistent maceration resolves. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted October 2024

Torcibrencoli Il Torci 2020, Toscana IGT

The sangiovese that rides along on par with Chianti Classico (Annata), here from 2020 and the following vintage will be skipped. All the lots are kept separate and after 12-18 months they are tasted and destined towards their final blends and labels. Natural fermentations, a “for the market” wine of fresh cherries and glycerol in the mouthfeel. Anywhere from 3,000 to 4,000 bottles are produced, the grapes either sold off or blended into the Maria Giaconda label. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted October 2024

Torcibrencoli Chianti Classico DOCG Maria Giaconda 2020

Torcibrencoli Chianti Classico DOCG Maria Giaconda 2019

Classico has been made from the start and Federico’s grandmother Maria Giaconda has and always will be on the label. Natural fermentation, aging in 1,000L Croatian cask, tonneaux and barriques, finished with an extra year in bottle. The oldest plants bring high level extract and concentration. Terrific balance between that extract and the sweetness of acidity. Light structure but sneaky and lengthy nonetheless. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted October 2024

Torcibrencoli Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Maria Giaconda 2018

Federico Pini is the grandson of Maria Giaconda Bucciolini, today making the wines on her family farm where she sold grapes. He attended agriculture and landscape architecture school in Florence before at 24 deciding to start bottling himself. Now 11 years later he produces 10,000 bottles between six skus. Federico’s father Raimondo Pini sold silk and textiles and so Torcibrencoli is from torchere e brenccioli, “twisting the fibres of silk.” Claudio Buccolini was Pini’s great-grandfather, a famous vernacular historian. The company started in 2012 and the first commercial wines were released in ’13. Five years later comes this 2018 Riserva of high level perfume for Greve, a testament to the quality of the plants and without even taking a sip the pretty quality of the fruit is obvious. Picked at the beginning of October after the heat wave and so 15 percent is perfectly accurate, but this is a truly balanced Riserva. And it is very much a Riserva. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted October 2024

Good to go!

godello

Sangiovese 2024, Chianti Classico

Tenuta Di Fessina Etna Bianco DOC A’Puddara 2021

The contempo pull of Sicilia en Primeur

Aug12

A journey through the wine-lands of Sicilia is fluid and casual, yet timeless. The island’s contempo rhythms are their own and while each and every region is characterized, in fact stamped by a distinguishing mark or feature, there is a kinship that connects, especially through its people. A nearness of relations from east to west, an imperturbable sense of self-possession juxtaposed against the unspoken rule of being collectively Sicilian. The wine community acts exactly this way, feels irrefutable defined by characteristics of the present period and its modernity shines. People of poise, assurance, self-confidence, culturally and mosaically grouped together through a historic parade of travellers, occupiers, settlers and traders through time, yet belonging to the same contemporary age, living in the same period of time. Behold the contempo pull of Sicilia en Primeur.

Eastern slope on Etna, in the town of Milo where only here the Etna Bianco can be labeled with the addendum “Superiore.” From young five year-old carricante vines grown on Alberello at 650m by Fabio Stantino and his family where the conditions are more humid, namely because of the closer proximity to the sea. Cool, gelid and stylish. The kind of Etna Bianco with that mineral, gemstone quality while also one of the more yellow-fleshed fruit pulpy examples juiced by Sicilian orange. Gets white pepper and mango powder exotic at the humid finish. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted May 2024

From Biancavilla at 900m just at the upper limit of the DOC. Sands, rocks, all volcanic for 100 percent carricante. Quite herbal, of thyme and bay laurel, but also the local Ginestra. Intense tang and thick acidity – creating great salivation and yet the palate lightens in the second half of the wine. You can feel the 12 months in cask because of lees and oxidative movement, for complex notions and preservation. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted May 2024

Le Casematte Grillo Pharis 2022, Sicilia DOC

From Faro on the northeastern part of Sicily where the humidity concentrates and the breezes blow higher. A varietal grillo, quite peachy and freshness important because acidity more than keeps pace. Clean and an afternoon delight of a Sicilian white wine. The tonneaux adds texture and extends the fruit while never adding compaction. Very well rounded and made. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted May 2024

Tenuta di Castellaro Eùxenos 2021, Terre Siciliane IGT

In the territory of Lipari in the (active) volcanic Aeolian where malvasia rules acroos the 160 hectares of the islands. Fertile soils, like a mix of Etna and Pantelleria. All malvasia (delle Lipari) grown at 350m on sandy basalt soils, of a natural fermentation and a deep golden hue because of a healthy maceration, followed by 10 months in amphora. Delicate perfume, orange blossom, dried white fig, dried and candied citrus before finishing at white pepper. A smoulder and easy character from beyond primary aromas mixing with the volcanics that not only characterize, but define this wine. Length is outstanding. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted May 2024

Tenuta Ferrata Etna Rosso DOC Frevi 2020

From the area of Castiglione at 680m with 100 percent nerello mascalese. Aging in grandi botti for two years and then 10 months in bottle before release. A richness of style, liquorice and dried tree pod fruit, the wood very much in play and acidity less intense than many. A liquid chalky presence on the palate, still needing another year to resolve. Chewy example, confident and a slow delay of fruit, which is never really all that fresh. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted May 2024

Tenute Bosco’s Sofia Ponzini and Godello together again

Tenute Bosco Etna Rosso DOC Vigna Vico Pre Phylloxera 2017

From Sofia Ponzini in the area of Passopisciaro and her cru vineyard called Vico. Own-rooted, pre-phylloxera vines, more than 100 years old, nerello mascalese and also cappuccio. A reminder that 2017 was cooler than most of Italy, especially the centre and north, but still generally sunny and warm on Sicily, including aboard L’Etna. Just now beginning to open and emit its magnificent perfumes, followed by a textural weave of vinous fabrics and finally the much expected, energizing and aligning archetypal volcanic saltiness. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted May 2024

Mario Paoluzi – I Custodi Delle Vigne Dell’Etna

I Custodi delle Vigne dell’Etna Etna Rosso DOC Aetnus 2011

From Castiglione di Sicilia and specifically Muganazzi where 80 percent nerello mascalese and (20) nerello cappuccio are grown in volcanics but also tufo and pumice. Gamey aroma mixed with the threefold mix for a highly particular balsamico. Ample new (one-third to be precise ) tonneaux which gives this Etna Rosso full on spice meets smoulder to leather-weatherize fruit and finish at drying tannins. Though nearly 13 years of age the wine has not fully resolved, though the fruit is now past peak. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted May 2024

Valle dell’Acate Vittoria Frappato DOC Vigna Bidone Sottana 2023

From the dry black silt and sandy/stony soils of southern Sicily in Acate at sea level. Perfumed, clean, soft tannins and all about its fruit. The single vineyard designation gives focus and direction because this really ancient Sicilian grape owns true potential. Vigna Bidone Sottana comes from old plant material, a 1.88 hectare plot that will only improve and instruct its vines to offer up complexity with more time. A launching point frappato for anyone who wants to know what pleasure can be had from this grape. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted May 2024

Feudi Del Pisciotto Versace Nero d’Avola 2021, Terre Siciliane IGT

The territory is Niscemi at 200m on red sandy soils for nero d’Avola that sees a healthy 20 days of maceration. Chewy, an inward and implosive turn of fruit and acidity intertwined. Barrique aged, archetypal nero d’avola that’s quite expected, of lifted aromas, dark fruit and peppery piques. Classic liquorice and a herbaceousness that the grape often shows, ot unlike cabernet franc. Layers of tannin equop this ’21 with a decent potential for aging. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted May 2024

Candido Nero d’Avola 2021, Sicilia DOC

From Camporeale in the western side of Sicily, of nero d’Avola at 400m with no wood aging, only stainless steel. Openly fragrant and varietally obvious, a bit pressed which brings some greenness, pine resin and rosemary with natural tannins. Mix of ripenesses in the tannins which can feel austere and rustic. Honest and real continental example of nero d’avola. Dries out at the finish. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted May 2024

Duca di Salaparuta Triskelè 2021, Sicilia DOC

A unique area for nero d’Avola, from Riesi and Butera heading into Western Sicily. Specifically from the The Suor Marchesa Estate, of clay and calcareous soils at 350m with aging in new and second passage barriques. The wood is very much involved, of grainy texture, waves and layers of spice, toasty and salty. Rich and high acid as well to keep the energy up. This must resolve and integrate further, which will happen in two-plus years though after five it will surely arrive into mushroom and truffle. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted May 2024

Tenuta Gorghi Tondi Grillodoro Late Harvest “Noble Rot” 2018, Sicilia DOC

A rare botrytis-affected dessert wine for modern day Sicilia, a grillo allowed to reman on the vines longer than any other in southwestern Sicily. Mid-October through early November, a few bunches at a time picked and brought in over at least a two week period. Not a Passito, more Sauternes as an example and finishing at 140 g/L of residual sugar. Late harvest berries sent to wood, acidity more than perceived and in fact preserved, persevered and prepared to lead the fruit. Pineapple and apricot, quite fresh considering the agricultural method and also the aging style. Perfectly clean, honeyed, a touch waxy on the palate with corresponding saltiness, gently tannic with lemon iced tea. Will age really well. Drink 2024-2032. Tasted May 2024

Tableside tasting at Sicilia en Primeur

Godello with the AIS Sicila Sommeliers

Related – All the wines of Sicily

Tableside tasting at Sicilia en Primeur

En Primeur Sommelier Tastings

Spumante

Castellucci Miano Brut 2023, Terre Siciliane IGT

Distinctly catarratto with a lime twist and boundless energy. Scintillant style, high tempo, treble off the charts and length to boot. Just a lovely ceremonial bubble for happy occasions. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted May 2024

Firriato Gaudensius Metodo Classico Pas Dosé, Terre Siciliane IGT

So very curious and suggestive of glorious sparkling which is about as light in colour as any found anywhere this style is made. Not just Sicily and the near absence of skin contact time puts this is a singular space amongst peers, especially on Sicily with nerello mascalese. Drinks with ease yet also a controlled intensity of emotion. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted May 20244

Principe Di Corleone San Loé Brut 2018, Terre Siciliane IGP

Quiet and demure, crunchy and mounting momentum after first sips. Gains traction and stars to presume a great stage presence before lingering effortlessly. Just a bit of sweetness distracts but this is both a well made sparkling and consumer rounding one. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted May 2024

Spadafora Brut Nature Metodo Classico Enrica Spadafora 2018, Vino Spumante Di Qualità

Stays on lees for 36 months, Pas Dosé because all the wines are dry and that is the estate’s firm direction. Freshness yes but grape and slight gingery-oxidative character are the complexities urged forth by the grillo grape. Calming sparkling wine, all in order, pleasing and yes also complex. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted May 2024

Tenute Navarra Frappato Spumante Rosemosse 2023, Terre Siciliane IGP

Located in Butera within Caltinasetta, started in 2019 on an estate that had been abandoned for 30 years. Of 175 hectares, 18.5 are planted, 15 in production. Almonds, olives also part of production. Charmat method, soft press and after five months it spends two months on lees. Straight frappato, extra brut style and so 4 g/L of RS, tart, very strawberry, big energy groove and patterning on repeat. Tends and trends to the higher level on the Brut scale in terms of residual sugar yet early picked varietal acids keep the pace and faith. Drink 2024-2025. Tasted May 2024

Tenute Navarra Zahr Bianco Frizzante 2023, Terre Siciliane IGP

Zahr the flower from Arabic, a sparkling wine using grillo and chardonnay made at low pressure (max. 2.7 bars) and so not exactly by Charmat style, finishing at 12 percent alcohol and low residual sugar. Floral in every way, citrus is lime and the persistence very high for how this is made. Light bubble, easy and enjoyable. Spritz it up! Drink 2024-2025. Tasted May 2024

Tenute Nicosia Sosta Tre Santi Etna Brut Sessantamesi Metodo Classico 2016, Etna DOP

Reductive style, maturing, now in the middle road in terms of fruit and energy, high acidity yet also sugars running that way. A big and openly gregarious expression for a consumer who likes it sweet, sour, intense and wild. Last tasted May 202

Tenute Nicosia Sosta Tre Santi Brut Rosato Metodo Classico 2021, Etna DOP

Quite a dry, rusty and rosy Rosé sparkling, clean and fresh. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted May 2024

The view from Splendid Hotel La Torre, Mondello

Rosato

Alessandro Di Camporeale Etna Rosato DOC Vignazza 2023

Funky, earthy and cheese rind, herbal and acidulated roasted peppers. Notable onion skin and red apples. Not the most balanced work with nerello mascalese. Drink 2024. Tasted May 2024

Baglio Di Pianetto Viafrancia Rosé 2023, Terre Siciliane IGT

Full, rich and substantial Rosé for those who wish for some pulp and flesh. An excess of red berry riches, proper acidity, only a pinch of residual sugar and persistence to satisfy in the end. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted May 2024

Cottanera Etna Rosato DOC 2023

From Rosso vineyards, looking for freshness and very little sugar but also low alcohol. Only steel, three months, bottled in February. Rich of fruit, salty, crunchy and for Rosato also complex. Tons of flavour, strawberry and some leafy savour. Drink 2024-2025. Tasted May 2024

Feudo Montoni Nerello Mascalese Rosé Di Adele 2023, Terre Siciliane IGT

The ripest vintage and so picking early was necessary but Montoni is in the enviable position of elevation and also ventilation where crosswinds from Africa and the Mediterranean meet. In this place and of a warm vintage there is early ripeness but also thankfully phenolic development so that fleshy fruit, sweet and ripe acidity, then finally phenolic maturity all come into place. This bodes well for nerello mascalese as Rosé. There will be no one who does not find this delicious. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted May 2024

Le Casematte Etna Rosato DOC Rosematte 2023, Terre Siciliane IGT

There is this style of Rosé made with nerello mascalese that just says light, dry, breezy an easy – this would define that to a “T.” The plus of all the fruit imagined and needed, a touch of sweetness and simplicity from start to finish. Drink 2024-2025. Tasted May 2024

Palmento Costanzo Etna Rosato DOC Mofete Rosato 2023

Equally fruity and vegetal, of red berries and peppers, a tartness and also lactic cheese note. Herbal as well and so complexity as Rosato if on the acquired taste side of style. Crunchy and salty, briny to a degree, naturally wild and free. Drink 2024-2025. Tasted May 2024

Serra Ferdinandea Rosato 2023, Sicilia DOC

Next step taken for Rosé on the south coast at Menfi with this upright and linear ’23 inching towards the profound. A balance and a confidence with 100 percent nero d’Avola that defines the idiom and begins to perfect the workmanship. Satisfying and also delicious, inciting the salivary glands and asking for more. Will gain interest and intersect with further complexities after 18 months further time in bottle. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted May 2024

Spadafora Il Nostro Rosato 2023, Terre Siciliane IGP

Colour, which is quite dark is just from the skins, no pressing, fermented in concrete and aged in steel. A Tavel hue, natural and appreciated, without pith, tonics or bitters. Top quality mix of the salty and the sapid, the rich and the stony. Could drink a bucket full because of its 100 percent nero d’Avola flavour, honestly and balance. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted May 2024

Torre Mora Etna Rosato DOC Scalunera 2023

About as light and airy as it gets for Rosato, crunchy and salty, simple, easy and available. Chill, get at it and enjoy the fullness of a day. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted May 2024

From Mangia Pollina Beach Resort

Etna Bianco DOC

Alta Mora Etna Bianco DOC 2022

Nice and smoky Etna Bianco from Alta Mora though the fruit is equally adamant about gaining your trust. The smoulder equalized by the pulpy flesh of fresh bites into orchard fruit and a touch of finishing spice. Not the most complex but surely robust for the category. Last tasted May 2024

Solid and well made Etna Bianco in the ways of respect and tradition, ample, fulsome, substantial and structured for a wine that will drink well three-plus years forward. Citrus mainly, both lemon and lime, cool, not quite minty but surely like fresh summer basil and then a pinch of salt at the finish. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted May 2023

Benanti Etna Bianco DOC Contrada Cavaliere 2022

Reserved, not reductive but neither open nor gregarious. A smoulder of volcanics and wood aging, just an aromatic wisp of flint and notable verdancy. The greens are also driven by the place and Cavaliere gives in just this way. Low, slow and with a time lapse release of controlled power. Really quite remarkable Etna Bianco from this contrada. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted May 2024

Benanti Etna Bianco Superiore DOC Contrada Rinazzo 2022

The Bianco carricante of Rinazzo are so very different to (especially) Cavaliere, namely because of humidity but also due to closer proximity to the sea. Here is a Superiore example, allowed to be labeled this way in the eastern area (of the village of Milo) and Bennati’s is richer, fuller and also more textural. Not just a case of lees but the aforementioned micro-climate really makes the case. A fine and impressive iteration indeed. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted May 2024

Cottanerà Etna Bianco DOC 2023

Campione: From three Contrada, carricante 100 percent, no issues with mildew because of an agronomist’s intensity of focus to root it out. Harvest in the first week of October and this comes away rich and full, so very developed and quite fruit explosive. Seven months of lees and stirring is very much in play this way. Fresh and full – just the way so many will find their love for this Etna Bianco. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted May 2024

Cottanerà Etna Bianco DOC Calderara 2022

Calderara vineyards are 40-45 years of age and the harvest happens a week later, in the second week of October. Cement and large casks, 60-40, 10-12 months, brought back together and bottled. Saltier than the Bianco because the vineyard is so full of lava stone, a 100-plus year old eruption with brown basaltic stone. Very focused and precise though more power than 2021. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted May 2024

Donnafugata Etna Bianco DOC Isolano 2021

About as curious and unique as it gets for Etna Bianco with this by Donnafugata at impressive elevation from a place called Isolano. The vintage delivers great sunshine and therefore ripeness for a maximum amount of fruit development that because of an extra year in bottle has now come to a place of generosity. More tang than saltiness and very ready to drink. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted May 2024

Firriato Cavanera Etna Bianco DOC Balza Delle Poiane, Contrada Zottorinotto 2022

Some reduction from a specific cru and designation, that being Cavanera Balza delle Poiane within the northerly contrada of Zottorinotto. Herbal as well, fresh sprung spring glade of ferns and wild allium, trillium and the local Ginestra. Plenty of substantial fruit and truthfully so much going on. As far as Etna Bianco is concerned this should be considered a big wine, the kind that can be enjoyed by lovers of full-bodied chardonnay. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted May 2024

Godello and Giuseppe Russo

Girolamo Russo Etna Bianco DOC Nerina 2023

Only Nerina, San Lorenzo and Feudo were made in 2023 due to a challenge from rain, mildew and less fruit availability. No worries about quality however and Nerina is about as full pulp-fleshy and developed as it has ever been. The acids travel up and down the sides of the palate in the ways of striking Etna Bianco and here Russo finds the road back, each and every time. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted May 2024

Girolamo Russo Etna Bianco DOC Feudo 2023

Girolamo Russo Etna Bianco DOC San Lorenzo 2023

San Lorenzo as Bianco from Giuseppe Russo is not like other Etna Bianco because well, San Lorenzo. Wow is the operative because no other EB gives like this. Beyond flesh and stone but something that defines what the two can effect, layered so invisibly and magically together. It seems impossible to believe that extract and conversions could come together this way, urged and supported buy some of the mountain’s finest quality of acidity and white grape tannins. This must be the place, eh? Carricante with 10 percent catarratto and grecanico makes it happen. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted May 2024

Graci Etna Bianco DOC 2023

A mix of all four contradas; Muganazzi, Arcurìa, Feudo di Mezzo and Santo Spirito. A mix of Mediterranean scrub and vibrancy, looking for that balance between and finding it. Really fine precision and salinity, length is outstanding for villages level Bianco. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted May 2024

Graci Etna Bianco DOC Arcurìa 2022

Some wood on Arcurìa that the Classico Etna Bianco does not receive and so this is not as lean, nor is it vertically the same. Citrus mixes with mineral, some austerity and magic that makes this more complex. Crisp however, but fleshy because the concentration and the contrada want this wine to end up this way. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted May 2024

Graci Etna Bianco DOC Muganazzi 2022

“A wine of mystery,” says Alberto Graci, “very intriguing for me.” Flinty and scrubby at the same time, energy and vibrancy laying in waiting, a buzz behind the curtain and a soil purposed into the 100 percent carricante that Graci’s team and now also we know the wine will want to explode with flavours a year, or more rightly two from now. So tight but you can feel it, the linear nature looking ahead and time will bring about something social form that mystery. Unquestionably one of L’Etna’s finest ’22s. Drink 2026-2035. Tasted May 2024

I Custodi Delle Vigne Dell’Etna Etna Bianco Superiore DOC Imbris Contrada Caselle 2020

Nicosia Etna Bianco DOC Contrada Monte Gorna Biologico 2023

Quite rich and developed considering the youth and also a minor cheese rind lactic note in what feels like Etna Bianco working through its machinations. A bit awkward to be honest and a little bit of time should see some coming together. Then again the window is tight and so the time is just a bit ahead of now. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted May 2024

Palmento Costanzo Etna Bianco DOC Bianco Di Sei 2022

Palmento Costanzo Etna Bianco DOC Contrada Santo Spirito 2021

Pietradolce Etna Bianco DOC Archineri 2022

Archinieri comes at us with that Pietradolce mix of confidence and generosity because well, vineyards and expertise. A Bianco that must be great because the makers demand top quality from field to table and all the markers here are present, defined and accounted for. Ideal reasoning, seasoning and style. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted May 2024

La leggenda Patricia Tóth – Planeta

Planeta Eruzione 1614 Carricante 2021, Terre Siciliane IGT

New label alert for Planeta’s 100 percent Passopisciaro carricante that celebrates, codifies and contemporizes the Etna eruption of 1614. Incredible intensity and roll in the hay of varietal beauty with striking acidity for what may just be the most brilliant shine ever noted in this emotional wine. Emozione indeed, of a respect for plants and place, of volcanic flows and their craggy rocks, of florals, herbals and all that lives and loves. The extra year in bottle intensifies, stratifies and solidifies both experience and intent. So fucking bon. Drink 2024-2033. Tasted May 2024

Tenute Bosco Etna Bianco DOC 2023

The ’23 Etna Bianco artist formerly known as Piano Dei Daini comes out of a hard vintage because of rain in June with some Perenospera issues, “but the carricante can handle the attack” explains Sofia Ponzini. No loss of fruit, harvest and vinification all together very much in a field blend way. The ten percent endemic varieties settle the carricante, neutralize its power and make for a most wholesome but always elegant Etna Bianco. A rinse of salty sea air meets Macchia Mediterranea. Sofia ends up happy but admits the wine needs bottle time, to sleep a bit, calm the energy and the power. Vibrancy is needy, crunchiness too, feel of the volcano so crucial and so all that is great but the drippy phenolic presence needs taming. That’s what time will effect. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted May 2024

Terra Costantino Etna Bianco DOC Contrada Blandano 2019

A few years now in bottle and so this 2019 has developed next level style, further character and stage presence. Honeyed and luxe, acids sweetened with a lively if sour edge and then comes that extract that urged the totality from the start. A fine and confident wine with time on its side and a healthy perspective for Etna Bianco as the kind to serve at dinners and tastings all over the world. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted May 2024

Tornatore Etna Bianco DOC 2022

Classic Etna Bianco style that has come to be defined as “mountain wines” driven by volcanic soils. Here a rounded example with no sharp points, edges or spikes, fruit quotient run higher than most, riper and developed for immediate gratification. Substantial to every degree, acidity as sweet as it comes and everything so very up front. As good an introduction to the genre, idiom and place as there can be. Last tasted May 2024

Extreme unction and notable lees usage though keep in mind this is 2022. As young, impressionable and not quite out of the gangly stage as an Etna Bianco can act. Laden with lemon, much of it fresh squeezed, some unresolved phenolics (and aldehydes) and a shield of early structure or elastic membrane that is yet to slide away and reveal the full nature of what will surely be a cracker wine. Would much prefer to taste this a year from now. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted May 2023

Tornatore Etna Bianco DOC Pietrarizzo 2022

Tornatore Etna Bianco DOC Zottorinotto 2021

Torre Mora Etna Bianco DOC Chiuse Vidalba 2022

An Etna Bianco on the extreme volcanic side because the aromas and flavours just feel like sucking on a mouthful of basaltic lozenges. Cool, gelid and distinctly mineral on the outside, liquid ethereal and almost mentholated within. Don’t come looking for a burst of fruit, not by citrus, stone nor orchard though there is this green melon note coming late. Nor is this a high acid example, but also not so very botanical. Just bloody volcanic – which speaks to Chiuse Vidalba. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted May 2024

Torre Mora Etna Bianco DOC Scalunera 2023

Varietal carricante from Etna’s northern slope with just about as knowable and definable an Etna Bianco as there can be. This is Scalunera, of perfumes and fruit flavours yellow and green, crunchy and caught at the peak of freshness. What you call a dictionary entry that will be enjoyed by all – to great satisfaction. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted May 2024

Other DOC and IGT Whites

Donnafugata Passiperduti 2023, Sicilia DOC

Only grillo from Sicily’s west-central hinterland surrounded by hills and then the seas. Freshness and phenolics, lemon, grapefruit and botanicals, the things that grow around vineyards and up through the slopes. A crispy and lemon zested grillo like no other, made to order for grilled fish. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted May 2024

Feudo Montoni Catarratto Masso 2023, Terre Siciliane IGT

What catarratto will do when a grower and winemaker like Fabio Sireci gets it into his hands – to offer perfumes of white flowers and flavours of green fruits, always fresh and delicate. Persistence and linger, the way it should and wants to be. One of Sicily’s most honest and consistent white wines. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted May 2024

Feudo Montoni Inzolia Dei Fornelli 2023, Terre Siciliane IGT

Feudo Montoni’s will always be one of the most harmonic, restrained and yet phenolic-gripped meets mutli-floral/fruity inzolia of the island. The citrus intensity, a zesting of lemon and lime made liquid to seal the cracks puts this ’23 in a state of grace. Must try varietal wine if not the ideal vintage because of warmth that begot early ripening. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted May 2024

Feudo Montoni Grillo Timpa 2023, Sicilia DOC

Only Fabio Sireci’s grillo comes forward this way, with an equal combination of full fruit determination and linear capacity. The mix of Sicilian exoticism and knowable character puts this at a varietal level to bely the island capabilities of the lion’s share. Not surprising considering the pick begins in late August and finishes early in September. Freshness yes but so much more, first from natural matter and then because skipping past the noise to arrive here confirms Sireci’s intelligence to make a grillo understood in the hands of instinctive tasters and consumers. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted May 2024

Masseria Del Feudo Grillo Hermosa 2022, Sicilia DOC

Ideal middle of the road grillo example, white and yellow florals, lemon segmented and juiced, herbal and direct. A good chill on a warm day, some fried calamari and all will be right in the world. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted May 2024

Mazzei Zisola Bianco Contrada Zisola 2022, Terre Siciliane IGT

Mazzei Zisola Azisa 2023, Sicilia DOC

Only stainless steel, short contact with the skins, made in a very traditional way. Perfectly arranged, straightforward and simple, of lemon citrus and white flowers by grillo that by now presses the idiom into Sicily’s concept of island time. Crunchy and just ever so slightly pith bitter, lemon again and again, unrelenting in style and quick by design. Drink 2024-2025. Tasted May 2024

Planeta Terebinto Grillo 2023, Sicilia Menfi DOC

Ripeness, juicy forthright quality and all in interface with what feels like every pore for both aromas and with the palate. The Terebinto, a.k.a Cyprus Turpentine never takes a break nor moves absently around. There is purpose in every aroma and flavour, not as an attack, but as a dance. This grillo gets better and better every year. Shiny happy leaves and people. Never out of time for this grillo. “Put it in the ground. where the flowers grow, gold and silver shine.” Drink 2024-2027. Tasted May 2024

Planeta Bianco Alastro 2023, Menfi DOC

Varietal sauvignon blanc and not just any but from a southern Sicilian shore where the sea winds and scrublands are simply different to the Mediterranean side. All that matters conjoins for a whole new way to see the grape. Crispy and crunchy, salinity running amok and oysters or crunchy fried fishes (hopefully) waiting on the table. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted May 2024

With the legend, Alessio Planeta

Planeta Allemanda 2023, Sicilia Noto DOC

It’s a moscato bianco but not the kind you think, in fact it’s not only bubbles that are missing from Planeta’s Noto example. Extract and tannin rise above sweetness and fruit though there is plenty of ripeness noted in the latter. Ripe vintage, perhaps less quantity, but quality fruit makes for a balanced moscato. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted May 2024

Planeta Fiano Cometa 2022, Sicilia Menfi DOC

The sole varietal fiano at Anteprima Siciliane 2024 and of course it is Cometa by Planeta which stands the test of island time. Alas and always the subtle smoulder, struck flint but a moment in time and a crunchy quality to supersede the herbs and the lime. Full vintage, well-developed for a fiano that will ready itself a year ahead of its average time. Cometa cometh with palates standing by the ready. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted May 2024

Planeta Didacus 2021, Sicilia Menfi DOC

Always the richest example of chardonnay with most honeyed flavours, spice cupboard and savoury eccentricities. The selection considers only the best, they being the ripest bunches with that uncanny ability to collect as mature, almost evolved feeling from its fruit to be converted into a magical example of Menfi. So much sunshine, luxe and refulgence, almost so bright you gotta wear shades sort of chardonnay. A top vintage because acidity, extract and tannin all layer in heaps. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted May 2024

Principe Di Corleone Ridente Angelica 2023, Sicilia DOC

Cool, ethereal, minty, salt-licked and kissed, stoic and proud. Herbal and botanical, of bay laurel and thyme, lemon preserve and the morning juice. Some may find the tonic a bit gin-washed but who should not love these flavours and the style all the same? Drink 2024-2027. Tasted May 2024

Francesco and Enrica Spadafora

Spadafora Bianco 2023, Terre Siciliane IGP

From vineyards Between 200-400m, a place of sandy soils where freshness is the order for catarratto and yet there is some tropical fleshiness about the ’23 by Spadafora. Would not exactly say salty but more so a split between salinity and sapidity because there are some phenolic moments in this wine. Harmonious and just complex enough to rise above the norm. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted May 2024

Spadafora Don Pietro Bianco 2023, Terre Siciliane IGP

Named after Francesco Spadafora’s father (and Enrica’s grandfather) who started the winery in 1993. A bit higher in acidity than the straight catarratto because of the inclusion of grillo and so a higher saltiness, succulence and energy. This is expressive of attitude in such a good way. Will gain interest after a couple of years. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted May 2024

Spadafora Grillo Principe G 2023, Terre Sicilane IGP

For the grillo the plants are kept to a relative minimum vigour but cutting away the “moustache and the tail” while keeping the interno. Ferments in concrete, ages in steel and just a few months on lees. Remarkably if subtly flinty, smouldering and textural, simply from land and grape, coming together for a really unique effect. It’s truly Spadafora, their place and how they allow this quality to speak. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted May 2024

Spadafora Siriki Orange 2017, Terre Siciliane IGP

Grillo on skins for 30 days, now nearly seven years of age yet freshness somehow persists. Surely owing to clean lees and how they lay to present themselves as they continue to ready their host. Enrica Spadafora explains how she and her father were wanting to have a different style of orange and also this is grillo, not your every day average variety for the style. Was structured and has now settled, though there are some tannic moments drying the palate in the end. Impressive all in all, seemingly ambitious, but the result is there. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted May 2024

Tenute Navarra Sofien 2023, Terre Siciliane IGT

Half and half grillo and chardonnay, as with all the wines they are called “Totò Navarra,” first and last name of the owner and you can’t just use Navarra because well, Spain. Totò, as in Salvatore. Fruit, flowers, simple, sunshine and some chardonnay backbone, but just clean and fresh which is just what is needed. Fine and easy yet acidity and persistence are essential and the finish more sapid than salty. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted May 2024

Etna Rosso DOC

Cottanerà Etna Rosso DOC Diciassettesalme 2022

Solo nerello mascalese, made with the grapes from all three Contradas, 10 months in steel, followed by six months in bottle. Dictionary entry though it’s just the first vintage of this specific Rosso without Cappuccio. These are nerello plants grafted onto the old cappuccio and to be honest there is more purity and focus this way. Spicier, in a way and more energy. Will take a few vintages to find its solo artist stride. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted May 2024

Cottanerà Etna Rosso DOC Contrada Feudo Di Mezzo 2020

Only nerello mascalese from 35 year-old vines, big barrel for 14 months. Even though Feudo di Mezzo is the largest Etna Nord contrada there is such consistency and a thread of wine effect that runs through the 20-plus producers. Cottanerà heeds and abides by the vineyard to produce a balanced FdM worthy of the name. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted May 2024

Cottanerà Etna Rosso Riserva DOC Zottorinoto 2019

Plants are 85 years of age on four hectares but this wine is a selection from three tonnes of grapes to make only 1,800-2,000 bottles. Riserva, so it remained in cask for two years plus two more in bottle. Depth, breadth, spices and richness, the most full bodied and textural Rosso, tannins sweet and long-chained with time still needed to resolve all that is here. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted May 2024

Girolamo Russo Etna Rosso DOC ‘A Rina 2022

A very warm and dry vintage making for a taut, chalky and savoury nerello mascalese (with 10 percent cappuccino). This next ‘a Rina takes off where 2021 left off and only Feudo is as consistent an Etna Rosso as this. Chalky red cherry, a leathery aspect and drying tannins that speak about 2022 in both toasty and positive ways. Crisp ’22, of bay and liquorice, salty volcanics and good length, though not in the league of Feudo and San Lorenzo. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted May 2024

Girolamo Russo Etna Rosso DOC Calderara Sottana 2022

The juiciest of all the ‘22s for Giuseppe Russo and if also the least structured there can and should be no complaints. Reeking of and oozing nerello mascalese flavours so cherry red, fresh, clean and particular. There are no others like this – the level of energy without unnecessary heated intensity is remarkable. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted May 2024

Girolamo Russo Etna Rosso DOC San Lorenzo 2022

Girolamo Russo Etna Rosso DOC Feudo Di Mezzo 2022

The allure of Feudo is real, the consistency of its fuxed expression divine and the work in Giuseppe Russo’s world a conduit to access the sublime. Sure there is a quiet restraint at this early stage of 2022’s tenure but how could we miss the high levels of fruit and structure combining for purpose and potential? A big and full Feudo from the variable vintage, chewy and layered, stratified volcanics making sure that when maturity comes there will always be mineral. What a Feudo indeed. Peak of Feudo freshness out of the embers and smoulder of a warm season. The secret is Etna and this section of the vineyard. Drink 2026-2036. Tasted May 2024

Girolamo Russo Etna Rosso DOC Feudo 2022

From the highest section in the Feudo di Mezzo vineyard, bush vines, very old. Delivers ultra light and conversely powerful di Mezzo freshness, but from this elevation at a much higher rate and with an extension of vibrancy plus energy. More verticality and sweetness of nerello fruit like almost no other. Resides in a state of grace upon the palate and though it hovers just a millimetre above, there still feels like the fruit, acidity and finest tannin are collectively making full contact. Remarkable. Drink 2026-2036. Tasted May 2024

Girolamo Russo Etna Rosso DOC San Lorenzo Piano Delle Colombe 2021

Laying down expectation can be a dangerous thing, but can’t be helped some times. Knowing Giuseppe Russo and the Piano delle Colombe block of the San Lorenzo vineyard will induce and send thoughts down such a path from a 2021 that not only matches but exceeds what was thought to be possible. Aromatically positive signs and the deliverance of a fleet of nearly perfected ripenesses come to such a consummated fruition are come upon by way of unconscious results. Optimal not optimum, because there is no such thing, but only the attainable which in this case is superlative balance. Harmonies of all parts, out of field to bottle, through every rise, depression and plateau, from start to finish and everything in between. The critical moments are found, like cooking a perfect steak, pushing your finger into its soft middle fleshy belly and feeling the exact spring back desired. A greta or pearl of a nerello mascalese, a highway tune, “so sweet, so fine, so nice, all mine. “I prefer ’21,” admits Russo. Smart man. Drink 2024-2036. Tasted May 2024

Alberto Graci

Graci Etna Rosso DOC 2022

From estate vineyards at 650-750m, fermented and aged for 18 months in concrete though once in a while a little bit of big barrel is used. Linear, stoic, restrained and serious Etna Rosso for Rosso’s sake but also trenchant intention. Crispy and crunchy, vertical and youthful. Fresh, even a bit reductive , so peppery and a year away from that open window. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted May 2024

Graci Etna Rosso DOC Arcurìa 2021

The home vineyard, great vintage and that should not be questioned because frankly it simply can’t be denied. If nothing else the intensity of purpose comes through from the start. More depth and crunch, further concentration and breadth, still austere and working through its tasks, machinations and intentions. Big wine from 2021. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted May 2024

Graci Etna Rosso DOC Arcurìa Sopra Il Pozzo 2019

Longer maceration because these are stems that ripen better than anywhere else and so Alberto Graci tastes and decides how long to go. Usually 60 days and 2019 was right around that number. You can feel them, mostly though not 100 percent ripe and yet that savoury-verdant note works so well to create a spice mix and seasoning that extends the breadth of the fruit. Do not come here for heavy concentration or weight because there is restraint but also expect some austerity. Really needs time and will eventually settle into it’s technicolor skin. A compact wine that will deliver a slow release of energy. Drink 2026-2035. Tasted May 2024

I Custodi Delle Vigne Dell’Etna Etna Rosso DOC Pistus 2022

From L’Etna’s northern side at Contrada Muganazzi, only stainless aging, no wood and thank you very much. I Custodi Delle Vigne Dell’Etna have been working with this contrada since the beginning (2007) though Pistus the label dates to 2012. Some volatility though just a hint and not too distracting, Amaro herbal and very complex. Big wine though fresh, crispy and crunchy, with good freshness. Serious lift to this Etna Rosso. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted May 2024

Palmento Costanzo DOC Etna Rosso Nero Di Sei 2020

Spicy and floral, aromatically crisp and taut, wood a factor with plenty of seasoning. A bit sappy and edging into tang with flavours quite sharp and also dense but time will settle the score for all parts involved. A big and inky version of Nero di Sei and one to really sink your teeth into. Wait two years to do so. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted May 2024

Palmento Costanzo Etna Rosso DOC Contrada Santo Spirito

Evolving nicely, now nearly ready to go, fruit still fresh enough and structure beginning to subside. A full bodied Etna Rosso from Santo Spirito in delivery of what the contrada and the vintage held in hand. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted May 2024

A vintage out of which the pre-phylloxera was produced from the contrada so just imagine the possibilities as they come from this all in for the vintage nerello mascalese. Feels like an extended maceration because the glycerol and unctuous textural pool are both at the crest of Etna Rosso heights. Oranges and cherries but more than anything old vines spirit and what just happened from out of these volcanic sands carried through to century and a half vines is something wholly and unequivocally other. Hints at balsamic reduction but the tannins and also acids are so fresh and so years is what it will take to take this anywhere new. The finest chalkiness imitates the soil and puts this in a league with some of Italy’s most important red wines. Up to you too decide which they are or don’t bother at all. Drink 2025-2034. Tasted May 2023

Pietradolce Etna Rosso DOC Rampante 2020

The most developed for Rampante with a spicy 2020 aromatic entry, concentrated and refined while residing on the darker red fruit side of the line. Lift, balsamico gariga, bay laurel, crunchy and herbal. So very complex and as far as Etna nerello mascalese goes there is more savoury depth from this by Pietradolce. Full-bodied in all these regards, breadth and volume guaranteed. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted May 2024

Pietradolce Etna Rosso DOC Santo Spirito 2020

The 2020 nerello mascalese from Contrada Santo Spirito is a meaty and gamy bruiser, sanguine and yet lifted with some fine volatility to nose. The right amount because the aromatic volume, palate depth and tannic freight are all equal partners working towards a common goal. That would be a full-bodied Etna Rosso with the stuffing and planning to age very well. Drink 2025-2031. Tasted May 2024

Pietradolce Etna Rosso DOC Barbagalli 2019

A unicorn Etna Rosso and here from 2019 there has been some development though the wine is still ways away from full integration. Talking formidable structure, inclusive of tannins of a tight and variegated grain, running crosswise and painless because they usher fruit and urge acidity to always be a part of the fray. A total weave of Rosso sentiment, bringing emotion and pleasure without fail, to exult a vineyard as special as any in the world. One only need to stand over it to understand its power, insistence on restraint and the keys to unlock potential. Will turn heads and remain in light for a good long time. “Facts are nothing on the face of things. “Still waiting, still waiting, still waiting, still waiting.” Drink 2026-2037. Tasted May 2024

Planeta Etna Rosso DOC 2022

Not a contrada specific Etna Rosso but more than 70 percent comes from Feudo di Mezzo in Passopiciaro. As juicy and glycol notable Rosso as there has ever been and silken would best describe the quality felt aboard the more than pleased and nurtured palate. Another wine that improves each vintage under the guidance of Patricia Tòth, in part because her favourite dogs hang around that winery next to the vineyard. Also because her experience and abilities have come to a most profound place. Love the spice masala on the finish. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted May 2024

Planeta Eruzione 1614 Nerello Mascalese 2020, Terre Siciliane IGT

From the single vineyard in Passopisciaro, site of some of the oldest lava flows on Etna, the 1614 volcanic spill. Another high glycerol event as nerello mascalese because this is what this vineyard must effect upon fruit and 2020 abides. Of course it does but also delivers the kind of Rosso that does not beg for years of waiting. The tannins are sneaky but not austere, the acidity so sweet you would like to spoil it as dessert. More precise than the Etna Rosso (mainly from Feudo) but clearly nella famiglia. Last tasted May 2024

Brightest and highest of scintillant nerello mascalese at impressive elevation on soils developed from the mountain’s 1614 eruption, in other words ancient but still young by world standards. Each and every lava flow resulting in volcanic soils is different on Etna and this 406 year-old tract is unequivocally responsible for Planeta’s 2020 style. Sure the winemaker might have a say but her job is to let the vineyard speak which she does as well as any artista/professionalista on the mountain. Buon lavoro PT. Stupendo. Drink 2024-2032. Tasted May 2023

Tasca d’Almerita Tascante Etna Rosso DOC Contrada Pianodario

Tenute Bosco Etna Rosso DOC 2021

Big French tonneaux, second passage and older for eight months. No recipe but that is this vintage, not as powerful as 2022 and Sofia sees it like 2016, but perhaps a different kind of balance, though not as ideal as 2016. The restrained power of the volcano runs throughout and you really feel it. Remarkable Etna Rosso in balance and of a grace that speaks to all there can be. What these wines are want to express and how they carry themselves, non-plussed, confident and free. The ripeness factor at the top of what is normal and beautiful without excess or greed. Sweetness of acidity and form-fitting structure but neither curves nor angles are exaggerated, nor drawn with any concentric circles or sharp lines. The wine flows and reaches the limits of what is right and proper. Just that much and no more. And we say thank you. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted May 2024

Tornatore Etna Rosso DOC 2021

The most understandable and straightforward Etna Rosso there could be, mature and layered, of riches and earth, fruit and soil all in the mix. A volcanic paint by numbers canvas of realism and beauty, easily accessible and generous to a perfectly reasonable degree. Entry point for the DOC and once in, never to look back. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted May 2024

Tornatore Etna Rosso DOC Pietrarizzo 2020

Some very ripe fruit here from Tonatore’s Pietrarizzo Rosso in the ways of late picking and good solid pressing. Makes for a chewy nerello mascalese that will ready itself for consumption quite a bit earlier than quite a bunch of its peers. Plenty of flavour and attraction for a wine that should be consumed over the next three years. Last tasted May 2024

North slope of Etna cru of nerello mascalese put to 50hl foudres, blended and then settled in concrete ahead of bottling. Consistently one of the finer Rosso values in Contrada-specific Etna and here the fruit ripeness and maturity is as fulsome as it ever gets. Makes for a drink really early proposition and provided that advice is followed there will be perfume, heady flavours and good acidity in your glass. A wine to lead off high-end tastings and dinners here, there and everywhere. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted November 2023

Other DOC and IGT Reds

Arianna Occhipinti Il Frappato 2021, Terre Siciliane IGT

Candied floral aromas, of pansies and nasturtium namely with a lift so very suggestive. There is a note of Brettanomyces yet at a subtle level and while the effect is slight the palate trails into a momentary lapse of brittle tannin. Still the beauty and the natural smile of this frappato are intoxicating and we simply will not turn away. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted May 2024

Castellucci Miano Frappato 2022, Terre Siciliane IGT

Not the most openly fragrant frappato with red berries the most notable entry but no real overt sense of florals. Sweetly herbal, cherry drop and then sweet basil before the palate feels the full true nature of the wine. Cool and gelid with a mint to bay layer herbal feel for a wine well made if pressed just a smidgen past prime. Drink 2024-2025. Tasted May 2024

Donnafugata Frappato Bell’Assai 2022, Vittoria DOC

Straight ahead Vittoria frappato, floral and striking, citrus up front part green and part red, like cranberry and pomegranate with a chiffonade of tarragon. Some chewy quality here, of liquorice and fruit leather, flavour profile high and acidity cool, tart and fine. Gets better with each subsequent sniff and sip. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted May 2024

Donnafugata Floramundi 2022, Cerasuolo Di Vittoria DOCG

Lifted, high spirit and tone, herbal, juicy and citrusy for the frappato-nero d’Avola Cerasuolo di Vittoria blend. On the light and transparent side of such an appellative joint which suggests more frappato and also choice of style. Light and linear, suggestively tannic and a great food wine for that meat to fish overlapping. Liquid chalky and lengthy. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted May 2024

Feudo Montoni Sandwich – Between Fabio Sireci and Melissa Muller

Feudo Montoni Nero d’Avola Terre Di Elio 2022, Terre Siciliane IGT

A very good vintage for the variety though her recent tasting from tank causes Melissa Muller to say that ‘23 “will be even more vertical.” That said the ’22 is not your average, every day nerello mascalese, not by any stretch of the Sicilian imagination. Fully formed, attractive and finding no obstacle to hinder leaving its impression. Balanced throughout, without equivocation, fruit followed by acidity, stepping back to fruit before than fast forwarding two steps to really fine tannins. Lightens as it moves and finishes pretty much where it started. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted May 2024

Feudo Montoni Perricone Core 2022, Terre Siciliane IGT

A perricone from Fabio Sireci of as much substantial fruit up front as the winemaker has ever put together. Aromatic volume gives way to palate and mouthfeel where depth and breadth really take centre stage. Big in terms of fruit presence though not the most structured ever. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted May 2024

Feudo Montoni Nero d’Avola Lagnusa 2022, Sicilia DOC

Lagnusa may be hard to say but it is never hard to drink and enjoy to fullest extent of Sicilian nero d’Avola law. Or joy because its mix of local savoir faire, freshness and understated structure make it as ideal a five to seven year wine as any on the island. One of those crunchy exterior, chewy interior neros that remain constant from start to finish. Grace, charm and honesty incarnate. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted May 2024

Feudo Montoni Nero d’Avola Vrucara 2020, Sicilia DOC

Increasingly the use of sun-dried stems are added back in after some time, like sweet wood notes that alter Vrucara’s physiology for the best. The number is 20-25 percent in 2020. If there are weak vintages of Feudo Montoni’s Vrucara they are yet to be revealed and this 2020 resides near the top of the island’s nero d’Avola chain. Just walk the vineyard, in fact just hear the history and explanations from Fabio Sireci’s mouth and you will understand. Richness meets structure for balance at the vanishing point as if we sit at the bottom of the hill looking upwards from the vineyard, up to the Baglio and then the sky. The fruit is special from 2020, already showing the first subtle hints of maturity and the tannins are perhaps the sweetest ever designed. When Vrucara hits the five year mark it will entrench itself as one of Sicily’s finest drinking red wines for five more. It’s abilities transcend grape and island to last for five more after that before starting its slow five to ten year declension. Is there better value in top grade nero d’Avola from Sicilia? Drink 2025-2035. Tasted May 2024

Zisola definitely suits Filippo Mazzei

Mazzei Zisola 2022, Noto Rosso DOC

Mazzei Zisola Achilles 2020, Terre Siciliane IGP

Just a 5,000 bottle production, not released until it sees an extra year in bottle. “Planted from the very the beginning,” because explains Fiippo Mazzei, “syrah was fashionable at the time, but then the Bordeaux varieties went in.” A very structured wine, also showing the wood more than the nero but concentration is so full and the wine just as grippy that it needs the fortification. A solid construct that will unfold after five to 10 years of time. Befitting its name. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted May 2024

Mazzei Zisola Doppiozeta 2021, Noto DOC

Mazzei Zisola Effe Emme 2021, Sicilia DOC

Planeta Frappato 2023, Vittoria DOC

About as fruity and openly floral as frappato will be to say that the style continues to evolve in the most positive way. Without distraction and encumbrance, set to aim, be received and please, without biting or striking back. There is some lift in Planeta’s 2023, in part because youth is a rebellious time to be frappato, but we know this too shall pass and the wine will settle without struggle. The fruit will remain and the song continue to play the same. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted May 2024

Planeta Nocera 2023, Sicilia DOC

Planeta Santa Cecilia 2021, Noto DOC

Planeta Didacus Cabernet Franc 2018, Sicilia Menfi DOC

Now in release mode at near six years past vintage and believe when you hear that six more are needed to fully develop the structural intensity so that all parts get to working as one. For now feel the positivity of varietal fruit so obvious and layered, concentrated and confident, but in truth there is a submission to the tannins. They are grainy and chalky, not austere, but yes aggressive. Be patient – this Didacus is a 20 year wine. Drink 2026-2036. Tasted May 2024

Spadafora Vignaioli In Sicilia Principe G 2023, Terre Sicilane IGP

The freshest of Spadafora’s nero d’Avola where acidity runs high, tannins lower and lighter wines are produced (in an area considered best for syrah). Fresh yes but there is a mild amount of Brettanomyces here, nothing striking but present. Natural wine lovers may just find this to their liking. Drink 2024-2025. Tasted May 2024

Spadafora Vignaioli In Sicilia Don Pietro 2020, Terre Siciliane IGP

A blend of nero d’Avola, merlot and cabernet sauvignon (40,30,30), aged in only concrete and steel for freshness first. Chalkiness arrives second with thanks surely to soil and here some Brett but also volatility that is a bit distracting. Again it’s just a fractional amount but it is there, however less so than the solo nero d’avola. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted May 2024

Spadafora Vignaioli In Sicilia Syrah 2021, Terre Siciliane IGP

Fermented in concrete and aged in steel, the freshest syrah that can be made to drink quickly, easily and without hesitation. Cleaner and fresher than the entry nero d’Avola with meatiness and mild peppery grip, though no real density to speak of. Great classic example for all red wine needs. You can chill this one. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted May 2024

Spadafora Vignaioli In Sicilia Syrah Sole Dei Padri 2012, Terre Siciliane IGP

Spadafora Vignaioli In Sicilia Merlot Schietto Selezione Limitada 2016, Terre Siciliane IGP

First vintage though merlot has been growing for many years and so after many trials it has been decided to make a solo effort. Proper, merlot-ness straight away, fruity and verdant. Clean and the land gives the life, breathes of fresh air and soil earthiness that runs complex if dry through the wine. Fine merlot, chic, suave and rewarding. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted May 2024

Spadafora Vignaioli In Sicilia Nero d’Avola Schietto Selezione Limitada 2016, Terre Siciliane IGP

Ferments in concrete, ages in steel and 50 percent goes to barrel before going back to tank. Pretty much seven-plus years in total. Maturing and while there are some drying oxidative notes in dried fruit and herbs there is also freshness, acidity and energy. True nero d’Avola locution imagined as Riserva comparable with many other Italian wines, while harmony and style really tell the story. Very, very well made wine with great further potential for aging. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted May 2024

The team at Totò Navarra

Tenute Navarra Disiato 2023, Sicilia DOC

Dark sandy soils and also light clay to effect frappato more towards the lighter side. Raised only in stainless steel, maintaining ultra freshness, clarity and my goodness this is so drinkable. Top acidity with simple tannin, far from grippy though it’s there, “to wash the mouth.” Crunchy and easy. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted May 2024

Tenute Navarra Maribu 2022, Cerasuolo Di Vittoria DOCG

The classic mix of nero d’avola and frappato, here in 2022 the blend is 50-50 when sometimes it can be 70-30 or 60-40. A vintage where the two work seamlessly together and frappato carries more meaning than it often will. All sorts of berries, one after another, an apothem of a Cerasuola from which drinkability meets structure pretty much halfway there. A linear blend that travels from its centre to the midpoint of one of its sides. Really fine, of top quality freshness and clarity. Tonnino Guzzo is a winemaker who obviously keeps an immaculate cellar and makes the cleanest wines. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted May 2024

Tenute Navarra Battichié 2021, Sicilia DOC

Battichié, a lullaby that Totò’s mother Maria used to sing to him when he was a child. One year in French barriques, one in steel and then followed by another in bottle. Truth is the grape and soils do show through, even while this remains so youthful, once again proving a winemaker’s acumen and ability. No over use of wood, still clear and fresh with more pieces to the varietal puzzle already there yet still to develop. Ten year nero d’avola for sure. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted May 2024

Good to go!

godello

The view from Mangia Pollina Beach Resort

Castello Di Vicchiomaggio Chianti Classico DOCG Guado Alto 2022, Greve

100 Years of Chianti Classico and Collection Previews 2024

Jul1

Cento Anni di Chianti Classico, Palazzo Vecchio, Firenze

The year 2024 marks a historic one for Chianti Classico’s producers, their land and consortium. It was 100 years ago that Italy’s first Consorzio was formed and today it so effectively conducts affairs on behalf of and at the behest of the most important red wine of Italy. The ambasciatore Godello was a guest to the May 14th Gallo Nero celebrations and later in the month returned for another week of interviews. This on the heels of a most recent month-long journey spent in Tuscany, first taking in the Chianti Classico Collection, then followed by two full weeks of meeting with dozens of producers. The current preoccupation is with Chianti Classico’s next generation, whose daughters, sons, nieces and nephews are returning to work their farms alongside parents and grandparents at nearly forty estates. And counting. The region’s progeny and their view to the future ushers in an extant situation of meaning and promise. Feel free to read between the lines and envision what stories will next be revealed.

Chianti Classico gives unconditionally and without seemingly ever needing to try we receive its gifts, all in and forever. There can never be enough days spent transversing its verdant hills, foraging in teeming forests, walking up and down rows through 10,000 hectares of vineyards or breaking bread with its people. It is simply never enough. Four decades of the Gallo Nero have occupied the writer’s mind, heart and eyes from a territory unlike any other and in the last eight years the association has bordered on obsession. Visits in the last six months have seen the author driving to all points taking in its 11 UGAs, talking, tasting and better getting to know acquaintances and friends. All in the name of “love for the territory, passion for quality, social cohesion, vision and foresight.”

Godello at Villa Calcinaia

The promise of 2024 comes on the heels of a most challenging 2023 vintage which saw more spikes in extreme but also unpredictable climate events, but also 30 days of (May-June) constant rain that encouraged the nasty downy mildew issue called Perenospera. The serious pathogenic foliar disease reveals itself in the form of leaf spots, blights, and distortions, forcing the hands of growers to effect a strong, concerted and persistent attempt at spraying copper and sulphur to combat its deadly activity. This next vintage will fare much better, climate be willing, yet it remains to be seen just how resilient Chianti Classico vines will be.

Consorzio Vino Chianti Classico Cento Anni Gala, Teatro della Pergola di Firenze

In the third week of May the three Capponi siblings, Tessa, Sebastiano and Niccolò hosted a grand celebration of Villa Calcinaia’s 500th anniversary. At Brancaia in Radda it was proprietor Barbara Widmer who poured 20 vintages of her Toscana IGT Ilatraia. A meaningful visit with Martino Manetti at Montevertine helped to recalibrate and reorganize thoughts about sangiovese and Chianti Classico. Back in December of 2023 the writer spent a few days with Isole e Olena’s Paolo de Marchi as he packed up to depart after four decades at Olena and blended his final wines at the San Donato in Poggio estate. Working with him briefly on VinSanto del Chianti Classico 2011 will never be forgotten. De Marchi is a Chianti Classico treasure and history will always regard him as a winemaker, thinker and great man who was integral to the appellations’ transition from the 20th into the 21st century. As will many other women and men of the territory who begin the conversion processes of passing their torches to the next generation. These last five years have seen the first stages of a paradigm shift now in full swing and these next five will see to Italy’s most fascinating transformation. The modern era of a next golden age is upon Chianti Classico and if you are not already paying attention, it’s high time to get on board.

Related – Chianti Classico goes to eleven

Cento Anni

On May 14th, 2024 the Chianti Classico Consortium celebrated its first century together with the city of Florence, one hundred years ago after its founding in Radda in Chianti. The first consortium established its offices in the historic Uguccioni Palace in Florence’s Piazza della Signoria and the 2024 occasion resumed its position in these headquarters located within the historic city centre. Godello was proud, privileged, overjoyed and content to have been invited to participate in such a sincere and consummately orchestrated occasion.

President Giovanni Manetti speaks at the Chianti Classico Consorzio Cento Anni, Palazzo Vecchio, Firenze

The day’s events began with the conference “Back to the Future: Sustainability and regional identity – The future of quality winegrowing,” moderated by Luciano Ferraro – Corriere della Sera in the Salone dei Cinquecento in the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence. First introductions by Consorzio President Giovanni Manetti and Director Carlotta Gori. Local speakers were Francesco Lollobrigida – Minister for Agricultural Minister, Food Sovereignty and Forestry; Eugenio Giani – President of the Regione Toscana; Dario Nardella – Mayor of Florence. Esteemed guests from other significant denominations were invited to offer up their congratulations; Matteo Ascheri – President of the Consorzio Barolo Barbaresco Alba Langhe e Dogliani, Italy; Gilberto lareias – President of Port and Douro Wines Institute, Portugal; Morgen McLaughlin – Executive Director of Willamette Valley Wineries Association and Wine Foundation, Oregon USA; Thiébault Huber – President of Confédération des Appellations et des Vignerons de Bourgogne, France; Maxime Toubart e David Chatillon – Co-presidents of Comité Champagne, France.

Chianti Classico Cento Anni, Teatro della Pergola di Firenze

What followed was a dissertation and then a round-table discussion covering the intrinsic link between wine and land, the cultural landscape and sustainability. Speaking on Chianti Classico’s cultural landscape was Professor Paola Eugenia Falini – Head of science for the UNESCO application and her talk titled “The estate-villa structure in Chianti Classico.” Ferraro led the round-table with Giovanni Manetti, Piero Antinori, Tessa Capponi-Borawska, Giangiacomo Gallarati Scotti Bonaldi, David Gleave MW, Monica Larner, Prof. Andrea Lucchi and Alessandro Masnaghetti.

Chianti Classico Back to the Future

Nine other events took place over the course of three days in May; Five meetings with starred Florentine chefs, their plates paired with Chianti Classico wines, a musical pairing orchestrated by Leonardo Romanelli and conducted by Filippo Bartolotta. Of greater significance to the future of the Black Rooster were gatherings moderated of Falstaff Magazine’s Simon Staffler with the next generation of producers under 40 who are being passed the baton and given the keys to the territory’s future. The most exciting Cento Anni event took place in the evening of May 14th where 500 guests gathered at the Teatro della Pergola di Firenze for a gala dinner to win all gala dinners. Nothing in Italy recently experienced has compared to the night’s mix of spectacular and emotion.

Cento Anni at Prowein 2024

As with previous anteprime collections the vintages poured were varied and so it was the mix of 2022, 2021, 2020 and 2019 wines that collectively offered up an indication of what is happening in today’s Chianti Classico. Many of the ’22s were poured from campione, hit or miss tank samples often challenging to assess and so even at the Annata level the ’21s are considered to be the current vintage. Though lower in quantity it is the 2021s that are of truly exceptional quality. The 2022s are stringently stubborn, requiring time and several producers chose to keep their wines behind to give these next releases a few more months in the bottle. In this report the lion’s share of wines tasted happened over the course of one week ahead of, during and across two further weeks following the 2024 Chianti Classico Collection at the Stazione Leopolda in Florence. Some additional notes are from visits made in December 0f 2023 that were not included in Godello’s recap report covering the second half of that calendar year. More tastings from May 2024 are also included in the following 403 reviews.

Last one standing (sitting and tasting) at the Chianti Classico Collection 2024

The breakdown is as follows: Chianti Classico DOCG 2022 (49); Chianti Classico DOCG 2021 (80); Chianti Classico DOCG 2020 (19); Chianti Classico DOCG Older Vintages (14); Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2021 (14); Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2020 (34); Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2019 (12); Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG older vintages (18); Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2021 (7); Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2020 (35); Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2019 (20); Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG older vintages (12); VinSanto del Chianti Classico DOCG (2); IGTs (87). Thank you to everyone for reading.

Chianti Classico DOCG 2022

Banfi Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, Castellina

Dusty and sweetly herbal sangiovese with the warmth of vintage and softness endearing through 10 percent cabernet sauvignon plus (5) merlot. A chewy texture, easy and getable, of no particular pinpointing, yet proper for its broad swath of distinction. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted February 2024

Errico, Marta and Gabriele Buondonno

Buondonno Chianti Classico DOCG Podere Casavecchia Alla Piazza 2022, Castellina

A finished wine already blended though drawn from a sample that will be bottled in December. A bigger production than normal and so a sangiovese of volume in more than one dimension. There was some rain in the summer to make the difference but not much, neither occurring too early or too late to compromise quality. Solo sangiovese in vitro projecting forward towards really important structure noted through some chalky tannins. Spiced and spicy notes, depth of fruit and also lifted acidty, all adding up to a Chianti Classico packed with more stuffing than many. This is as good as anything Gabriele has, but also now in collaboration with son Errico Buondonno have made to date. Drink 2025-2031. Tasted December 2023 and February 2024

Castagnoli Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, Castellina

Castellare Di Castellina Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, Castellina

True blue 2022 still working through the motions of getting ready for the world and the journey ahead. Ripe fruit from 2022, like 2017 but with more succulence and generosity. Juxtaposed by an underlay of evergreen and a moment of creosote, but also clove. Concentrated from a well-pressed and extracted sangiovese made just that little bit sapid from five percent canaiolo. Wait a year at the very least. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted February 2024

Cecchi Chianti Classico DOCG Storia Di Famiglia 2022, Castellina

Querceto Di Castellina Chianti Classico DOCG L’Aura 2022, Castellina

L’Aura is another 2022 that shows a readiness and immediate appeal much sooner than most, with thick and unctuous fruit made fresh and bright by one of the higher points in Castellina. Great spicy accents, salt and pepper seasoning, thick pulpy red fruit and some of the vintage’s sweetest acidity. A terrific early to mid term sangiovese. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2024

Andrea, Daniela, Sergio and Giulia Zingarelli – Rocca delle Macìe, Castellina

Rocca Delle Macìe Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, Castellina

The line of Rocca delle Maciè Chianti Classico is now separated from the single estate wines, but says Andrea Zingarelli “these are the wines that show where we were born.” Another hot vintage but perhaps more equilibrium overall than 2021 and it shows. This separates from Famiglia Zingarelli and yet it’s inextricably linked. There is five percent merlot that rounds it out and the fruit comes from all the (and only) Castellina estates. No noise, just the facts and the sounds, smells and tastes of the territory. This may just be the cleanest, naturally sweetest and perfectly drinkable Rocca delle Maciè Chianti Classico ever produced. It will appeal to any and all. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted December 2023 and February 2024

Tenuta Di Bibbiano Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, Castellina

With Sophie Conte – Tregole

Tregole Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, Castellina

Fèlsina Berardenga Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Tenuta Di Arceno Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Campione: Sample or not this smells just like Tenuta di Arceno. A southeastern Castelnuovo Berardenga dry, dusty, sharp red fruit and herbal aromatic swell that increases with air to a glorious vanishing point. What follows is another swell of the same fruit and equally sharp acids that carry on wayward along. As for 2022 well this may seem akin to 2017 but as an Annata so much brighter, cleaner, fresher and frankly better. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2024

Tolaini Chianti Classico DOCG Vallenuova 2022, Castelnuovo Berardenga

A finished wine though quite compact and reserved so seemingly caught in that limbo between the idea of campione and set to be ready. Quiet and tight, some leather and cherry but those typical notes don’t say so much. Strong-willed, forcefully tannic and frankly feeling pretty ambitious. Should rightly age long and successfully though the jury is out on where and what the end game will be. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted February 2024

Villa A Sesta Chianti Classico DOCG Il Palei 2022, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Campione: Strong willed, boned and still in a state of reserve for a 2022 that not only needs to find the bottle but also further in bottle aging to open up any cracks in the structure. Rich and caky, wood a serious factor at this stage with a structural comport that will see a ’22 follow the sun towards a good long life ahead. Drink 2026-2031. Tasted February 2024

With Arturo Pallanti – Castello di Ama, Gaiole

Castello Di Ama Ama Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, Gaiole

Only Ama could pull and gift this much upfront fruit to draw us in as quickly as we do. Richness accrued and balance incarnate, more than juicy acidity and fully encapsulating tannin. If this is what Annata is all about the ceiling is unlimited for San Lorenzo and the more interlocutory and focused single vineyard Gran Selezione. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted February 2024

Castello Di Meleto Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, Gaiole

Fattoria San Giusto A Rentennano Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, Gaiole

Campione: Super ripe of fresh blueberry and sappy at this awkward stage. No doubt about the tenets of depth, breadth and major substance, not to mention ripe, layered and sweet acidity followed by crispy tannins. Long life ahead that should begin to unfold in three years time. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted February 2024

La Montanina Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, Gaiole

Campione: Less of a hard nut to crack as far as 2022 barrel samples are concerned because La Montanina’s has found and first turns to upfront fruit. The middle ground is a bit chaotic but then the finishing parts ate about as powerful as they are capable of brining it all together. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted February 2024

Le Miccine Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, Gaiole

Ricasoli Chianti Classico DOCG Brolio 2022, Gaiole

Classic lift and high tone of a Ricasoli Annata, more so than those of the recent past. Several layers are here to unfurl, first from classic cherries, followed by Gaiole saveur and notable wood spice. Almost a smoulder but not quite, plenty of freshness and a true sense of 2022. Really well made and appreciated. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2024

Riecine Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, Gaiole

By now this unctuousness and thickened emulsification of the palate’s mouthfeel has become the calling card of 2022 Chianti Classico. Richness, sweet acidity and succulence with this by Riecine arrives as sweetly concurrent as they come. This means tannins as well, good for the gander if not for the long-term cellar. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted February 2024

Rocca Di Castagnoli Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, Gaiole

You could blind these 2022 Chianti Classico and no matter the UGA they all deliver a thickening of glycerol texture and glide silkily across the palate. There is just a hint of reduction in the Rocca di Castagnoli with moments here and there of Gaiole savour before finishing with a pique of seasoning and spice. Good complexity and fine tannins seal the deal. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted February 2024

Carpineto Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, Greve

Campione: Youthful an traditional sample, Greve classicism defined, dry and balsamic inflected, tannic and far from opening forward. Doors are closed and may not open for another year. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted February 2024

Castello Di Querceto Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, Greve

Comfortably reductive and set in its ways but also into skin because the quality of skins in this higher quantity Annata are in delivery of top freshness and potential. A fine example of vintage and one to set eyes on the future with peppery sweetness of fruit and spice. Crunchy and furthering the notion for how Castello di Querceto has truly cemented into the golden age of its Chianti Classico style. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted February 2024

Querciabella Chianti Classico DOCG 2021

A blend of all vineyards, Ruffoli (Greve), Lamole and Radda, 100 percent sangiovese since 2010. Frost in April claimed many buds but the soldiering on resulted in high quality fruit from all three sources to create as fine an Annata, variegated as ever they could layer as Querciabella. Fruit, acid, tannin on perpetual repeat, mille foglia, maximizing natural purity and sweetness. Also as aromatically charged of tri-terroir perfume to lead where and for what a Querciabella attempting to express itself must be. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted February 2024

Castellinuzza E Piuca Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, Lamole

Campione: Full on expression of the Lamole perfume, from violets and iris to the wet green moisture from calcareous hillsides and humid sandy soil elegance. A lovely swirl of fruit so glycerol in nature and that gentle pique of spiciness upon the palate. This is a 2022 that will be glorious because the team and their most focused of micro commitments have really found the vintage beauty out of the UGA. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted February 2024

Lamole Di Lamole Chianti Classico DOCG Duelame 2021, Lamole

Le Palaie Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, Montefioralle

High octane aromatics, petrol and plasticine, raw dough and reduction. A train wreck up front and then beautifully glycerin on the palate. Gives off the feeling of a Campione because of the early heat and oxidative sample. Thinking the finished wine will be a great improvement, Stay tuned for another taste somewhere down the line. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted February 2024

Gagliole Chianti Classico DOCG Rubiolo 2022

Campione: Big, bold and promising Gagliole Annata sample, fortified by Alberese and Pietraforte stony soils, clearly large and impressive. Big tannic freight and profile for the appellation, two years away from settling and five more before the window is fully open. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted February 2024

Il Molino Di Grace Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, Panzano

Though the journey for 2022 was a challenge it was also a vintage combining quantity an quality, then ultimately balance. Tasting from several tanks saw some variability in the samples but technical director Iacopo Morganti’s culm measures and crafty blending helped this sangiovese find its way. The cuvée has finished clean and moderate, certainly lighter than 2020 and 2021 but characterful to a great solo varietal degree. A clarified 2022 that fills the spirit, reminds of the place and provides conspicuous local macchia or balsamico. Treads lightly and delivers that Panzano at Radda’s border to a “T.” Fine wine, nothing big or impressive, but simply IMG sangiovese. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted May 2024

Pizza by Michael Schmelzer

Monte Bernardi Chianti Classico DOCG Retromarcia 2022, Panzano

Bottled in March, classically Montebernardi juicy as F and at the peak of Panzano perfume. Spiced chalky aromatics too, carried forward and that’s the segue in combination to accede a structured feeling for unlimited possibility. The appellative level seems not to matter because this is cracker fresh and pure sangiovese from the thinking grower and winemaker that is Michael Schmelzer. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted again, May 2024

Campione: Just pulled from barrel so not yet blended and therefore not a finished wine. A perfumed, classically so vintage with succulence, crunchy and liquid peppery. Not its most refined vintage, neither vivid nor intense but it will surely show better once it settles in bottle. Truly perfumed and that will only increase as well with time. Tasted February 2024

Monte Bernardi Chianti Classico DOCG Sangio’ 2022, Panzano

Brancaia Chianti Classico

Brancaia Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, Radda

All sangiovese with Radda and Castellina fruit, mostly in concrete (though not quite all) and only steel for the rest. Some fruit is or will be coming from Poggiolo Vineyard in Castellina, a property owned by Candians Rob and Darcy Gillespie. Juicy and simply freshness incarnate. Last tasted April 2024

Sleek, suave and chic Annata for Brancaia out of 2022 with layers of red and blue fruit augmented by quality tannins. Early stages of reserve and reduction but there is no questioning the levels of substance. An extension of a change in style that began in 2019 with the move to bright and honest Classico, yet ’22 is clearly bigger, weightier and with increased structure. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted February 2024

Castello Di Albola Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, Radda

Top Radda terroir, high elevation, rolling terrain, excellent exposure and no lack for biodiversity. Adds up to great potential while 2022 is currently rough and tumble. Chewy sangiovese with wood still noted and yet to melt into the whole. Time will be an ally so that the rustic elements soften and parts integrate better. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted February 2024

At Radda nel Bicchieri with Angela Fronti and Lorenza Rossi

Istine Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, Radda

Campione: “Arancia sanguinella,” says Angela Fronti, that note of blood orange she always finds in her wines. A really dry summer and you find a level crunchiness and dried herbs from a vintage where picking continued consistently every morning through late September and early October. Clean the grapes as you go explains Fronto and in the end she was very happy with both quality and quantity. Crisp and crunchy Annata for Angela Fronti, undisclosed in its gratuity and wound up like Angela Fronti on a 100 foot high rock face. In other words focused, determined and competitive. Not sure this should even be tasted and assessed in any shape or form today. Come back soon. Tasted February 2024

L’Erta Di Radda Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, Radda

Campione: Now the is a proper sample. Fresh, clean, energetic and persistent – doubly refreshing. Lift and beauty of sangiovese with that perfectly judged pH and sapidity raised by 10 percent canaiolo. The problem is this is the kind of sample that makes producers want to submit more of them and yet great showings like this from L’Erta di Radda are the few and far between. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted February 2024

Monteraponi Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, Radda

Might come in thinking that tasting and assessing a 2022 and Monteraponi would not be a great idea in February of 2024 but this Braganti sangiovese shoots favourably straight out of the gate. A fulsome and handsome Radda as a varietal expression of fruit so ripe and unctuous you might consider drinking a bottle today. Surprising candour for a Monteraponi this early in its life but there it is, open and generous, social and genteel. Structured as well for many years to continue acting this way. Someone and something has surely softened. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted February 2024

Cigliano di Sopra, San Casciano

Fattoria Cigliano Di Sopra Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, San Casciano

For Maddalena Fucile and Matteo Vaccari the hope is to increase to a maximum of 12 hectares and 35,000 bottles. “This is our dimension,” tells Matteo. And drinking others’ wines is key because if you don’t know what you like then you don’t know how to get where you want to go. The 2022 Annata was just bottled six-plus weeks ago, on August 31st and so this potential hinderance is kept in mind. The first vintage for which a portion was aged in the used Stockinger cask and some more stem (whole bunch) usage moved from (normally 20ish) up to 50-60 percent. You can sense the energy and increased power but still there is a transparency and a purity of red fruit that will not be denied. Comparisons are futile but those who seek out this style in cru Barbaresco or Côtes de Nuits Premier Cru will latch on here, likely to never let go. Next level for Fucile and Vaccari. Don’t care how young this wine happens to be – the potential can’t be ignored. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted October 2023 and February 2024

La Vigna Di San Martino Ad Argiano Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2022, San Casciano

Campione: The tiniest of properties (one hectare) and smallest of productions (2,000 bottles) in San Casciano from Chiettini. A sample but one nose into this 100 percent sangiovese and you know you’ve found something meaningful. A wisdom in the wine born of great terroir and an agronomist’s acumen. The winemaker seems inconsequential or at least respectful to everything else. There is calm demeanour and a presence of freshness, soulful savour and weight without compression. Hard to know what it’s all about, but knowing more will be a next pursuit. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted February 2024

Luiano Chianti Classico 2022, San Casciano

As youthful as it gets for assessing 2022 Chianti Classico and in fact it’s hard to remember a vintage its equal. 2017? Not even remotely exactly. And yet the ’22 from Alessandro Palombo is a thing of San Casciano beauty, aromatically charged of local perfume with as much depth in red fruit as there can be. Clearly verdant as per the UGA’s way while the fruitiness marries happily and walks equally side by side. Merlot does indeed soften and alter the overall expression but why knock deliciousness? Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2024

Montesecondo Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, San Casciano

Quite a taut and wound Annata for 2022 with the advantage of elevation next to woods for freshness and crispy preservation. Does well to foil the dried herbs, brushy savour and further aridity provided by austere tannins. Should all come together in two years. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted February 2024

Poggio Torselli Il Contadino Cusano Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, San Casciano

Campione: Second vintage with oenologist Carlo Ferrini with a different process and yes the difference is immediately obvious. New tonneaux and 30 hL botti now housing the Annata, old barriques tossed out the window and the new balance is felt in the most palpable way. Rosso di Montalcino comes to mind and while that comparison may seem sanctimonious or anti-Classico, well just taste the style and level of quality. Juicy, blood orange in that regard and pretty much a finished wine. Stands up to be noticed. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2024

Principe Corsini Villa Le Corti Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, San Casciano

Villa Le Corti’s Annata is just about as ready in youth as they come for 2022 and that is not something that can often be said. Duccio Corsini’s work in the river stone strewn fields and modern approach in the winery have been showing recent gains but they keep on coming for sangiovese (and five percent colorino) for immediately gratifying appeal. This will be ready to please in full by the fall of 2024 and with zero reason to doubt. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted February 2024

Casa Emma Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, San Donato In Poggio

Blend is 90 percent sangiovese, (5 each) canaiolo and malvasia nera. A 2022 and so a finished wine recently put to bottle but still reductive, reactive and closed beneath a hard structured shell. Full vintage fruit and acidity captured no doubt if hard to access because of extreme youth. Great potential lays ahead no doubt. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted February 2024

Castello Di Monsanto Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, San Donato In Poggio

One of the prettier 2022s at this earliest of stages because there is nary a moment of reduction, nor drying notes of any sort to distract. Aromatically open and still secure though no impenetrable fortifications hiding the beauty of fruit or potential of the wine. Traditional sangiovese plus two complimentary varieties for a Monsanto take of the estate’s specific corner of San Donato in Poggio so proximate to Poggibonsi. A full and substantial Annata with a high ceiling as an example set for the UGA and also the territory. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted February 2024

Le Filigare Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, San Donato In Poggio

Campione: Stewed and reductive, nearly impossible to assess. Rich an chalky fruit, loads of acidity and tannin. So very sangiovese with a sapid strike by canaiolo and intensity (also for colour) by colorino. Return after two years in bottle. Tasted February 2024

Quercia Al Poggio Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, San Donato In Poggio

No other Annata is field blend relatable as this from Quercia al Poggio with at least four additional varieties filling out the 80 percent minimum of sangiovese. A largest portion of (12 percent) ciliegiolo and bits of canaiolo, malvasia near and colorino add up to quite a fantastical mix that truly compliment, season, spice, elevate and lift this Annata. A truly fine ’22, rich enough but so complex and quite frankly just has to be the top this far for Vittorio Rossi and oenologist Maurizio Castelli. Drink 2024-2031. Tasted February 2024

Cantine Bonacchi Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, Vagliagli

Large production from Vagliagli, wood dominant in resinous and medicinal aromas. Lacks some clarity because the winemaking clouds the source and the wine turns toasted and pruned towards the end. Drink 2024. Tasted February 2024

Terra Di Seta Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, Vagliagli

Southern Castelnuovo Berardenga within the western Vagliagli wing savvy and seductive character, big on fruit though more restrained out of 2022 than before. Deep of inflections reddening to black though again there is a level of admirable restraint. Quite tannic however and so consistent with previous vintages there is a need to exercise some patience. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted February 2024

CCC2024 at Stazione Leopolda

Chianti Classico DOCG 2021

Cecchi Chianti Classico DOCG Storia Di Famiglia 2021, Castellina

The only Cecchi Chianti Classico produced as a négociant with some other Castellina grapes purchased for this Storia di Famiglia. The family wine, most distributed, easy to drink, just sangiovese and one that must be “a mirror to the vision,” inists Andrea Cecchi, which it clearly is in the most professional way. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted May 2024

Cecchi Chianti Classico DOCG Primecolle Villa Cerna 2021, Castellina

Primecolle, the first hill that you see coming in to Villa Cerna with a 360 degree panorama. The expression is not the same as that of Storia di Famiglia but still freshness and Castellina savour that comes from the local argilla soil. More terroir involved, a balsamico and identity that’s even a bit rustic, austere and stringent. Crunchy sangiovese however, with a more trenchant identity and one to really sink your teeth into. Drink 2024-20267. Tasted May 2024

With Enrico, Monica and Cosimo at Villa Pomona

Fattoria Pomona Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Castellina

From Pomona comes beauty and also love, of sangiovese (with just two splashes of colorino because it’s there) and who would not intuit that Monica Raspi has become one of this territory’s great instinctual makers of Chianti Classico wines. Rich and understated, unctuous, restrained and refined. Precisely Raspi, Pomona and this drift of a vineyard space in southern Castellina. Something about this Annata is just perfect. Last tasted February 2024

Monica Raspi’s acumen and comfort level have acceded the exceptional because she is passionate about making top echelon sangiovese as much as any winemaker, self-taught or not in Chianti Classico. The 2021 includes just five percent colorino, took 10 days to ferment and remained on its skins for somewhere between three and four weeks. This is a significant number, more prevalent in the region than it was just a few years ago and when managed right will transform Chianti Classico into sangiovese of the ethereal. A substantial, silken and seductive ’21 here from Pomona with its mix of sweet acidity and Castellina liqueur. The tannins are liquid Alberese chalky from a linear wine moving upwards and forwards in stride. This has the length and the balsamico specific to Pomona. A top body of Annata work from Raspi and just the sort of style to pass on to the next generation; Cosimo and Costanza. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted October 2023

Lornano Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Castellina

More richness and density than what we’re used to from a Lornano Annata, especially from one made with 100 percent sangiovese. Immediate warmth aromatically speaking and without pause to palate, nor as breaks in structure. A sensation of roasted nightshade vegetables and toasted meaty char. Would be a confusing wine poured in a blind tasting with some varietal examples from the southern hemisphere. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2024

Mazzei Chianti Classico DOCG Fonterutoli 2021, Castellina

Always traditional with a dried herbal, dusty and brushy component, but truth is the refinement in concrete really silkens and smooths out Annata for an enticing and getable drink now style. Challenging but conversely successful vintage because fruit stands up vertically with the gift from an outstretched sangiovese arm of immediate gratification. Top quality for the usually healthy production Classico for here, now and all to enjoy. Will show at its best a year from now. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted February 2024

With Giacomo Nardi – Nardi Viticoltori, Castellina

Nardi Viticoltori Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Castellina

For Giacomo the Classico is a “traditional blend and vinification.” Elevated and lifted aromatics from Castellina for Annata, aromatically charged, lifted, phenolic and allied to the palate with well ripened fruit. Sees time in Botti (Tuscan from near Ruffina) and Slavonian wood. Not so much a matter of volatility as about freshness, but a verdant stripe does run thorough the perfume’s middle. Cool, minty savoury, sapid and salty with a feeling of the endemic ethereal. Great curiosity and controlled intensity for Nardi’s 2021. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted twice, February 2024

Nittardi Chianti Classico DOCG Belcanto 2021, Castellina

A beautiful song indeed and so a Chianti Classico appropriately named delivers a thing of vintage beauty. Proficiently perfumed, spices piquing on the palate and strategically structured to create a wholly reasoned and seasoned sangiovese. The “other” varieties, whatever they may be and comprising 10 percent do right and well by this fine 2021. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted February 2024

Nittardi Chianti Classico Casanuova Di Nittardi DOCG “Vigna Doghessa” 2021, Castellina

Campione: Single vineyard or cru example and a sample with the uncanny aromas resembling anise or black liquorice. No missing that as distinct as it gets and this despite the reductive nature of the wine. Needs several years to unwind. Not the finest tank or barrel sample drawn but there is some idea where this is gong. Tasted February 2024

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. February 2023 and February 2024

Tenute Squarcialupi Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Castellina

From Castellina vineyards primarily west of the village in a gully shaped like a half-pipe amphitheatre, an amazing Chianti Classico microclimate that gives a special purpose to Tenute Squarcialupi’s sangiovese. Add in the next generation ideas of Cosimo Bojola and the torch passing is in transition. This is the classic, clean and traditional Annata that carries the stamp of Tommaso Bojola but in 2021 the connection with son Cosimo’s winemaking wisdom is closer than ever before. Tenute Squarcialupi 2021 Annata stands up linear, vertical and to be counted. It should not be missed. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted February 2024

Tenuta Di Lilliano Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Castellina

Spices mark the aromatics, pique the senses, draw in the olfactory and take the stage. A force upon the palate, more spice circling through mouthfeel and some black cherry bitters clasp the finish. Traditional and serviceable to vintage. Last tasted February 2024

A reminder that the Ruspoli were a high aristocratic family from Rome though originally from Florence. The estate is co-owned by brothers Giulio and Pietro Ruspoli and managed by Giulio Ruspoli since 1989. The 2021 Annata Classico is in fine shape, still chalky of tannins in the midst of its resolution and while it drinks well now (with some air), there are surely two to three years left for ongoing pleasure. Can’t see the fruit dissipating until late in 2026. Tasted January 2024

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

Cosimo and Tomasso Bojola – Tenuta Squarcialupi, Castellina

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

“L’Alta” Annata for Squarcialupi is this amphora indiction of indication that is simply the brainchild of next generation winemaker Cosimo Bojola. Connected in a most familial way to the other Classico but texture and mouthfeel are altered, transformed and transmogrified in the most religious way. The piety is born of sangiovese passion, to see through an ulterior if respectfully concurrent lens and the result is something emphatically restrained. Brilliance of red fruit purity with an underlying earthiness and brightness that supports the textural movements. The palate is aroused and the senses are piqued. Impossible to look or taste away. Last tasted February 2024

Squarcialupi farms 33 Castellina hectares plus 10 in Maremma. Tommaso 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

Carpineta Fontalpino Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Indelibly stamped Carpineta style while so very fresh for 2021, truly bright of great breaths of Castelnuovo Berardenga air. Aged in tonneaux after cement fermentation and to say this was judged with fine precision would be paying close attention to Gioia Crest’s acumen and always consistent deft touch. Spot on for 2021 in so many respects. Last tasted October 2023 and February 2024

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

Castello Di Bossi C. Berardenga Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Big production of quality across the board, of fruit layered in a thousand ways, all working together for the most solid and qualitative expression of 100 percent sangiovese. Proper, correct and professional. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted February 2024

Famiglia Losi – Losi Querciavalle, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Losi Querciavalle Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Campione: High-toned, lifted, Alberese directed, sauvage of aromatics on display. A nosing of volatile compounds which are often part of the sample experience and one not wholly indicative of what the settled and cleaned-up finished wine will be. Losi’s sangiovese are exceptional for Castelnuovo Berardenga and this gives little insight into what they can be. Tasted February 2024

Nicely settling in 2021 Annata from Arceno, compressing and compacting as it plays upon the palate, though underneath both acids and tannins continue to work their magic. These recent sangiovese (with 15 percent softening merlot) have found their rightful place on the Castelnuovo Beradenga spectrum. They are as clean, modern and generous as they come. Last tasted February 2024

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

Badia A Coltibuono Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Gaiole

The traditional estate blend, with canaiolo, colorino and ciliegiolo to compliment sangiovese. Two to three weeks of maceration, at the longer end from 2021 and for Gaiole this is just so Monti relatable with just about a 10 percent accent by Vagliagli within Castelnuovo Berardenga. Fine acidity for this Classico that hints at though stays quite clear of balsamico. Certified organic by Delineat, a private agro-forestry network now recognized by higher powers. The discipline includes solar work, carbon neutral footprint and lower levels of copper usage. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted October 2023 and February 2024

Bertinga Chianti Classico DOCG La Porta Di Vertine 2021, Gaiole

Bertinga’s is expressly Gaiole, verdant of its greens and clearly an expression off of rocky soils. You sense the land in the freshness and clarity of the sangiovese. Truly crispy and crunchy, mineral and tannin streaking simultaneously in parallel lines and length unrelenting for as long as the palate would wish to keep tasting the wine. Will age really well. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted February 2024

Cantalici Chianti Classico DOCG Baruffo 2021, Gaiole

Only sangiovese and about as obvious as a Gaiole UGA produced example as could ever be. The mix of dried herbals and forest brush, über savoury elements and drying tannins all add up to the tight and taut sort of Annata Classico so many know well. This must be cellared for a year our two before flesh and fruit pulpiness can be coaxed out of the structured shell. Drink 2026-2029. Tasted February 2024

Casa Al Vento Aria Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Gaiole

Campione: Closed and tart, tannins very much in the way and an awkwardness at this early stage. A must return no sooner than one year forward. Indicative of the perils of showing cask samples instead of finished wines. Tasted February 2024

Castello Di Cacchiano Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Gaiole

Real Monti in Chianti fixture within the Gaiole UGA with 2021 measuring 95 percent sangiovese, (4%) malvasia nera and (1) colorino. Noticeably reductive, intensity of focus and a Monti verdant quality captured to express terroir and also nature. Sifted softness owning the palate but also piques of spice and endemic character. Clearly a step up in quality and complexity for this truly historical estate. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2024

Fattoria San Giusto A Rentennano Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Gaiole

While the wines are really intense with extreme concentration there is some current difficulty to see them as pleasing. They remain a bit closed, especially on the nose but the potential for aging is great. Though it had been that way for some there were not great frost problems, Not just aromatic intensity but spice and attack on the palate, This strikes as something a bit difficult to drink at this time but the structure is surely impressive. This is Annata that would be Gran Selezione for at the very minimum another 150 estates. Last tasted February 2024

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

La Montanina Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Gaiole

The work of Bruno Mazzoni whose maternal grandfather was producing wine here in Gaiole in the 1970s. Mazzoni started tarted in 2006 wth a rebuilding of the cellar, first produced Chianti Classico in 2012, but waited a few years to begin selling the wines. His 2021 is a new and very youthful vintage made by winemaker Maurizio Longi for a Chianti Classico that shows off the true character and nature of Gaiole sangiovese. Tension and yet a transparency because it’s a bit lighter (than say 2019 or 2016) but the potential for aging here is great. Crunchy and crisp, a wine you can grip between the teeth and bite down, then finishing with piques of energy and spice. This is a fine wine of purpose. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted December 2023 and February 2024

Marchesi Frescobaldi Chianti Classico DOCG Tenuta Perano 2021, Gaiole

Rocca Di Montegrossi Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Gaiole

Sangiovese with canaiolo and colorino of a deep Chianti Classico hue that Marco Ricasoli explains “is fixed by the Alberese. It’s the calcium in the limestone that really helps this process.” So different than sangiovese coming from Macigno (as a general rule) yet here the colour is full and opaque. Fresh vintage, substantial fruit, quantity high, all things a winemaker wants from Chianti Classico. Purity of aromas, linear of style, stony moments from start to finish. Just beginning to open up and really quite salty. Will surely see this last through the decade in a nearly primary state. Last tasted October 2023 and February 2024

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

Castellaccio Chianti Classico DOCG Coste Di Felice 2021, Greve

Oxidative and a touch cooked in spite of acidity running high. Ample if decent fruit quality though it will travel quickly to where it needs to go. Drink as soon as possible. Tasted February 2024

Montecalvi Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Greve

Few (if any?) Chianti Classico sangiovese are augmented by the five percent mix of canaiolo and the rare canina nera, the latter of which has not been held with the greatest of reputation. Well, not since its popularity in the Middle Ages. Oft considered “a poor quality black grape that gives a terrible red wine with a dry and light flavour,” nevertheless here finding a way to elicit a positive effect. Winemaker Tim Manning has found the apex of excellence where fruit and acidity with that fineness of reduced sweet balsamic all meet and create a fine Chianti Classico 2021. Fine work no doubt. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted February 2024

Terreno Chianti Classico DOCG Le Tre Vigne 2021, Greve

The three vineyards refer to Terreno’s Homefront Greve, across the ridge’s rift at Solano (also in Greve) and finally Montefioralle. This mix of three soils which includes Monte Morello, Pietraforte and Alberese makes for one of those Chianti Classico so well-rounded and thrice fortified. The palate senses three layers of stone bled sangiovese inter-connected yet here the air breezes through each and lifts it all together. Brava Sofia. You’ve found and created an ideal 2021. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted February 2024

Torraccia Di Presura Chianti Classico DOCG Il Tarocco 2021, Greve

Big fruitful sangiovese from Torraccia di Presura, rich and suave, clean as a wet sponge wiping chalk off a blackboard which feels apropos because this is quite opaque and pitchy Classico. Ever so smouldering and shadowy swarthiness is ideal to break up the textural silkiness and remind us that sangiovese from 2021 and Greve is want to keep us on our tasting toes. This has much to give and give it will for three to five years. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2024

Fontodi Chianti Classico DOCG Filetta Di Lamole 2021, Lamole

The vintage is surely part of the equation but it’s almost impossible to believe that Lamole has come to this exquisite place. Perfumes as always present but tannins so very fine not just because of the sandstone but due to the maturity of the vines and the maker. Last tasted February 2024

Pure macigno (sandstone) terroir on terraces fully surrounded by woods and what is most essential in Filetta is the perfume that just has to come from Lamole. From 2021 a most proficient and promising one, an effortless exhale and a seamless transition to mimicry upon the palate. Well structured, so subtly chalky and a succulence meeting exuberance that is as much vintage as it is place. Freshness meeting concentration at the highest level. A complete vintage, needing not be compared to any other. We’ll think in these kinds of terms seven to 10 years down the road. Drink 2024-2032. Tasted October 2023

Fontodi Chianti Classico DOCG Pastrolo 2021, Lamole

The newest (along with San Leolino) of Fontodi’s Chianti Classico, from Lamole and a vineyard with unique geology, that being Macigno di Marne, a.k.a marine sandstone. Youthful and the oak flavours still act as a flannel blanket over the fruit but insists Giovanni Manetti, “it remains a question of time.” Second vintage of this label and destined to be a Gran Selezione when time, commissioned grants and the realization of a plan all come together in collective fruition. Average planting was back in the late 1970s with newer plantations going in. There were some mixed varieties, including canaiolo, trebbiano, malvasia and colorino. Meanwhile this is sangiovese, grippy, firm, austere and as they say, molto profumato. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted October 2023 and February 2024

I Fabbri Chianti Classico DOCG Lamole Olinto Grassie E Figlio 2021, Lamole

Aged only in concrete, “The sangiovese just to show the Lamole terroir,” tells Susanna. “The vineyards at the top do this best.” Which means this deserves to be on the label, no matter the appellative level. No appropriation here, just heritage. The perfume is the crux and heart of this matter. Acidity too, running through like a fast moving stream over pebbles, all of which are felt across the palate. Just ideal freshness, “the beauty of the simplicity,” adds Susanna. So pure. Last tasted February 2024

From the highest vineyard between 600 and 630m for a varietal sangiovese that separates itself from Olinto because that label holds 20 percent merlot, though 2021 will be the last vintage. From what Susann Grassi calls the “crispy” vintage” which translates as freshness incarnate and a crunchiness to the seriously spot on pure red fruit. This is so precise and the Lamole perfume exudes out of every pore. Only see concrete and at Annata level for Lamole that is the exact and proper thing to do. Brilliant. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted October 2023

Jurji Fiore e Figlia

Jurji Fiore E Figlia Chianti Classico DOCG Puntodavista 2021, Lamole

All of Jurji Fiore’s cru wines are vinified in the same way, that being 18 months in Burgundian barriques, 30 percent new. Vines are 50-60 years old so surely not 100 percent sangiovese near to Grospoli. A field blend from a vineyard that Jurji has been renting for 30 years. His next gen daughter Sara smells chiodo di garofano which is, but is not clove, either way its a spice from a dried flower seed that scents out from this Annata. The palate is also wild and leaping with a moment of swarthiness yet is quite perfectly clean for top shelf, fresh and exciting sangiovese. As fine an Annata as there can be and so perfectly expressive of modern Lamole’s potential. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted February 2024

Jurji Fiore E Figlia Chianti Classico DOCG Lamole Nonloso 2021, Lamole

The only cru that’s for sure 100 percent sangiovese because it comes from 20 year-old vines and is owned by the same farmer as Puntodavista in the Grospoli area. Lamole range, 18 months in three sizes of Bourgogne barrels, 30 percent new. The darkest and most intense because of recent clones playing a prominent role as compared to the others, also because those are field blends and representative of the traditional ways of the blending past. Same wood and timing but everything is elevated here, strung up inside a casing of acidity and an austerity of tannins. A sangiovese that needs time, to settle, for subsequent vintages to grow up, mature and join the balance that both Porcacciamiseria and Puntodavista already show. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted February 2024

Lamole Di Lamole Chianti Classico DOCG Duelame 2021, Lamole

Podere Castellinuzza – Paolo Coccia Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Lamole

Upwards elevation even for Lamole, here between 550 and 600m on two exposures, one to the east and one to the north. In this sense we are looking at the cooler meeting higher sector and so expect a different, more evergreen type of savour to exaggerate the Lamole perfume in a wholly other way. Freshness incarnate, no wood, only cement aging for 20 months and a true authenticity about the expression. Really pure, if you appreciate the way. Classic, naked Lamole Classico. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted October 2023 and February 2024

With La Famiglia Cappellini – Castello di Verrazzano, Greve

Castello Di Verrazzano Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Montefioralle

For Verrazzano a complicated and in the end balanced vintage but who could have forecasted the restrained power and elegance. A 100 percent sangiovese vintage and one of somewhat shortened vindication to capture the grace and especially acidity of the vintage. A bit of maceration that hints at carbonic but no fizzy pulse. Almost a spicy sensation on the palate but really a matter of total energy. Bravo. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted February 2024

Conti Capponi/Villa Calcinaia Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Montefioralle

Chianti Classico 2021 is an example of that rare occasion when savoury, or what so many like to refer to as balsamico richness defines sangiovese. In this case an Annata of layered red citrus fruit pulled from a plethora of estate Greve-Montefioralle sources, including several vineyards trained to Alberello. A heightened aromatic example for the vintage, balanced and delicate. Low quantity and highest of quality. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted May 2024

Jurji Fiore E Figlia Chianti Classico DOCG Altolà 2021, Montefioralle

Altolà, high elevation but from another UGA over there (that being across the valley in Montefioralle), but also a definition for the phrase “stop right there, at attention.” Another Villages wine but the paradox here is how the vineyard was in Panzano and after the UGA was created it fell under the auspices of Montefioralle. Clay soil with Pietraforte so very typically Panzano, darker of colour, fleshy, but with a fire touch. Closer to Nonloso than any of the other Lamole wines but here you have an old vineyard with other red varieties in the field mix. This is an incredible mix of the two, fleshy and rich yet lifted and elevated of incredibly sweet acids. Wow for a first vintage and so one can only imagine what’s to come. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted February 2024

Maurizio Brogioni Winery Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Montefioralle

Just a healthy splash of early ripening merlot softens and sweetens the Montefioralle sangiovese for a clean, technically sound and in its finest moments, also soulful Chianti Classico. Plenty of barrel involved, creating a resinous and soya sauced effect but fruit is bold, strong and able to handle the wood. Works out in the end though caramelization is coming soon. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted February 2024

Montefioralle wines

Montefioralle Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Montefioralle

Some heat in the ’21 perfumes but also a spice cupboard of exotics sifted into a masala as seasoning for seriously ripe sangiovese fruit. The six plus four percent of canaiolo and colorino are not to be forgotten because like the spices they are stirred and integrated so very well for a fully emulsified Annata. There is some lift and then piques of volatility which add to the warmth and the mystique. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted February 2024

Viticcio Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Montefioralle

Crispy sangiovese with a soft middle provided by five percent merlot and a fine example of suave 2021 Montefioralle Chianti Classico. Rich and the sort you can sink your teeth into for pairing with proteins of equal steading. ‘Tis a healthy and substantial Annata no matter how you slice, braise or roast it. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted February 2024

Cafaggio Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Panzano

Bonafide 2021 and exemplary varietal sangiovese from Panzano’s Cafaggio if one of the fleshier, riper and more glycerol examples. Tart and intense, acidity equal and opposing that fruit to carry forward all the way through. No hole or mid-palate fatigue but all in, all the time. A drink now and soon Annata with swagger and style. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted February 2024

Ca’ Di Pesa Chianti Classico DOCG Burrone 2021, Panzano

Small production of the etichetta label called Burrone, a gulch or a gully and the feel of gravity’s pull compresses to see this 100 percent sangiovese lay low in that depression. Not weighty per se but yet set in the lower reaches of brightness and energy. It’s a style for one that will age for a few years still. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2024

Fontodi Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Panzano

Always tasted second to Filetta and though perhaps 10 years ago that may have been the opposite the change has come. Truly salty veins running through the flesh of Panzano, with thanks to the mix of schist, calcaire and the great power of Pietraforte stone. Hold this 2021 for another year. Last tasted February 2024

Like the Filetta di Lamole, the Panzano Classico was also bottled quite recently and is to be released in the Spring of 2024. A full on expression of the Classico for Fontodi from a vintage of everything; substantial fruit, quality and quantity, acidity at peak, generosity and potential. What more does there need to be? About as full and classic as it gets for this stalwart and even just that wee bit of Panzano swarthiness that give these sangiovese their intrinsic and inherent character. Caught with spot on simplicity and poise. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted October 2023 and February 2024

Fontodi Chianti Classico DOCG Dino 2021, Panzano

A factor of the blue schist makes the call for amphora and if your mind is open and imagination runs loose then believe that the perfumes and flavours are truly connected to the soil. Leathery chew with infiltrate freshness, cake and chalk, tannin and acidity. Spices run amok. Everything captured and preserved, life still laid out long ahead. Just a bit of residual CO2 wards ofd oxidation and allows for lower sulphites usage. Last tasted February 2024

The Chianti Classico that sees amphora, stainless steel and also French wood – but no Slavonian oak. The outlier and if it needs be said, the experimental Annata. That said it has evolved from its IGT (Toscana Centrale) origins and the soils are Pietraforte in this specific micro-climate (a cooler one) from which finer and dustier tannins come away. More about texture in Dino but this is also a bit of a crooner expressive of songs sung from its valley origins. Not a frost zone because it buds later and at harvest time there is the diurnal fluctuation from 30 degrees by day to 10 at night. Great but different acidity from Dino, sweeter but also a balsamic aspect. Unique Classico in every respect. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted October 2023

Gagliole Chianti Classico DOCG Rubiolo 2021

Three terroir collection of Gagliole’s youngest vineyards across their estates, a macro of balancing related to soils built on Alberese, Pietraforte and Galestro. Brings all elements to the table; phenols, dusty savour and a mix of Classico acidities. In this vintage the pick was relatively late (especially in Panzano), as late as October 21 and 22. A management of vineyards leads to a capture of freshness so essential for the Annata level of Chianti Classico. Gagliole gets it in the most croccante way. Last tasted May 2023 and February 2024

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

Il Molino Di Grace Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Panzano

No, 2021 is not readying for the open window. Not yet. The tannins are still chalky and firm, the fruit bright and clean but they still submit to the tight clasp that grips and holds. No lacking for flesh and weight but yes the crisp character is what we are waiting for. Last tasted February 2024

A low (450 quintale or 45,000 kg) production vintage due to April frosts though the quality was very high. Is 2021 the best I ask Iacopo Morganti.“Every time the last one has to be the best one…though 2021 is like 2001. Similar vintage, weather included but there was more production from 2001.” The style is similar, also colour of fruit, elegance, light and ethereal with purposed acidity. “In 2020 the fruit was darker, you feel more oak,” he adds. These ‘21s are typical wines as and for sangiovese. Pure, light and so elegant, bottled on the 21st of September. Hard to find a more amenably front-ended Chianti Classico but the tannins are still somewhat aggressive. Not Riserva in that sense because there is less flesh and body. Still this is a discreetly charming 2021 and a great wine to drink, whenever you feel ready. Aging will be somewhere between six and nine years, give or take and depending on the situation. Drink 2024-2031. Tasted October 2023

Il Palagio Di Panzano Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Panzano

Le Fonti Di Panzano Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Panzano

Michael Schmelzer – Monte Bernardi, Panzano

Monte Bernardi Chianti Classico DOCG MB1933 2021, Panzano

From the 90 year-old vigorous vineyard and insists Michael Schmelzer, “it would be insane to make it not the way it was planted.” Ten grapes which add up to a 100 percent field blend that may include sangiovese, colorino rosso, colorino bianco, malvasia nera, canaiolo, malvasia nera and ciliegiolo. Once again the respect to agricultural heritage and long maceration conspire for complexities and flavours that most people don’t associate with Chianti Classico. If this is what the old farmers were producing then quality was actually a thing, at least in 1933. MB is Marcello Bartolini, teacher and mentor who just retired in December 2023. Crunchy, tart, red citrus intensity and a char of herbs. Perhaps not quite a unicorn but surely one of the most singular wines made in the entirety of the Chianti Classico territory. If classic is also a thing than this would be it but what it is not is Riserva, or Gran Selezione. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted February 2024

Cosimo and Sebastiano Gericke – Fattoria Rignana, Panzano

Fattoria Rignana Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Panzano

Just a small amount of April frost damage happened in the lower part of the vineyards near the Pesa River but the rest of the higher reaches were unscathed and so quantity out of ’21 was fine, while quality ran high. Just stainless and concrete (no wood) for a truly fresh and sustainable Annata. The 15 percent canaiolo adds a dimension of sapidity as balance to what sensations high acid and saline sangiovese are want to deliver. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted October 2023 and February 2024

Tenuta Casenuove Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Panzano

Beautifully settled sangiovese with that quick sapid kick urged on by five percent canaiolo. A lovely swirl of fresh and clean red fruit, unmistakable glycerol, late arriving acidity and nearly resolved tannin. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted February 2024

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

Borgo La Stella Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Radda

Quiet entry, reserved and not exceptionally fruity though a feeling of a place lurks in the shadows. Fresh, bright, clean and high acid. Not particularly fleshy, of lightning red fruit and satisfying. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2024

Borgo Salcetino Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Radda

Pure sangiovese, tiny production, tart, concentrated, verging on syrupy. Intensity of acidity and balsamico, a Radda stylistic magnified and hyperbolized for the world to see. Heart and sangiovese worn on sleeve. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted February 2024

Castello Di Radda Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Radda

Darker fruit adoration for the vintage owning to Castello di Radda’s south-central location within the UGA and the accumulation is duly noted. Levels of richness and yet this singsong quality that creates waves of fruit in and out of mild structure. Not the grippiest of ‘21s but one to enjoy in the near term. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted February 2024

Colle Bereto Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Radda

Classic Colle Bereto Annata, more estate style than Radda which is not a massive shock from the vintage. Clean, crisp and what can be thought upon as crispy, no departure from the UGA in that regard but the precision and clarity is expressly Colle Bereto. Grande, Bernardo Bianchi. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted February 2024

Istine Chianti Classico DOCG Vigna Istine 2021, Radda

Belvedere Campòli Guicciardini Campoli Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, San Casciano

As far as bottle quantities are concerned this is a tiny production of Classico sangiovese (with five percent) merlot. One that delivers naturally sweet red fruit and true succulence by way of equally delivered acidity yet without tension due ti never demanding tannin. Ever the slightest cherry bitters that dissipate in fade to finish black. What’s left is purity and grace. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2024

Calcamura Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, San Casciano

Campione: Limited production, 100 percent sangiovese of San Casciano bones, saltiness and energy. Notable as always for the herbs and verdancy but this edges up in volatility before descending into its tannic well. Taut finish and in need of two years to settle. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted February 2024

With Federica Capaccioli

Capaccioli – Poggio Niccolini Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, San Casciano

Dramatic and vivid Annata from San Casciano with all the wilds of soil, herbs, brushy plants and florals flying from the glass. The air is filled with orchids, violets, Macchia Mediterraneo, sweet sangiovese, Cassis bled cabernet and sapidity raising canaiolo. Top effort for the UGA with ample vintage personality. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2024

Casa Di Monte Chianti Classico DOCG Le Capitozze 2021, San Casciano

A 2021 and so a well and good finished wine not so long ago put to bottle but still reactive and closed beneath a hard structured shell. Full vintage fruit and acidity captured no doubt if still a challenge to access because of extreme youth. Full disbursement of great potential lays ahead. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted February 2024

Castelli Del Grevepesa Chianti Classico DOCG Clemente VII 2021, San Casciano

Nicely settled and so a wise decision to pour 2022 for the anteprima. Can’t miss the rye bread toast and verdant streak for a Clemente VII of more substance and rallying cry than many. Professional tannins present in the room are tied by acidity as catalyst and bind. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted February 2024

Cigliano di Sopra Vigneti Branca ready for labelling

Cigliano Di Sopra Chianti Classico DOCG Vigneto Branca 2021, San Casciano

A single vineyard, 100 percent whole bunch, 35 days on skins macerated best parcel (of massal selection planted in 1972) sangiovese that is the first true experiment in the young winemaking lives for Maddalena Fucile and Matteo Vaccari. Reminds of the Annata in that transparency, purity and focus are all there but imagine more energy, vibrancy, power, grip and intensified, implosive tannins. And yet, and yet the push here is just a bit overarching because a minor note of green austerity does arrive, however fleeting it may be. Nevertheless this is the summit of the current pinnacle of the duo’s CdS success. Next is to see how they will go next level, because when the going gets “maniaci,” the “maniaci” turn pro. Bottled on April 14th, 2023. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted October 2023 and February 2024

La Sala Del Torriano Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, San Casciano

Spicy aromatics lead the way for La Sala’s ’21 Annata, nothing unusual about it, consistent with previous vintages and the estate’s search for aromatics. What separates this vintage is the fulsome and glissade quality gracing the palate that presents more fruit in waves, swells and even this oozing kind of feeling that sangiovese can give. San Casciano gets neither more fruity nor modern in Annata than this. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2024

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

At this stage the ‘21 has now arrived as the finished wine it was intended to be. Hard to believe how much textural glissade, unction and modernity have accumulated in the wines of San Casciano with this by Mori Concetta right at the top of the list. Aromatically charged and perfumed with viscosity of fruit on the palate and liquid spice. Impressive 2021 from the man. Last tasted February 2024

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

Castello Della Paneretta Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, San Donato In Poggio

Castello Di Monsanto Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, San Donato In Poggio

Youthful to a great degree and a reductive vintage for the Monsanto Annata, still frozen in time with the classic località aromatics lurking in the shadows of this wholly structural wine. Always the small percentages of canaiolo an colorino bringing the sapidity and also the energy to sangiovese that feels like it’s always been this way. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2024

Cinciano Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, San Donato In Poggio

High tonality, glycerin, volatility and perilously up there at the edge of the precipice. There is some Brettanomyces in this 2021, nothing that distracts or detracts with any gravity but it does co-exist with the fruit. Chewy mouthful for varietal sangiovese of warmth and intensity that will improve with age. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted February 2024

Fattoria Le Masse Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, San Donato In Poggio

“So far 2021 is the one that gives me more pleasure, with more complexity and density, even more than 2021.” Now well into his tenure and so Robin Mugnaini has a pretty keen sense of where he’s at with respect to Chianti Classico. Still 20 percent whole bunch and two moths on skins, to be released in a year and a half. Really clean, fruit at the top of this San Donato in Poggio game and purity as verity. These are powdery tannins trying to liquify and integrate but it really is just a kid. Richer than any that have come before and of a structure that will see this travel for a few years. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted October 2023 and February 2024

Il Poggiolino Chianti Classico DOCG Il Classico 2021, San Donato In Poggio

Celebratory vintage fruit swirl arrives first for Il Poggiolino and then to mind comes the character that is intrinsically perceived as San Donato in Poggio. Of red fruit so amplified you’d think citrus was squeezed, calcareous stone was bled and the mixture reduced to a glissade of syrup. Just a quick note of Brett in the 2021, nothing serious or distracting but there it resides on the back palate. Does not mess with the tannins but there is a peppery warmth at the end. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2024

Isole E Olena Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, San Donato In Poggio

The last blended Annata of Paolo de Marchi’s four and a half decade tenure at Isole e Olena is this 2021, lower in sangiovese and conversely higher in canaiolo, because he knew the blend needed to up its sapidity game. The canaiolo raises pH and works with the other splashes (including syrah but also vials of mystery) to elaborate and elevate sangiovese’s salted-elemental game. De Marchi has hit the vintage nail on the head with a 2021 that shows its cards but refuses to lay them on the table. This will always be his wine, in a figurative sense the last and most valuable work of his life as an Olena artist. He is the whooper swan and you pay close attention to the trumpets of fruit and clicks of acidity. Before too long the sounds will cease because there will be no more tannic threats and so both this 2021 and Paolo will move, embrace change and live on. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted February 2024

Podere La Cappella Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, San Donato In Poggio

Another matter for San Donato in Poggio and 2021 is this by Podere La Cappella because there is a sleekness and silken quality to the fruit. This is especially felt in the mouthfeel because the wine simply glides and slides across the palate. You can also feel the merlot in 2021, only 10 percent but so ripe and impressionable. Plenty of sweet and supportive acidity, fineness of tannins and just so much pleasure gifted overall. Not as structured as some recent vintages but seductive for the short to mid term. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2024

Davaz Family – Poggio al Sole, San Donato in Poggio

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

Poggio al Sole’s is Chianti Classico Annata aged in large format Stockinger Botti comes from a crossroads where San Donato in Poggio, Panzano plus a distinct profile that also draws from Badia a Passignano add up to one of the territory’s most complex sangiovese. An example with 90 percent sangiovese and (10) canaiolo that exhibits both salty and sapid elements for something that moves through many machinations. This is not to say that the extroverted PaS lacks precision because it is in fact finessed and pure, but there is so much going on that at moments its feels like energy running wild. Never thee mind because just another year and a half in bottle will see to all parts settling in as one. What Valentino Davaz calls “the business card,” accounting for half of the production in 2021. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted twice, February 2024

Bindi Sergardi Tenuta Mocenni Chianti Classico DOCG La Ghirlanda 2021, Vagliagli

Campione: A sample from 2021 and this Ghirlanda is brighter, fresher and airier than its predecessor, but the bones and the verticality remain. The lift and high tone elevate a sangiovese that misses and wants for nothing, in fact it is so perfectly comfortable in its pliable if ageless skin. Annata worthy of a long life and treated with this level of respect which is incidentally incredible considering the other levels of Chianti Classic made at Bindi Sergardi. In any case this will quickly become brilliant Chianti Classico at the Annata level. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted February 2024

Borgo Scopeto Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Vagliagli

Indelibly stamped by Vagliagli and impressively consistent Annata from the Gnudi-Angelini family. May seem like a large bottle output at 170,000 but that is nothing compared to what it could be (without frost vintages) and in relation to other truly large production (a.k.a. commercial) wines. Nothing of the sort here but simply pure Chianti Classico softened and made colourful by five percent each merlot and colorino. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2024

Complicità Chianti Classico DOCG Assolo 2021, Vagliagli

Dievole, Vagliagli

Dievole Chianti Classico Docg 2021, Vagliagli

Classic croccante sangiovese, rich if also herbal and brushy, a liqueur of red fruit that crunches when bitten. “The soul of Dievole,” says Stefano Capurso, representing the 700 hectares and 10-15 percent of that being vineyards predominated by sangiovese. Fermented in conical concrete (75 hL) and aged in botti only, no tonneaux nor barriques neither. A mix of all the terroirs and a philosophy led by agronomist Lorenzo Bertini that places soils microbes for maximum vineyard health to make sure roots dip deep for stones in touch with water. The land is a geological mix of Monte Morello and Macigno del Chianti (Sandstone), of clay, Alberese and Pietraforte. A combination of everything and the result is one of the most well-rounded Annata to be found anywhere in the territory. Do not hesitate because these sweet tannins and refreshing spice make 2021 ready for action. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted February 2024

Fattoria Della Aiola Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Vagliagli

Heady perfume so very Vagliagli but also the extras that five percent each colorino and merlot are want to deliver and infiltrate the sangiovese. Crunchy exterior and conversely chewy inside, like liquorice or al dente spaghetti with moderate structure for a few years of life though the best months have already begun. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted February 2024

Chianti Classico Collection 2024

Chianti Classico DOCG 2020

Casale Dello Sparviero Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, Castellina

Noting a change in direction with this juicy and fruit-centric sangiovese with five percent canaiolo that lowers the salty factor that is always a consistent part of Sparviero’s character. Wood not much of a factor to allow the freshness to shine, even out of a warm vintage that in many cases produced very dense wines. Not here and the final clocking is 13.5 percent alcohol. Last tasted May 2024

Canaiolo is used 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

Cecchi Chianti Classico DOCG Baldoni Villa Rosa 2020, Castellina

Ribaldoni is the name of the river and thus the vineyard laid below and around Villa Rosa. A sangiovese expression of its own, combining the scorrevole of SdF and the croccante of Primecolle. An ideal and balanced mix in what is the most layered and combinative of the three, powerful yet restrained and still in a place that feels a few years away from settling in. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted May 2024

Piemaggio Chianti Classico DOCG Le Fioraie 2020, Castellina

Borratella Chianti Classico DOCG Insuella 2020, Gaiole

Quite upfront fruit, naturally sweet and teeming with red berries, nary a moment of tart or tang, soft and getable. The five percent cabernet sauvignon so very ripe in 2020 may have played a bigger part than its addendum might have suggested but there is no shortage of ease and playfulness in this ready to go Annata. Drink 2024-2025. Tasted February 2024

Marchesi Frescobaldi Chianti Classico DOCG Tenuta Perano 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

Castellinuzza Proprieta Cinuzzi Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, Lamole

Notable Brett for Castellinuzza 2020, perhaps a sluggish transition to malolactic being the catalyst to seeing the microbes creep in. Good glycerol in the fruit, rich and calming nature noted for the 95 sangiovese with (3) canaiolo and (2) malvasia nera. Lamole perfume surely captured and so will deliver great appeal to those who can handle a little bit of naturally winking truth in their Chianti Classico. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2024

Susanna Grassi – I Fabbri, Lamole

I Fabbri Chianti Classico DOCG Terra Di Lamole 2020, Lamole

From the lower vineyard which means old vines at 550m, inclusive of a majority that are vines dating back to 1965. A mix of sangiovese (90 percent) and canaiolo, though there are some white grapes growing in the vineyard. Aging 50-50 in concrete and 500L French tonneaux for one year. “A very important vintage for us because it was the 400th anniversary of my family,” says Susanna Grassi, but no celebrations due to Covid, just a special bottling as Gran Selezione instead. Bouquet, acidity and though “lower” elevation for Lamole this is sangiovese that more than easily and credibly maintains the origins of Lamole. The bigger divergence here is vine age and so aromatic concentration is heightened, not necessarily freshness and brightness because this feels like a Lamole of more depth and breadth, but let’s be real. As fas as Chianti Classico are concerned this is about as fresh and crispy as it gets. Last tasted February 2024

The adage must always be repeated. The perfume of Lamole is omnipresent, all-pervasive and impossible to separate from the wines themselves. How and why? The answer is difficult to articulate though it is surely a response to the Macigno soils and the climate circulating in the UGA’s amphitheatre. Stand anywhere on the ring road between Casole and Lamole village and you may just feel as though you are in a rainforest. The sandstones mixed with calcareous rock just has to mean mineral transferral onto fruit that in turn scents floral. Not in the classic bouquet of flowers sense but as an example it is Terra di Lamole by Susanna Grassi that makes all this happen. Behold a sangiovese born in the shadow of the Monti del Chianti that shines in its own special way. Terra di Lamole – the land of the UGA, definite, elegant and full of grace. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted May 2023

Casaloste Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, Panzano

Casaloste is Panzano but truth is Casaloste is Casaloste. The oenological and passion project work of Giovanni d’Orsi, self made, self-imposed and critically honest if also loving to work with sangiovese. The 10 percent merlot softens the seriousness and trenchant intention of Chianti Classico that as a wine can’t help but express the extensiveness and also the simple truth that is 2020. Bigger, darker and more intrinsic tannic value but truth is truth and Casaloste’s lets in the light. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted February 2024

Renzo Marinai Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, Panzano

The uncanny note of chocolate mint is there, unequivocally and especially upon the palate. On the nose as well as a reurn to the first addendum to the serious glycerols that thicken and silken the palate. There are many who will see and crave the seduction while others will feel too much wood. In the end and several years forward neither will matter and the wine will deliver a fine sense of harmony. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted February 2024

Vecchie Terre Di Montefili Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, Panzano

Caparsa Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, Radda

Cement vat spontaneous fermentation (always done this way, manufactured in Val d’Arno, now 53 years old) for 100 percent sangiovese. Warm summer vintage but for Caparsa at 400-450m still very fresh and well, classic. In a perfect window of opportunity at this moment. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted February 2024

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

Cortedomina Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, Radda

Lean, angular and tart, middle palate filled in and softened by 20 percent merlot. Not really tannic per se and easily ready for consumption. Tasted February 2024

Tenuta Di Campomaggio Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, Radda

Every year we take the fruit from the three vineyards and say, which one is the most Radda,” says Giacomo Castellani. Not necessarily the best one but the one that is most representative of Radda. The plots are Ginestraia and Olmo marked by stony terroirs of Pietraforte, Macigno and Pietraforte again, highest, mid-slope and in the newest vineyard. Lithe, transparent, ethereal and so floral. A sangiovese in which the sweet natural fruit and also acidity are seamless, together, one in the same. Don’t come here looking for musculature or verticality – that is not this Annata. This is the sangiovese you want to have a second glass and truthfully the bottle will easily disappear. Last tasted May 2024

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

Val Delle Corti Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, Radda

A blend of parcels, many 25-30 years of age. Was a great spring during lockdown, long, sunny, pure through April and then suddenly cool and rainy in May. Then what followed was a variable, unsteady summer. Not the most equilibrium with late September cold and rain. Some difficulty in the selection because of differences in ripening. What does all that adversity, especially as it pertains to Radda add up to? Well, for one thing Roberto Bianchi’s Annata ’21 smells and tastes like Radda, transparent in its openness, cool, herbal and savoury. Truly, expressly, ostensibly and allegedly Radda with sangiovese born and raised in a very specific, high elevation part of Chianti Classico. Definitive, Macigno-stony and age-worthy, if not the fleshiest of them all. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted December 2023 and February 2024

Poggio Torselli Il Contadino Cusano Chianti Classico DOCG 202o, San Casciano

Big fruit year and a sangiovese with 15 percent merlot (which also happened in 2015 and 2016). Chewy and with some stewed if also drying character that old barriques and the merlot conspired to deliver from a hot and bold vintage. This ’20 is already turning the corner into its next phase. Drink up! Tasted February 2024

Cantina Tuscania Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, San Donato In Poggio

Truly low production for varietal San Donato in Poggio sangiovese and the warmth of 2020 juices the full extraction of blood orange for distinctive Chianti Classico. Pressed for success, macerated to gauge interest with all parts fulsome at the intersect of acid and tannin. Wait six months and drink for two more years. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted February 2024

Casa Sola Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, San Donato In Poggio

The blend is 90 percent sangiovese with (4 each) canaiolo and cabernet sauvignon pus (2) merlot. This mélange of grapes augments sangiovese but you simply can’t take the San Donato in Poggio soil and climate from out of this Annata. Warming and blood orange juiced, as sanguine as they come though neither hearty nor gamey. Crispy sangiovese, tart and high acid, classically styled of tradition and sense of place. San Donato as a UGA is the ace up the sleeve and time is needed to integrate the grapes and structural parts. Great strides taken from this estate. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted February 2024

Fattoria Le Fonti Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, San Donato In Poggio

Clearly and in this regard also distinctly San Donato in Poggio if edging towards the wood spiced and herbal side of the UGA. Yet another blood orange vintage and this is more than merely a trend, here a 2020 well macerated seemingly for two plus weeks or more to come away with this grand textural wine. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2024

The Sommeliers of the Chianti Classico Collection 2024

Chianti Classico DOCG (Older Vintages)

Castell’In Villa Chianti Classico DOCG 2019, Castelnuovo Berardenga

I Fabbri Chianti Classico DOCG Terra Di Lamole 2019, Lamole

Surprisingly tannic, still in a state of structural fortification. Though the predominance of crispy sangiovese is what occupies our thoughts the rocks and stones are by far the strongest players. Last tasted February 2024

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

Vecchie Terre Di Montefili Chianti Classico DOCG 2019, Panzano

Can’t miss the terroir, bosco and micro-climate in the 2019 varietal sangiovese by Vecchie Terre di Montefili. In fact the troika comes to one decision, effect and result for a verdant and silken Annata that speaks to the ease and fullness of the vintage. Just that correct amount of swarthiness and verdancy, an evergreen streak and fineness of acidity that are purely and unequivocally Panzano. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2024

Carus Vini Chianti Classico DOCG Baldéro 2019, San Casciano

Showing some maturity or rather this sangiovese has matured to a point where the producer is comfortable with its release. May be 2019 and so not a true 2024 anteprima but instead an Annata that has shed its shackles to now be expressive of its San Casciano origins. Balanced in mid weight, tart blood orange juiciness and no lack for shilling a high level of continuing grip. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2024

Dievole Chianti Classico DOCG Casanova 2019, Vagliagli

The first of three sangiovese under the auspices of the cru project to feature the sensitivity of the variety to different soil conditions. The sensation gained on the nose from Casanova is something very red, part fruit and part mineral from a Macigno soil. Makes for a gentle, restrained and finessed Classico, “reminding me of the sangiovese made in the 1980s” remembers Stefano Capurso. Blood orange bled from clay, linear as a factor of the stones in the small 2.5 hectare sandy vineyard and easy in terms of concentration. A lovely mid-term ager as a pure cru-focused sangiovese. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted February 2024

Dievole Chianti Classico DOCG Catignano 2019, Vagliagli

From a round hill of 20 hectares facing full south, direction Siena. Calcareous Monte Morello soils with the clays and a windy place. A place of slow maturation where warm days and cold nights alternate. A different expression especially as compared to the Casanova, bigger, broader and yet spicy, of dusty and balsamico acidity. Plenty of lift here and it announces itself with a much noisier voice while the palate is richer and the texture thickens upon the palate. Second vintage of this cru, just about ready to go with only six months or so needed to get there. A bit austere, more so than Casanova and Petrignano. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted February 2024

Dievole Chianti Classico DOCG Petrignano 2019, Vagliagli

From a vineyard at 350m, fully on Monte Morello formations, dual hillside site with Alberese more to one side and so there are two sides of this wine. Made in the same way as the other two Classico cru, from oak tanks to botti. Of the three cru wines it is Petrignano that holds the most concentration beautifully offset by high ranking and very sweet acidity. It feels like Petrignano is the one to pour for a consumer who wants these layers of complexity and richness. Holding its form quite well. Last tasted February 2024

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

Bucciarelli Antico Podere Casanova Chianti Classico DOCG 2018, Castellina

Reductive and conversely yet also complementary traditional, of mature fruit subjected to early oxidation as a protection against hasty advancement and then retreat. Bucciarelli’s pure sangiovese does in fact exist in a vacuum with elevated volatile acidity and a modicum of Brettnomyces though neither push the limits of danger. No in fact this 2018 is Chianti Classico so well structured to defy age and see aging as a necessary condition for what it shall become. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted February 2024

Sophie Conte – Tregole

Tregole Chianti Classico DOCG 2018, Castellina

Third vintage for Sophie Conte’s Annata from a wet and challenging year because of clement weather and disease pressure. Cement ferment followed by barriques (already quite old) and also tonneaux, for a year. Leaner yet just about as rigid still, as noted in the 2016. Consistent with 2016, wood on top, toasty, of orange skin, citrus and wet stone that sangiovese will show in certain vintages. Still pretty tannic and again, really curious to taste when you consider how much will have been learned and changed by the time Sophie Conte gets to 2022. Drink 2024-2025. Tasted May 2024

Tenuta Carobbio Chianti Classico DOCG 2018, Panzano

Not the greatest of vintages, especially at harvest and Dario Faccin has known this, but his opinion has changed after a few years of aging. Like 1996 (especially compared to 1997) and namely because the tannins are persistently fresh. A slowed down maturation in September and into October is the reason. Yes it was warm every day and yet cold at night and yes there is some maturity to the fruit but the tannins are so refined. Aging in big botti has only helped these beautifully soft tannic sensations gained on the palate. Acidity kept and balance afforded for a great result. Last tasted February 2024

A vintage of pure sapidity for Carobbio and Panzano, namely because of the late warm vintage conditions mediated by cold nights but mainly due to humidity through mineral accumulation in Galestro soils with shards here and there of Calcari and Pietraforte. Length is Cariobbio length, seemingly never-ending, glorious and rising. Grande Dario and team, this 2018 will live as long as any Annata in the territory. Vintages from the 80s, 90s and also those early in this decade have paved the road for an Annata like 2018 to live a very long life. Tasted May 2023

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

La Querce Seconda Chianti Classico DOCG 2018, San Casciano

High level aromatic vintage for La Querce Seconda’s Annata 2018 because of heat accumulated through many days of temperature adding up to this. Major lift and smoulder but also a small percentage of Brettanomyces. A bit distracting to be honest but all is fair in love, war, alcoholic and malolactic fermentation. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2024

Tregole Chianti Classico DOCG 2016, Castellina

First real vintage for Sophie Conte, no temperature control and longer (20 day) fermentation than what’s happening today. Cement, followed by barriques (already quite old). Holding court and hanging well though you can feel the wood. The notes are balsamico, liquorice and chewy leathery fruit and the wine is clearly more interesting now than it would have been in its early years. “Pouring you this wine is like showing you a picture of myself in high school. It’s a little bit weird,” says Sophie. Regardless the DNA of sangiovese grown at Tregole is what the picture shows. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted February 2024

Castellaccio Chianti Classico DOCG Coste Di Felice 2016, Greve

Bruised and oxidized. Tasted February 2024

I Fabbri, Lamole

I Fabbri Chianti Classico DOCG Terra Di Lamole 2012, Lamole

“What I remember is a nice harvest in Lamole,” says Susanna Grassi. “A regular vintage.” Aromas are mature and the palate is über fresh, full of energy, revitalizing for sipping and also expressive of the Lamole perfume. Cool, ethereal, ever so slightly salt-inflected and purposefully proper. An expression of culture and the story of old vines in an old vineyard. With a wedge of aged Parmigiana from a special breed of cow there become this exotic mix of acids and cultures that bring it all together. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted February 2024

Conti Capponi/Villa Calcinaia Chianti Classico DOC 1969

DOC World: The annunciation of a document eventually to become the DOC; the Chianti wine famous worldwide. Just 356 years after the height of Niccola Capponi’s life and a time when the “Modo di Fare Il Vino Alla Franzese” was the winemaking order of that day in Firenze. Sixty years after Torquato Guarducci and the announcement that quality mattered little for merchants, so long as the bottle said “Chianti.” Piero Capponi was at the lead of changing this and was one of the 33 producers that created the consortium in 1924. Eight years later in 1932 the “Classico” is added, to distinguish the original Chianti delimited by Cosimo de Medici in 1716. Full on mushroom consomée at this stage 55 years after vintage, a porcini broth with drops of citrus and so fully balsamico-forest floor. Smells like chestnuts and yes the 50,000 bottles produced were fermented in chestnut wood vats. Can’t miss the linger of natural sweetness. As for the grapes involved, well that’s open to interpretation, especially considering some various red and white grapes were surely involved, including those from vines put in that had recently arrived from the Florence nursery without labels (due to flooding). Never mind because the acidity and persistence without absolute death is so bloody impressive for a Chianti Classico from 1969. Tasted May 2024

Dinner at Fizzano, Rocca delle Macíe

Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2021

Rocca Delle Macìe Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2021, Castellina

Though 2022 is such a fine, amenable and drinkable vintage and 2021 more compacted in so many ways – well when you make a cuvée of all your Castellina estates and choose only the finer grapes – you can make a very proper and promising Riserva. Cool, just a kiss of wood and saltiness, violets and a bit of rounding softness from cabernet sauvignon. Sees 12-14 months in barrel and comes away rich, nurturing and silky smooth. For now and a few years but not much longer. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted December 2023 and February 2024

Tregole Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2021, Castellina

Bottled in November of 2023 and slated for imminent release. Floral yet reserved aromas and unequivocally sangiovese. La Riserva ages in (old) tonneaux of 700L and barriques. More brightness and freshness than the lion’s share of this appellative level in Chianti Classico, crisp and crunchy for Riserva but ultimately a matter of a specific vineyard, planted in 1985, as in the lower part beneath the younger vines. The warmest location where Ginestra blooms earlier and the fruit is saucy, a salsa of sangiovese, “sucoso,” the juices running from rare roast beef. But also blood orange and so a pulpy sensation. Drink 2026-2034. Tasted May 2024

Fattoria San Giusto A Rentennano Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Le Baròncole 2021, Gaiole

Campione: Sample from Fattoria San Giusto a Rentennano but my goodness what freshness, spirit and energy from Riserva 2021. Flies from the glass and grabs the senses by the tips and will not let go. Substantial does not begin to describe the feeling or do justice to assessment from what will surely become one of Luca Martini di Cigala’s long-lived and essential Le Baròncole to pour and revel in for a decade or two forward. Drink 2026-2036. Tasted February 2024

Le Miccine Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2021, Gaiole

Campione: Also oxidative, lustre lost and energy waning. Hard to taste and assess late on day two of an Anteprima. Tasted February 2024

Gagliole Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2021, Panzano

Il Molino Di Grace Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2021, Panzano

A bit closed, not locked in or shut tight but quiet, in waiting, always the hardest part. Not the palate however, expressive, shot through with acidity, quite intense and with a few minutes passing the aromatics begin to come around. What is that scent? What perfume is that? A Panzano savour, balsamico, Pietraforte as active rock in transference to sangiovese. Sneaky tannins and conspicuous if clear-cut structure, elegant wine, not ready, a true Riserva. Would that it were a blast from the past but manifested clean, crisp and modern. Tops for Molino di Grace at this appellative level. Last tasted February 2024

Campione (Sample): Riserva is high quality in 2021 though lessened in quantity thanks to an angry April frost around Easter time. Nothing much has changed in that Riserva takes the best fruit from special vineyards including that of Al Bosco. Very youthful so bottling in November or December may by necessary but there is tension, a twitchiness and an aggressive personality that speaks to top level structure. This will age very well. Smaller production of 18,000 bottles. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted October 2023

Vineyard at Monte Bernardi, Panzano

Monte Bernardi Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2021, Panzano

Purely from Galestro soil planted in 1968, lower down than the Pietraforte soil with five percent canaiolo field blended in the vineyard. Ages in large cask (only Stockinger) for 16 months followed by three in bottle. Almost seems better to compare this to 2021 Retromarcia (committed to memory) than the other ’22 wines because the vintages at Monte Bernardi are so very different. Though this may have shown like a closed stone (a Schmelzer quote) it still would have been more open then the 2020’s and is surely now come further as a result of this vintage’s progression. Generosity and energy, subtle “sfumatore” aromas and flavours here, there, in nooks and crannies, a Macerazione Piedmontese, 45-50 days post fermentation (60 total) on skins. The epitome of scorrevole. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted February 2024

Monte Bernardi Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Sa’Etta 2021, Panzano

Purely from Pietraforte (sandstone) soil, higher up than the Galestro and while the vineyard houses five percent canaiolo it is not included in the Sa’etta Riserva. Ages another year in bottle, nine months longer than the (Galestro) Riserva. Is this similar to the sister Riserva? The short answer is yes because the long maceration creates the texture and the palate succulence but the tannins are longer chained, shadowy in their aggression and attention but also so, so refined. Bigger and broader sangiovese as Riserva for 2021 though purity begets fineness and then bequeaths potential. Tasted again, February 2024

Sa’Etta the block, planted in 1968. Sa’Etta ’21, well it would be hard not to be seduced and hypnotized by the beauty of this wine. Precision, clarity, focus, purity, style, grace, elegance – all of the above. Sees two years in 3000L Stockinger (Austrian Botti Grande) and comes away in the most vertical way. A mix of substantiality and weightlessness for sangiovese (with five percent canaiolo) so well adjusted to life as the varietal pillars they are, in this historic vineyard, as they are known. Vines as the Stonehenge of Panzano, in appearance and for the timeless Riserva they deliver. Drink 2025–2035. Tasted February 2024

Brancaia Riserva Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Radda

The opposite of light and juicy but looking for elegance through aging 16 months in tonneaux for the sangiovese and barriques for the merlot, on average 50 percent new. Outstanding vintage says Barbara Widmer, as opposed to ’20 merely being “good.“ But they are one in the same in many ways, acidity still thriving, fruit full and substantial, tannins very much in charge. True Riserva style, always and seemingly forever. Last tasted April 2024

Brancaia Riserva takes off where Annata leaves off and seems a bit agitated at this early stage. Even with 20 percent merlot there is an uneasiness about the sangiovese and this may not be the best time to seek the truth. Nevertheless the 2021’s lift, heft and breadth indicate a swirl of substance in fruit that precedes structure, while power knows how much it’s in control. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2024

Castello Di Albola Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2021, Radda

Riserva 2021 does by Albola what ’22 Annata could not but we know that the comparison is simply unfair. Nothing against the next vintage and a sample or just bottled wine is a tough nut to crack but this, this 2021 is a lovely wine. A Radda speciality from a top vineyard of impressive elevation, slope and exposure. The sangiovese it breathes from the high quality, low quantity vintage is equal parts fruit freshness and sweet savour. Acidity follows suit and then softness remains. Drink soon! Drink 2024-2026. Last tasted February 2024

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 Volpaia Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2021, Radda

Fine swirl of sangiovese with the highest quality 2021 fruit that must and will show the fineness of Volpaia’s high elevation Radda no matter the quantity gained or lost. And the vintage was not easy though the estate’s position was a plus for making cool and fresh Riserva from the vaults of a hot vintage. For Volpaia this is darker fruit, not full-on 2020 dark but thankfully the location is there to keep deep breathes alive with the freshest of Raddese air. Still this is bigger for Riserva and bones are truly strong. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted February 2024

Istine Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Levigne 2021

After experimenting for a few years this is Angela Front’s first use of whole bunches intero, approximately 20 percent in the mix, to wildly aromatic acclaim. Seriously, for better, worse or best, of a floral intensity now announced, with immediacy and the flavours burst, pop and finally explode upon the palate. Wholly complex notions and diversions that take you, here, there and everywhere. Dios mio Batman! Fronti has mixed in different percentages of whole bunch, 10 at first, 50 in the fermentative middle and 40 at another to arrive at the average of 20 and the final result is something extraordinary. You simply can’t look or turn away. The energy is palpable and infectious. Drama! Emozione. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted February 2024

L’Erta Di Radda Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2021, Radda

Campione: Perfectly intact place, tact and effect as Riserva from Diego Finnochi at L’Erta di Radda. There is no doubt this sangiovese (and note no canaiolo in the Riserva) has many more acts and scenes to play out, but even at this earliest of early stages it is expressive of the concepts, ideals and plans that nature, the maker and life have in store. Amazing fruit quality, purity and succulence with acidity so Radda and ripe for these vineyards. Preferably speaking the time to drink 2021 would be three years forward but those who find bottles will have a hard time waiting that long. Drink 2026-2034. Tasted February 2024

Monteraponi Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Campitello 2021, Radda

Campione: Oxidative, soured and overtly tang-inflected example which means the end of a bottle on day two is no way to taste and assess a wine as important as this. Tasted February 2024

With Consorzio President Giovanni Manetti and Director Carlotta Gori

Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2020

Famiglia Cecchi Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Villa Cerna 2020, Castellina

From the “Primocolle,” the first Villa Rosa hill comprising two vineyards, Solatino and Solare, for Riserva. A mix of luxe and savoury for what is ostensibly terroir relatable Riserva. Much more specific to its two part sense of place then say five years ago and so more focus at this stage of its tenure. Chewy fruit, somewhat leathery, indicative of Primocolle and exaggerated by the warm vintage. Also an herbaceous quality which is also a matter of how the hill translates sangiovese. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted May 2024

Pomona’s Cosimo Selvi, Monica Raspi and Enrico Selvi

Fattoria Pomona Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Vigna Pomona L’Uomino 2020, Castellina

The artist formerly known as Bandini is not a Riserva of selection but one made from all the grapes picked out of the single Vigna Pomona. The fantasy name “L’Uomini” neither denotes uomo della strada nor uomo d’affari but definitely uomo d’onore and uomo alla mano because this Riserva cares. The vines would have been 23 years of age for this vintage and the resulting wine is spicier than the Annata, but also exhibits an exaggeration of the local balsamico. A kind of resin in there, a natural cure, savoury and like incense some might say. It is the strident and taut character that defines what’s really going on though this shall pass. Yet another example of just how well 2020s communicate and explain their potential. Slow development ahead and in the end will be a vintage held in great esteem. L’Uomini is not a man of the street or just about business. He is friendly and wears a badge of honour. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted October 2023 and February 2024

Mazzei Ser Lapo Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Ser Lapo 2020, Castellina

Ten percent merlot rounds out the sangiovese but also lends a bolder character, darker of fruit and quicker to the conflagration of alcohol, body and depth. The result is a Riserva that comes at you straight away in delivery of a warmer and more direct to palate vintage-relatable sangiovese. Riserva of a replicate kind, from nose to nose, sip to sip and middle ground structure so very easy to assess. Drink this now or hold for two to three years. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2024

Nardi Viticoltori Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2020, Castellina

“The Riserva is our diamond, in general,” says Giacomo Nardi, a reference truly applicable to his new vintage that is 2020. Same postcard of Castellina and the best selection of 100 percent sangiovese chosen from four parcels within the 10 hectares of the planted vineyard. Picked in and around the 10th of October, refined in Tuscan wood. A matter of elegant tannin following a local balsamico nose, a particularity of Tuscan wood and Riserva in the Nardi style. Riserva that captures sangiovese at peak no matter how late the harvest might be and that is truly important. Impressive acumen, protective fruit under a shaded canopy and gut instincts at harvest time to be followed for successful results. Drink 2025-2031. Tasted February 2024

Tregole Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2020, Castellina

A good example of a sample, rich and my goodness the fruit and tannins are exceptional, full, established and intertwined. The potential here is positive and one could imagine that the next one for Sophie Conte’s 2021 Riserva will be unlimited. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted February 2024

San Felice Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Il Grigio 2020, Castelnuovo Berardenga

There is some peppery character especially on the aromatics and all the while the spices plus balsamic elements are consistent with the Annata, both from 2020 and 2021. Fruit is the same sourcing as the Annata but here the substantial quality by selection and extra aging in wood (mainly Botti Grandi, none of it new) means more weight and texture. Glycerol now, a silky-smooth elixir with chic style and more variegate tones. Ambient and plenty of succulence. Good structure from 2020. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted October 2023 and February 2024

Arturo Pallanti, Lorenza Sebaste and Marco Pallanti – Castello di Ama, Gaiole

Castello Di Ama Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Montebuoni 2020, Gaiole

Not atypical for the vintage and as Riserva the Montebuoni 2020 is so representative of all that is suave, stylish, ripe, fresh and free. The selection of fruit, warmth of weather, extra six-plus months of aging and finally appellative conditioning all add up to soft, mature and sweet endowment,. Not many reasons to wait or stack these away on the racks or in diamonds of the cellar. This is a vintage to drink, now, soon and with gratifying expectation. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2024

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

A beautiful harvest balanced by the last part of the summer with good morning temperatures and a reminder that the winter provided more snow than any season in the last 20-30 years. This is Riserva with a good balance between body and acidity. Luca’s nephew Federico sees both the ’20 Riserva and Percarlo as good as any that have ever come from San Giusto. He is correct when he comments about a balance that will endure. Last tasted February 2024

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

I Sodi Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2020, Gaiole

Heady and lifted aromas, spicy, intense and certainly a level of sauvage. More substance and layers of fruit than ever before. Tang in ways no other Gaiole sangiovese will show, no matter that 10 percent of softening merlot should round out the wine, especially at Riserva level. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted May 2023 and February 2024

La Montanina Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2020, Gaiole

A combination of frescezza and warmth with fruit that yes is fresh but there is both weight and tension to this Riserva. Truly appellative, very wisely and obviously Gaiole, rich and yet vertical, tight and still fleshy so that you have to see this as generous. Top drop for La Montanana between 2015 and 2020. Last tasted December 2023 and February 2024.

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

Marchesi Frescobaldi Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Tenuta Perano 2020, Gaiole

Google the words Perano + Gaiole + Chianti Classico and the first result should very well be “Tenuta Perano Chianti Classico Riserva Docg 2020, Gaiole.” Inescapable essence of Perano, essential sector of Gaiole and established representative of Chianti Classico. This is Riserva, a selection from the 90 hectares encompassing much of the estate, creating a sum total so substantial to see this 2020 as spokeswine for this agricultural place. Properly reductive while luxe and forward because in this case selectivity begets seduction, balance and structure. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted December 2023

Carpineto Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2020, Greve

Campione: A sample, lifted, high spirited and high elevation Greve raised for sangiovese that’s in a league and class of its own. Richness and a swirl of fruit meeting wood that only acidity can tame. Its does and there is a low level amount of Brettanomyces that distracts. Tannins are a touch brittle as a consequence. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted February 2024

Querciabella Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2020, Greve

The first vintage where this is a nice percentage of sangiovese from Casole (out of the Lamole UGA) and yet another warm vintage. Once again it is that fruit that brings the lift. That and the small amount of whole bunch which winemaker Manfred Ing says “I can smell it” and you know something, he’s absolutely right. Crunchy Riserva or as they say, croccantezza, layered like the Annata with the volume turned up, oak usage not so, fruit more perfumed and again that lift which is so important. The delicate nature and delicacy of sangiovese is respected and preserved, the drink-ability factor as high as it has ever been. Drink 2026-2034. Tasted February 2024

Castello Di Verrazzano Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2020, Montefioralle

Riserva is a thing of beauty and richness from 2020 for a vintage of raw power though with this sangiovese Verrazzano finds both restraint and controlled nervousness. The acidity is just about as well captured, preserved and musical as it gets for both appellation and vintage. An indication of present tense Verrazzano with this nervosity that’s never over the top or in danger of crossing into next level territory. The age worthiness of 2020 is tops. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted February 2024

Il Molino Di Grace Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2020, Panzano

Showing vibrant and racy today, a really great place for Riserva, any Riserva that is but add in the current day trenchant intention to make fresher and cleaner sangiovese. Crispy if you will, dictated by the Pietraforte of these southeastern hills of Panzano. The 2020 has found its way and the window is now open. Will stay in this ideal drinking state for four to five more years. Last tasted February 2024

Eight months later and Iacopo Morganti exclaims “Molto Buono!” The wood has not fully integrated, nor was that expected but now the aggressive aspects are relenting and the fruit-acid relationship is developing into the extraordinary. Another eight months and this will enter the “zone.” Tasted October 2023

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 Al Bosco are Riserva bound. The linger and length on this is infinite, at least in Riserva terms. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted February 2023

Le Fonti Di Panzano Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2020, Panzano

La Riserva is a factor and a child of vintage warmth, nurturing and in Le Fonti’s Panzano hands it comes away finely tuned. A full fruity expression with profound acidity and long chains of sangiovese tannin. The 10 percent cabernet sauvignon and merlot do effect the outcome but in these vineyards they act more Panzano than varietal when used as salt and pepper seasoning. Length is outstanding which speaks to a potential that will mean longer age-ability than many by this Riserva’s peers. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted February 2024

Fattoria Rignana Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2020, Panzano

Led by sangiovese with 15 percent cabernet franc, mainly chosen in the vineyard because explains Cosimo Gericke, “over the years I know the vineyard and which ones produce the best sangiovese.” Spends two years in small and also large wood (Slavonian botti) but the barriques are being phased out in these years. Dark fruit, rich, deep and yes it’s a woody example of Riserva but it’s suave, mature, experienced and so very real within this kind of style. Full and substantial wine with really soft and fine tannins. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted October 2023 and February 2024

Arillo In Terrabianca Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Poggio Croce 2020, Radda

When when you take a sip of sangiovese and think aloud “wow, that’s pretty good,” well then something special is in the glass. Riserva Poggio Croce is a veritable glide of sangiovese in tutto, clear, present, clean and giving. A touch of residual sappy oak persists and will need to resolve before this as Riserva feels in touch with Poggio Croce and this unique part of Radda. That said the 2020 is not as big a wine as many in the territory, which is to say something very positive about what the (new) team is after. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted February 2024

Brancaia Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2020, Radda

Famiglia Cianferoni – Caparsa, Radda

Caparsa Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Doccio A Matteo 2020, Radda

Doccio a Matteo meaning the “spring” comes from the same vineyards as the Classico but as a selection because the top and bottom sections mature differently. The Riserva may not be the “freshest” but they are the best grapes that can be harvested. Includes three percent of colorino and aged in grandi botti of 1000L size. Calm and subtly fortified, open-knit and generous. Already there and will hold for several years. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted February 2024

Caparsa Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Caparsino 2020, Radda

The Caparsino always needs more time than both the Caparso and the Doccio a Matteo. Needs hours of air bit Paolo Cianferoni can’t explain why. Tannins surely, tighter chained and layered. These are chewier tannins and the only wine that’s simply not ready to drink. Rustic perhaps but when things stretch and elasticize there will be no shortage of penance served and southwestern Radda on offer. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted February 2024

Val Delle Corti Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2020, Radda

Riserva comes from the steep 1974 vineyard to the left (north) of the house planted by Roberto Bianchi’s father Giorgio, aged for 30 months in botti and tonneaux. A true single plot that may or may not as well be wink-wink, nudge-nudge Gran Selezione. Cool and ethereal like Annata 2020 with some spice cupboard arriving at the same time as the tannins for that unresolved protein powder feeling. Still it is understood that Val delle Corti’s sangiovese are youthful, fresh, crunchy and tart. Full and corpulent with potential being the thing about this 2020 and what’s required to see it open three years later before beginning to tell its true story. A bit raw or “crudo” at this stage. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted December 2023 and February 2024

Calcamura Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2020, San Casciano

Campione: Sample of sweet fruit, closed and intense with early the operative to sense and feel what’s coming. Tannins locked in tight with our palates bracing for impact. Tasted February 2024

Castello Di Gabbiano Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2020, San Casciano

Richness incarnate, soft, billowy and downy texture but high ranging acidity puts the Gabbiano Riserva in a fine state to impress. The expression is pure richesse, velvet mouthfeel, sleekness and beauty. That acidity is the driver and will keep the flow, but also spirit alive for a few years yet. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2024

Marchese Antinori Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Tenuta Tignanello 2021, San Casciano

Honestly speaking it would be hard not to recognize the hundreds of years of heritage and history in a wine that bears the name of the Marchesi. Not feeling the experience would not be paying attention and not seeing the professionalism would indicate a journalistic lapse in judgement. The 2021 Riserva is sleek (from vineyard) and sturdy by design. Vertical vintage, lower in quantity to a degree and higher in phenolics to a fault. A good one that is. Sangiovese con altre varietà complementari, part endemic and part expatriate. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2024

Marchesi Antinori Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Villa Antinori 2021

The Villa as Riserva is a great compliment to the Marchesi, not grossly different but less of a linear, structured and age-worthy wine. Swifter and sweeter in the natural fruit sense, swelling with glycerin and pectin invoking flavours. This is the one that imagines so much fruit and generosity in the easiest of drinking ways. Truly getable and as Riserva bridges the gap between Annata and more elevated if also serious appellative examples. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted February 2024

Poggio Torselli Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2020, San Casciano

A few more points of merlot than the Annata, up to 20 percent here and a dusty, also slightly musty Riserva, though acidity is quite fine. Two years in barriques but also the 3000L Grenier botti. More energy than Anaata but also more savour and verdancy. Drink over the next two years. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted February 2024

Duccio Corsini – Villa Le Corti, San Casciano

Villa Le Corti Principe Corsini Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Cortevecchia 2020, San Casciano

As with Le Corti Annata the wines see 27hL casks and colorino is used, “only for the tradition.” The Cortavecchia is intrinsically connected to the Annata, they are brethren and the selection between one and the other happens after fermentation. First comes the spezzaturra and then the division. The river stone soil earthiness is carnale not animale and from 2020 there is more flesh and body then before. This means more settling and grounding but also roundness than what happened in 2018, but also surely what will come from 2021. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted October 2023 and February 2024

Casa Emma Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Vignalparco 2020, San Donato In Poggio

Campione: A sample though surely as close to the finished product as it will get for this 100 percent sangiovese. Hard not to note and feel the commodiousness of the vintage, from fruit phenolic in its well developed ripeness, acids fortifying, tannins stronger than ever before. Harder to express the vineyard (Alparco) and more challenging to shine a light but this is Emma and San Donato so be sure to taste the sanguine orange ornateness of the wine. Drink 2026-2031. Tasted February 2024

Castello Di Monsanto Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2020, San Donato In Poggio

While there have been several warm vintages over the last five or six for Chianti Classico there are few that deliver this combination of concentration juxtaposed against such a high level of tannic command. The ’20 Riserva is essentially immovable at this early stage and should rightly require 18 further months to shed some of its assigned consignment, to unburden, lighten and be set free. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted February 2024

Cinciano Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2020, San Donato In Poggio

Somewhere between six and seven thousand bottles are produced of this 100 percent sangiovese, from several vineyards and so the cuvée is indeed a selection. Definite spice cupboard of aromatics, coriander and ground red pepper, red fruit powder and then more attention paid because the wood is strong early on. Will be needing some time to liquify the chalkiness and emulsify into the textural fabric of the wine. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted May 2023 and February 2024

Il Poggiolino Chianti Classico La Riserva DOCG 2020, San Donato In Poggio

Really unique for Classico and also San Donato aromatics, somewhat herbaceous, lifted and floral. Definitely salty while well-seasoned, namely with white pepper and a curious note of mirto. Quite a swath of unresolved wood and very much a thickened texture. As Riserva and especially San Donato goes this will need and benefit from time in bottle. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted May 2023 and February 2024

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

Vineyards are 24-25 year-old for Riserva with some (25 percent) new barriques used for aging. Soft yet elastic tannins equip this 2020 for deeper term aging to the end of its first decade. Once again it is a matter of vintage and this one will see Riserva last several years longer than the Annata. Drink 2024-2032. Tasted May 2023 and February 2024

Bindi Sergardi Chianti Classico Riserva Calidonia DOCG 2020, Vagliagli

Campione: A sample and always Calidonia – Calidonia, the three vineyard (Vigna della signora Chiara, Finocchi and Perone) from Mocenni estate as Riserva that is the sangiovese incarnation of its maker Alessandra Casini. A Riserva of grace and fluidity, of movement as if feet do not touch the ground and corporeal body gliding effortlessly across the palate. The wine senza sforzo nel movimento, still in youth with wood purposed and informing fruit to come for the soirée and stay for the pleasure. As do we because the ingredients will eventually emulsify into a fine varietal salsa. Drink 2025-2034. Tasted February 2024

The women of the Consorzio Vino Chianti Classico

Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2019

Casale Dello Sparviero Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2019, Castellina

What a change from year to year, still under the guidance of Franco Bernabei, still some salinity but the sappy quality is gone and now the sangoivese has some backbone. Structure is now part of Riserva’s world and in turn our experience. Last tasted May 2024

Perfumed to the hilt, a Castellina of quite mature fruit and seriously typical Riserva profile. Chalky as part of its tannic adjustment with wood a major part, espresso and dusty chocolate just omnipresent at the finish. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted May 2023 and February 2024

Villa A Sesta Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2019, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Riserva is expressive of some more warmth and also spice as compared to both Annata and Gran Selezione. In this respect it’s truly Riserva, the concept made even more notable due to the aromatic richness in layers of seductive perfume. If the others are crunchy wines with energy and freshness than this is the chewy one, with a different energy and style. More “ruffiano,” the kind of sangiovese you eat slowly and savour every bit of the sauce. Gonna need a few pieces of bread to get every last drop. 70,000 to 80,000 bottles produced. The 2018 sold like crazy and so this ’19 is out at the same time as the 2019 Annata. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2024

Badia A Coltibuono Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2019, Gaiole

High Gaiole tones of sweet vintage fruit filling the aromatic spaces above and between. Field blend style with all the endemic bits of varieties spicing and saucing the nooks, butte chambers and crannies of this wine. There are no moments when 2019 Badia a Coltibuono is quiet or absent – the wine gifts and gifts again, and again. This is the future and wouldn’t it be nice if this family could carry on this way for another 1000 years. The privilege can never be taken for granted. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted February 2024

Castellinuzza Di Claudia Cinuzzi Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2019, Lamole

Traditional Chianti Classico from high elevation and verdant hills for sangiovese (with bits of canaiolo and malvasia nera) that can’t and will not be separated from its place. That would be Lamole and Riserva simply compounds the UGA’s character, compresses its feelings and expresses the emotions of a territory’s coolest location. This is parochial red wine of a specific and insular heritage and few other wines deliver this kind of specificity. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2024

Emilia, Maria Giovanna and Giovanni d’Orsi – Casaloste, Panzano

Casaloste Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2019, Panzano

Just recently bottled three months ago and will be released this month. There is no doubt this is the finest Riserva Giovanni has made in his 30-pus years at Casaloste. Immediately notice the salty note, the mineral streak, the moving of all parts together in mimic of a vintage where phenolic maturity and sugars came about slowly and incrementally as one. Perhaps 2016 was similar or close but this, this finds harmony as easily as it can possibly happen. Length is outstanding. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted February 2024

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 and February 2024

Caparsa Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Caparsino 2019, Radda

“I remember 2019 when we tasted it together at the age that the 2020 is now,” says Paolo Cianferoni. “Now this 2019 is more relaxed.” Aromas are similar to the Mimma 2019, gently swarthy and fruity exotic, with a sense of that fruit becoming leathery but more floral along the way. “Here it’s a fresh place so the fruit is constant. The acidity is what makes the sangiovese so perfumed.” Paolo never touches the pH, no adjustments necessary because of the warming climate. Last tasted February 2024

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 and 2024

Caparsa Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Doccio A Matteo 2019, Radda

Doccio a Matteo is more settled and ready to enjoy than Caparsino, yet equally perfumed as the 2019s all seem to be. Liquid chalky, a true expression of Paolo’s three combined soils, each one layered upon one another. Galesto di Scalia (di Argilla), Alberese mixed with Sabia (sand), and finally a mix of sand and clay. Lovely mix of perfumes, silky textures and blood orange reduction for a truly layered sangiovese. Last tasted February 2024

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

Colle Bereto Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2019, Radda

Riserva from Colle Bereto’s Radda is about as pure, fresh and scintillatingly clean as it has ever been. What we should be incredibly thankful for is the patience to see this released as a 2019 in 2024. The tannins are well on their way to resolution while the acidity is maintained. A fine, fine example of all that Riserva can be in Chianti Classico. Classic, stylish and generous. Last tasted February 2024

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

Giacomo Castellani – Tenuta Campomaggio, Radda

Tenuta Di Campomaggio Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2019, Radda

Riserva is a natural extension of Annata, as natural of fruit and acidity with a similar litheness and transparency. That said the concentration exceeds or steps up, without noticing wood even an iota more upon the structural parts. Here a blend of two vineyards, of Olmo and mostly Ginestraia. Fermentation in concrete and conical vats, aging for 18 months in the grandi botti. The mix of Pietraforte and Macigno soils will not be overstated and so Riserva comes away in doubled layers on repeat. There is no doubt that Riserva steps up from Annata but never abandons the basic Raddese fact of where these grapes are grown. Sangiovese with a double identity, of the two vineyards though from 2019 the Ginestraia Macigno holds more sway. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted May 2024

Tenuta Di Campomaggio Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Santa Teresa 2019, Radda

In 2019 the Riserva labeled Santa Teresa is pulled from the vineyard called “Telignie,” though Campomaggio is not able to use the name because the house at the bottom of the hill is called the same. This is the Pietraforte vineyard, vinified and aged in the Troncone vats, simply done but with no botti because the vintage saw this vineyard give the best quality and also quantity. Approximately 10 percent whole bunch included to bring a new layer of texture and also complexity. Almost no wood noted and only purity meets parity. Balanced and seductive, shoulders relaxed and flavours repeatable sip after sip. Only 5,000-7,000 bottles made, of a total 35,000 production. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted May 2024

Dievole Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Novecento 2019, Vagliagli

The label that represents the original and central part of Dievole, first made in 1990 that was essentially 900 years after the estate was born. Richer and bolder than Annata with a selection of best plots more concentrated on the higher elevations. The sangiovese receives a five percent mix of canaiolo and colorino, all aging in the big casks. Very blood orange, wealthy and juicy fruit, tannins balanced and integrated, spice all over the back end. That bite is urged on by the inclusion of 10 percent stems, many of them green. Still tight at the finish so we’ll see its best years beginning one from now. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted February 2024

Annata and Riserva at CCC2024

Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG (Older Vintages)

Casale Dello Sparviero Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2018, Castellina

Quite a sappy and soupy 100 per cent sangiovese Riserva made by Attilio Pagli, before organics came in. A style for they who like sweet marmalata, a purée of minestre vegetable, an and after eight (chocolate mint), all of which can somehow be very appealing. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted May 2024

Trasqua Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Fanatico 2018, Castellina

Chewy Riserva, fully formed and developed with some of Trasqua’s finest fruit to date. Good acids too, more than most vintages and it feels like this would have been picked in late September because the ripenesses are both fully realized. Stands at attention and delivers all that it could have possibly had to offer. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2024

Caparsa Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Caparsino 2018, Radda

Just a bit warmer than 2019, “but not too much.” You really feel the freshness and the acidity in a much greater way from this 2018. Extremely youthful wine with all the acidity and structure truly captured. A sangiovese and Chianti Classico lover’s wine. Drink 2024-2030. Last tasted February 2024

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 Doccio A Matteo 2018, Radda

“My favourite wine,” says Paolo, “it has for me the depth of the season.” Great richness juxtaposed against acids and freshness with true herbal bitters as sweet as they are grippy. Truly classic sangiovese and Riserva, even more so than the Caparsino. Last tasted February 2024

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

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 and 2024

Nardi Viticoltori Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2017, Castellina

Hot year and one of the great recent challenges for a Chianti Classico vintage but Nardi’s Riserva comes out at 13 percent alcohol. What is this witchcraft? What kind of wizardry or magic is practiced on this farm? Finished harvest on the 22nd of September, two full weeks after rains finally came and nearly fulfilling the requiem to arrive at phenolic maturity. Still this is Castellina and waiting through to October would habe been impossible. Yes acidity is lower but still very present and the wine has aged beautifully. You feel here that you are drinking the attention and passion of a small production with this being the very best that could have come from such a challenge. Fundamental instincts followed and sangiovese that speaks to the connection between family and place. Just a touch of drying maturity coming out at the finish. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted February 2024

Castell’In Villa Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2017, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Latest release and coming to market as Riserva for Castell’In Villa is 2017, of course and for all the right reasons. Is there an equal in Chianti Classico for this conditioning of 100 percent sangiovese raised in traditional ways that age concurrent with their modern ability to deliver joy and profundity in equal ways? The answer is hard to find and so what comes from ’17 and Castelnuovo Berardenga’s vineyards in surround of the borgo and dressed throughout the forests is in fact nothing short of profound. One of the only wines in the entire territory that need not be spoken about in terms of fruit, acidity and tannin. The approach is different, in how senses, feelings and emotions are solicited and how responses are metered to consider in terms of gravity and other physical forces at work. Ethereality is an obtuse description, as was profundity but they are what they are and the things that come to mind. Sorry, not sorry. Drink 2026-2038. Tasted February 2024

Tenuta Carobbio Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2017, Panzano

Lowest of low yields and great attention needed to be paid in both fields and cellar to result in this fine Riserva ’17. Reduced tomato and still a crunchy sangiovese that needs no introduction. Blood orange citrus and charred herbs, complexities left, right and centre. The tannins dry out more than ’16 but there is no doubt they are children of the same parents. Only 7,000 bottles produced. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2024

Caparsa Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Caparsino 2017, Radda

Hottest vintage with sunburnt grapes but acidity remains high even while the wine may seem a bit toasted. Still plenty of freshness and a reminder that all the old vineyard fruit was used because Doccio a Matteo was not produced. Acids are strong and bright, fruit reduced but opening up and the wine is now in a proper drinking place. The answer to whatever question you are thinking is simple. Caparsa. It’s strong to be sure. Last tasted February 2024

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

Tenuta Carobbio Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2016, Panzano

More off a volumetric Riserva as compared to the output and also the texture of 2017. Similar aromatics to be honest, of tomatoes and blood oranges but also fresh red plums in 2016. The identity of the winery and the vineyard could never come into question. Says Dario Faccin, “you change the quantity but you don’t change the quality.” 18,000 bottles produced as compared to 7,000 in 2017. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2024

Caparsa Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Doccio A Matteo 2016, Radda

Always with three percent colorino and the Riserva that joins Caparsino through comes into being in a different way. True vintage richness but always the Caparsa freshness and spirit. This by way of acidity and intensity but who could not be seduced by the tannins and structure in spite of an “easy” season by Chianti Classico standards. A complete wine in every respect. Last tasted February 2024

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. 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

Losi Querciavalle Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2015, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Needing time to open up and so 24 hours will always benefit this wine, mainly sangiovese with just a bit (0-5 percent) canaiolo fermented together and the end result is unmitigated integration. The blood orange vintage, slow oxidized and matured in big barrel for 24-30 months, a spice continuum all the way through. Menthol on the palate at the back end and more spice – so much texture and so far from going secondary. Fine Riserva vintage for Losi. Last tasted February 2024

Losi Querciavlle, bastion of one of the globe’s most impressive Alberese landscapes and home to some of this territory’s finest chiselled sangiovese. Like marble structures slowly formed by only those who know how to separate the form from the mass. This is the intuition Pietro Losi and his prodigies know and gift to the world. Give their wines time and you will understand. Like this ’15 Riserva, strong, confident, understated, perhaps yet misunderstood but surely pure and true. Bravissimo. Drink 2023-2033. Tasted February 2020

Caparsa Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Doccio A Matteo 2015, Radda

“A real nuclear bomb, like 2017 the vintage was every hot in 2015 and the tannins very aggressive,” remembers Paolo. Salty on the aromatics and while the wine has done some settling it’s truly taut and tannic. A beast this one that still needs more time. Not typical for 2015 but the life of this Doccio A Matteo will be much longer than 2016. Last tasted February 2024

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

With Neri Capponi

Conti Capponi/Villa Calcinaia Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2010

Chianti Classico UNESCO World Heritage; the modern history of Chianti Classico and Villa Calcinaia up to its UNESCO candidacy. Only four years later and coinciding with the full separation away from all other Chianti wines for a 2010 so much more fresh, alive and intense than Bastignano 2006. This from a very hot vintage and a sangiovese that finished at 14.63 percent alcohol. A much more balanced and baller wine, here as Riserva for Chianti Classico with energy and vigour in modo vogue. 5,000 bottles were produced. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted May 2024

With Laura Bianchi, Giulia Cecchi and Jessica du Puy at Monsanto, San Donato in Poggio

Castello Di Monsanto Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2004, San Donato in Poggio

“One of the most elegant vintages in the early 2000s, not too cold, hot, hard or soft, and really well balanced,” explains Laura Bianchi. Aged in a combination of botti and tonneaux, now into full secondary comportment while still grippy and tannic. In truly fine condition though who could argue that the 1982 is fresher, of finer acidity and more balance than this ’04 made 22 years later. A sign of wood usage and the times, of pressing and extraction, of the sort of Chianti Classico that was desired 20 years ago. And yet, and yet the acidity and fine-grained tannin are together intrinsically connected for what can best be described as an unctuous union of the two. This wine just gets better and better in the glass. In fact the spirit and especially acidity are noted as they climb up the sides of the palate with sparks to a point just below the cheekbones. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted February 2024

Caparsa Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Doccio A Matteo 2003, Radda

Wild wine from a wild vintage, crazy hot at a time when vintages like this were not the norm though were beginning to be. Hot year but also high acidity, likely because of hailstorms in July that knocked off half of the production. The vines reacted by delivering more acidity to support grapes that were maturing quicker and heavier. Still this is Caparsa and freshness persists no matter the dried wild strawberry and oaky flavours. “It’s not my wine because I prefer lighter wines but this is very nice – if you like rich and expressive.” Just a few bottles left in Paolo’s possession. Now only 23. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2024

Castello Di Monsanto Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 1982, San Donato in Poggio

One of the great vintages for Chianti Classico, in all of Tuscany, most of Italy and as everyone knows, also Bordeaux. At this point the 100 percent large Slavonian cask aging is in full swing for wood with which Fabrizio Bianchi began replacing his old chestnut barrels back in the early 1970s. This would have been a bomb when it first went to bottle, so massively structured and immovable in its first 15-20 years. Possibly up until 10 years ago but is now so crunchy and giving so that all is forgiven. About as ideal as a sangiovese can be, resolved, cool and impossibly fresh. Laura feels a connection looking forward to 2015. This remains to be seen. Come back after 10 minutes and the clove can’t be missed. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted February 2024

Monsanto, San Donato in Poggio

Castello Di Monsanto Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 1969, San Donato in Poggio

One of the coolest vintages of the era and going back to a time when the wood was chestnut for aging sangiovese. Showing with end stage maturity, especially as compared to the 1968 and 1970 Riserva tasted at Monsanto. There is this feeling of chestnut sap reduction, a kind of soy and vanilla pudding, an herbal note and a sweetness. Imagination begets fantasy and fantasy fades into demure. Tasted February 2024

With Maddalena Fucile, Matteo Vaccari and Bernardo Manetti at the 2024 Chianti Classico Collection

Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2021

Castello Di Fonterutoli Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2021, Castellina

Fontodi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Vigna Del Sorbo 2021, Panzano

Oldest plot of vines are just approaching 50 years of age growing in the schist with Galestro flaking above the soil. Giovanni Manetti decided to bottle Sorbo as a single vineyard in 1985 though it does come from three plots of plantings put in between 1965 and 1973. Though April frost affected quantity in 2021 there was no compromise to quality and in fact this is as balanced a Vigna el Sorbo as Manetti has ever produced. Bottled just three-plus weeks ago and so yes it’s tight and compact, especially the tannins that take control but truth is this will continue to happen for another few months at the very least. See past the first stage and imagine what will be, take stock of memory and project towards the future. Manetti once said “the fresh finish (of the 1993 wine) should be the trademark of Chianti Classico wines.” Perhaps 2021 will emerge this way. Drink 2026-2037. Tasted February 2024

Fontodi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Terrazze San Leolino 2021, Panzano

From the terraces around the old medieval Panzano church that the Manetti’s have and continue to restore for a Gran Selezione they were not sure would be made this early in their tenure of working with its fruit. Yet it shocked and surprised Giovanni and Bernardo to the point that it could be made at this level so early and so 2019 was the first, well ahead of schedule. This is a truly structured vintage, a trace of next direction, from the past and through the next generation, fruit so compact and mineral focused but tannins in complete control. The finish is beautifully salty and so completely Panzano. This puts San Leolino as Gran Selezione in next level and new light. Drink 2027-2038. Tasted February 2024

Il Molino Di Grace Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Il Margone 2021, Panzano

Isole Delle Falcole Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2021, Panzano

Campione: Will be bottled in August and released in 18 months. Since 2016 no frost issues and at this 400m-plus elevation site the April frosts have not been an issue. Striking Gran Selezione of lift, next level acidity and longest chains of tannic command. This may be a sample but it forges a connection between parts, to its Panzano vineyard, to some of Chianti Classico’s finest Galestro and iron soils, to the future. It’s all there, as are the passion plus hard work. The potential is almost impossible to imagine. The length is endless. 3,000 bottles will be made. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted February 2024

Brancaia Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2021, Castellina

Marchesi Antinori Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Badia A Passignano 2021, San Casciano

Pietraforte meets Macigno and Galestro at Campomaggio, Radda

Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2020

Capraia Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Effe 55 2020, Castellina

Big and let’s reiterate big vintage for Capraia’s Castellina sangiovese and as Gran Selezione the ideal elevates to the hyperbole of an idiom. Thick, rich, oaky and seriously intense but boy that wood has to to settle and integrate. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted February 2024

Castello Di Fonterutoli Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2020, Castellina

Clean, advanced to a finer point and really showing the sweetness of fruit at this stage. Open whenever you are ready yet can also be kept for four-plus years. Last tasted February 2024

Cecchi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Valore Di Famiglia 2020, Castellina

From Palagione where vines were first planted in 1965 and the material kept alive through massal selection. Here more structure and lower layers, compact yet breathable Gran Selezione that moves like an accordion. At once tight and playing bass notes but then open and making echoing sounds. A complex wine so young and yet with such a bright future ahead. Drink 2026-2031. Tasted May 2024

Querceto Di Castellina Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Sei 2020, Castellina

Sei is long but Sei is right. Sei knows what’s what and is ready for the fight. With itself, a self imposed struggle that mimics the vines and what they had gone through in the vintage. A warm one but this amazing vineyard at 500m sprawled over a hill convex and rolling is the place where Castellina sangiovese turns out this kind of succulence. The maker knows what he’s got and delivers the goods, less in the face then many from 2020 and with grace. This is a fine wine. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted February 2024

Tregole Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2020, Castellina

Really, really dark blood orange, deeper, darker and richer than what will likely come next from 2021. Spicy nose, wild, almost ferocious and great complexity, wound tight and the palate acting so multifaceted as well, but yet to unwind. Persistence is wow, going on forever. A serious, polished and fabulous 2020 Gran Selezione. Drink 2025-2034. Tasted May 2024

Fèlsina Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Colonia 2020, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Campione: A barrel sample but how can Colonia not be distinctive? Gotta be just about ready to get into bottle at this three-plus-plus year mark, savoury bits swirling and fruit layers compounded with great force. The way the warm and frankly big vintage manifests itself here is with fruit intensity and wood spice that piques here, there and everywhere. A Colonia that needs years to integrate and more time too settle in. Drink 2026-2036. Tasted February 2024

Mazzei Fonterutoli Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2020, Castelnuovo Berardenga

“A vintage a little hidden between two great ones, 2019 and 2021,” tells Francesco Mazzei. The fruit comes from one special and large (nine hectare) parcel in Castelnuovo Berardenga on the Vagliagli side not far from Mocenni. A wild weave of expositions crisscrossing the apex and crests of a hill at 350m-plus with views to all directions. Makes for a complex patterning of fruit and acidities, a venn diagram of all that is Mazzei, the experience with Fonterutoli, the new frontier in Castelnuovo and Gran Selezione. Some variegate phenolics add to the mystique while dry and botanical Amaro comes later to expand upon the multiplicity of the wine. There is much going on and the need to wait a year or two is recommended. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted February 2024

San Felice Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2020, Castelnuovo Berardenga

The sangiovese comes from the highest of the San Felice vineyards with a few points here and there of other indigenous varieties like the variant of colorino (called abrusco), malvasia, pugnitello and ciliegiolo. So youthful with still gritty or sandy tannins, high tonality but always the balsamic, spices and herbs. Wood is very much in the aromatic mix but also on the texture, thick as thieves with those hard-working tannins. Give it five years and things will get oh so very interesting. Drink 2026-2034. Tasted October 2023 and February 2024

Castello Di Ama Gran Selezione Chianti Classico DOCG San Lorenzo 2020, Gaiole

San Lorenzo is one of the most unique Gran Selezione because, well it was always one, long before it was allowed to be labeled this way. The large vineyard was the Classico for Castello di Ama, the wine that represented the vineyards and estate in the most succinct way. That said it was always about breadth and quantity, as it is now though the vines have been been held, treated and farmed to the highest standard. The 2020 is an aromatic beast, meaty and floral, of evergreen and spices. A potpourri and a masala, the palate acting out the stew of all these aromatics accenting juices, fats and proteins for the most well-developed Gran Selezione in the territory. A fantasy of sangiovese with 13 percent merlot and (7) malvasia nera for 60,000 bottles. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted February 2024

Barone Ricasoli Castello Di Brolio Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2020, Gaiole

Exuberance and scintillant matter exude from Brolio’s energetic 2020 Gran Selezione which is truly a selection in the form of a “Villages” example taken from 270-pus hectares and at least five different terroirs. A layered and variegate mix of sand, clay and limestone, a lacustrine set of complexities lending all that is needed to create such a well-rounded example of Gran Selezione. Defines Gaiole and Ricasoli, discovers the vintage and delivers the goods. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted October 2023 and February 2024

Barone Ricasoli Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Colledilà 2020, Gaiole

Colledilà, likely “lost” from the Welsh and yet this first Gran Selezione labeled with its Gaiole UGA will leave us all anything but. Like a an old and beautiful Welsh folk song about a love lost this is the sort of sangiovese that may just make you wistful and weepy. That is because Ricasoli has discovered what makes these grapes round out into a most ideal example of Gran Selezione. This is a soulful and spiritual hymn to Chianti Classic and specifically Gaiole, living, breathing and singing. There is charm, elegance and beauty here, not to mention to kind of structure built upon epochs of geology to see this linger well into the next and further decades. Drink 2025-2040. Tasted October 2023 and February 2024

Riecine Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Vigna Gittori 2020, Gaiole

Yet juicy, not finally because it always was for a crispy vintage of Riecine’s top drop. What truly matters now is the incredible length to tell us that the wine is in a great position and the possibilities will travel long. Last tasted October 2023 and February 2024

Wholly singular Gran Selezione aromatic set, a smoulder not noted in any other sangiovese, certainly not at this level. That said the red citrus of Riecine can’t be missed, that plus tar and roses notes so reminiscent of some nebbiolo. This would be a great ringer to throw into a mixed sangiovese and nebbiolo blind tasting with tasters struggling to decide which were which. Great length from Riecine and without a doubt a wine for cellaring. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted May 2023

Terreno Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Asofia 2020, Greve

A Sofia, self denoted label for proprietor Sofia Ruhne and a Gran Selezione from the vineyard opposite the estate on terraces rising up the eastern hill of Greve. A 2020 of restraint, clarity and controlled intensity, many old vines imparting their wisdom to develop concentration, but never too much. There is a not too hard and not too soft aspect of this sangjovese. It speaks to the heart of the Terreno matter. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted February 2024

With John Matta – Castello di Vicchiomaggio, Greve

Vicchiomaggio Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG La Prima 2020, Greve

La Prima is as it states, the first Gran Selezione and the larger of the two in terms of production for Vicchiomaggio. Richness and somewhat middle of the road structure but all falls into place without much obstruction. Stony and grippy, liquid chalky and quite fine all around, while also softened by 10 percent merlot. Not as complex as Le Bolle to be sure but a fine representative of Matta’s Greve nonetheless. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted October 2023 and February 2024

Victoria, Federica, Sebastain and Delfina Matta – Castello di Vicchiomaggio, Greve

Vicchiomaggio Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Le Bolle 2020, Greve

Sister Gran Selezione to La Prima, certainly not La Seconda but rather “Le Bolle,” literally the “bubbles.” Happens to be the name of the top parcel at Vicchiomaggio and a Gran Selezione that captures every ounce of fruit and moment of truth for the vintage. And yet at 13.5 percent alcohol it’s a bit of a throwback, a light and bright star for the appellation at the near minimum as far as discipline and rules are concerned. This is about as elegant and graceful as it gets for the appellation so that great food can be paired alongside for years to come. If I were designing a pairing menu today this would rise to the top of the list. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted October 2023 and February 2024

Villa Calcinaia Chianti Classico

Conte Capponi/Villa Calcinaia Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Vigna Bastignano 2020, Montefioralle

Campione: A sample but one at the three and a half year mark so let’s take it at face value. One of the baller and brazen Gran Selezione in Conti Capponi’s work, doubled down by a vintage of similar character. Intense minerals and elemensl streaking through chalky fruit that mimics and speaks to the terroir – an Alberese stone that will not be denied. This is indeed serious and structured. Wait a minimum four years people. Please. Drink 2027-2035. Tasted February 2024

Conti Capponi/Villa Calcinaia Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Vigna Contessa Luisa 2020, Montefioralle

Campione: A sample but one at the three and a half year mark so let’s take it at face value. Richer, thicker, softer and less intense than certainly Bastignano and in fact the lack of power makes Contessa Luisa show its wood to much greater effect. Sure this needs to relax, settle, integrate and transform but Luisa will always be the softest and dreamiest of the Gran Selezione ‘20s. Drink 2025-2031. Tasted February 2024

Conti Capponi/Villa Calcinaia Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG La Fornace 2020, Montefioralle

Campione: A sample but one at the three and a half year mark so let’s take it at face value. If Bastignano is the beast and Contessa Luisa the beauty then where does that put La Fornace? Not exactly in the middle but shall we say at the mean with its complimentary mix of brawn and beauty, a handsome 2020 of warmth and energy, higher acidity and a burning desire to please. The furnace is on a heater but the flame will die down and eventually breeze to a flicker, after five or six years before fully softening at around 10 to 12. Drink 2026-2035. Tasted February 2024

Terreno Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Sillano 2020, Montefioralle

Another 2020 from Terreno but this time the terrain is Montefioralle, off of Formazione di Silano geology and so there is grit and power that A Sofia does not show. A Gran Selezione of musculature but a toned and taut corporeal type. Also finer or at least sharper acids from the Sillano and more wood noted as well. May live longer than it’s sister but it shows less finesse – which is splitting hairs but that’s how we look at children of the same parents. Drink 2026-2034. Tasted February 2024

Corso, Bernardo and Margherita Manetti – Fontodi, Panzano

Fontodi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Vigna Del Sorbo 2020, Panzano

If you think there has been movement from Vigna del Sorbo 2020 think again because the locks remain on the doors, the windows closed and the sign says “come back next season.” Last tasted February 2024

Three parcels, two planted between 1965 and 1971 plus 1973, coming together because the uniqueness of these three plots are the schist soils that manifest above ground as Galestro. All about spiciness and mid-palate volume. The sorbo is a local fruit, specific to Tuscany, very dry and tannic, much like grapes. And hello to the Chianti Classico UGA within Greve commune because this is the first label to say Panzano, 40 years in the making and finally the mention is here. Structure is serious from a reduced crop yield due to frost in April and this is what Giovanni Manetti had to say at the time. “We had a couple of days very cold, April 6th and 7th but the damages are limited to the young vines. The majority of the buds of the other vines were still closed and were not hurt by the frost. In the rest of the CC territory there were some damages in the warmer areas and zero in the cooler ones like Radda and Lamole. The frost in 2017 was much more worse than this.” A linear Vigna del Sorbo this 2020, taut, extremely young and with a great potential. Drink 2026-2037. Tasted October 2023

Fontodi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Pastrolo 2020, Lamole

The sangiovese from Lamole of the vineyard strewn with stones of marine origin. Marne di Macigno is the derivative geological term used by Giovanni Manetti and who should argue with the logic? A vein of calcareous material runs through, surely come down from Monte San Michele, up above at 1000m direction Radda. Almost as if both Lamole and Panzano are present in this unicorn vineyard, a marriage of two UGAs in one thin strip of terraced steppes encompassing a single block. Fermentation in amphora “to highlight the fruit in another way,” tells Bernardo Manetti. The most textural of all the Fontodi wines, and indeed a pulpiness as opposed to the glissade of especially the Gran Selezione Vigna del Sorbo. “The nose is like music,” says Giovanni Manetti. Classically composed, lyrical and asymmetrically on repeat. Someday Pastrolo may become Fontodi’s biggest prize. Drink 2026-2036. Tasted February 2024

Fontodi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Terrazze San Leolino 2020, Panzano

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

Tenth anniversary for the Gran Selezione appellation that was first launched by Il Molino di Grace with the 2010 vintage released in 2014. While Riserva may have come to a readied state Il Margone has not, because tannin times acidity come out doubly aggressive, like the Annata but magnified to the power of 10. Crazy Panzano acidity, sweet and extremamente ventoso. Not far away but still not there. Last tasted February 2024

The vineyard that gives the best quality is Magdalena Vineyard planted around 2010, both for 2020 and what’s to come in 2021. When you have less production it’s easier to separate the wheat from the chaff and so the lots fermented separately are easier to identify. This 2020 proposes an extreme set of tannic proportions but sweet fruit with heft, weight and flesh is up to the task. Tasted October 2023

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

Isole Delle Falcole Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2020, Panzano

The IdF 2020 will be released in two or three months and if the vineyard were registered as Panzano (and not Montefioralle) then it will be the first GS labeled with the UGA. A wholly apposite vintage to 2021, grippier with fruit shaded darker and brooding, but what really stands out is the ferric and the sanguine, intense and reductive iron blood of jove. Like eating grilled calf’s liver and now the deep red Panzano soil from this single vineyard really hits hard and flows through the corpulence of the sangiovese. The vineyard will be called Le Falcole on the label as of 2020. One of the most intense and identifiable expressions of any in all of Chianti Classico. Drink 2026-2036. Tasted February 2024

Le Fonti Di Panzano Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2020, Panzano

Campione: A sample but more developed as such than so many because Le Fonti, unlike many others does not feel the need to extract and press to impress. In fact there is a level of restraint and fineness that speaks to confidence but also a Gran Selezione made in the way it simply had to be made. Important as one hundred percent sangiovese and definitive of Le Fonti’s finest available fruit in their north-easterly aspect and exposure of Panzano. This is seriously good. Drink 2026-2035. Tasted February 2024

Fattoria Rignana Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Villa Rignana 2020, Panzano

Gran Selezione is 100 percent sangiovese, just bottled in June of 2023. First vintage was 2013 and this 2020 is the first to see Panzano gracing the label under the new rules of the UGA. Similar elévage to the Riserva with all small barrels from a 2003 planted vineyard packed with lots of clay, Alberese lower down and Galestro at the top. Floral example, a bit of acetone, some wood scents of vanilla and coconut and finally balsamico. High acid, sharp, quite tannic and needing a few years to settle in. Will be a much better wine once the integration occurs. Drink 2025-2031. Tasted October 2023 and February 2024

Brancaia Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2020, Radda

Curious how 2020 shows a bit more maturity then the 2019 Gran Selezione and the vintage is a bit of a crossroads for this appellative level of a Brancaia Classico. Shows its wood with more aromatic and also textural density, acids are lower and a bit brooding while overall the feeling is of one very experienced and complete Gran Selezione. Balsamico at the finish and balance for sure. Last tasted May 2024

The Brancaia from Castellina 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 and October 2023

Castello Di Albola Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Il Solatìo 2020, Radda

Starting at Annata 2021, through Riserva 2021 and here to Gran Selezione 2020 we see, nose, taste and feel Albola’s progression, in descending order. The most fruit, sweetest acidity, finest integration and more generous gifts are in this wine. Less structured than many Gran Selezione while also less intense, brooding or formidable as many peers – but sometimes fruit is everything. As here with a 2020 that’s ready and willing to please. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2024

Castello Di Fonterutoli Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Badiòla 2020, Radda

The Radda Gran Selezione is born of high higher elevation, at 570m below the tiny abbey and truly aboard the glare of white sandy limestone with some Galestro flaking at the surface. The most lift, highest tone and brightest style, part soil and part elevation, but most of all forethought. The fact that the Mazzei decided to acquire this place in 1989, whether by brilliance, chance or both, it only matters that this is a special place today with the ability to create a beautiful and fascinating wine. The energy and finesse is next level from Badiòla 2020, fresh as it gets and with a potential to age for a decade plus. Last tasted February 2024

Badiòla out of Radda is the work of Fonterutoli (out of Castellina) though the distance between cantina and vineyard is not that great. Lovely bit of swarthy behaviour and also an airy quality so elevation surely plays a role and Mazzei clearly sees the potential in this site. High toned and a notable acetone quality though it finds a way to play nice and stay well beneath dangerous thresholds. Good work and promise is clearly the thing. Drink relatively young if best after two more years and look for 2021 to surely be a cracker example of this Gran Selezione. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted October 2023

Castello Di Gabbiano Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Bellezza 2020, San Casciano

Campione: A sample but a well nigh finished one because it has been in vessels for coming on three and a half-plus years. A Belleza not yet released because well, 2020. Biggest fruit, forested acidity and baddest tannins all conspire for a Gabbiano as substantial and powerful as there ever was. The 100 percent sangiovese aspect is a major component in the result but vintage takes the cake and eats it too. Drink 2026-2034. Tasted February 2024

With Cristina Fonte – Poggio Torselli, San Casciano

Poggio Torselli Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2020, San Casciano

Campione: Only sangiovese, single vineyard of the name Montecapri, a Gran Selezione first made in 2013, skipped for a couple of years and resumed in 2016. Concentrated grapes but more than that a different sort and a freshness that neither Annata nor merlot seemed able to find. Spicy fruit, 30 months in those big casks and so a protected but far from oxidative example with a maximum 5,000 bottle production. This is the beginning of a project that will only get better. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2024

Villa Le Corti Principe Corsini Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Don Tommaso 2020, San Casciano

Casa Emma Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2020, San Donato In Poggio

If Vignalparco is something to behold from the big, bad and bold vintage then Gran Selezione is not just another but an apposite matter altogether. Triply rich, fortified and tannic as a wall of hard Alberese, impenetrable and the wine just feels like it’s on the dark side of that moon. If there is one – and many have questioned the notion, but seriously this Gran Selezione is not nothing. Not hard mind you, just a force of Chianti Classico nature. Boom! Wait five years. Trust this is the truth. Drink 2027-2035. Tasted February 2024

Il Poggiolino Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Le Balze 2020, San Donato In Poggio

Campione: Feels like a very mature Gran Selezione for 2019 and so perhaps some oxidation from this sample amplified by tasting it late on day two at the Collection Looking forward to another opportunity down the road. Tasted February 2024

Poggio Al Sole Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Casasilla 2020, San Donato In Poggio

Casasilia which can mean “the blessed house” is tied to Badia a Passignano just one kilometre away and the pre-1990 name of Poggio al Sole under the previous ownership. The flagship wine that was Riserva changed to Gran Selezione as of the 2012 vintage. Best grapes, harvested a bit later and longer macerati”on. Once fermentation and maceration are complete the “130 percent sent to barriques (between 10 and 20 percent new) is then narrowed down to its 100 number. Hard to imagine or find more suave texture and refinement which in GS translates as scorrevole. Which tells us that Poggio al Sole has as much in common with Panzano as it does with San Donato in Poggio. Playful acidity, precision and fine tuning. Runs on Swiss time if you will. A mulch of grippy tannin on the back end suggests waiting a year or two. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted December 2023 and February 2024

Cento Anni di Chianti Classico, Palazzo Vecchio, Firenze

Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2019

Cecchi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Villa Rosa 2019, Castellina

Nardi Viticoltori Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Vigna Del Pino 2019, Castellina

First vintage from the one hectare vineyard, “our vision of the different sangiovese,” the dark soul and D12 (Emilia-Romagna) clone planted by Giacomo’s father back in 2002. Small bunches, strong and thick-skinned leading to a requiem of longer macerations (as many as 30-35 days). Darker of colour and a richer version of Nardi but more important is the “croccante” and “graffiante” nature of the tannins. Great acidity captured (at 6.2 tA), a full half to three-quarters higher than the Annata and Riserva. Th exposure is northeast (which makes dad look like a genius) and the soil is a very strong clay. Sees 20 months in Slavonian oak and evolution is low, slow and relatively forever. Balsamico finish and acidity (more than tannin) is the driver. Think Brunello if you like but this is purely Chianti Classico Gran Selezione. A father is and a grandfather would surely be proud. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted February 2024

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

Tregole Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2019, Castellina

From the oldest vineyard planted by in 1972 by the Scalerandi family, two owners before Sophie Conte’s father purchased the estate. More obvious concentration than any of the other Tregole wines but also this settled, calming and fully nourished feeling. Have a glass of Gran Selezione 2019 and it will feel like the end of a great meal without having overeaten. The vineyard delivers great material and the layers of fruit are more than apparent. Having tasted vintages going back several years now you can see the development and the acumen growing in Conte’s world. This falls right in the middle but the learning curve is showing. There is a tiny bit of oxidative character on the back palate and so this vintage is more than ready with a delicious finish that reminds of certain dry amaro. Last tasted May 2024

Carpineta Fontalpino Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Montaperto 2019, Castelnuovo Berardenga

A preview of 2019 that will shown at the Chianti Classico Collection in February of 2024 that are now finished wines “but to me they are young,” shrugs Filippo Cresti. The Montaperto layering of many red fruits are the crux of the perfumes and freshness out of ’19, they being pomegranate, currant and plum, juices running and so many layers to peel away. Focused vintage and “we love it,” adds Gioia. Return in a year and see just where it looks like this will go. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted October 2023 and February 2024

San Felice Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Poggiorosso 2019, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Villa A Sesta Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Sorleone 2019, Castelnuovo Berardenga

A mix of energetic freshness and structured depth, somewhere ideally in between where Sorleone resides in this its sixth vintage as Gran Selezione (though its was not made in 2020). First vintage with new oenologist (Attilio Pauli) will be with the 2021 though the winemaking team in the cantina stays the same. In the window beginning now or perhaps just recently and this mix of glycerin and sweet spice does well to activate the salutary and imaginative senses. Fine shape for a fine wine. 3,000-5,000 bottles per year, this being on the higher end. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted February 2024

Marchesi Frescobaldi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Tenuta Perano Rialzi 2019, Gaiole

There was a local who knew the name of the vineyard and said it was called I Rialzi, which translates as “the lifted up,” or in another way of saying it, rizalto. The rocky location housed a ditch or a gully in the direction rising up towards Badia a Coltibuono. Over time the soils settled to hide the clough but the extreme rocky soils are still home to the vines. Says Lamberto Frescobaldi, “the vineyard matters most,” even more so than the estate or the denomination. In Gran Selezione terms at least. Frescobaldi was told “I don’t give a shit about a selection from you. I want a selection from one vineyard.” So, how does this make that happen, offer a taste or sense of Rialzi? It does so with aromatic volume and vigour, tension and the experience of fruit from a given vintage. As for 2019 well substantial and stress free is helpful but acidity and a wine’s anxiety are what drive Rialzi, no matter its philanthropy. In the end Rialzi is a gift, of Perano and Gaiole. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted December 2023

Querciabella Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2019, Greve

With Susanna Grassi – I Fabbri, Lamole

I Fabbri Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2019, Lamole

Podere Castellinuzza Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Vecchie Vigne 2019, Lamole

Old vines from Podere Castellinuzza’s high elevation Lamole location are the impetus to set this Gran Selezione apart while keeping in perfumed line with compatriots of that most unique UGA. Who does not want to own fruit from this location in today’s Chianti Classico and this family’s time has surely come. The next epoch of sangiovese from Lamole begins right here with succulence, energy and intensity. Floral and spicy, austere in a tannic way while gently rustic, but so very beautiful in all these ways. Drink 2025-2034. Tasted October 2023 and February 2024

With Emanuele Graetz – Isole delle Falcole, Panzano

Isole Delle Falcole Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2019, Montefioralle

Just beginning to open and emerge because the vintage delivers that kind of fruit generosity but the vineyard simply will not be quiet or separate itself from this always bloody sangiovese, not even for a moment. The heavy metal presence creates the most metallic, elemental and mineral trilogy, a triptych of sangiovese, acidity and powerful tannin to equip this Gran Selezione for a decade-plus of immovable life ahead. Last tasted February 2024

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 and 2024

Arillo In Terrabianca Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Terrabianca 2019, Radda

Brancaia Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2019, Radda

From the first vineyard purchased by Barbara Widmer’s parents, Brigit and Bruno, back in 1980. Ripped out and re-planted in 1999 with four clones chosen from the Chianti Classico 2000 project because massal selection was not viable at the time. Great fruit, grainy structure and time needed to heal the wounds and rusticity off the wine. There is so much character and potential with almost no maturity showing yet, however those tannins and that fruit do tumble around together. Wait another year, or so. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted May 2024

Colle Bereto Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2019, Radda

Like Riserva the Colle Bereto showing at the Chianti Classico Collection in 2024 is 2019 for Gran Selezione. Not quite as mature and resolved as the other appellative level but still en route and in a similar arena. More strength and power from these saucy tannins, long-chained and still visible, if also reverberating. The wood is still very much in control so be patient and allow a rendering, but also the disappearance of a mild swarthiness. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted February 2024

Castello Di Monsanto Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Vigneto Il Poggio 2019, San Donato In Poggio

Fattoria Montecchio Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2019, San Donato In Poggio

Bottled in September of 2023 though winemaker Riccardo Nuti is keenly aware how much more time is needed and so plans are to release this Gran Selezione after a full year in bottle. Sees 20 percent amphora because frankly Montecchio is not just a Fattoria of wine (and olives), but also a “fornace” for working with clay. An original in this regard and one of the pioneers for GS aging. The ’19 sings with pure and unadulterated sangiovese aromas, explicitly San Donato in Poggio because of the red florals, citrus and sanguine character. Also brings an added layer of palate texture, the kind that settles and coats, but fruit is the medium. With time the defraying will become a glissade but for now the verticality of this Selezione is not ready to relax or relent. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted February 2024

Bindi Sergardi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Mocenni ’89 2019, Vagliagli

Gioia, Sara and Filippo Cresti – Carpineta Fontalpino, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Carpineta Fontalpino Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Vigna Dofana 2019, Vagliagli

Dievole Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Vigna Sessina 2019, Vagliagli

Michaela Morris and Christine Lechner at Prowein 2024

Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG (Older Vintages)

Casale Dello Sparviero Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Paronza 2018, Castellina

Paronza is the name of the vineyard and comes from a hospital housed by a monastery that hosted pilgrims. Still the work of Atillio Pagli, sappy like the Riserva, fruit quality improved from the ’18 Riserva while so soft and creamy with that same kind of perceived sweetness. Ready. Last tasted May 2024

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

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

There is ten percent pugnitello with the sangiovese, already meeting the new requirements of the Gran Selezione. From the 2020 vintage San Marcellino will say Gaiole on the label. Aging is 25 months in barriques, tonneaux and botti, 25 per cent new oak overall. Almost three years in bottle at this stage. Finest of San Marcellino tannins are coming about ever so slowly, surely to mature over a 15 year period. Tells Marco Ricasoli, “elegance does not mean weakness. The power does not affect your mouth.” Posit tug between salinity and sapidity. Last tasted October 2023 and February 2024

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

Verrazzano

Castello Di Verrazzano Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Sassello 2018, Montefioralle

Castello Di Verrazzano Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Valdonica 2018, Montefioralle

The thing that connects Sassello and Valdonica is the vintage, the power and the full on substantial effects compactly packed yet carefully multi-layered. A swarthiness really separates this GS from Sassello in ways that put this in its own light. The aromas and flavours also bring in exotic spices but also a succulence that show how special and different this sangiovese truly is. It walks a fine line, flirts with danger and comes out singing. Drink 2026-2036. Tasted February 2024

Emilia and Giovanni d’Orsi – Casaloste, Panzano

Casaloste Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2018, Panzano

Fine swirl of sangiovese with voluminousness liquid peppery aromas from the word go that are commanding and unrelenting. Put your nose into Giovanni d’Orsi’s Gran Selezione from late (though properly timed) harvesting for what was necessary out of Panzano. For 2018 that is because late September heat by day and cold by night meant stem ripeness, higher alcohol and captured acidity. All of which put 2018 Casaloste into fine form, big and meaty, bountiful and elastic. Bravo. Drink 205-2032. Tasted February 2024

Gagliole Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Pecchia 2018, Panzano

Pecchia from only Pietraforte Panzano soils was IGT through the 2016 vintage, skipped in 2017 and brought into the Chianti Classico DOCG appellation in 2018 with the estates first Gran Selezione. Less transparency but clearly more polish and luxe disposition than Gallùle but what this expresses are hearty matters of spotless and seamless perfection. Structurally speaking the Pietraforte puts this sangiovese in a most precise place to establish a top position in every respect. Just 3,000 bottles produced and though there was great heat at the launch of harvest there were also low nighttime temps and all the acidity was preserved. Great graphite style and cool as an October Panzano night. Really special wine. Drink 2026-2035. Tasted May 2023 and February 2024

Il Palagio Di Panzano Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Le Bambole 2018, Panzano

Campione: Of all the Gran Selezione samples this Le Bambole is one should be the nearest to be ready because, well it’s 2018. Now two years longer in waiting than most other unreleased samples and yet mon dieu this ’18 is still so far away from being ready. Uncanny how much Pietraforte strength Il Bambole is want to direct as itself and on our palates that feel both slaughtered and bamboozled. So befitting the name and also the vintage which delivered great late September heat. Cold nights too which is why this acidity is striking and frankly necessary. On par with 2016 which is a feat in itself. Drink 2026-2038. Tasted February 2024

Villa Trasqua Gran Selezione Chianti Classico DOCG Nerento 2017, Castellina

Nerento offers up that super important and at times rare mix of maturity and results based on time having been the necessity to allow for an approach to drinking this Gran Selezione at this stage. The wood would have been obtrusive and on top just six months before and this timing is fortuitous to say the least. Some raisin and fig with high quality acid and a balsamic sweetness woven through the tannin. Not an extreme vintage as might be expected but surely a high-toned one. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted October 2023 and February 2024

Marchesi Frescobaldi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Tenuta Perano Rialzi 2017, Gaiole

Third vintage of Rialzi from a hottest and driest one, though always worth a reminder that Perano is high elevation Gaiole – meaning a cooler and fresher place. In Chianti Classico terms this means the vineyard and its cooling maintenance from rockiest of soils lends a much needed pulse, flux and regulating ability to ensure sangiovese’s credibility. Vigour and dewiness are preserved which allows Rialzi ’17 to grace the palate like clean early morning summer moisture on grass and bushes. Fruit was hung a little bit longer than many other single-vineyard Gran Selezione to be sure, full phenolic maturity has been acceded and the conclusion is about a full and favourable sangiovese. A unique one at that and one to surely benefit from some rest in the cellar. Drink 2025-2031. Tasted December 2023

Cecchi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Villa Rosa 2015, Castellina

In agreement with Andrea Cecchi whereby in some ways 2015 is still a baby, but on another level the maturity is there, or at least seen that wasy through one of the two open bottles. This second pour is not only the answer to a predictive moment made in September 2018 but a reconciliation of what Villa Rosa sangiovese is want to become. Youthful and yet ready, in the first stages of secondary character but at least five more years shall pass before the next phase begins. Last tasted May 2024

These are not the richest and most extracted Chianti Classico and they are truly driven by acidity, a Castellina acidity to be sure, edgy, expected or not. The red fruit is direct and linear lightning, not overly complex and certainly true to consistent form. It’s actually quite amazing to note this form of sangiovese structure as being very specific to commune, very close to the Valore Gran Selezione and recognizable for place as much as any in the entire territory. This will evolve slower than the Valore, in fact I can’t see it changing all that much in the next five years. Drink 2019-2026. Tasted September 2018

Losi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Millennium 2013, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Still quiet and reserved, far from even hinting at the end of its first millennium in bottle. Full and still in a chaste state, a textural casted Gran Selezione that exults the finest selections of Losi’s vineyards. Gives and gives some more but its best and most complex days still lay ahead. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted February 2024

Cecchi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Villa Rosa 1988, Castellina

From 1988, raised on Piaggia, the top of the Villa Rosa hill and aged in chestnut barrels. In great shape, truly well kept and the toasted chestnut aromas are those caught in a time machine. Chianti Classico and sangiovese from another era, a savoury balsamico, however that is consistent if altered because of time. Time that has softened and dried out the fruit yet the palate delivers a level of freshness that needs to be tasted to be believed. Speaks to wine being made the right way at the time and yet you wouldn’t do things this way now because the sangiovese demands evolution and a new approach. A look back that says you can peer through a portal to see changes coming and for the next 40 years. Tasted May 2024

Vinsanto del Chianti Classico DOCG

Castello Di Monsanto Vinsanto Del Chianti Classico DOCG Occhio Di Pernice 2006

Rare and different for VinSanto, here as 100 percent sangiovese and in many ways nothing like the style that comes from those made with trebbiano and malvasia. Plenty more caramel and especially spice, of nutmeg, sweet lemon and iced tea. A really fine black tea, tannic and softened by clover honey. Sweetness, acidity and impeccably balanced. Drink 2024-2032. Tasted February 2024

San Giusto A Rentennano Vinsanto del Chianti Classico DOCG Giusto 1999

Remember that a great vintage for reds might not succeed with Vinsanto and vice versa but this 1999 just feels like ideal middle ground. Intense sweetness (around 350 g/L) with lower volatility and solid acidity. Length simply outstanding, A treacle of deep caramel and caramelized fig, brown sugar syrup and finishing spice – cardamom and nutmeg. Crazy complexity if surely one in the sweeter and softer pantheon of San Giusto Vinsanto. Last tasted February 2024

Vinsanto Giusto 1999 is from 90 per cent malvasia and 10 trebbiano dried on traditional mats then transferred to small oak (caratelli) barrels, with absolutely no botrytis allowed. The selection is extremely careful to avoid the noble rot. Perhaps the most viscous gelée of VinSanto ever put in mouth because 400 g/L of residual sugar will do that in the most concentrated and incredible of ways. The most intense VinSanto you will ever find. Could go three-plus decades further. Drink 2018-2035. Tasted February 2018

Brancaia Tasting

IGTs

Brancaia Rosé 2023, Toscana Rosato IGT

Made with 100 percent Maremma grown merlot picked earlier (mid-August!) than wine for the reds, keeping the alcohol down with light colour and high acidity. No skin contact, three months on lees for a creamy and sapid Rosato that goes down far too easy. Currants and faint strawberry but just easy and lovely. Summer go to Rosato. Drink 2024-2025. Tasted May 2024

Brancaia Il Bianco 2023, Toscana Bianco IGT

All sauvignon blanc from Castellina vineyards, picked early (which would be late August) for the purpose of acidity, freshness, brightness and intensity. First Bianco was made in 2011 (though was a very different style at the time) and now the variety is a veritable facsimile of itself. Shows some aging potential for more layers to pop up and out, but not for 10 years. Crunchy and salty enough, not quite startling but surely creating a pop and a buzz on the palate. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted May 2024

Brancaia Tre 2022, Toscana IGT

A blend of all three Brancaia properties, two-thirds from Maremma and one-third Castellina/Radda fruit. The varietal blend is 70 percent sangiovese with (15 each) cabernet sauvignon and merlot. Aging in tonneaux and concrete. Serious yet uncomplicated, coastal ripeness meeting Classico region acidity for layers, piques, rises and valleys in a red blend. Three layers of savour, gariga and balsamico with three distinct types of spice, some of it very related to wood. This just feels like a perfect match to veal shoulder or Ossobuco, braised in a few cups of Tuscan red wine, fresh tomato, mirepoix and saffron, then topped with Gremolata. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted May 2024

With Barbara Widmer – Brancaia

Brancaia N°2 Cabernet Sauvignon 2022, DOC Maremma Toscana

Coastal cabernet is a unique thing unto itself and with the streak of salinity running through there is less density and brood than what might otherwise happen in today’s increasingly warming climate. There is an elegance to No. 2 and a beautiful sense of the brushy Mediterranean terroir. Tannic and finishing at dark chocolate with a shot of espresso. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted May 2024

Brancaia Il Blu 2021, Toscana IGT

The mix is merlot from Radda blended with cabernet sauvignon from Castellina. Five of 15 hectares from Castellina and half (eight of 16) in Radda. All Chianti Classico area fruit and how they layer together is a matter of desire coupled with Barbara Widmer’s experience. True blue merlot with as much structure as any found anywhere this meeting of Tuscan varieties will occur. So different than Bolgheri (and obviously Maremma) but no shock to see. Seriously structured red, fine-grained tannins and intensity self-reflecting inwards and needing up to five years to expand. Very confident wine. Drink 2026-2031. Tasted May 2024

Just as with sangiovese there is a marked difference between 2020 and 2021, also for merlot and cabernet sauvignon. There may have been a time when ripening (especially the cabernet) was a challenge in terms but think that way no more. Some frost damage at Easter reduced yields but the quality here is exceptional, the flavours developed and true. This will age effortlessly for 10-15 years. Wait for three because the wood is still very much in play. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted May 2024

Brancaia Il Blu 2020, Toscana IGT

Brancaia Ilatraia

Brancaia Ilatraia 2021, Maremma Toscana IGT

A change to the labelling begins in 2021 now with a mix of the classic label. The 2021 is expressive of more Machia Mediterranea than any Ilatraia that have come before. The brushy savour and local gariga are so prevalent on the aromatics and the palate shows great succulence for this very special red blend. Not only is the label a next generation style and idea but the winemaking also seems to follow this route. Freshness and crispy quality creates something new, vibrant and exciting for what Ilatraia is now and also going to be. Really special vintage, extraordinary and of a potential unlimited. Tasted a second time, May 2024

The repeatable 2021 blend of 40 percent each petit verdot and cabernet sauvignon plus (20) merlot does not equivocate as a carbon copy of the 2020, nor should it and acts to remind how Maremma vintages will alter and in turn pay heed to the terroir. This feels like Galestro in the mix, surfacing for scents of the petrichor of rocks and sea and air after a rain. Rich and elegant, flavours swirling of fruit, earth, elements, the sea, mineral and natural sweetness. Finely poised, chiseled, and structured to live a very long, good and proper opus of a life. Drink 2027-2036. Tasted May 2024

Brancaia Ilatraia 2020, Maremma Toscana IGT

That blend since 2009 is 40 percent each petit verdot and cabernet sauvignon, plus (20) cabernet franc. The three months of “refinement” in concrete began with the 2019 vintage and here 2020 presents a wine of more energy and freshness. Chewy but also scorrevole, gliding and sliding across the palate with this glistening and glycerol style of fruit that says so much about modern day Maremma. A full and concentrated yet never gratuitous Maremma red blend so perfect in pitch, sway and glide as it shows so much grace today, but also to do so for many years going forward. Tasted a second time, May 2024

The change for this 20-plus year-old IGT happened in 2009 when sangiovese was eliminated, petit verdot introduced and cabernet increased. Closed aromas for now, soon to change because 2020 will open much earlier than 2019 and also 2021. The petit verdot is aching to be untethered and understood, the other parts less so but will come soon thereafter. There is great personality and acidity to this 2020, a freshness unexpected and a diversity within a wine that comes in layers, marine waves and complexity. Wow vintage, again unexpected but then again, not really considering Maremma, Brancaia and 2020. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted May 2024

Brancaia Ilatraia 2019, Maremma Toscana IGT

From 2019 the aging process changes, still 18 months in barrel but now followed up with three months in concrete before bottling. “To give the wine time to become a unit” explains Barbara Widmer. The 2019 feels more forward than 2018, maybe because of less stress during the season with ’19 allowing the team to breath after 2018, but there is so much fruit it seems the structure and therefore potential will be lessened. Rich and more wood sensations here, a chocolate expression with ganache painted all over the dark fruit. Tannins are of very good quality though they are softer and silkier than most vintages. A seductive Ilatraia this 2019 blend of 40 percent each petit verdot and cabernet sauvignon, plus (20) cabernet franc. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted May 2024

Brancaia Ilatraia 2018, Maremma Toscana IGT

Rich vintage with layers and layers upon others of fruit, wood, fruit, wood and more fruit. “We were very afraid because of the heat and drought after 2017,” admits Barbara Widner, which means some negative linger or hangover might have been a part of the work during the ’18 season. But luck was on the Brancaia side with good winter rains, a fine spring and balance throughout the summer, all the way to harvest. “We were super, super lucky and were able to relax.” Concentration, restrained power because freshness and really good potential still lies ahead. Could see this drinking well, like 2004 for example, 20 years forward. Drink 2026-2038. Tasted May 2024

Brancaia Ilatraia 2017, Maremma Toscana IGT

Remarkable acidity from 2017 when you consider the drought and heat that occurred from winter all the way through to harvest. A vintage that could have been a disaster and the blend of 40 percent each petit verdot and cabernet sauvignon, plus (20) cabernet franc seems to fit, no matter the vintage. Not only that but also the switch away from sangiovese was so smart because it could have truly been problematic in 2017. Yes this is ready to drink and yes it’s rich and extracted but once again it needs saying that acidity keeps the dream alive. Lovely work here with 2017 and a perfect Ilatraia to pour at wine dinners all over the world. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted May 2024

Brancaia Ilatraia 2016, Maremma Toscana IGT

The 2016 is in the finest shape of any Ilatraia thus far, with great acidity and an energy that means business. Concentration yes but also layers upon layers of natural sweetness, kisses and the caress of what this wine does to nurture the palate. The most suave tannins of them all and a beauty, but also grace about the wine. Yes it it the most experienced and confident wine of the 20 in this vertical. Drink 2025-2038. Tasted May 2024

Brancaia Ilatraia 2015, Maremma Toscana IGT

The 2015 is nothing but lovely, simple easy and slowly evolving in pretty much the way you would have expected to be. For winemaker and Widmer the closest comparison would be 2004 but there is such a fruity quality (yes it is younger) and that fruit has done little to advance out of its freshest stage. Not much will happen for another two years. Will drink for a few more years on top of the few imagined five ago. Lasted May 2024

The blend changed in 2009 and here in ’15 it’s cabernet sauvignon (40 per cent), petit verdot (40) and cabernet franc (20). In a way too bad because the ’08 was quite glorious but here in a wholly antithetical way, now there is more brightness and vitality. Not that the barrel regimen is shy in any way but there’s really a lift and not merely because of vintage. Quite balanced and should age well for a few more years. Drink 2019-2024. Tasted September 2019

Brancaia Ilatraia 2014, Maremma Toscana IGT

The most challenging of vintages, with 2015 no bargain, “even for Maremma on the wet side, along with the Suzuki fly in the vineyard.” Required a major amount of selection and in the end Barbara Widmer was quite happy with the result for this blend of 40 percent each petit verdot and cabernet sauvignon, plus (20) cabernet franc. Meanwhile the energy and persistence are more than fine and ample for the vintage with secondary character is coming on quite slowly. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted May 2024

Tasting 20 years of Ilatraia at Brancaia

Brancaia Ilatraia 2013, Maremma Toscana IGT

A very good vintage for Maremma, considered tops even though the same could not necessarily be said for Chianti Classico. Loving the acidity and chalky liquidity of the 2013, a wine that was managed so well, partly because the vintage was so generous this way, but also because experience with place, blend and style have come to a very good place. Not sure this will have the same stuffing that 2012 is showing but the enjoyment now is really tops. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted May 2024

Brancaia Ilatraia 2012, Maremma Toscana IGT

A full, substantial and concentrated wine from 2012 that clearly shows a progression speaking to what Maremma could and will be able to do with these kinds of blends. Acids and tannins are equal and available, up to the task in support and the harmony here is second to none. Experience and acumen are on display to say that Ilatraia is truly on the correct track. Drink 2024-2031. Tasted May 2024

Brancaia Ilatraia 2011, Maremma Toscana IGT

If 2010 was showing top acidity and energy than 2011 takes these necessary longevity extended factors to another level altogether. What stands out here is the cabernet franc which gets more and more important in a blend with the 40 percent each petit verdot and cabernet sauvignon. The length here is outstanding and the vintage still expressive of its longevity and future potential. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted May 2024

Brancaia Ilatraia 2010, Maremma Toscana IGT

The challenge of sangiovese not succeeding on the Maremma coast without irrigation meant a new blend having been initialized in 2009 and still in play through at least 2022. That would be 40 percent each petit verdot and cabernet sauvignon, plus (20) cabernet franc though it could vary by two percent from year to year. The acids in 2010 are remarkable, sweet and crucial to a warm and “big” year such as this. Another 2010 that surprises with its energy and also balance. The maturity into secondary epoch has happened with seamlessness and grace to put 2010 in top light. Great showing. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted May 2024

Brancaia Ilatraia 2009, Maremma Toscana IGT

First vintage of the new blend, kicking out the sangiovese and so now with 40 percent each petit verdot and cabernet sauvignon, plus (20) cabernet franc. About half new French wood from two sources, Sylvan and Raimond. A wildly authentic Maremma IGT, aromatics full of the coastal Macchia Mediterranea, the balsamico by the sea, the brushy savour so specific to the Etruscan Coast. Richness and great climatic interest, a feeling of the dry maritime place and wood a big part, but more as an aid and abet, not the dominant driver. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted May 2024

Brancaia Ilatraia 2008, Maremma Toscana IGT

Quite an advanced Ilatraia from cabernet sauvignon, sangiovese and petit verdot (60-30-10), the last vintage with not only this exact blend, but also sangiovese. Chewy, lots of chocolate, wood very much the dominant factor, the sort of Tuscan red that appeals to so many, especially those who were paying attention to this style back in 2007. Time in the glass helps open up more channels. Last tasted May 2024

The blend is cabernet sauvignon (60 per cent), sangiovese (30) and petit verdot (10). A vintage of high acidity and exceptional structure. Has taken on as much wood as the fruit can handle or at least support. It’s a gathering of big bones with flesh still attached and a long finish. The year and the acumen are clearly on display for a project that seems to have hit its proper stride. Drink 2019-2023. Tasted September 2019

Brancaia Ilatraia 2007, Maremma Toscana IGT

Much more maturity to 2007, especially after tasting the 2006 and yet the blend is just the same as it had been going back to 2002. That would be cabernet sauvignon, sangiovese and petit verdot (60-30-10), here quite integrated, with fine acids (if not quite ’05 or ’06 acids) and yet the charm here is really lovely. Very ready to go, please and make the experience a fully enjoyable one. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted May 2024

Ilatraia 2021-2002

Brancaia Ilatraia 2006, Maremma Toscana IGT

The blend beginning in 2002 and culminating in 2009 was was cabernet sauvignon, sangiovese and petit verdot (60-30-10). Big vintage and there is an aromatic spicy chalkiness to ’06, owing to ripeness and also high quality tannins. Surely a wine of the times and so very specific to where the wood really dominated and the wine is just now slowing down. Wow – how does this wine now show this way with so much confidence, character and attitude? Amazing really. Drink 2024-2032. Tasted May 2024

Brancaia Ilatraia 2005, Maremma Toscana IGT

Remarkable vibrancy and energy from 2005, warm but balanced vintage as it was and the first to speak of the Brancaia experience for Maremma and what the young vineyards (planted in 1998) were willing to offer and eventually to mix and work with the last plants put in back in 1995. The blend from 2002-2009 was was cabernet sauvignon, sangiovese and petit verdot (60-30-10). More character and ultimate interest from 2005, at least as it goes for the first four vintages of Ilatraia. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted May 2024

Brancaia Ilatraia 2004, Maremma Toscana IGT

Good if unremarkable vintage that “you would consider wanting to have every year,” says Barbara Widmer. You feel the wood on 2004 more than the vintage before and after, rich in chocolate, chewy fruit leather centre and cocoa dustier on the back end. Same blend as with ’02 and ’03, of cabernet sauvignon, sangiovese and petit verdot (60-30-10) More evolution here but also length…and harmony. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted May 2024

Brancaia Ilatraia 2003, Maremma Toscana IGT

A warm year and you can smell the liquid smoke and also peppery heat on the nose but honestly the continuance from 2002 and into 2004 is surely there. The acidity is in great shape, sweet and vibrant, the finish forceful with cocoa and liquorice. Super fine and nice for the mouth from an Ilatraia where again the blend was cabernet sauvignon, sangiovese and petit verdot (60-30-10). Drink 2024-2027. Tasted May 2024

Brancaia Ilatraia 2002, Maremma Toscana IGT

The initial idea behind Ilatraia was to find a place in Tuscany where you could ripen sangiovese in every and not just a here or there vintage. It was not conceived of an actual business plan back in 1998, definitely not to create a wine like Ilatraia. The first vintage was 2002 and the grapes were so good the decision was made to create this wine. And yet the vintage so maligned made it a challenge for Barbara Widmer to bottle all of the possible 20,000 bottles – and so she made just 10,000. From the start the blend was cabernet sauvignon, sangiovese and petit verdot (60-30-10), now in 2024 where there is no missing the preserve of freshness. Last tasted May 2024

The blend is cabernet sauvignon (60 per cent), sangiovese (30) and petit verdot (10). Grapes come Maremma and Chianti Classico. A cool, rainy vintage and certainly no picnic for sangiovese and Chianti Classico, but pretty much a challenge in all of Tuscany. With a syrupy chocolate, iodine and balsamic quest having been reached. Has aged quite well and drinks with secondary pride, followed by a sweet finish. Drink 2019-2020. Tasted September 2019

Caparsa Mimma 2021, Toscana IGT

With 30 percent whole bunch for the first time and a much higher production because the vintage was generous this way. Also more oak and fruit, saucy, pulpy and fleshy with the greatest potential of the three Mimma (2019-2021). This will be bottled in two weeks and so it’s still an anteprima but really is a finished wine. This is the be prepared to pair with red meat sangioevse that will clean your palate withe every sip. Fine and grippy tannins will see this live a log life. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted February 2024

Caparsa Mimma 2020, Toscana IGT

Mimma is tannic, that much is clear from the first sip. Only the third vintage and mon dieu what a beautiful, fresh, clean and crispy sangovese. Love to sip and willing to lay it down. As you wish but best scenario would be to let this sangiovese have some time in the bottle. The women got is exactly right. Limited production of just 1,000 bottles. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted February 2024

Caparsa Mimma 2019, Toscana IGT

Still a beautiful IGT but wholly different to the 2020, here the second vintage of Mimma made with grapes chosen only by Gianna and Fiamma Cianferoni. Last tasted February 2024

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

Casa Emma Harenae 2022, Colli Della Toscane Centrale IGT

Harenae refers to the sandstone soil known locally as Arenaria but also what is used for terra cotta manufacturing in Impruneta. Fifth vintage for the solo sangiovese artist macerated by the process of “capello sommerso” for 60 days and aged a year in 1000L amphora. Bottled in October of 2023 and Paolo Paffi calls Harenae the “B-Side,” an ulterior way to look at sangiovese that can be a hit though it will always have its quirky, natural or alternative style. A sangiovese that is correctly and properly oxidative, drying, tannic to a great and serious degree. A tapestry woven of woolly texture that will not be denied. It’s freshness is driven by a sanguine character that is so very San Donato in Poggio. It’s just expressed in a very different way.Drink 2025-2029. Tasted February 2024

Casale Dello Sparviero Bianco Di Toscana IGT 2022

Drink straight away, fresh and salty, easy white for every day. Vermentino, malvasia and trebbiano. Drink 2024-2025. Tasted May 2024

Casale Dello Sparviero Rosato Di Toscana IGT 2022

All sangiovese, just a couple of hours run-off juice, simple and salty like the Bianco, but exaggeratedly so. Relates to the high salinity in the soils and for Rosato this is the way to speak for this wide open geographical section of Castellina. Succinct, spot on and uncomplicated glou-glou of a Rosé. Drink 2024-2025. Tasted May 2024

Casale Dello Sparviero Rosso Di Toscana IGT 2021

Sangiovese blended with merlot and cabernet sauvignon, proprietary IGT blend that drinks as succinctly and direct as imagination should ask it to. Unadorned, balanced and perfectly designed for that proverbial pasta, pizza and steak house pour by the glass. Drink 2024-2025. Tasted May 2024

Casale Dello Sparviero Chianti Superiore DOCG 2020

Pure sangiovese rom the area around Poggibonsi, organic, about 10,000 bottles and well made. Bit of vanilla and simple sappy wood flavours, but quite clean and perfectly serviceable. Drink 2024-2025. Tasted May 2024

Casaloste Don Vincenzo 2018, Toscana IGT

The signature wine is in ode to Giovanni’s father who helped Casaloste get its start in 1993 and this single two hectare vineyard is purposed grown for this wine alone. The vineyard delivers the most concentrated fruit and the most developed phenolics and it shows in the intensity but also form this warm vintage in the bold and compact layers of Casaloste’s sangovese. A wine first produced in 1995 (two years after the first Casaloste) and one that takes time to develop, piano, piano, lentamente, slowly but surely. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted February 2024

Casaloste Inversus 2019, Toscana IGT

From the merlot vineyard facing west planted in 1999, with 10 percent sangiovese. The first (2003) vintage was 50-50, as an experiment to see the relationship between the two before slowly (2005-60/40, 2007-80/20, then in 2009- 90/10) working with more merlot. The 10 percent sangiovese is just the right amount to keep the connection. Inspiration came from Giacomo Tacchis who knew that the grapes had been here not 50 but 200 years ago. Silky with a fine tannic grain running through and the similar beauty shown by Riserva 2019. Lovely, lovely wine. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted February 2024

Laura Bianchi and Giulia Cecchi – Castello di Monsanto, San Donato in Poggio

Castello Di Monsanto Chardonnay Collezione Dai Vigneti Di Monsanto 2022, Toscana IGT

At this point in the chardonnay’s tenure the percentage of wood is 30 percent which is a number that came into effect back in 2008, down from 50. From a Galestro strewn plot of five hectares facing northwest and still a fresh place and so a saltiness pervades, but the predominant feeling is what Laura Bianchi calls sapidity. That’s because there is a phenolic moment and also mineral grip that’s more than just or perhaps apposite to saltiness. A challenging vintage, very warm (amongst other extreme weather events) and still Monsanto’s 2022 chardonnay is bursting with energy and freshness. Flesh and richness too of course but balance is in full effect. Will this age with the best remains to be seen but today it seems to matter very little. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted February 2024

Castello Di Monsanto Chardonnay Collezione Dai Vigneti Di Monsanto 2005, Toscana IGT

Vigneti Di Monsanto were planted to a special clone of chardonnay that has always seemed so resistant to disease, especially Perenospera and Laura Bianchi tells they’ve only lost a few vines in 40 years. At the time of the 2005 vintage the vines would have been 23 years of age and it’s kind of remarkable how this 18-plus year-old chardonnay emits a vapour trail like older riesling. That’s the phenolic push-pull of salty and sapid, the dichotomy of a Monsanto chardonnay that’s always in play. A fine moment and once again proof of this unique clonal-varietal relationship at work. That said 2005 is fading like a beautiful sunset over the hills of San Gimignano. Drink 2024-2025. Tasted February 2024

Castello Di Monsanto Sangioveto 2018, Toscana IGT

One of the original “Super Tuscans,” second to (San Felice’s) Vigorello, of 100 percent sangiovese that could not be casted as Chianti Classico when that solo performance was not permitted. The Scanni vineyard and its calcareous soils with marine sediments puts the “S” in salty, so much more so than what happens in Monsanto’s Chianti Classico. Notable connection to Giulio Gambelli, of the planting of the Grosso and in how he and Fabrizio Bianchi would meet on a daily basis to discuss wine growing and making. Verdant streak of Poggibonsi-San Donato in Poggio woods, cool and slick, saline and ethereal. Absolutely and unequivocally Sangioveto from its place but also a wine that needs time. More than many and this lengthy 2018 will surprise many by living famously but also brilliantly for nearly two decades. Drink 2026-2037. Tasted February 2024

Cecchi Cobalto Val Delle Rosa 2021, Vermentino Superiore Maremma Toscana IGT

Vermentino done up three ways, in steel, wood and also amphora, for freshness, salinity and verticality married to structure and mouthfeel. Brings about a balance of all parts in not just one but several layers and level of elegance for white wines, not just from Maremma and Toscana but anywhere and everywhere. Cobalto is such a white wine, an experience that leaves you satisfied because it touches all the points that matter. Andrea Cecchi’s father was ahead of the curve with his decision to make vineyards in Maremma. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted May 2024

Maddalena Fucile and Matteo Vaccari – Cigliano di Sopra

Cigliano Di Sopra Nuvola Del Cigliano 2022, Toscana IGT

500 Years of Villa Calcinaia

Conti Capponi Villa Calcinaia Mauvais Chapon Rosato Metodo Classico 2018

Prequel: an intimate tale of Renaissance Florence; a description of the history of the Chianti area and the Capponi family up to the purchase of Villa Calcinaia. No not 1244, 1352, 1435 or even a reminiscence for Pier Capponi to 1494 but the toasty, gingered-oxidative style does suggest an older bubble. The name conjures antiquity, Chapon as Capone for Cappone, French influenced, as in Champagne method sparkling wine nearly 50 months on its lees and finishing dry as the Greve valley in a hot season. Orange skin, reduced lemon, lemongrass herbal, a kiss of pace (or “pace”) and a brush with sage success. Spicy, high acid, unrelenting and long. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted May 2024

Conti Capponi Villa Calcinaia AD 1613 Rosso Toscana IGT 2011, Toscana Rosso IGT

The High Renaissance; from the Renaissance to the Grand Duchy, life at the villa and how it was organized. Old, alive and well, one-third each sangiovese (with mammolo and malvasia nera) in ode to the nearly 150 Chianti properties, especially villas owned by the Capponi in the 16th and 17th centuries. Alive more in spirit than corporeal standing because fruit fully waned has given way to frutta di bosco, secco and a creamy chestnut purée. Acids are persistent, the wine hangs loosely but tough enough to keep on keeping on. Tasted May 2024

Conti Capponi/Villa Calcinaia Vigna Bastignano Rosso 2006, Colli Toscana Centrale IGT

World’s largest voluntary emigration, red gravy and Chianti; the Chianti Classico; the Capponi family plants the first non-promiscuous vineyard in the area. The Bastignano vineyard’s top estate drop comes out six years after conversion to organics and 10 years after the help of Roberto Bandinelli brought Calcinaia into its present state. Only 168 bottles (pus 50 magnums) were produced for this higher pH (3.44) and low alcohol 2006 (12.21 abv) for something that lasts with a continuance of acidity, though the fruit is dried, leathery, liquid cocoa flavoured and marked by a cupboard full of spice. A warm vintage that has evolved quite rapidly, or at least indicative by this bottle. Drink up with haste. Tasted May 2024

Dievole Trebbiano 2022, Toscana Bianco IGT

The first vintage was 2017, originally aged in French wood but now in casks made by a Rufina craftsman called Carmignana. The mix is 80 percent Tuscan oak and (20) chestnut for trebbiano as a white in many ways acting more like a red. At least in terms of structure and coming form the west bank of the Arbia where a mix of soils bring all the elements to the vines. Harvested in mid October, incredibly and famously so, a new frontier for this area, a wine of acid and texture, notably phenolic, made rich by 10 months in the wood. Delivers that honeysuckle and acacia sensation, partial malolactic creaminess and a finishing note of honey. Good succulence and then length. Did not expect this level of complexity and it just might age for a spell. 20,000 bottles produced. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2024

Famiglia Losi Querciavalle Malvasia Nera Ritmo 2022, Toscana IGT

The current vintage of the malvasia is the one that makes Valeria Losi think of Spring. The earliest roses, also not quite but maybe hinting at violets, but what it brings are flowery sensations, intense and stronger than fruit. This is a matter of eight to ten years ago really getting down and into vinifying malvasia on its own and finding the best of the variety for what it can do alone. It’s a tradition but a familial one and very specific to Losi. Super integrated tannins, non-aggressive and fine. A most unique and special wine. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2024

Famiglia Losi Cavalier Tranquillo 2022, Toscana Rosso IGT

A simple red, the way Valeria and Riccardo Losi’s grandfather used to make Chianti Classico when white grapes were permitted. Just a spice of white grapes, five percent in this vintage for a light, crunchy, fresh and simple red. Fun Rosso. Drink 2024-2025. Tasted February 2024

Famiglia Losi Rondò 2021, Toscana Rosso IGT

Rondò, a kind of music but there happens to be a grape also called this way – but this gives the way of a round leaved foglia tonda and so this is a matter of onomatopoeia. Round and yet forceful, tannic and so implosive, intensely so. Mon dieu. What a massive but drinkable wine. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted February 2024

Luca Martini di Cigala and nephew Federico

Fattoria San Giusto A Rentennano Percarlo 2019, Toscana IGT

The 100 percent sangiovese that lives for itself and yet Luca Martini always feels that the wine shows the truest character of the place. Percarlo holds a higher percentage of grapes grown on Tufo soil (non volcanic sediment left behind by the water that was here three to four million years ago), a soil of sandy quality and pebbles. Results in a salty quality, a mineral quotient, a stream of airy brightness within a very structured and powerful sangiovese. Great saltiness and also fruit, a minty or mirto sensation that creates a cool, salt licked feeling. There is no other wine like this. Amazing freshness incarnate. Drink 2024-2034. Tasted February 2024

Fattoria San Giusto A Rentennano Percarlo 2009, Toscana IGT

What do you remember about 2009? “The problem was in August with one very hot week (40-plus degrees) that stopped the plants,” says Luca Martini. Sangiovese however is a very resilient variety. Most thought the wines would have no staying power and they would have been wrong. This shows great freshness and subtle spice, more than amazing for a 15-ish year-old sangiovese. Still showing in the early to middle stages of secondary. Fine acidity, not so high but special. Supportive and always the catalyst to make the fruit sing. A remarkable showing for Percarlo and a wine drinking perfectly right now. Will linger this way for five or more years. “It may not have the potential to develop more complexity, “ says Luca, “but it will stay like this for many more.” Like Barolo, in a way. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted February 2024

Utopie Grand Cru Doublé, Prodotto En Infiascato Dell Azienda Atipica, Morraiole 2008

A collaboration between Luca Martini and Roberto Voerzio, 50-50 Percarlo (sangiovese) and Voerzio Barolo (nebbiolo), more for fun at the time, for shits and ironically serious giggles than anything else. The question of course is why and can these two highly opinionated grapes work well together? Is the sum greater than the parts? Well, no of course but try to think about this in a different way. Only produced twice, in 2008 and 2010, the idea (and label design) by (journalist) Barton Anderson. Luca thought it was oxidized from the beginning so he called Roberto who replied, “you don’t know nebbiolo.” No trust for two years but then it began improving and hit its peak two or three years ago. The nebbiolo is more dominant, especially the style of the tannins and the fruit darker, a dusty example, more typically nebbiolo. Floral note just has to be Percarlo, that and the tufo mineral but still the nebbiolo wins. Maybe 2010 will be the opposite. The idea came from Maurizo Castelli and the sangiovese meets nebbiolo at Volpaia. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted February 2024

With Bernardo, Corso, Margherita and Giovanni Manetti at Fontodi, Panzano

Fontodi Flaccianello Della Pieve 2021, Toscana Centrale IGT

The village of Flacciano, the old Latin name that became Panzano, though there is still a place in the vineyard’s valley that bears the name. The name of the church where the cross was located in that valley before the 18th century. The church where you made a payment of “indulgenza,” so that HE would pardon and gift your place in paradise. The 2021 is a truly generous if still shy Flaccianello of that necessary wish for balance between substantial fruit and structure, high acidity and an overflowing mouthful of pure sangiovese. Seems to taste lighter and hide alcohol, so much more so than it is truly built upon and the age ability is very great. No other sangiovese expresses the luxe and voluptuous capabilities of sangiovese grown on Pietraforte in Panzano like Flaccianello. That’s just a fact and yes it is true that some see this archetype in terms of densities and ponderosity. Consider what matters most. Balance determines outcome and 2021 is right there where it needs to be. Drink 2027-2039. Tasted February 2024

Fontodi Flaccianello Della Pieve 2020, Toscana Centrale IGT

Very little movement from the magnanimous 2020 Flaccianello that made the most of its Pietraforte and there will be no doubt that it will age as well as just about any vintage of the last 40 years. The 2021 is conglomerate sandstone incarnate, of mineral and fruit bonds unbreakable and the fruit to shine through binds tied strictly tight. Last tasted February 2024

The new generation says “Flaccianello is it’s own thing and I don’t want it to become something else.” The words of Bernardo Manetti and yet Dad will say. “It will become Gran Selezione – before I retire.” Them’s promising words for a wine of Pietraforte tannins and from 2020, another season for great concentration. Focused and precise and while tight there is something more immediately beautiful and gratifying about Flaccianello 2020. Drink 2026-2037. Tasted October 2023

I Fabbri Rosato Castle Ros’ E’ 2023, Toscana IGT

Reserved sort of Rosato, lithely tart, malic and a colourful display that marks a stylistic choice for Susanna Grassi’s first kick at the blush can. The acidity of Lamole is the catalyst and the driver for expression and result. Just perfect with salumi artigianale and hard, salty cheese. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted February 2024

Il Molino Di Grace Gratius 2020, Toscana Rosso IGT

Two things about Gratius, not just in this vintage, but two things that really stand out. One is how far from dark and opaque this vintage is when you think about how big and dark the wine should be. Second is how great a nose, or says Morganti, “it has a good nose,” realistic in tone, but the Gratius comment is as understated as anything he will ever say about anything. This is elegance and red fruit sangiovese incarnate, open and floral, so different in a complete way than any or all of the three appellative CCs. A new label design for 2020, busier, with more symbolism and commentary than ever before. Last tasted May 2024

Unlike 2020 Riserva the underbelly of structure, depth and layered acidity combine for aggressiveness and tension. Bigger Gratius in 2020 with potential as high if not higher than that of 2019. A wall of sound, structure and vision. Tasted February 2024

Campione: “With Gratius we work in a different way, aging in barriques and tonneaux,” explains Iacopo Morganti. From 2022 the aging will happen in 15 hL Austrian wood. Big wine from 2020 and that is not written, spoken and pronounced lightly. It is the vintage, hot and heavy, a romance between sangiovese and weather that does not happen so often. A lustfully romantic wine but be patient and allow the friendship and the longevity of the union to develop. Two years in wood and now needing a “cleaning” by way of vegetable gelatine (vegan, 3 g/l per 4hl) and then bottled by the end of the year. Very tannic finish. This should be Gran Selezione. It’s single vineyard and arguably the top wine. Starting with 2020 the artwork changes on the label with each vintage. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted October 2023

Il Molino Di Grace Gratius 2019, Toscana Rosso IGT

Today it is worth talking about the difference between Gratius and Chianti Classico (as a combined mix of all three levels) because the freshness and qualities delivered by the field blend varieties create a posit tug between salty and sapid. Gratis 2019 is getting close to resolving the wood and its chalky river of tannin. Big and bountiful, a buzz of energy plugged in and time still the ally. Last tasted February 2024

Gratius will make a very high quality Gran Selezione and the time is nigh to accord it the designation. All the qualities are inherent and intrinsic to the coming status, namely concentration, finest silken grains of texture and balancing tannin. Come now, the future is poetic and gracious. Tasted October 2023

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

Isole Delle Falcole Vecchia Vigna 2021, Toscana IGT

Not released but already bottled. A bigger Vecchia Vigna, if surely because the old plot is a more than conjunctional mix of 70 percent sangiovese with ciliegiolo, colorinio, caniaolo, malvasia and trebbiano. if you compare to the 2022 barrel sample this ’21 now rests in a quieter, somewhat closed phase. Also a palate texture of silk and glycerol but acids are raging. This demure of aromatics marching alongside and matched up against intelligent if also incredible lift does the kinds of things to the palate that the Grand Selezione simply does not. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted February 2024

Isole Delle Falcole Vecchia Vigna 2020, Toscana IGT

The crunchiest old vines field blend that anyone will ever taste, anywhere such wines are made. Why, well simpy because it is made with sangiovese plus reds and a white grape. So why were white wines planted with reds? To help fix the colours of the red, to add acidity and also to sweeten for table grapes, wrapped in wire nets to keep the animals and birds away. A cultural inclusion and a heritage imperative. This is so young, much like the GS 2020, immovable, powerful and tannic. But there are more fruits involved, especially cherries but also citrus. Tons of citrus. Almost like corbezzolo but also pomegranate. So fascinating! Last tasted February 2024

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

Richer and rounder by a mile as compared to 2021 and 2020 (with 2019 not released because of some Brettanomyces, akin to Soldera to be honest). Crunchy acids and succulence, tart with natural sweet edginess and lots of wood still to resolve. The 2020 and 2021 hide the barrel or better integrate it with finer acumen. Last tasted February 2024

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 2021, Toscana IGT

Merlot 2021 is another beast, tannic as the GS and VV but with a different sort of fruit sweetness and rounder disposition. Red fruit incarnate, a sweet an sour raspberry but a dark one, not the kind from Guatemala. Very Tuscan merlot, no in fact wholly Chianti Classico area merlot. No try again – distinctly Falcole merlot. The place always wins. Drink 2025-2031. Tasted February 2024

Isole Delle Falcole Merlot 2020 2018, Toscana IGT

Merlot softens a bit sooner and while this bottle (at this moment) might feel just a touch mature the rest of the wine’s parts are all in perfect pitch. Lift is weightless and elevated, acidity sweet and touchless, tannins tight and in control. In the end the sand and Galestro rule the fruit to remind of place. A place called Falcole. Last tasted February 2024

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

Jurij Fiore & Figlia Occhiorosso Diforì 2021, Alta Valle Della Greve IGT

The word diforì means “drunk” in old Tuscan, as when you would ask someone with red eyes, “are you drunk?” Therefore occhiorosso the grape and its translation as “red eyes.” Jurji Fiore grafted material from Sebastiano Capponi onto American rootstock in a rented vineyard called “Clos de l’Ingénieure” in Lamole surrounded by a short stone wall and the owner is in fact an engineer. The first vintage was 2019 (of only 75 litres) after 18 months aging in a demijohn’s worth. No production from 2020 and though the quantity was high enough to use a few casks, Fiore chose to continue in demijohn for the 2021 simply because it worked so well from that 2019. Nothing else smells or feels like this, so far from sangiovese and yet so very Rosso from inside the Chianti Classico territory. Some might at first feel something sangiovese about it but characteristics differ for this rare grape discovered by Professor Roberto Bandinelli of the University of Florence. Bandinelli was incidentally the consultant for Capponi’s Villa Calcinaia. Wait on this tannic and rustic red soloist for its legs to stretch out and charm to be released. Drink 2025-2031. Tasted February 2024

Jurji Fiore E Figlia Lassù A Lamole 2022, Alta Valle Della Greve IGT

From the vineyard at Castello di Lamole near to Sono Cosi, down below the road, north facing and surround by wood. Only receives an hour of sun in winter and maybe two or three in summer. Freshest of places and especially for trebbiano. Jurji Fiore considered planting only chardonnay but wanted an Italian variety. Dad suggested famoso from Romagna and so he grafted some, along with chardonnay from Hauts-Côtes-de-Nuits. Lassù is a blend of the three, at the time to fill a tank and now its the recipe. Spice, body and freshness fill the space of this wine, from the three varieties emulsified together. A balanced trilogy from which you don’t feel anything too much, or weight for that matter and the three barrels of new, one and two year old do exactly what’s needed to lift, place and show this Lamole white blend. A bi-phenolic white, at times waxy and herbal, of high level citrus preserve and of an intensity that makes sure to hide the wood. Sara Fiore says it is very dissetante meaning thirst quenching. Fourth vintage and now in a well developed place, style and effect. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted February 2024

Jurji Fiore E Figlia l’Amore Classico Vino Spumante Di Qualità 2021

Second “just for fun” attempt at sparkling wine for Jurji Fiore (and he wasn’t happy with the first) with this having just been disgorged on January 26, 2024. Metodo Classico, blanc de noir, 400 bottles produced. A play on words between Lamole and Amore, sangiovese di Lamole. Great energy, toasted, gingery and all the spice comes out because it’s Pas Dosé, dry as the desert. All the fruit comes from Lamole, a sort of green harvest, in the first week of September more or less. Brilliant second effort. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2024

Mazzei Fonterutoli Concerto Di Fonterutoli 2020, Toscana IGT

The first of the Fonterutoli Super Tuscans born in 1981 of sangiovese with 20 percent cabernet sauvignon in Castellina at 350m of elevation. The vineyard is close to Ser Lapo where clays predominate. The sangiovese sees time in tonneaux while the cabernet sauvignon goes to barriques. Gives some muscle and punch with vanilla and lavender notes and fine tannins. The vintage is big and also lifted, quite so which means time is needed to settle the score. The tannins are austere and commanding at the finish. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted February 2024

Castello Di Fonterutoli Siepi 2021, Toscana IGT

Siepi (first made in 1992) comes from the original vineyard aboard a plateau and 240m, from two parcels, one sangiovese and the other merlot. The latter was planted in the 1980s as an alternative to colorino and to help soften the austerity of the sangiovese at the time. The decision was made then too make a 50-50 blend, “a dream of a perfect wine,” says Francesco Mazzei, “of roundness, colour and style.” The sangiovese dominates today because things have changed with the territory’s climate and soils supporting mature levels of ripeness and finesse from the indigenous grape. The shift is welcomed and applauded because more than ever Siepi represents the identity of the place. Could have been 100 percent merlot 32 years ago “but we could not imagine a wine without sangiovese.” As it must. Drink 2025-2031. Tasted February 2024

Mazzei Belguardo Vermentino Superiore 2021, Maremma Toscana IGT

A Tuscan coastal varietal white made from four clones and partially aged on skins for six months in amphora. The genesis is from 2011 though the concept has morphed to create the textural wine that it is today. Two of the clones are Corsican, the other two Sardinian. Fresh, clean and bright with that skin contact salve upon the palate, without weight or residue left behind. Slides and glides easily, extract and tannin are high while seasoning is sea salt and white pepper. If you like chenin blanc and/or grüner veltliner than this should appeal to you. “I think in ten years 50 percent of the wines in the Maremma will be vermentino,” predicts Francesco Mazzei. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted February 2024

Monte Bernardi Tzingarella 2022, Colli Della Toscana Centrale IGT

Tzingarella is the Greek gypsy daughter with a blend of merlot, cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon and colorino. All co-fermented from vines planted in the right zones where sangiovese should not be planted. Humidity zones has much to do with the decisions and so merlot will grow in the cooler locations, the franc in the highest. The young vines make this wine and while it’s very dark berry it’s also liquorice, sweet herbs, drying tannins and variegated richnesses. Violets and dark fruit perfumes but also this vivid quality. Drink 2025-2028. Last tasted February 2024

Monte Bernardi Tzingara 2022, Colli Della Toscana Centrale IGT

Tzingara is the Greek gypsy mother and the wine from the older vines, powdery in perfume that really comes through in the duality of cabernets. They, the merlot and the petit verdot make for a Tuscan wolf in Bordeaux knit sheep’s clothing for a blend that is super fresh, tight, and floral. You can really chew this wine equipped of a palate that is like fresh leather but also noted in how juices are squeezed out to be swirled as it is worked by your palate. Great Scott fruit and even finer acidity captured. Super fun wine. Drink 2025-2030. Last tasted February 2024

Montevertine Pian Del Ciampolo 2022, Toscana IGT

Mainly sangiovese with bits of canaiolo and colorino, first made in 1991 which was incidentally a cold and rainy season that followed the great 1990. A vintage when Martino Manetti’s father Sergio found himself in position possessive of second, third and fourth level quality grapes. Why not make something to drink? Everyone loved this wine right away. Made here and there but persistent demand determined producing it every year starting in the late 90s. Essentially the pressed wine from la prima Le Pergole Torte and seconda Montevertine. Great freshness from Pian del Ciampolo, as in the “plains of Gianpolo,” as per Dante’s Divine Comedy where Ciampolo appears in Canto XXII of the Inferno. Not much more than a resourseful modicum of structure and truthfully while this could be the equivalent of a Chianti Classico Annata the style and effect are purely Radda in Chianti Montevertine. Ripe acidity, slight Macigno chalkiness and this feeling that the plants and grapes have and are in a 15 year midst in their adjustment to climate change. You would never know this was a wine that came from a hot vintage. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted May 2024

Montevertine 2021, Toscana IGT

A warm but balanced vintage, harvest in the first week of October, “the right time for us,” says Martino Manetti. From the vineyards planted in 1984 onwards, infusing fruit born in blocks from 1997, 2000-2008, 2012 and 2014. No barriques, only Slavonian cask and always made in the same way, going back to the oenological days of Giulio Gambelli and through the more current work of Paolo Salvi. Manetti is the first to admit that oenology is not his strongest suit and so a consultant has always been integral to getting the most out of these wines. The 2021 is a profound matter of subtlety and strength, with restraint and power being the hallmarks of Montvertine, but maybe here a bit more fruit, florals and near full-bodied punch as compared to some other vintages. Singular because, well Montevertine but this is truly a matter of the place above all else. There is a Macigno streak running through that speaks in terms defined as Radda and the acidity is expressly Raddese but again, the particularity of the 2021 is Montevertine. A wine made to tell a story of where it was conceived and also where it will go. Could imagine tasting a 2001 and/or a 2011 today and the wines would reveal as variations of a replicable performative theme. Still, with respect to this wine, it would be best to wait two years before seeing the true (2021) vintage light. Drink 2026-2035. Tasted May 2024

Montevertine Le Pergole Torte 2021, Toscana IGT

As expected Le Pergole Torte expresses more volume and aromatic concentration than Montervertine mainly because its source are the oldest vines, namely the 1968 and 1972 original blocks. Twenty to 25 days of maceration with pump-overs, followed by a racking off and then a return to the concrete vats for another few months for malolactic fermentation. A year in barriques (on average 15-20 percent new) and another year in Garbellotto Slavonian cask, maximum 18 hL size. Martino Manetti is reminded of 2007, a vintage that acted closed early with the requiem of a minimum four to five years to be released from its tannic chains. And yet these days Manetti’s wines open sooner – it’s just a fact of change, maturity, growing and mapping out better sangiovese. The floral meets Macigno mineral expressiveness is present from the start yet without the intensity of 2017, nor is 2021 showy with the power of 2018. This 2021 resides right there in the balanced middle wheelhouse and should rightfully begin to give generously of itself starting in 2026. Some sangiovese are just in another league. Drink 2026-2040. Tasted May 2024

Giacomo Nardi – Nardi Viticoltori, Castellina

Nardi Viticoltori Farfaro 2022, Toscana Bianco IGT

Farfaro is the yellow flower that appears in the vineyards to mark the advent of Spring. Blends 80 percent trebbiano toscano and (20) malvasia chianti. “For me the white grapes are the last that I pick” explains Giacomo Nardi, simply because that’s how long they take to mature. From 270m on clay with a mineral stone called lignite, used for fire, a.k.a flint stone, as opposed to brown coal. Honeyed and fresh, dry and so very spring incarnate. You could close your eyes and imagine that you are drinking chenin blanc. Drink the you know what out of this clean white. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2024

Nardi Viticoltori Baccheri 2021, Toscana Rosso IGT

Baccheri is an ode to Giacomo’s grandparents, 60 percent sangiovese with (40) merlot, aged in older barriques and tonneaux. The gastronomic red, restaurant ready, fresh and the kind of wine to fill the mouth with soft waves of clean fruit. A fine example in a sea of Tuscan IGTs where consumers get very lost. Baccheri is easy to find. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted February 2024

Nardi Viticoltori Serrico 2020, Toscana Rosso IGT

“This dream is possible because of what my father has done.” Though in general Giacomo may not love merlot, he makes an exception and put this together in a way that rises above the 100 percent new barrique aged soft chocolate examples. This ages 24 months in used barriques, followed by a selection of the top of the top. First vintage was 2017, followed by 2019 and this being the third. Elegant and rich, acids full and supportive, length outstanding. One of Chianti Classico’s top IGTs. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2024

Podere Capaccia Querciagrande 2020, Colli Della Toscana Centrale IGT

Tasted side by side with the ethereal 2019 and so 2020 by comparison is bigger, broader and more muscular. No shock there when you consider that when a vintage like this comes along there will be darker fruit and more of everything each time it happens. This is a factor of climate change that is not always considered, that the goalposts are moving and while sangiovese’s reaction is up and down, the median point continues to shift forward. Digressions aside this ’20 simply needs more time. The bones are so solid, upright and of a density that any wine of hopeful structure would die for. Sturdy like a mature “quercia grande,” immovable and secure. Less connection to the past but still the DNA is strong – it’s just that it shows this in terms of tannic austerity and foundation. Rich and intense, wood more noticeable and patience required. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted February 2024

Podere Capaccia Querciagrande 2019, Colli Della Toscana Centrale IGT

Not only are Herman De Bode & Fanny Huygen restoring the borgo of Podere Capaccia, they are also doing their part to resurrect the past. Querciagrande comes from sangiovese vines planted in 2007 and when winemaker Alyson Morgan arrived in 2012 she wanted those vines to produce this wine. To rekindle the spirit within the place and the wines that were famous for their particularity. This vintage in particular reminds of a kind of red fruit from another era. There is a soft-spoken and simple charm about its ways, along with a generosity, kind spirit and most of all a nurturing for our palates. Very Capaccia yet Querciagrande is ushered into today’s world while maintaining a link to the past. Top vintage for what is surely the goal. Drink 2025-2031. Tasted February 2024

Podere La Cappella Oriana 2020, Toscana IGT

Varietal vermentino, not usual for the Classico area yet here sense is made in San Donato in Poggio with winds from the Ligurian Sea blowing in, unhindered, no barriers in the way. First made in 1998, grafted over and then restarted in 2014. Not a coastal vermentino but one particular to the soil of Chianti Classico. Silken, glycerin mouthfeel, ripe, almost akin to viognier. The wine’s label by artist Antonio Manzi pays tribute to Bruno Rossini’s wife. Spicy finish, visceral and textural, again so reminiscent of viognier and without the salinity of the sea. Sapidity indeed. Approx. 2,500 bottles produced. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted May 2023 and May 2024

Poggio Al Sole Sangiovese Bianco 2022, Toscana IGT

Speaking for his father Johannes Davaz it is Valentino who explains that there was no Bianco to pour for guests and also friends at the winery. Nor was there a Bianco from sangiovese available anywhere nearby. Davaz rented a chardonnay vineyard “for practice” and so white wine has been made since 2016. In 2019 the first vintage of sangiovese bianco was produced, “in purrezza.” Valentino notes that if you harvest too early, like it’s Rosé, nothing good will come. “What we have learned,” says Valentino, “is that anything less than 12.5 percent alcohol will result in boring wine. You need to find the sweet spot.” Johannes has now spent 10 years trying to understand and figure out the moving target. Practice makes (this current level) of perfect and so just 4.5-5.5 months of lees aging puts the white sangiovese in a world occupied by the likes of (top level Umbrian) trebbiano spoletino, super pure, salty and satisfying. Substantial palate presence and most of all authentic. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted December 2023

Manfred Ing – Querciabella, Greve

Querciabella Camartina 2020, Toscana IGT

A blend of 70 percent cabernet sauvignon with (30) sangiovese, also fruit coming off of estate vines upon the Ruffoli hill. Yes sangiovese is involved but a warm and bold vintage delivers full on, rich and throttled cabernet sauvignon treated in such a restrained and elastically stretched away. That said the youth and immovability put this is linear, vertical yet sleek and suave way. There can be little doubt that this 2020 will have an ability to age with the best of the Camartina so being in any kind of a hurry would be a damn shame. Shy now, two to three years away from just beginning to open and bloom, four to six from what will begin to be its early realities. There is some brotherly fighting happening now but these are varietal siblings that will always get along. They will have each others’ backs. Drink 2027-2039. Tasted February 2024

Querciabella Palafreno 2020, Toscana IGT

A reminder that this 100 percent merlot became this way after the disasters of 2002, 2003 and 2004. Had been a blend before those nasty vintages. Merlot rarely shows lift and this 2020 has it, almost sangiovese attitude in a way, but obviously a Ruffoli thing. Is this succinctly Ruffoli or merlot? Has to be both but this vintage sways in a terroir direction, neither good nor bad but simply what it is. Calcareously chalky, grippy by sandstone mineral and climate directing a child’s every move. Palafreno 2020 does what needs. The highest production of the last 15 years which means a whopping 6,000 bottles. Drink 2026-2035. Tasted February 2024

Querciabella Batàr 2021, Toscana IGT

The blend is 50-50 pinot bianco and chardonnay though 2021 lends a bit of a percentage towards the former. Low quantity vintage though it can never be forgotten that an abandoned vineyard in the early days delivered the original 100 percent pinot bianco. Was called “Bâtard Pinot” back in 1988. In 1992 chardonnay was added and the pinot was dropped. Then the Bâtard became a French faux-pas but the Milanese love child continued and finally the D was dropped. Still the homage to Bourgogne always hides under the covers. Skins are truly important for this ’21 and textures are everything. Are these components fine-tuned and refined to a level that really exults the wine Querciabella is trying to make? The answer is yes, in another way than before, though this current (already to market) vintage is so young it’s a crime to even discuss. Balance is spot on, subtlety and soft spoken voice sending positive messages and vibes, but ultimately it needs to be revisited in two or three years. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted February 2024

Rocca Di Montegrossi Geremia 2018, Toscana IGT

A mix of merlot and (20 percent) cabernet sauvignon that may not be a wine of appellative origin but make no mistake. This shows Monti in Chianti as well as most though with an added richness and textural weave reminding us that this is in fact not sangiovese but an ulterior mix of the vinous and the opulent. Success with other varieties that grow very well in this southern part of Gaiole given acidity and freshness as a factor of the land littered with Alberese soils. The mix of wood is 10 percent new, (30) second passage, (50) third and finally (10) fourth. Spice and spiciness, from cinnamon through nutmeg and then the accumulation of finest expatriate grape tannins. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted October 2023 and February 2024

Tenuta Carobbio Pietraforte 2015, Toscana IGT

A blend but the cabernet sauvignon is 98 percent, with (2) petit verdot. Says Dario Faccin, “for us considered one of the great vintages. “The vineyard is 42 years of age as of the 2015 vintage, the Alberello training now changed to Guyot back in 2013. Philosophy the same, berries selected manually beginning in late October and into early November. The softest extraction at low temperatures for 48 hours to fix essential colour, followed by 25-26 days of maceration and then malolactic in new French barriques. These barrels move on to be used for Riserva (Chianti Classico) in their second year. These are the most refined and softest tannins in Tuscan cabernet sauvignon, so much so that you can drink this now, though in fact it is already more than eight years old. It being a current release tells so much about how perfectly timed the decisions have been, all the way through. Adds Faccin, “history is really important and the wine is history, not the conversation.” Drink 2024-2030. Tasted February 2024

Tenuta Carobbio Piluka Pinot Bianco 2022, Toscana IGT

Now the fifth harvest and while the vineyard has changed, especially with respect to maturation, though the work in the cellar remains the same. Dario Faccin has planted two more hectares and by 2026 there should be 25,000 bottles in production. Grapes are kept at zero degree temperature for a day, fermentation is cloudy and the wine in old oak is held for a year. Acidity is upwards and above 6.5 g/L, high and mighty for a Tuscan white wine. Creamy palate, acidity that pops and most important truly ripe fruit. If you like top shelf Sancerre, Chablis Premier Cru and chenin blanc from old vines in the Western Cape then this pinot blanc will be something special for you. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted February 2024

Tolaini Sangiovese Mello 700 2021, Toscana IGT

Single site sangiovese grown at 700m on the western slope of Monte Luco, less than two hundred metres lower than Monte San Michele which at 893m is the highest peak of the Monti del Chianti. Luco is a place that just 10 years ago nobody would consider trying to ripen sangiovese and yet here we are. This has to be the highest planting in the Chianti Classico territory though IGT is the labelling because that elevation is above the parameters, though truth be told this was always going to be an IGT. For the time being. Welcome to the future, though Mello 700 is a costly endeavour, a project that requires the implementation of heroic agriculture and 50 euro ex-cellar pricing is the requiem. Aromas are incredible for this second vintage. Perfumes act the part of Lamole and/or Radda but the real factor is mountain air. Meaning freshness and stylistically speaking you might imagine something like nerello mascalese from Guardiola on Etna Nord. This location is one of ice and snow, not to mention hail but vines here actually sleep through winter. They awaken and by harvest time ripeness happens, though at least for now a verdant streak will always run through the sangiovese. A truly beautiful wine this is and my, what a discovery. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted February 2024

Villa A Sesta Vas Oro 2019, Toscana IGT

The cabernet franc was planted approximately 15 years ago and this marks the second year as a varietal wine, hopefully to stay this way for a good long time. That said with only 3,000 bottles produced it’s spoken for, but so worth pouring to speak for what the grape can do from Castelnuovo vineyards. It really tastes like cabernet franc with notable chocolate and pyrazine then back again. Muscular franc, toned and handsome. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2024

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Grattamacco Vermentino Bolgheri DOC 2021

Eyes on Bolgheri’s future

Mar19

Bolgheri

The allure of the Etruscan Coast, its accessible inland plateau, emerald wine-growing hills and what is affectionately referred to as La Macchia Mediterranea have attracted great investment into Bolgheri. The region’s most famous reds are known to be big, luxe, bold and structured, most commonly as blends of cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc and merlot. In many cases these Bordelais treatises are accented with additions of syrah, petit verdot and on rare 21st century occasions also by sangiovese. The most endemic of Tuscan grapes predates the expatriate varieties with its own parochial, rich and important history. Vermentino now makes up 10 percent of all plantings and that number is sure to increase in earnest because of the need for climate adaptation and a demand to satisfy changing consumer tastes.

Foraging for Porcino, Castagneto Carducci

Just a shade under 1,000 hectares planted to vines in Bolgheri produce nearly 500,00 hectolitres or more than 550,000 cases annually. The DOC for Bianco and Rosé wines were written into Italian law in 1983, followed by Rosso in 1994 as Bolgheri Rosso DOC and Bolgheri Superiore DOC. At the same time Sassicaia was awarded its own sub-zone, Bolgheri Sassicaia DOC and then partitioned as a separate DOC in 2013. The Consorzio di Tutela Bolgheri e Bolgheri Sassicaia was founded in 1995 and is responsible for the protection of DOC Bolgheri and DOC Bolgheri wines. No other key Italian wine consortium is as compact and teams up as harmoniously with 73 members strong whose vineyards represent 99 percent of the territory’s overall hectarage.

Finding Puppole (or Mazze di Tamburo) in Castagneto Carducci

Bolgheri’s demarcated growing area is concurrent with the political boundaries of the Municipality of Castagneto Carducci in the province of Livorno, with the exception of the stretch of coastline west of Via Ulvino Aurelia. The area’s construct is akin to a natural amphitheater with the Colline Metalifere to the east that gradually slopes downwards towards the coastline so typical of the Ligurian sea’s platform push. Here the cause and effect is two-fold; Flysch (an alternating sequence of sedimentary limestones, sandstones, and shales, the beds of which are thin, regular, and alternating) is this frazione‘s ace up the sleeve. That and the Galestro (schisty clay with friable white, grey, blue and charcoal rocks) typical of the greater territory are the soils with which all of these producers have in their vineyards to some varying degree.

La Macchia Mediterranea at Castagneto Carducci

Thickset forests cover the hillsides and anyone who has had designs on foraging for autumn mushrooms or simply chosen to have a walk will concur with having experienced the woven thicket that must be stealthily navigated to make any real progress through the dense brush. This veritable Tuscan jungle serves a great and refreshing purpose, that is to maintain and protect a complex ecosystem and breathe great life into vines (and olive trees) sharing valuable space and resources. The tiered hillsides slowly descend towards the central arena marked by a flat if ever so gently sloping terrain (in a way reminiscent of Mendoza) where most of the vineyards grow. The distance from vine to water is anywhere from six to 13 kilometres as the crow flies, where the Tyrrhenian sea is dominated by the Tuscan archipelago and Corsica visible at a vanishing point upon the horizon.

Elena Brachini – Tenuta San Guido

Tenuta San Guido, its founder Marchesi Mario Incisa della Rocchetta, Marchesi Nicolò Incisa della Rocchetta and current Consorzio Vice-President (as well as Primum Familiae Vini President) Priscilla Incisa della Rocchetta will always reside at the heart of Bolgheri. The Grand Vin Sassicaia was first released on the market with the 1968 vintage and today continues to act as benchmark for the region’s wines. The Consorzio President is Guado al Tasso’s Albiera Antinori of Marchesi Antinori and the other Vice-President is Le Macchiole’s Cinzia Merli. In 2023 Godello visited Bolgheri on two occasions. The first in late May, to gregarious Grattamacco and grand Tenuta Argentiera. The second in early November, to the Bolgheri unicorn estate of Podere Il Castellaccio, movimentata Le Macchiole, veramente un azienda enorme Tenuta San Guido and again to Grattamacco. These are the 32 wines tasted on the occasion of those two excursions.

The view from Grattamacco

Grattamacco

The organically certified Grattamacco estate originally founded in 1977 on that Maquis shrub-land as Bolgheri’s second winery became part of the Colle Massari Group in 2002. Siblings Maria Iris and Claudio Tipa are Grupo Colle Massari, proprietors of four Tuscan properties; Montalcino’s Poggio di Sotto (2011) and Tenuta San Giorgio (2017), along with Montecucco’s Castello Colle Massari (1998) and Bolgheri’s Grattamacco with its perfect view of the Castello di Castiglioncello. Bolgheri’s modern wine production may be less than 100 years old but its rise has been swift, its potential a gold mine and Grattamacco has marked its presence from the earliest days.

Hills above Grattamacco

The name Grattamacco or Gratta Macca translates as “scratched iron.” When Colle Massari purchased 12 new hectares at Casa Vecchia it was sangiovese that was planted straight away, while a full cellar renovation followed 11 years later, in 2013. The endemic Tuscan grape variety sangiovese is well-suited to the estate’s unique Galestro and Flysch soils with their alternating sequences of sedimentary limestones, sandstones and shales. That orogenic belt’s design now helps to breathe light and elegance into the region’s full-bodied Bordeaux blends made with cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc and merlot. Grattamacco’s are thankfully not the most powerful of Bolgheri’s wines but they are its truly sapid outliers, indelibly stamped with the sangiovese, a sense of place and no compromise to acidity.

Tasting room at Grattamacco

Grattamacco also constructs Bolgheri’s unicorn wine, made from vermentino off of the first such local vines planted in 1986 and this white wine has not only changed the landscape for the grape in Tuscany’s coastal areas, it promises to be its future. Vermentino ages in new Chassagne Burgundy barriques and with the rapidly changing climate there will be more wineries choosing to eschew the likes of problematic merlot for vineyard space dedicated to the virtues of vermentino.

Davide Torchio at Grattamacco

With 29 hectares in production Grattamacco’s labels comprise four wines: Vermentino Bolgheri DOC, Bolgheri Rosso DOC, L’Alberello Bolgheri Superiore DOC and Bolgheri Superiore DOC. The cellar is marked by stunning stained glass designed by Michael Zyw. Famed oenologist Luca Marrone and winemaker Davide Torchio’s usage of a peristaltic pump system, the Piedmontese technique of cappello sommerso and natural fermentations are what give the reds their advantage and silken textures. The sangiovese is the tie that binds, the catalyst to raise the perception of acidity in Bolgheri reds of grace, charm and greatness.

In the Grattamacco Cellar

A reminder that this is vermentino from the oldest such vines in Bolgheri. Storied vineyards blessed by a terroir of “argilla bianca.” The chalk in the soils is crucial to the personality of this wine, lending en elemental salinity because magnesium is much more prevalent than sodium. In fact the lees creaminess and alcohol are what effect the balance and without their inflations this might be too “salty” a vermentino. Meanwhile this 2021 always seems to be in its right place. Last tasted October 2023

Good rains in February and March, dry all the way through and then some rains in the middle of September to delay harvest, for the better, to achieve a great ripeness level for vermentino. Such fruit changes the landscape for the grape in Bolgheri and the wood (one new and seven used barrels, all from Chassagne) lends just a popping or piquing of spice on the back of the palate. An exotic or tropical and cloudy fermentation transforms into the cleanest and fleshiest fruit gathering with essential structure to see the best years in fact lay ahead. That being three of four years forward. But drink it now. Why not and what could go wrong? Wait 30 minutes and it may just smell like roasted rosemary potatoes. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted May 2023

Enoteca Tognoni, Bolgheri

Grattamacco Vermentino Bolgheri DOC 2013

If you happen to pop a bottle of the historic 2013 vermentino from Bolgheri’s original varietal wine do not be bemused by a little bit of mustiness. Open the closet and window to let the two airs mix before passing judgement. Perhaps a moment of cacchi (persimmon) like botrytis marks the next entry but what is most prevalent is the white clay-limestone-schist smoulder of fruit and soil that conspire with 10 years gone by to affix this vermentino into a lovely situation. Acidity fixed is acidity persistent. This is not a perfect wine but it does open a portal into Bolgheri vermentino looking retrospectively in ways no other can offer. Drink 2023-2024. Tasted November 2023

Grattamacco Bolgheri Rosso DOC 2022

Bolgheri Rosso is first and foremost a vineyard selection, mainly from the youngest vineyards but also a first pass/pick out of the older blocks. There may also be some vats destined for Superiore that are shifted to the Rosso. A challenging follow-up to what was a very good 2021 but 2022 is up to the task, especially because the cabernet franc thrived in this vintage and it does not end up in the Superiore. This franc comes from vineyards new and old, suitable for the bigger wine but with respect to style and tradition it only ends up here. Even at just 25 percent the franc speaks loud and clear. The merlot makes up (30) with cabernet sauvignon and sangiovese rounding out the rest. The fact remains that this ’22 is a seriously structured Rosso, more than that ’21 and this tells us how much high quality fruit is diverted here, not to mention the increasing maturity of those younger vines. Succulent and top tier acidity puts this in high steading. It stands to be counted and counts out time. Will drink with distinction for five to seven years easy. 120,000 bottles produced. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted October 2023

Grattamacco Bolgheri Rosso DOC 2021

The fruit first Bolgheri Rosso is 30 each cabernet sauvignon and merlot, (25) cabernet franc, (10) sangiovese and (five) petit verdot. Could age longer than when it is released (after one year in September) but cellar master Davide wishes it could rest another year. So very “Mediterranean” and in the early stages the red fruit is strong, overpowering the spices and pushing the merlot too up front. With age the franc especially and its aromatics will emerge, as they are just about imposing their will right now. The sangiovese is the tie that binds, the catalyst to raise the perception of acidity and make it all happen. The cabernet sauvignon will linger and last above all else, sending this “Classico” through the years, with its sweet tannins in tow. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted May 2023

Grattamacco L’Alberello Bolgheri Superiore DOC 2021

Same blend percentages as 2020, of 70 percent cabernet sauvignon with (30) franc and so youthful to make the 2021 seems like it’s just as big a vintage but we just know the balance tells us otherwise. Freshness on steroids, rich in cherry fruit depth mixed with the Flysch earth and dried herbs weaponizing the berry liqueur. Savoury, serious and needing to be re-tasted next fall to really gain an understanding of aspects more than predicated on potential. Meanwhile these tannins are fine-grained, chained, intentional and propositional. Drink 2026-2034. Tasted at Prowein, March 2024

Luca Marrone – Grattamacco

Grattamacco L’Alberello Bolgheri Superiore DOC 2020

Two cabernets involved, head-pruned, two hectares of 16 year-old vines in a single vineyard. Alberello training is unique and essential for the future of the sauvignon (70 percent) and franc, field picked and co-fermented, built on acid structure with a liquidity spiced by black pepper and what just feels like Sardegnan mirto. Beautiful if just ever so slightly rustic field blend. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted May 2023

Grattamacco L’Alberello Bolgheri Superiore DOC 2013

Impossibly near perfect shape for this field blend’s amelioration 10 years forward from 2013 to 2023 with Grattamacco’s cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon and petit verdot. Belive the idea that secondary character is only a recently transacted transition, acidity has not been suppressed and tannins have only sweetened. The succulence and continued speculation serve notice that no supplication is necessary to see the best in this Rosso, also because energy is never compromised, not for a moment. This bottle is in excellent shape. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted November 2023

Mushrooms of Castagneto Carducci

Grattamacco Bolgheri Superiore DOC 2020

The “skinny” vintage, surely not as fleshy as the bookending years on either side but also the sneaky one, possibly destined to outlive them all. Very Mediterranean aromatics, something akin to garrigue but cleaner and less vegetal. Both crunch and chew, a combination of before and after, ying and yang. All right and no wrong in 2020, tight and closed now but given 20 minutes the wine will open up, better yet taste it the next day, even without sealing the wine overnight. Tannic structure exceeds the promise of Rosso and also Alberello though there is no compromise to acidity. Truly sapid. Made with 65 percent cabernet sauvignon and near equal parts between sangiovese and merlot. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted May 2023

Grattamacco Bolgheri Superiore DOC 2013

L’Alberello 2013 shows energy and exuberance but what of Superiore? Two feet in the soil that’s what but not only is this Rosso as fresh as the day it was conceived, it’s also mature and wise, experienced even beyond its 10 years from vintage. If L’Alberello is a teenager than Superiore is a young adult, both perfect compliment to one another. Tasted side by each they both work wonders with the fresh porcini of the current vintage. Drink 2023-2028. Last tasted November 2023

So fortuitous and surely fascinating to travel back ten years for a look at the Rosso Superiore. Where does it stand in terms of freshness, verticality and longevity? This is the wine simply referred to as “Grattamacco,” spokesperson and flagship, spinal label to tell the story of this place and the ColleMassari dedication. Unfortunately there is some TCA and so the tannins are brittle and dry. 120,000 bottles produced. Tasted October 2023

With Cokie Ponikvar and Jeremy Bonia – Agriristoro La Cesarina, Castagneto Carducci

Grattamacco L’Alberello Bolgheri Superiore DOC 2020

No doubt time is the catalyst towards explaining more and more subtleties, idiosyncrasies and eccentricities of an Alberello-trained field blend like this creative and singular red by Grattamacco. Really showing its chalky structured personality six months later and this shows how it’s working through its adolescence. Six further months should see that chalkiness liquify and create the most stunning textured example of Bolgheri Superiore. When all is said and done, peccato di gioventu” Rushing belongs to humans, but nature will always follow its own pace. Last tasted October 2023

Agriristoro La Cesarina, Castagneto Carducci

Grattamacco Bolgheri Superiore DOC 2020

Was released in April 2023, just ahead of the last tasting and now six months forward there is no movement, literally not an iota. What is noticed is the presence of a certain saltiness, predicated on the vineyard where magnesium is stronger than sodium and so the Grattamacco elemental salinity energizes without obstacle. For oenologist Luca Marrone this vintage sides more to cool then warm and you can’t rush its progress. As predicted the tannins and overall architecture of the Superiore is the most formidable of all the Grattamacco wines, not to mention the one wound taut with great and measurable tension. You can cut it with a knife. Be patient, as a taster that is not a luxury afforded, but as a buyer it is a must. Last tasted October 2023

The “skinny” vintage, surely not as fleshy as the bookending years on either side but also the sneaky one, possibly destined to outlive them all. Very Mediterranean aromatics, something akin to garrigue but cleaner and less vegetal. Both crunch and chew, a combination of before and after, ying and yang. All right and no wrong in 2020, tight and closed now but given 20 minutes the wine will open up, better yet taste it the next day, even without sealing the wine overnight. Tannic structure exceeds the promise of Rosso and also Alberello though there is no compromise to acidity. Truly sapid. Made with 65 percent cabernet sauvignon and near equal parts between (15) sangiovese and (20) merlot. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted May 2023

Alessandro Scappini – Podere Il Castellacio

Podere Il Castellaccio

Attention Ontario sommeliers and agents. Speaking directly to you. These beautiful wines from Podere Il Castellaccio are the freshest in Bolgheri, most made from endemic varieties; sangiovese, pugnitello and foglia tonda. Top echelon work from Alessando and Enrica Scappini. In the Bolgheri area their’s is a vineyard with forty years of history and only they are protecting varieties that have disappeared from local winemaking. Their work concentrates on salvaging these ancient varieties because they are inextricably linked to the tradition of Tuscan wine so specific to Bolgheri.

Forest above Podere Il Castellacio

Podere Il Castellaccio Ardiglione Vermentino 2022, Costa Toscana IGT

A coastal vermentino that is a blend of three components, skin maceration, some aging time in wood and also amphora. Scents of the not far away sea and the green hills combine for a sweetly herbal, subtly phenolic and in the end salty vermentino. The vineyards are closer to the sea than the red vines and this second vintage of Castellaccio’s white is a win. There is also this white balsamic and pine nut character that is so very local. True identity of place and that is so crucial to the success of this kind of wine. Yet another reason to opine on how vermentino will be such an important part of Bolgheri’s future. The wood and the clay refining will see this age for a few extra years to become something even more interesting later on. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted November 2023

Dinostro, Podere Il Castellacio

Podere Il Castellaccio Dinostro Sangiovese 2021, Toscana IGT

Alessandro Scappini’s grandfather grew endemic varieties here in Bolgheri where thaye have been cultivated since the 1960s. They may not jive with the last forty years of what Bolgheri has concentrated upon but Scappini considers them the heritage of this place. They are sangiovese, pugnitello and foliotonda. These are the original peasant grapes of the poderi and their DNA has been preserved to plant more vines. There is no doubt that a Bolgheri red like this is expressive of more identity and heritage than what the Bordeaux grapes can even fathom to deliver. There just feels to be a connection with the wines of Roberto Stucchi (Badia a Coltibuono) because this feels like sangiovese growing with forests all around, green in the ways of flora, but not ripeness. There is a rustic notion here but again it’s more of a country one and this sangiovese is indeed elegant. There is Gaiole and there is Bolgheri. The affinity is kind of uncanny don’t you think? The difference is the Mediterranean (or Ligurian) feeling gained, of resinous green herbs, evergreen and the sea. This is the tightest of all Il Castellaccio’s wines, high in acidity, seriously tannic though they are neither brooding nor baritone. Not austere neither but they are serious and they are profound. That said the fruit is like red lightning, a strike of intensity from that which is tart and also über fresh. This captures the essence of Castagneto Carducci. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted November 2023

Valénte – Podere Il Castellacio

Podere Il Castellaccio Valenté Vitigni Autoctoni 2019, Toscana IGT

As particular a red blend as there is in all of Bolgheri, first because it’s not a DOC wine and also not just any IGT. It is a blend of the three endemic local varieties grown by Alessandro’s grandfather on the estate since the 1960s. They are sangiovese, pugnitello and foliotonda, the middle of which is connected to and revered with equal level at San Felice in Castelnuovo Berardenga. In total the average age of all three sets of vines is 50 years. The ferments see two weeks of maceration, raising the glycerin levels before the wine ages in large Slavonian cask and concrete. Acids are in control and this glaringly logical, local blend may be from 2019 but its persistent freshness is undeniable. Truly important work for Bolgheri. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted November 2023

Somatico – Podere Il Castellacio

Podere Il Castellaccio Somatico Pugnitello 2021, Toscana IGT

Truly rare varietal pugnitello with just 300 or so hectares of vineyard planted in all of Italy. The vines are 50-plus years of age, Guyot trained and growing in mineral soils of Galestro outcroppings coming from schist. Deep hue and such a spicy red (though truly purple) Bolgheri example. Chalky though silken in its liquidity and and tannic presence that’s so unlike sangiovese, in fact there’s something more akin to cabernet sauvignon or franc in this wine. This is spezzatura by way of pugnitello, something that would likely be planned and crafted but the result just feels effortless and so very real. Drink 2025-2031. Tasted November 2023

Orio – Podere Il Castellacio

Podere Il Castellaccio Orio 2022, Bolgheri DOC

Moving away from autochthonous varieties and now into the denominational wines with the three varietal blend of 60 percent cabernet franc, (30) merlot and (10) syrah. Vines are 10-20 years of age and aging happens over 12 months in second passage, 500L tonneaux. There is a temptation to automatically think that the French grapes will take away from the place and the resulting wine to be so different than those made from endemic varieties. But you can’t take the place out of any of Alessandro Scappini’s reds and so the evergreen, brushy herbs, balsamic and sea air are all in this wine. So is extra richness and peppery piques or bites with tobacco moments and chalky ground espresso on the finish. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted November 2023

Il Castellacio – Podere Il Castellacio

Podere Il Castellaccio Il Castellaccio 2021, Bolgheri DOC

The Superiore is a two-part harmonic bend of mostly cabernet franc plus pugnitello from the Alberello-trained vines up on the hill of a terroir known as “cisto di galestro di scheletro. Sees a year in both barriques but also clay amphora which puts this in a whole other Bolgheri light. The French wood certainly lends a richness, depth and spice cupboard set of elements but the texture accedes a new manifest destiny because of the clay. The biggest though not what should be looked at as a baddest red wine, on the contrary the freshness is captured as with all of Il Castellaccio’s wines. The length on this wine is exceptional, exceeding all of the others and so it is deserving of the flagship calling. Profundtà e lunghezza. These are the elements that set this apart. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted November 2023

Old vines at Le Macchiole

Le Macchiole

There have been opportunities in Ontario to taste the Bolgheri wines of Le Macchiole over the years, but now there is greater understanding after this first visit with agronomist Elia Campolmi, winemaker Luca Rettondini and proprietor Cinzia Merli. Decades of commitment and the development of 10 vineyard plots around the denomination see the fruition of their work today best explained as modestly profound. The estate plots travel from the sea to the hills of Castagneto Carducci at 220m of elevation on 32-33 total hectares.

Cinzia Merli – Le Macchiole

Puntoni Vineyard was planted in 1994 and Vignone in 1999, both to cabernet franc, syrah and merlot, Casanuovo went in the ground in 1998, to cabernet franc and syrah; Casanuovo 2 in 2009 to cabernet franc, chardonnay and sauvignon blanc; Casanuovo 3 in 2013 with cabernet franc and cabernet sauvignon. Sommi Vineyard was planted in 2015 with all four red varieties. Casavecchia and Ulvino are more recent plantations, back in 2016, the first only with syrah, the second to cabernet franc, merlot, chardonnay and sauvignon blanc. Livrone Vineyard dates to 2020, only to cabernet franc. Finally it was Quercione (syrah and cabernet franc), Lamentano (syrah and cabernet franc) and Vallone (merlot) back in 2021.

Elio Campolmi – Le Macchiole

An optical sorter was introduced in 2023 and the cement vats date to 2003. Some Cappello Sommerso (Piedmontese-style submerged cap) is used in some of the fermentations. Pours included a mini vertical of Paleo (cabernet franc), Scrio (syrah), Messorio (merlot) and Bolgheri Rosso. Fascinating to witness the transformation from argile stratificata and salty sea breezes into these wines of tension and emotion.

Le Macchiole Bolgheri Rosso DOC 2021

What Cinzia Merli introduces as “our Bolgheri blend, a wine that is the “Classico” for the denomination.” Blends the four red varieties of Le Macchiole’s 32-33 hectares of vineyards, led by 55 percent merlot, then (15-20 each) cabernet franc and sauvignon, rounded out with (10) syrah. One of the more suave and refined Bolgheri Rosso from anywhere in the denomination with an aromatic tug between fresh roses and balsamico. Silky and yet for what feels like the first time is it’s perfume, structure and freshness that do everything to make mouthfeel the lesser of this wine’s many sensations. Plenty of emotion however and while this is a very drinkable wine it’s so much more than that. The syrah grows on the hill where it receives even more marine saltiness on its skins then it would were it planted on the flats. And so it acts as both salt and pepper seasoning the merlot and cabernets. Everything is elevated and captured in this vintage, culminating in a thorough and captivating Rosso. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted November 2023

Paleo – Le Macchiole

La Macchiole Paleo 2021, Toscana Rosso IGT

Bottled quite recently, around six weeks ago so this is kept in mind. That said the cabernet franc (especially) of Le Macchiole may be the most aromatic of all in Bolgheri so there is little shock this youthful 2021 is right there from the beginning. Yes it needs some air and agitation but it’s also 2021, an impressively structured vintage that dresses and acts as linear and vertical as any of the recent past. The tannins are all fruit and no wood, as are the spices and seasonings. Fruit is a hyperbole of itself, a double entendre of 2020 multiplied upon itself to entertain as 2021. Exotic and salty, depth of entangled clay out of which friable rock sears into memory and cuts through like a diamond for a red Bolgheri wine indelibly stamped from place. The potential here is palpable, to create feelings and elicit emotions but in the end the salinity really incites tension and tang. Wow vintage of Paleo. Drink 2026-2034. Tasted November 2023

La Cantina – Le Macchiole

La Macchiole Paleo 2020, Toscana Rosso IGT

Paleo takes up where the Bolgheri Rosso leaves off and exaggerates perfume, not quite times 10 but surely to a few squared degrees. The red to purple fruits, fresh roses and balsamic are hyperbolized and made beautiful to great end. Add in elements reminiscent of pencil lead, graphite and dried wild herbs but here the 100 percent cabernet franc is what Cinzia Merli calls movimentata. Paleo was once blended with cabernet sauvignon and sangiovese but is today a solo act from the various cabernet franc plots collectively acting varietally intense if also obvious as it gets. The key is to find equilibrium In the wine’s density and 2020 could not have been the easiest to decipher. Warm vintage overall, especially in concentrated times if thankfully ideal through harvest. The wood is generous and important but it is already melted, integrating and at this stage acting as seasoning for welcoming cabernet franc. Will be ready for the commercial market in March of 2024. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted November 2023

La Macchiole Paleo 2013, Toscana Rosso IGT

Nearing 10 years of age and showing remarkable freshness from a wine that at the time was 100 percent cabernet franc, dating back to 2001. There is zero surprise to find this wealth of generous aromas because, well this is a wine made by the aromatic genius that is Le Macchiole. Very special in that varietal is not only captured but exulted, made the star and preserved for decades so that wines live long and stay true to their nature. A vintage of heat but also really long maturation, of mature tannins and wood usage in 2013 that was of a heavier toast and much more involved. Everything began to change beginning with the 2015 vintage but the truth is the kind of toast and sweetness of oak back then did in fact serve this wine well so that it can show the way it does today. He who would complain for a lack of freshness would not be paying attention to detail. Interestingly this vintage finished at 15 percent alcohol while the 2020 and 2021 fall in at 14, give or take. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted November 2023

Cabernet Franc – Le Macchiole

Le Macchiole Scrio 2020, Toscana Rosso IGT

Once again the wines from 2020 were a challenge but as long as the work was put in every day from vineyard through cellar it would become the friend of any willing and committed producer. This is Le Macchiole’s strength, with a team from field to table that worked so bloody hard to make are freshness and aromatic beauty stand front and centre in the wines. The exotic perfume of Scrio screams from the glass, of cinnamon, nutmeg out of 100 percent syrah that is the micro of micro productions. It’s syrah of Bolgheri so anything but easy though the salty skins from sea breezes blowing across the hills where it his cultivated make for a most uniquely seasoned varietal wine. The terroir is argilla stratificata out of which Galestro from schist manifests at the surface of the soils. Imparts a richness cut by slaty mineral in the syrah. Most curious and unlike any that you might think you already know. The rotundone is there but it comes with a twist. Will be ready for the commercial market in March of 2024. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted November 2023

Vineyard map – Le Macchiole

La Macchiole Messorio 2020, Toscana Rosso IGT

Combine the aromatics of Bolgheri Rosso, Paleo and Scrio to arrive at Messorio because the fresh roses, balsamic and exotic spicing are all here in this 2020. But there’s more, of fresh herbs and dried hillside brush before you realized you’ve been nosing this wine for 10 minutes without having yet taken a sip. Then the linearity meeting richness of flavours, palate attack and texture all add up to the most accumulation of any wine inLe Macchiole’s profile. Graced by and soaks up more new wood than any of the other wines yet receives it all so well, integrates the barrel into the fruit of the wine’s labour and exacts structure like no other. An impressively composed, compressed, accumulated, vertical and intense 100 percent merlot that delivers grape, place and handling with substantial distinction. Finishes with a return of fruit freshness to reinforce the idea about a Messorio that will travel far and long. Will be ready for the commercial market in March of 2024. Drink 2025-2034. Tasted November 2023

Tenuta Argentiera

The name Tenuta Argentiera derives from ancient Etruscan silver mines and the peninsula’s first metallurgy. The wine estate is a project that began in 2000 by the Fratini brothers at the southern end of the Castagneto Carducci area on the site of the ancient Donoratico Estate. Formerly the summer home of the notable Serristori family of Florence, the estate has been owned by Stanislaus Turnauer since 2015. The southwest oriented vineyards are 23 years old, on 84 hectares of a total 150 of the estate. Soils are generally Flysch and calcareous marine in origin. Today there are six base wines, down from what was once 40, namely because the team have qualified the cabernets and merlot into their cru sections. The syrah goes into 30,000 bottles of Rosé. Federico Zileri is Chief Executive Officer, Leonardo Raspini is General Manager, Massimo Basile is Sales & Marketing Director, Fabio Fedeli is Direttore Commerciale Italia and Nicolò Carrar is the Winemaker.

The vineyards of Tenuta Argentiera

Tenuta Argentiera Poggio Ai Ginepri 2021, Toscana IGT

Amazing freshness for a warm place, 40 percent each merlot and cabernet sauvignon, (15) cabernet franc and (5) petit verdot. Rich and herbal cool, not mint but certainly other locally scented verdancy. Fruit just seems to come away sweet and succulent. Tannins are never austere or even dry, the wine is all about these varietal aromas, even their green parts. Great vintage. A wine that just works on every level for so many markets. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted May 2023

Tenuta Argentiera Villa Donodoratico Bolgheri Rosso DOC 2021

Tasted side by side with Ai Ginepri, here with 45 percent cabernet sauvignon, 40 merlot and 15 split between cabernet franc and petit verdot. From a much more complex soil and merlot grows with the aid of water retention that also serves to exte the ripening season. The greens are still here but they should be and must be celebrated. They come from the geological flysch system of these old soils. So much texture and a cupboard of spice but also a structure that will begin to really open in two, better still three years time. The transparency of red fruit is a direct result the vintage and while it is young. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted May 2023

La Cantina, Tenuta Argentiera

Tenuta Argentiera Bolgheri Superiore DOC 2020

A “vintage with two souls,” first drought and not so much heat but then quick ripening in August, especially at the lower elevation growing merlot. September rains arrived and changed the ripening of cabernet sauvignon. Very ripe merlot and “classic” pyrazine cabernet sauvignon. Reds and greens and back again. But the delay of the cabernet made for elastic stretched tannins and combined with the merlot resulted in a true marriage of disparate parts. This is the sneaky one. Drinking well already and will so for 20 more years. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted May 2023

Tenuta Argentiera Bolgheri Superiore DOC 2017

Such a challenging vintage and yet Bolgheri found a way to succeed, as seen especially in this Superiore. Humidity was maintained in the soils despite no rain and yes, more than impressive freshness has been preserved. Acidity is not the best ever but it does perform solid yeoman works to extend the life and energy in this blend of 60 cabernet sauvignon, (35) merlot and (5) cabernet franc. A most floral vintage which is exciting and enticing. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted May 2023

Tenuta Argentiera Bolgheri Superiore DOC 2015

A celebrated vintage in Tuscany and most certainly Bolgheri while 2015 ages gracefully with the greens still intact. ripe but not too ripe and more than ample acidity. The blend is 55 merlot, (35) cabernet sauvignon and (10) cabernet franc. The palate is where the acidity and piquancy really attack the back of the sides of the mouth. Great ambling length. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted May 2023

Tenuta Argentiera Ventaglio, Toscana IGT 2019

Amazingly aromatic varietal cabernet franc. Spice cupboard, liquorice, tar, roses and so much black tea and also olive. Herbal cool, some Amaro, the cabernet franc so specific to the place and the respect it so righteously deserves. No need to compare to anything Right Bank because the Franc does not act like this anywhere else but it is duly suited to these calcareous-flysch soils. Drastic and dramatic wine, vivid and full of energy, pulse and even some hypnotics. Great, great vintage. Wait one more year. 4,000 bottles are made from just one hectare. Drink 2025-2034. Tasted May 2023

Barrels at Tenuta San Guido

Tenuta San Guido

The estate is 250 hectares in total, veramente un azienda enorme, with approximately 100 hectares under vine. A place famous not only for Sassiccaia but also Ciocco e Duna, le cicogne (storks) di Bolgheri. Each of the vineyards are cultivated specifically for the three estate wines, Le Difese, Guidalberto and Sassiccaia. Sangiovese is only used in Difese with cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc and merlot for Guidalberto and Sassiccaia. The history is of two Antinori marrying two Incise (cousins) and this is why the two families have been linked for so long, especially for international distribution of their wines. Niccolò Antinori was at the centre of the transformation to major business activities.

Carlo Paoli – Tenuta San Guido

Each vineyard is a small parcel completely surrounded by forests and so harvest takes a long time, up to four weeks, usually moving from east to west, from the sea to the hills. Sassicaia is transferred back and forth between barrels for a settling of the sediments, to clean the wines and thus to eliminate filtration before bottling. This system went into effect withy the opening of the new cellar in 2008. Carlo Paoli, Tenuta San Guido’s General Manager and Production Manager has been with the estate since 2009.

La Difese, Guidalberto and Sassicaia

Tenuta San Guido Le Difese 2022, Castagneto Carducci, Toscana IGT

The modernist blend of Tenuta San Guido and while it is considered by many as an IGT of thirds, the truth is 50 percent or more sangiovese qualifies Le Difese as its own entity, also because the vineyards that supply the fruit are cultivated specifically for this purpose alone. Carlo Paoli certifies 2022 as a vintage of excellent and harmony, no matter the heat because growing conditions, especially at harvest time were more than ideal. The ability to pick grapes over a month long period identified parcels and secured acidity to make ripe if balanced wines. There is an energy and a fervour to Difese, a spry aspect and a lovely swirl of liqueur present and fortuitous as Bolgheri in the wine. The season’s warmth puts the sangiovese in blood orange territory and overall there is a serious juicy quality to the drinkability of ’22. Also the sensation of black olive and just that right amount of structure to carry this forward for an appropriate four to six years. Approximately 150,000 bottles are produced. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted November 2023

Tenuta San Guido Guidalberto 2021, Toscana IGT

No movement to speak of in fact the wine has gone a step or two backwards as compared to 70-odd days ago. At this time the knowledge of great structure and verticality are kept in mind to explain the grip, impenetrability and drying skins at the finish. Walk away and don’t come back for at least a year and preferably more. Last tasted February 2024

Hard not to see 2021 as a unique vintage and while Guidalberto may be viewed more as a second wine to Sassicaia then Le Difese is a third, there is a distinct feeling that it stands alone, especially out of a vintage like 2021. A season of warmth but after staggered starts before arriving at a fine conclusion. A vintage quite proper for Bordeaux varieties within a context that requires both ripeness and acidity to be captured. Those acids are very present in a Bolgheri (as IGT) wine that wears the local balsamic notes on its sleeve. That and a gentle swarthiness but also a sense of structure that is pliable, extendable and elastic so that the vision of this wine could very well be that of a decade and a half. Guidalberto Gherardesca planted the cypress trees on the estate, which incidentally stands alone and away from Sassicaia, so even more reason to see this as a separate entity for Tenuta San Guido. Not forgotten is the constantly engaging perfume of Guidalberto, yet another reason to imagine the many possibilities and transformations that lay ahead. Drink 2025-2036. Tasted November 2023 in Toronto and November 2024 at Tenuta San Guido in Bolgheri.

Tenuta San Guido Sassicaia 2020, Bolgheri Sassicaia DOC

The cabernet sauvignon dominated Sassicaia is more demure and reserved in 2020, or at least that’s how it acts at this near three year mark post vintage. Less perfumed at this stage than the 2019 was showing when assessed in September of 2022 but there are shadows and meanings hidden in the chiaroscuro that will surely begin to emerge with the first warm days and weeks of 2024. Still there is great structure and architecture in the 2020 Sassicaia from its 27th vintage as a Bolgheri Sassicaia DOC to set this grand vin up for decades of slow, sure and incremental evolution. Succulence is noted in both the fruit and then of course the acids to remind us that Sassicaia is always the most elegant, secure and divined example of Bolgheri. It’s presence as an own DOC entity is not taken lightly nor is there any gratuity, certainly not from the 2020. As a vintage it seems 2020 was misunderstood early but as time goes by the excellence comes into focus one wine at a time. The advantage of making an example from something like Sassicaia explains so much and there will be a great future, likely past 2040 for this grand dame of Bolgheri. If Guidalberto 2021 is any indication, that Sassicaia will be one for the epochs. Drink 2025-2040. Tasted November 2023

Good to go!

godello

Bolgheri

Twitter: @mgodello

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Antinori Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Villa Antinori 2020

Chianti Classico 2023: A year in review

Feb27

Godello
(c) Jamie Goode

Just 11 days ago the 2024 edition of the Chianti Classico Collection closed to a resounding and successful conclusion. There was the prodigal ambasciatore as per usual, also wearing his badge as journalist, in position at the Stazione Leopolda tasting tables before 9:30 am on Thursday. There he remained, steadfast and inchoate through 200 glasses of Gallo Nero before being the last one out at 7:00 pm Friday. No time to pause for reflection, nor wane in concentration because the sangiovese encouraged onwards by the Consorzio’s production and presentation of recent, nascent and exceptional vintages could easily sustain a high level of energy. Godello investigations, visits with producers and interviews with next generation offspring continued through the month of February. These first days of the 2024 season have seen nature and vines surely caught in a prolonged state of confused awakening but hot damn the weather has been incalculably beautiful. Unseasonal temperatures have risen into the high teens and despite intermittent rains (plus hail at the upper reaches of Monte San Michele) the region had come upon the culmination of a week straight of crystal clear blue skies to see Chianti Classico vineyards and its many villages bathed in golden winter light. Though the rains and cooler temperatures have now finally arrived, “winter” has shown to be traditional in timing only, because Spring had already sprung here in the Chiantishire.

The true Galestro

Previous to this 2024 excursion there has not been any published material on Godello since a lengthy summary in coverage of the 2023 Chianti Classico Collection that took place now more than one year ago. Godello homecomings to the territory did in fact happen in May, July, October and December of that calendar year during which wines were both tasted at every turn and tasting notes committed to WineAlign pages, however no articles in synopsis or cumulative analytical thought had to date been published. That is until now.

Godello, Manetti, Goode and Szabo

In May of 2023 Godello played ambassadorial chaperone to nine Canadian Sommeliers representing as fine a national cross-section of that professional vocation as there has yet been assembled. The group consisted (from east to west) of Jeremy Bonia (Raymonds, The Merchant Tavern and Portage – St. Johns, Newfoundland), Alana Steele (Little Oak Bar, The Ostrich Club and Crush Pad Club – Halifax, Nova Scotia), Isabel Bordeleau (Institut de Tourisme et d’Hôtellerie du Québec), Cokie Ponikvar (Wine Vlogger, candidate for Master of Wine and Certified Sommelier | WSET 4 – Toronto, Ontario), Kate Dingwall (Writer at Forbes, Vogue, Maxim, Toronto Life, Wine Enthusiast, Etc. and Dreyfus – Toronto), Justin Madol (Don Alfonso 1890 – Toronto), Lexi Wolkowski (Restaurant Parquet – Toronto), Maude Renaud-Brisson (Apero Mode and This is Wine School – Vancouver, British Columbia) and Andrew Forsyth (L’Abattoir – Vancouver). The intrepid Canadian wine geeks were treated to seven days of sangiovese, the Gallo Nero, 13 estate visits with full UGA tastings, a tour with the Mapman Alessandro Masnaghetti through Radda, Gaiole, Castelnuovo Berardenga, Vagliagli, Castellina and Panzano, a night in Siena and two in Firenze.

Goode, Harman, Szabo and Godello

In October of 2023 the next excursion brought together a smaller group to complete a similar deep investigative dive into the region, this time with WineAlign colleague John Szabo M.S. (Toronto, Canada), Dr. Jamie Goode (Wine Anorak and latest book Regenerative Viticulture – England) and Emily Harman (Vina Lupa – England and Berlin, Germany). La squadra da sogno. This trip saw to 22 estate visits, a Gran Selezione tasting of 91 wines and another three-hour tour with Alessandro Masnaghetti taking in the Val di Pesa and ridges through San Donato in Poggio, Castellina, San Casciano, Greve and Montefioralle.

Calcareous rocks of Chianti Classico

Related – Forever in Chianti Classico

On a May tour with Masnaghetti the territory’s soils are considered, beginning with the Macigno (sandstones) which are lighter in colour, of less structure then the Formazione di Sillano which like the clays is darker and firmer of constitution. “It’s not only soil,” explains Alessandro, “I have to love the power. I love Alberese soils.” He tells the group that Galestro is the result of the degradation of shale and points out a rare 10m so of a vein in Panzano near Casenuove called Galestro focolaio, the “fire Galestro,” true and unique. Without exception something new and refreshing stirs where Chianti Classico wines are made. The ethos with sangiovese and its terroirs of Formazione di Sillano, Pietraforte, Macigno, Alberese, Argilla, Galestro and alluvial river stone soils meets at a new complex crossroads where new ideas and winemaking principles will challenge and potentially re-write the possibilities for this important region. Welcome to the future of Chianti Classico. The region and its eight communes share a commonality expressed in varietal and landscape but look to the maps, the ridges, hills and individual estates to note that there is more diversity than we can possibly absorb in one visit. When a visitor arrives in Chianti Classico they are intrinsically aware that the trip and each one that follows will add new dimensions to the legend and never-ending story. More to the point we are all hyper aware that the best is yet to come.

La nebbia di Radda

During the October week a tasting of 91 Gran Selezione opened the doors of perception to an appellation that has matured as it has grown by leaps and bounds since coming into play 10 years ago. The sangiovese (minimum 90 percent) and 11 UGAs (on labels beginning with the 2020 vintage) are collectively indicative of progress, intuition, incredible hard work and unlimited potential ~ This tasting was made possible by the Consorzio Vino Chianti Classico and a most positive response from the producers.

Monti del Chianti

A total of 372 wines were tasted over the course of those three 2023 Chianti Classico trips that occurred after the February Collection. The tasting note breakdown is as follows: Chianti Classico DOCG (112), Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG (64), Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG (126), VinSanto del Chianti Classico DOCG (4), Campione/Samples (9) and IGTs (57). These are the reviews.

Antinori Estate

Estate Visits

Antinori – San Casciano

Antinori Chianti Classico DOCG Pèppoli 2022, San Casciano

A blend of 90 percent sangiovese with (10) merlot and syrah. Typical, freshness at the forefront, maintaining the identity of Pèppoli which is a 67 hectare place in San Casciano, but also fruit from small smaller farms around Tignanello and other locations. All of this is not not easy to accomplish considering the production. Sees nine months in cask and while fruity, it’s also savoury and floral, not to mention cinnamon heart spicy. Very made, well and good for what and who it services. One million bottles. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted October 2023

Includes fruit from the recently purchased Castello di Sansano in Gaiole – much of that will become a second Gran Selezione, as of the 2021 vintage with the UGA “Gaiole” written on the label. As with the acquisition of an old Antinori property, that being the Cigliano vineyards destined to create a Gran Selezione for San Casciano. Villa Antinori needs some air time to blow off some taut and closed features. Blow off it does and reveals impressive fruit, again considering that Gaiole, Castellina and San Casciano’s multi-estate fruit are all involved.The amalgamation conjoins to create a sweet, savoury and salty balsamic effect with some rounded and softness due to 20 percent merlot and cabernet sauvignon in the mix. Twenty percent of new Hungarian wood makes this even rounder, spicier and sweeter. Production of approximately 480,000 bottles. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted October 2023

Antinori wines

Antinori Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Marchesi Antinori 2020, San Casciano

Fruit comes from only Tignanello estate with a similar blend to the Villa Antinori but there is some cabernet franc involved. A deeper, more substantial and rounder expression of Riserva that will also age longer because grip and power take matters steps further than the Villa Antinori. Greater succulence and finer acids as well, a purity but also tannins that hold their ground, swell, swirl and work well to carry the fruit. French instead of Hungarian oak here and so the spice is muted. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted October 2023

Precisely what must be expected and frankly demanded from Antinori’s San Casciano 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

Antinori Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Badia a Pasignano 2020, San Casciano

Land purchased in 1987 and first vintage 1988. So very young and needing at least 10-15 minutes airtime to open and emit the piquancy of place. As much luxe riches as Badia a Pasignano pretty much ever expresses and mon dieu is this a mess of fruit, of all colours, a veritable hematoma of sangiovese. A matter of clays manifesting as Galestro aboard the surface in the soil of the vineyard. Last tasted October 2023

Classic dried herbs and brushy Badia a Passignano 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

Badia a Coltibuono

Badia a Coltibuono – Gaiole

Badia a Coltibuono Chianti Classico DOCG Cultusboni RS 2021

The “other” Chianti Classico with some fruit sourced off of the estate, other UGAs and villages, including San Casciano, Radda, Castelnuovo Berardenga and Gaiole. All sangiovese and mainly stainless steel for 80-90,000 bottles. Just about as fruit forward and well-rounded as any in the entirety of the territory. Turns a bit dusty though never tannic and finishes with a black cherry note – without ever descending into anything brooding or serious. The RS incidentally stands for Roberti Stucchi, proprietor of the estate. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted October 2023

Badia a Coltibuono Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Gaiole

Badia a Coltibuono Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2018, Gaiole

Smaller crop, lighter due to rain in August and how it might descend in terms of concentration it conversely rises with herbals, rose petals, sweet verdant sways and spices, from pickling to masalas. Freshness at the head of Classico in Riserva terms. Last tasted October 2023

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 occupants whose truths, history and tradition are what you need to hear. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted February and May 2023

Badia a Coltibuono Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Cultus 2018, Gaiole

What separates Cultus as a Riserva from the other is the fact that it began in 2001 as an Annata, moved to IGT (called Cultusboni, now the name of the second Classico) and recently switched to Riserva. Here sangiovese gains momentum and mellow roundness from several complimentary varieties, including pugnitello, ciliegiolo, malvasia nera, mammolo, foliotonda and sanforte. All in significantly riper, richer and liquid chalky with a tar, roses and juiced fennel effect. Just that soft touch of caramel and sweet soy. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted October 2023

Badia a Coltibuono Vinsanto del Chianti Classico DOCG 2014, Gaiole

“Our peculiarity is using large barrels,” tells Roberto Stucchi, making for less oxidation and also concentration. Acidity is key and for 2014 it runs more than relatively high. From malvasia and trebbiano finishing at 185-190 g/L of residual sugar, balanced by high acidity an edgdimg to the upper reaches of allowable volatility. Intensely citrus, all in from lemon, orange and grapefruit, but also a tart persimmon note. Low level caramel yet honeyed with a tisane quality to its character. Drink 2023-2036. Tasted October 2023

Badia a Coltibuono Vinsanto del Chianti Classico DOCG Occhio di Pernice 2008, Gaiole

The most unique Vinsanto made with only sangiovese and a much longer process, still in the larger and a small part in the half (caratelli) barrels. A vintage of top quality and quantity, quite different with sangiovese because it comes out much nuttier than the white grape cuvée. Some skin contact in the basket press happens post oozing and that contributes to the musky notes. Peppery as compared to the other Vinsanto with the citrus and cacchi (persimmon) aspect more marmalata in both aromas and also flavours. Sugars reach 210 g/L and yet alcohol does not rise too much, finishing at 13 percent because the yeasts are tough as nails. Wild ride in dessert wine. Drink 2023-2034. Tasted October 2023

With Alessandra Casini – Bindi Sergardi

Bindi Sergardi – Vagliagli

Bindi Sergardi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Mocenni 89 2019, Vagliagli

Bindi Sergardi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Mocenni 89 2018, Vagliagli

A bit warmer in Vagliagli as compared to the surrounding UGAs in 2018. There was some rain at the beginning of September after a very hot summer and harvest required three passes because there was some mildew pressure. Grapes were ready and “going away faster.” You can feel some maturity but also the blessed beauty of Mocenni’s elements, in rocks and stones feeding roots with nutrients. Very mineral. Truly. Lasted tasted October 2023

Mocenni 89 is Vagliagli Gran Selezione born of tough decisions, love, prudent selection and know this. There are vineyards on Alberese and Galestro to choose from that steal the show, gifting fruit that will steal your heart and likely also take your breath away. This is 2018 in a void, vacuum and shuttered universe, fine and graceful, full and forceful, designed and cared for, nurtured like few other Chianti Classico sangiovese. A Chianti Classico exception at the peak of the pyramid that will drift, glide and age slowly for decades. That is what we call realizing potential. Drink 2025-2038. Tasted February 2023

Bindi Sergardi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Mocenni 89 2016, Vagliagli

Now ’16 is in a great if tight place but still so much potential and truth is a bit backwards at this stage. Length is outstanding and so potential will be long and so promising, timeless, as it is said. Lasted tasted October 2023

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. 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

Bindi Sergardi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Mocenni 89 2015, Vagliagli

leasant, so pleasant and that is ’15 for Mocenni, caressing of texture and nurturing as much as any as you will find in Vagliagli. Red fleshed fruit, succulent as well but also in the acids and then this liquid chalkiness about how its evolving and maturing. Giving generously of itself in so many ways. Lovely!! Alessandra says it wasn’t acting this way last year. Timing is everything. Last tasted October 2023

There’s pure unbridled surprise in the delicasse and the gentility of this Gran Selezione, one of the more and even most charming of them all. The Mocenni texture is very present, very full, no holes, no peaks or valleys, just a calm and easy nature that finds no reason for stress. Pure fruit, Galestro and Alberese interwoven freshness. Proper, sweet and forward thinking tannins with a future ahead indeed. Drink 2020-2029. Tasted February 2019

Bindi Sergardi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Mocenni 89 2013, Vagliagli

The 2013 is so very different, quite unlike anything else that Mocenni has produced through 89 Gran Selezione. Rich and truly maturing but also because barriques were used and so it was different era through let’s say 2015. Really salty little sangiovese number back in 2013. Last tasted October 2023

The Gran Selezione Numero ‘1989’ is consistently 100 per cent sangiovese and here we are in wholly, truly, inexorably inorganic, fully stony soil, from vines planted in 1998. There is this composure and this understanding in Gran Selezione that is at the top of the pyramid chart, a fineness of tannic structure, a roundness of acidity and a perpetual motive and emotive fruit that will not give up or in. This is the Bindi Sergardi expression, sultry and offers up every reason to believe in the category. This is the GS that tells us why and how the top of the quality pyramid begins to be explained, with intrinsic value and great confidence from this 2013 vintage. Approx. $58-62 US. Drink 2019-2031. Tasted September 2017

Chianti Classico 2023 – Barrel Sample

Quality and quantity, but how? “It’s a miracle,” smiles Alessandra Casini. “Joking aside it is the stony quality of our vineyards that allowed us to get in, put in the hard work and fend off mildew. We also had a lot of luck. ” A taste of a 2023 sample that has just finished fermentation reveals power and structure from true-blue Mocenni tannin. Tasted October 2023

Canadian Sommeliers at Borgo Scopeto

Borgo Scopeto

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 and May 2023

Borgo Scopeto Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Vigna Misciano 2019, Vagliagli

Single vineyard, Misciano being the name of the place and has always been called that way, Clay and Alberese in geological origin, Galestro outcropping above. Perfect view from this hilltop spot, airy and reflective in this fresh-scented Riserva. Also stemmy, and indicative of the aromatic brushy, Toscana gariga profile. Sweet fruit, a little bit of soy induction by barrels and definite balsamic finish. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted May 2023

Borgo Scopeto Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2016, Vagliagli

Remarkable consistency in Vagliagli sangiovese, here with lift and sharper angles, red fruit incarnate and that unmistakable Mediterranean herbaceous quality. The volatile acidity is a bit pointed, carrying onto the palate at the present moment and though there are some years already in, a few more will be needed to settle all the parts. Tannins are proper and will only continue to help in the overall regard. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted May 2023

Borgo Scopeto Vinsanto Del Chianti Classico DOCG 2014, Vagliagli

Relatively traditional methodology though the grapes begin in larger barrels and when the volumes diminish they are then transferred to historically smaller caratelli. Very much a brown butter, nutty and dried apricot Vin Santo with more than an obvious honeyed element in play. Neither super concentrated nor cloyingly sweet but balanced and calming. Fine acids, chewy caramel and a note of citrus at the finish. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted May 2023

Errico, Marta and Gabriele Buondonno

Buondonno

Buondonno Chianti Classico DOCG Podere Casavecchia Alla Piazza 2022, Castellina

Buondonno Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Casavecchia Alla Piazza 2021, Castellina

A finished Riserva already blended drawn from a tank sample that will be bottled in just a week or two. Voluminous and a Riserva so cool, ethereal and in this vintage’s case a salty mineral or elemental streak running through. The acidity here is special even for Buondonno and that matters more every year because warmth, aridity and rising alcohol all need to be counteracted so that balance will be the end result. As it is here the wood is noted on the nose, likely because of some newer tonneaux but there is no doubt it will integrate and quiet easily so within a year or two. Again it is a matter of the ethereal, herbal coolness and a Riserva so easy to appreciate when forged into an ultra fine sangiovese like this. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted December 2023

Marco Pallanti – Castello di Ama

Castello di Ama – Gaiole

Castello Di Ama Ama Chianti Classico 2021, Gaiole

The spice is so very quarried Ama rocks, Alberese mainly but also the Galestro that emerges and flakes above the soil. All of Marco Pallanti’s wines have their own particular style and balance and while this may be less powerful it is the land that exists and is so important towards seeing this wine’s eventual fruition. Last tasted May 2023

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

The last vineyard planted (in 1997) and its grapes used to go into San Lorenzo. This changed in 2018 to make a step between Ama (Annata) and Gran Selezione. “A good introduction into the style of Castello di Ama,” explains Marco Pallanti. The suave and settled sangiovese of the three tiers, with richness in a marked Chianti Classico Riserva style. Warm, enriching, nurturing, acids coming in sweet and savoury layers to remind that this is indeed is a factor of Gaiole. Last tasted October 2023

“The wine is the goodness, to explain the place.” That being Montebuoni just 500m east of the Ama Borgo, just a bit different in exposure and soil conditions as compared to the Ama vineyards. A weathered place, reflected in the sangiovese and a perfect spot to create this go between, middle tier Chianti Classico. Feeling the tannins right now, as if the wine is working through something in order to pass over into beauty. Tasted May 2023

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. 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 Gran Selezione Chianti Classico DOCG San Lorenzo 2019, Gaiole

Castello Di Ama Gran Selezione Chianti Classico DOCG San Lorenzo 2018, Gaiole

Aromatic, spicy, lifted and genuine. Extra layers, fruit of course and then floral, calcareously white peppery, luxe as per the appellative level and a matter of time. Vintage but also patience, the latter needed to understand the former, warm and developed, compact and yet never dense. To achieve this kind of acidity is remarkable. A matter of matching same parts to make up a whole. As per Marco Pallanti’s decades of dedication. “I am not a flying winemaker, I am a pedestrian one.” Drink 2024-2034. Tasted May 2023

Castello Di Ama Gran Selezione Chianti Classico DOCG San Lorenzo 2015, Gaiole

Looking back nearly halfway in time at Grand Selezione San Lorenzo (first made in 2010) is a most curious proposition. Frankly it is something to behold the freshness, not that this should be mature but it was enough of a generous and rich vintage. Complex aromatics, top ranking acidity and endearing piquancy. Last tasted October 2023

Though not technically a single-vineyard wine the fruit source depends highly on this portion of the Gaiole in Chianti estate. As a blend of all the best plots of the property from a vintage with both La Casuccia or Bellavista having been produced it is truly fortunate that nature gifted so much promising fruit so that the right stuff could find its way into San Lorenzo. It is Gran Selezione of great history and no vintage has been as generous as this ’15. It’s accessibility above and beyond the category is astounding, probably because it shares the finest and sweetest acidities plus tannins. The plural is employed because the complexities are varied and variegated. Wonderful red fruit and seamless integration. Drink 20-2027. Tasted February 2018

Castello di Querceto – Greve

Castello di Querceto Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Greve

Fruit from vineyards all located in the Dudda Valley on the estate with a 16th century fortress built to defend the local villages during the Sienese-Florentine wars. Clearly a vintage of concentration, iron-rich and other elemental chalkiness. Savoury elements have come forward while grip stands firm, first and foremost as tannins in charge. A vintage calling card example that needs a few months more before speaking in clear Dudda dialect. Approximately 250,000 bottles made. Last tasted October 2023

Fruit from vineyards all located in the Dudda Valley on the estate with a 16th century fortress built to defend the local villages during the Sienese-Florentine wars. Clearly a vintage of concentration, iron-rich and other elemental chalkiness. Approximately 250,000 bottles made. Last tasted October 2023 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 2020, Greve

Castello Di Querceto is one of the original 30 producers that formed the Consorzio, 27 years after Carlo François purchased the property. Riserva is intrinsically connected to Annata, especially now that the single Le Corte and Il Picchio vineyards are reserved for Gran Selezione. The red fruit in Riserva shows some pomegranate and currant piquancy while the wild things that grow in forests and along paths help to distinguish this as a most complex example of Dudda Valley sangiovese. Very Riserva style, a blanket covering cool fruit, a slight oxidative quality and longevity promised. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted October 2023

Castello di Querceto Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Le Corte 2020, Greve

Le Corte is “the court,” second of two Gran Selezione out of The Dudda Valley by Greve’s Castello di Querceto. The one with more precision and refinement (as compared to Il Picchio) and it is this warm vintage 2020 that really captures the sunshine as manifested in true sangiovese concentration. The complexity comes from liquorice and resinous evergreen oils, a note of graphite, creosote and something unknown, or unnamed. Nevertheless there is a lot happening here and the wine should unwind with great intersect over a ten year period of time. Drink 2025-2031. Tasted October 2023

Castello di Querceto Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Le Corte 2019, Greve

The 2019 Le Corte from the OG François family vineyard that is now housing 55 year-old vines is here in its third year as a Gran Selezione. Just as big, brawny, powerful and in harmony as the 2018 though in a much more consistent way. Not that it’s round but it pleases sooner, with more mineral and saltiness than the previous vintage. Crisp for sure, no matter the generosity, weight and size. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted October 2023

Castello di Querceto Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Le Corte 2018, Greve

Le Corte is the original vineyard planted by the Alessandro François’ father in 1899, replanted in the early 1970s which makes them now approximately 55 years-old. The vintage was challenging and at the end of September the heat spike in Dudda (and other parts of the territory) was not only tempered by low nighttime temperatures but also the Mistral wind that blows through. And so 2018 is a big if balanced Gran Selezione, dark of fruit, higher of alcohol and singing in a baritone voice. Guts and glory. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted October 2023

Castello di Querceto Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Il Picchio 2020, Greve

One of two Castello di Querceto 2020s in Gran Selezione form by way of the single vineyard located in Greve’s Dudda Valley. The less luxe of the two and as such it’s also the more savoury and resinous one. In that sense rustic and grippier as well. These are austere and forceful tannins plus there is more variegated acidity. Fruit is not the king in Il Picchio, incidentally “the woodpecker” though that moniker tells us nothing about the wine. Certainly not a Gran Selezione to have a good laugh at. Very serious stuff, stern and a bit grumpy. Drink 2025-2031. Tasted October 2023

Castello di Querceto Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Il Picchio 2019, Greve

Like 2018 there is a darkness and depth of fruit from the gift of 2019 but what’s missing, as expected, is the resinous and essential herbal oil character. The balsamic is lessened and the five percent colorino shakes up the sangiovese to bring hue but also a change of fruit. Heart is still worn on the family sleeve and so Il Picchio delivers the history, passion, crest and culture of the family François. The richness of this vineyard’s clay really translates in terms of fruit, unction and structure. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted October 2023

Castello di Querceto Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Il Picchio 2018, Greve

As with Le Corte 2018 there is size and weight to Il Picchio though coming from the small vineyard surrounded by forest this breathes of plants and herbs, in greens and oils. Much more vegetative scents and some resinous character as well. Higher tonality, balsamic that Le Corte never has and likely not to be found in 2019 Il Picchio though that remains to be seen. Dark fruit, intensity and length. Plenty of length. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted October 2023

Castello di Verrazzano – Greve

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 and May 2023

Canadian Sommeliers at Verrazzano

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 and May 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 and May 2023

Gioia, Sara and Filippo Cresti

Fattoria Carpineta Fontalpino

Fattoria Carpineta Fontalpino Chianti Classico DOCG Fontalpino 2021, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Fattoria Carpineta Fontalpino Chianti Classico DOCG Fontalpino 2020, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Starting to open with aromatic presence after a slow first year like so many 2020s and here yet another territorial example that should surely live longer than expectation might have predicted. Layered red fruit that unfolds, even further upon the palate. Fine work in blending estate, Dofana and Montaperto fruit from a producer so specialized in their cru investigations. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted October 2023

Fattoria Carpineta Fontalpino Chianti Classico DOCG Dofana 2019, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Fattoria Carpineta Fontalpino Chianti Classico DOCG Dofana 2018, Castelnuovo Berardenga

The first thing that needs to mentioned and also discussed is place, that being the clay and Alberese, 300-plus meters of elevation and uniqueness, even for the place within the place. There is a sanguine character plus blood orange and liquorice, some dried herbs and just a touch of balsamic. Truly complex sangiovese from this cru, now entering into its ideal drinking time. Last tasted October 2023

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

Fattoria Carpineta Fontalpino Chianti Classico DOCG Montaperto 2019, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Fattoria Carpineta Fontalpino Chianti Classico DOCG Montaperto 2018, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Montaperto cru is located in the western wing of the butterfly that is now considered Vagliagli though Gioia Cresti still likes to thinks in Castelnuovo Berardenga terms. And as such the labels starting in 2020 will say Castelnuovo. Montaperto currently exists in a truly fine moment, not frozen but suspended in a state of its earliest and most exciting drinking window. A wine that shows what kind of winemaking and wine style is cool again; effusive, elegant and inviting. So drinkable! Last tasted October 2023

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

Matteo Vaccari and Maddalena Fucile – Cigliano di Sopra

Fattoria Cigliano Di Sopra – San Casciano

Fattoria Cigliano Di Sopra Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, San Casciano

Fattoria Cigliano Di Sopra Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, San Casciano

Settling in or better said, maturing and gaining confidence with every small step forward. So much of what the result happens to be in this ’21 is a matter of ideas and experiments that transpired between 2017 and this harvest. The ideals have evolved and subsequent vintages will not just reveal experience but evolution of technique and execution. Crispy still and juicy acidity but showing some dried notes and perhaps in temporary a downturn phase. Last tasted October 2023

The use of 20-30 percent whole cluster tops up the open top fermenters, 15-20 days of fermentation and put to large old casks. Then 18 months, malo in the barrels and finally bottled in December. That perfect little lift of volatility so close to the edge without going over is just so enticing and delicious. A sangiovese of temptation and beauty, crunch and sweet savour. So much umami with thanks to those whole clusters that do their yeoman character building from old vines. Brilliant sangiovese. Truly. Tasted May 2023

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

Cigliano di Sopra Chianti Classico DOCG Vigneto Branca 2021, San Casciano

A single vineyard, 100 percent whole bunch macerated best parcel (of massal selection planted in 1972) sangiovese that is the first true experiment in the young winemaking lives of Maddalena Fucile and Matteo Vaccari. Reminds of the Annata in that transparency, purity and focus are all there but imagine more power, grip and intensified, implosive tannins. And yet, and yet the push here is just a bit overarching because a minor note of green austerity does arrive, however fleeting it may be. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted October 2023

Robin Mugnaini of Le Masse

Fattoria Le Masse – San Donato in Poggio

Fattoria Le Masse Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, San Donato in Poggio

(Tank Sample) The first vintage that sees 70 percent new (5000L) concrete for aging to go along with the (30) in wood. Pure concrete, not lined, no resin. Once again 20 percent whole bunch and 60 days skin maceration. This is not a truly finished wine but a sample drawn to see progression. Some volatility and reduction still so come back in a year. Tons of stuffing and clearly on to something important because of the concrete use – not just freshness but succulence. The tannins are quite fine. The potential is great. Tasted October 2023

Fattoria Le Masse Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, San Donato in Poggio

Fattoria Le Masse Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, San Donato in Poggio

The wildest of the three straight vintages of Le Masse’s Chianti Classico is this 2020, reductive and with just a hint of Brettanomyces on the palate. The fruit blooms greater and so at present the balance is easily struck though it remains to be seen how the knots will be untied and what will come next. Aromatic and Robin Mugnaini feels the problematic notes were worse six months ago and so the future might just be pure and sound. There is a gritty quality which might suggest otherwise but fear not because quality fruit and thoughtfulness will conspire for promise, just not so deep into the future. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted October 2023

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

Take the varietal sangiovese from 2018 and double the gift of fruit for a wine that saw two years in bottle after 30-35 percent aging in wood. More muscle and sweet structure out of 2019 by the combination of acids and tannins that can’t help but double down together. This is Chianti Classico that will make you smile and for so many reasons; organics, biodynamics, indigenous yeasts, limited sulphites and most importantly grace, purity, charm and beauty. True blue San Donato in Poggio blood orange, iron rich soil minerals, elements and ultimately a sensation gained that comes from this northwestern Chianti Classico terroir. Last tasted October 2023

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. 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 Le Masse Chianti Classico DOCG 2018, San Donato in Poggio

The 2018 was the current release – until very recently. This was the last iteration of the old style or perhaps the transition to what Robin Mugnaini is trying to accomplish now. Fermentation in large wood vats, a month and a half on the skins, just sangiovese. Sent to 30-35 percent wood and the rest in tank. Lovely sweet perfume, fine silken texture and just that micro amount of swarthiness. Comes from soils of sand, clay and round river stones of an alluvial origin. Some iron in the soil particles, up in Marrocco near Sambuca. One of the only places with a view to much of Classico, including Badia a Passignano, Tignanello, San Donato in Poggio and Panzano. Three passes in the vineyard make for a layering that results in fine tannins and beauty. Charming Chianti Classico in every respect with a long, rewarding finish. Last tasted October 2023

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

Le donne di Pomona

Fattoria Pomona – Castellina

Fattoria Pomona Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Castellina

Fattoria Pomona Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Vigna Pomona L’Uomino 2020, Castellina

The artist formerly known as Bandini is not a Riserva of selection but one made from all the grapes picked out of the single Vigna Pomona. The fantasy name “L’Uomini” neither denotes uomo della strada nor uomo d’affari but definitely uomo d’onore and uomo alla mano because this Riserva cares. The vines would have been 23 years of age for this vintage and the resulting wine is spicier than the Annata, but also exhibits an exaggeration of the local balsamico. A kind of resin in there, a natural cure, savoury and like incense some might say. It is the strident and taut character that defines what’s really going on though this shall pass. Yet another example of just how well 2020s communicate and explain their potential. Slow development ahead and in the end will be a vintage held in great esteem. L’Uomini is not a man of the street or just about business. He is friendly and wears a badge of honour. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted October 2023

Fattoria Pomona Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Bandini 2016, Castellina

“Not my best, but it’s perfect,” tells Monica Raspi. But it may just be the most elegant of all the Pomona sangiovese. In a great place now with the balsamico and the respect to the vineyard. Last tasted October 2023

Purity of handsome fruit lingers left, right and centre within a commission of structural components designed by nature on the road past Villa Pomona up through Castellina in Chianti. The vintage is a rich and elastic one for Monica Raspi and one she must have just delighted in simply being a part of. Elegance as the opposite of vice. Reaches all the essential peaks, plateaus and precipices where supple fruit settles and rests. Drink 2021-2028. Tasted February 2019

Fattoria Pomona Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2021, Castellina Campione (Sample)

The 2021 will be a Gran Selezione and Castellina will be written on the label. As it stands this early in its tenure the future GS acts out a hyperbole of everything that is Pomona. The DNA of the top vineyard and family resemblances to L’Uomini and also Classico. Not just an uncanny look in a few mirrors but essential tenets to define these wines and keep them all in la famiglia. Tasted October 2023

Fattoria Rignana

Fattoria Rignana Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Panzano

Fattoria Rignana Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2020, Panzano

Fattoria Rignana Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Villa Rignana 2020, Panzano

Giovanni Poggiali – Fèlsina

Fèlsina Berardenga – Castelnuovo Berardenga

Fèlsina Berardenga Chianti Classico DOCG Berardenga 2021, Castelnuovo Berardenga

The full-on Fèlsina aromatics are beginning their ascent, of brushy savour and spicy red fruits together expressive with leaps from the glass. Still a tight vintage no matter the generosity and yet Castelnuovo Berardenga sangiovese is the heart of the matter. Traces a line from 2019 to 2020 and then here for a vintage trilogy so clearly Fèlsina. Last tasted October 2023

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 Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2020, Castelnuovo Berardenga

When 2018 was tasted the suggestion was not to sleep on that vintage and while ’19 and ’21 may be heaped with greater praises, well do not sleep on 2020 either. One of the warmest on record at Fèlsina and most of Castelnuovo Berardenga but better water reserves and lower late season nighttime temps fully separate the vintage from 2017. Words like concentrated and substantial are key and offer up a keen sense of what kind of Riserva this is and will later become. There is wisdom and maturity here but also an unknown element, in other words possibility. That’s because CCR ’20 is a sangiovese of great acidity – important acids that buoy the fruit, stabilize its trajectory, set it upon the crests of waves that will see it fluidly travel well through to middle age. Truly well made and proper Riserva. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted October 2023

Fèlsina Berardenga Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Rancia 2019, Castelnuovo Berardenga

No let up in that excitative exuberance of herbal savour that can only Rancia. Five months since the last visit and this top Fèlsina Riserva remains immovable, unchallenged and in no hurry to change. Don’t ask it to. Last tasted October 2023

Aromatically plush if less agitative and herbal than what showed 14 months prior though there is no denying the resins and bramble have yet to relent. The fruit waits, still in side the fortress but we know there is more than enough to peak for 10 years. Revisit in the spring of 2024. Nosing some vermouth today in wildly botanical and delectably aromatic style. Tasted May 2023

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

Fèlsina Berardenga Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Rancia 2005, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Fèlsina’s first vinatge was 1967 with a label that exulted the name “Berardenga” in big letters, 54 years ahead of what would finally become the new UGA. “The land of light” is Fèlsina and no hill and its block of vines defines this place within Castelnuovo Berardenga more than that of Rancia. Takes its name from the house; a very dry place, markedly Mediterranean and thus every vintage of this Riserva scents of brush, mountain tea, garrigue, herbs and botanicals. Trust when it is said that no other Chianti Classico smells like Rancia and 2005 is an extreme example of that admonition. The ’05 is persistent in its reek, of fruit off of vines that transfer these aromas of wild fennel, sage, rosemary, marjoram, mint and other unnamed horticultural growth. It’s uncanny and with secondary umami elements now in full force the result is a sangiovese as complex as any from the territory for the last 20 years. Wild sauvage of flora captured and encapsulating a pinpointed territorial place. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted October 2023

Pagliarese Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2019, Castelnovo Berardenga

Likely the first Gran Selezione from the Pagliarese estate made by Fèlsina in the southeastern half of Castelnuovo Berardenga. A sharp and pointed example of the area with much in common shared with the Fèlsina sangiovese. Herbal and resinous to make you feel, smell, sense and inhale the land with as much local spirit as any. Not the most grippy example of GS but well-powered to drink well as soon as you wish and for three to five further seasons. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted October 2023

Fèlsina Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Colonia 2019, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Fèlsina Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Colonia 2009, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Colonia Vineyard is a short jog up the hill past Rancia and through the woods. In 1966 Domenico Poggiali found a cellar set into the “tufa” hills of his Fèlsina estate. It was small, built of stone and with a wide brick vault. It was a start. In 1967 he chose to plant Colonia in an impossibly challenging and extreme Alberese limestone rocky location. He used dynamite because that was the thing at the time but it was soon outlawed and made clearing the land near impossible. Twenty-four years later Giovanni Poggiali resumed the project and planted its first vines in 1993, just before Domenico passed away. Colonia 2009 is La Prima, the first Gran Selezione and this look back is one to recall roots (tethered to 2006), familial traditions and passing of the Chianti Classico torch. This vintage separates and leaves its original designations in the rear-view mirror. At 14 years of age it remains austere but austere can be beautiful. As here, with severe and chiseled features though the savoury elements differ from Rancia. More resinous evergreen and forested aromas but also a chalkiness that speaks directly out of the Alberese. The thing is Colonia remains still young and fresh, while the powdered mineral persists unresolved. One of the most fascinating retrospective looks at aged Chianti Classico. Drink 2023-2036. Tasted October 2023

Giovanni and Bernardo Manetti – Fontodi

Fontodi – Panzano

Fontodi Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Panzano

Fontodi Chianti Classico DOCG 2021 Dino 2021, Panzano

Fontodi Chianti Classico DOCG Filetta di Lamole 2021, Lamole

Giovanni Manetti – Fontodi

Fontodi Chianti Classico DOCG 2021 Pastrolo, Lamole

Fontodi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Vigna del Sorbo 2020, Panzano

Fontodi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Vigna del Sorbo 2019, Panzano

Openly aromatic and immediately generous Vigna del Sorbo from a vintage that it could not be helped but to acquiesce and create such a giving example of Gran Selezione. But do not be fooled because the tannic structure is equally generous though more importantly layered to a point that each month for the next 144 will reveal another aspect of what this sangiovese has surely been finessed to become. Will stand out in vertical, mixed sangiovese and multifarious high level wine tastings because it will always show with perfume, concentration and architectural lines. Profound Vigna del Sorbo from the ‘19 vintage. Drink 2025-2038. Tasted October 2023

Fontodi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Vigna del Sorbo 1988, Panzano

Deep colour and only bricking slightly at the rim but aromatics are truly mature, of soy, balsamic, resins and mushroom broth. That said there is great brightness with wonderful acidity and this blood orange meets caramelized or confit vegetables (like carrot and fennel) that give this a slow braised and purely plant-based feeling. So very cool to taste because the nose is not as inviting as we might have wished. Great energy and with some cabernet (10 percent) there is a just a wisp of Cassis but Panzano is clearly the origin. Perhaps not as fully evident as a similarly aged Flaccianello but you can’t take the place out of the Chianti Classico. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted October 2023

Fontodi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Terrazze San Leolino 2020, Panzano

Fontodi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Terrazze San Leolino 2019, Panzano

Truth be told just four and a half months have brought the new GS into fine illuminated light and though there is so much time ahead there is little doubt that partaking now would not a mistake. Sweetness of the holy trinity, they being fruit, acidity and tannin. They are all natural, lifted and in synch. Last tasted October 2023

From Fontodi’s newest vineyard having now come into production, in and around the church of San Leonino on the east side of the Conca d’Oro and below the village of Panzano. Some maturity in this 2019 and a delicate if also suave type of (100 percent) sangiovese. The scents of liquorice and fennel, a dusty moment and just the right amount of differentiating scorrevole, always a trademark of a Manetti sangiovese, sliding with grace and ease across the palate. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted May 2023

Canadian Sommeliers at Gagliole

Gagliole – Panzano

Gagliole Chianti Classico DOCG Rubiolo 2021, Panzano

Gagliole Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2020, Panzano

Round acidity is the idea, to deliver true Riserva style and frankly not as a competition with either Rubiolo (Annata) or Pecchia (Gran Selezione). Quite a mouthful of 2020 fruit, truly circulative acidity and the kind of Panzano sangiovese that asks for consumption because it promises near immediate gratification, without strings or too much grip to prevent that kind of early enjoyment. Last tasted May 2023

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

Gagliole Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Pecchia 2018, Panzano

Godello and Iacopo Morganti – Il Molino di Grace

Il Molino di Grace

Il Molino di Grace Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2021, Panzano

Il Molino di Grace Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2021, Panzano

Campione (Sample): Take a little trip forward along a linear and precisely drawn line from Riserva to Gran Selezione and see what will be. Not as aggressive or intense as Riserva but its own kind of powerful and grippy while also more charming. I believe its elegance will begin to show sooner rather than later, say in the first few weeks of 2021. The wood is more noticeable on the nose and the sangiovese needs time – but charm and grace is there. This you can count on. Smaller production of 8,000 bottles. Drink 2026-2034. Tasted October 2023

Il Molino di Grace

Il Molino di Grace Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Panzano

Il Molino di Grace Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2020, Panzano

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

With Angela Fronti

Istine – Radda

Istine Chianti Classico DOCG 2021

The 2021 was taken to market last March though bottled a few times over four months. Crunchy Chianti Classico from Istine because the vintage says so with mostly (80 percent) coming off of Radda parcels – so it’s nearly a village wine, with 20 percent fruit out of Gaiole (lower part of Cavarchione plus Le Noci and Tibuca). High level freshness and what some like to describe as crispy, so typical of an Istine sangiovese. Sees a year in large format Austrian wood for 50,000 bottles produced. Last tasted October 2023

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

Istine Chianti Classico DOCG Vigna Istine 2020, Radda

“For me this a project to show the territory,” explains Angela Fronti and each Istine micro-parcel does indeed show it’s particular place. An impressively paced sangiovese as a child of a submerged cap, not Piedmontese style per se, 30 days instead of 45-60 but the gist is there. Perhaps the single site Chianti Classico of the most transparency and purity but also lighting red fruit because of the Alberese, elevation at 550m and extreme slope. Intensity is off the charts, acidity also an electric strike and tannins in charge as a blast upon all other parts of the wine. 3,500 bottles produced. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted October 2023

Istine Chianti Classico DOCG Vigna Casanova dell’Aia 2020, Radda

Off of limestone and clay at 500m on the other side of Radda from Istine and this particular cru delivers more unction, herbals and gritty tannins than those from Radda. Richer and more density with a layer of tannins and quite an impressive depth. 3,500 bottles produced. Last tasted October 2023

One of three single vineyard Chianti Classico made by Angela Fronti (and one of two in Radda, the other being Istine) with this being the younger vineyard and a really transparent example of Radda. Fresh and up front strength, less intense than Istine without the Alberese structure and a very linear, upright and direct example. Of high acid Radda. Chalky tannins are fine-grained and needing time to integrate. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted May 2023

Istine Chianti Classico DOCG Cavarchione 2020, Gaiole

A bit less elevation (at 420m) to Istine with similar soils if a bit more outrcropppings of Galestro. Frankly this shares more affinity in style with Istine as a Classico off of a single vineyard than the two Radda’s do so with each other. That said there is more depth to Cavarchione, more herbals and layers of both sweet yet fine acidities and tannins. It’s quite a brilliant expression and a pure one from this vineyard for 2020. 3,500 bottles produced. Drink 2025-2031. Tasted October 2023

Istine Chianti Classico DOCG Levigne 2020

“If you are able to you can taste each single vineyard in the wine,” insists Angela Fronti. “You can find them,” she says confidently, if also with a nurturing smile. Levigne combines Istine, Casanova dell’Aia and Cavarchione for a super cru cuvée and quite frankly this is the isosceles triangle of Chianti Classico because each side and angle are equal, opposite and connected to each other. Three layers of harmony and equilibrium without any one of taking charge, centre stage or control. 3,500 bottles produced. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted October 2023

Angela Fronti

Istine Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Istine 2021, Radda

(Sample) The three cru vineyards are all set to become Gran Selezione as of the 2021 vintage with the Istine Vineyard renamed as “Sistera” and Radda also named on the label. Impressively consistent with what has come before and though youth may cloud what possibility or better still the probability of this future, still you know this is Istine. The 2020 shows what will happen after just another six months and so where this will be next Spring is somewhere profound. Tasted October 2023

Istine Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Casanova dell’Aia 2021, Radda (Sample)

The three cru vineyards are all set to become Gran Selezione as of the 2021 vintage with this to be labeled Radda iteration a matter of the Casanova dell’Aia Vineyard. Is this full-bodied? Well yes but then again no, because of its purity, sense of place, finesse, precision and directivity. This passes all tests with flying colours. Extremely important and proper vintage for Radda and a true testament to Gran Selezione. Tasted October 2023

Istine Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Cavarchione 2021, Gaiole (Sample)

The three cru vineyards are all set to become Gran Selezione as of the 2021 vintage with this to be labeled Gaiole iteration a matter of the Cavarchione Vineyard. Riches but also lightning red fruit from Gaiole in 2021 with some of this vineyard’s finest acids ever cooked out of the cru surrounded by woods that breathe life into this sangiovese fruit. Length is about as impressive as any in the Istine pantheon of the last twenty years. Tasted October 2023

La Montanina – Gaiole

La Montanina Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Gaiole

La Montanina Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, Gaiole

Still lifted, fresh and full-bodied though never dense or weighty. Last tasted in December 2023

“It depends on where you are,” explains the President of the Gaiole association, Manuele Verdelli. That rings so true for La Montanina because elevation and forest are both integral in creating the freshness and lift in this Annata. High spirited lift, more than many, even from Gaiole. For Classico this expresses high acidity and also tannin, somewhat drying and austere yet beginning now to integrate with the Amaro-black cherry-like liqueur. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted May 2023

La Montanina Chianti Classico DOCG 2019, Gaiole

New labels in 2019, more contemporary now and still the small amount of ciliegiolo mixed into the sangiovese. Freshness, tannins are fine-grained and there is some tension again, not too little and not too much. A just right 2019 that is befitting of the vintage and also Gaiole with herbs, breaths of fresh woods air and just that right amount of botti for structure and spice. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted December 2023

La Montanina Chianti Classico DOCG 2018, Gaiole

No bottling in 2017 with the production sold off to bulk because of the heat of the vintage and so this ’18 is the follow-up to what was a high energy and tension filled 2016. Some good energy here as well yet in two years this will act more like the soft and round 2015. Feel the wood more in this sangiovese (always inclusive of five percent ciliegiolo) and so there is a note of caramel, bokser pod fruit and it is at the end where the acidity is felt. Very warm vintage as well, late picked and ready to drink. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted December 2023

La Montanina Chianti Classico DOCG 2016, Gaiole

Similar to 2015 in that the Classico from this time is now rounded and at the later stages of its original character but straight away you note the tension and energy, even just from the aromatics. This is sangiovese, sharp and of a proper vintage acidity with grip and persistent intensity. Grabs a hold of the palate with several years to go before that attention will be softened. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted December 2023

La Montanina Chianti Classico DOCG 2015, Gaiole

Some fresh fruits persistence put this warm weather vintage in a good place eight years later. Soft and amenable, round, just now entering that secondary zone. Yet the fruit has not dried our or become leathery but the acidity is soft and sweet. Lovely glass of sangiovese with five percent ciliegiolo that previous to had already been in the vineyard mix. Drink 2023-2024. Tasted December 2023

La Montanina Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2020, Gaiole

La Montanina Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2019, Gaiole

Bruno Mazzoni owned shoe shops in Siena, no more but also works with real estate. At La Montanina there is also a agriturismo. Oretta is the “queen of the agriturismo, Bruno is the king of the cellar.” Rosa is his partner. The winemaker is Maurizio Longi. The vintage is simply reserved for the best and so Riserva as the first of its kind is because owner Mazzoni wanted to see several years of quality fruit before making this next level wine. Yes the concentration is next level and yet the blend is the same, that being five percent ciliegiolo in with the sangiovese. Sees 18 months in tonneaux and the wood is noted but already integrating so that this as Riserva will drink at its peak no more than a year to 18 months from now. Lifted for sure and so acidity is high caste. Only 2,000 bottles are produced. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted December 2023

Luca, Veena and Valeria Orsini – Le Cinciole

Le Cinciole

Le Cinciole Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, Panzano

Still the latest wine release because the 2021 will be bottled in January. The 2020 is still very youthful, lifted, high acid, tight and working toward its future. “I am satisfied enough for 2020″ tells Luca Orsini, “no particular problems, a normal season. A bit stronger than 2019.” Definitely more structure and very, very sangiovese. Last tasted December 2023

Le Cinciole Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Aluigi Campo Ai Peri 2019, 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

Luigi was Valeria’s father who passed away in 2007, the same year that she and Luca planted their new vineyard. He was always very instrumental in their start between 1990 and 1991. The name of the vineyard is Campo ai Peri, the place “of two old pear trees.” The place was actually Graziella, the name of the old woman who lived in a house at that spot. Aluigi is in a great place today which speaks to the clay and position of the vineyard, the vintage for sure, longer time in bottle and so now it’s really just beautiful. Drink now and for seven to 10 more. Last tasted December 2023

At once lovely but also striking vintage for Le Cincole’s Gran Selezione, 100 percent sangiovese from eastern Panzano. A 2019 with sapidity, not rare but also not exactly common. Juicy, through daggers or pricks on the palate and then taken over by austerely drying tannins. Length is dramatic and most invigorating. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted May 2023

Podere La Cappella – San Donato in Poggio

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

From vineyards approximately 20 years of age, aged in one or two year old bariques, An Annata in capture of place, full of red fruit and a singular kind of saltiness, Alberese mineral that is and from 2020 also tons of fruit, as much as any in San Donato in Poggio. This is what happens when a family heeds the vintage and makes what had to be made. Lasted May 2023

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 2020, San Donato in Poggio

The Davaz Family

Poggio al Sole – San Donato in Poggio

Poggio Al Sole Gran Selezione DOCG Casasilla 2020, San Donato In Poggio

Duccio Corsini – Villa Le Corti

Principe Corsini – Villa Le Corti

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

Vino geloso, digestivo, balanced and beautiful, in perfect freshness and condition. Naturally sweet fruit, best ever Classico from Le Corti – or at least right there with some that have not yet been tasted. Last tasted October 2023

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 Corsini gets better and better at making wines of clarity and profundity. Grande Principe! Drink 2025-2033. Tasted February 2023

Principe Corsini – Villa Le Corti Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Cortavecchia 2020, San Casciano

River stones, Villa Le Corti, San Casciano

Principe Corsini – Villa Le Corti Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Don Tommaso 2020, San Casciano

Principe Corsini – Villa Le Corti Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Don Tommaso 2019, San Casciano

The original Gran Selezione for Villa Le Corti, that being Don Tommaso, incidentally labeled with its UGA while “Zac” adds the Val di Pesa suffix, as per the commune. Quite the fleshy and substantially concentrated 2019, impressively so, rich, luxe and jam-packed with flavour. A mix of 80 percent sangiovese with merlot (that will not be available in 2023 due to no production because of downy mildew). A bit woody on the palate at this youthful stage but this will pass and Don Tommaso will drink dutifully if also effortlessly through the latter stages of this and then into the first stretches of the next decade. Drink 2024-2031. Tasted twice October 2023

Principe Corsini – Villa Le Corti Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Zac 2019, San Casciano

At the crested top of the Villa Le Corti (Chianti Classico) hill sits Zac, a 100 percent Gran Selezione that means everything in terms of memory, excellence and especially potential. This is a top tier wine that will realize potential in the most existential and reverential of ways because it does not celebrate what could have been but rather what will be. The vintage is seminal, essential and critical to moving forward. It’s fruit is substantial, youthfulness so beautiful and character to be admired. So much thought has gone into this focused Gran Selezione and it just may be the one. Above all else the most suave yet precise GS thus far for Le Corti. Note that this is labeled San Casciano in Val di Pesa, one year ahead of the curve, well two but nobody has really noticed. It’s about doing right things, not wrong ones. Now this is what this is, from great riverstone and clay in this northwest corner of Chianti Classico where a river ran raging six million years ago. This is magnanimously elegant stuff and it shows beautifully right at this very moment. And look 20 years forward to what it will become. “It’s not what I want – it’s what comes out of it,” says Duccio Corsini. “This is my ambition.” Drink 2025-2034. Tasted twice October 2023

Manfred Ing – Querciabella, Greve

Querciabella – Greve

Querciabella Chianti Classico DOCG 2020

First vintage in which 10 percent of the new Casole (Lamole) vineyard provides lift by fruit at higher elevation, even upwards of the already 500m-plus Ruffoli vines in Greve. Some Radda and Gaiole fruit are still small percentages in the mix and so harmony is achieved by layering clones, villages, communes and UGAs in the most multifarious of ways. There have been stylish and luxe Querciabella Classicos in the past (like 1999) and this is surely one of those follow-up Annata (after 2019) that takes another step. A rise in lift and a furtive move into new grip, speaking in new slang and creating another decade initialization that forges a new epoch of Querciabella wines. Last tasted May 2023

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

Querciabella Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2019, Greve

Riserva is of course a matter of sangiovese from Ruffoli and a very specific selection that looks to establish clarity and finesse. As transparent and delicate as Riserva will ever get in Classico, of fruit juicy red and then also orange citrus, taut, tightly wound and of a Ruffoli bled, calcari-macigno intensity. When you taste Riserva 2019 and Annata 2020 side by side you may just see how the latter will live longer while the former wants to please with extreme prejudice over the next five to seven years. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted May 2023

Querciabella Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2018, Greve

Hold the fort, or UGA, as they say. Dios mio man, Querciabella has done something extraordinary out of 2018 and that is make an elegant and ethereal example of Gran Selezione at low (14 percent) alcohol while delivering great concentration – to follow a most aromatic 2018. Extreme perfume and also unction with the ideal balance afforded to all parts, in synch, trodding and treading as one. It really does feel as though the fruit is suspended in liquid, as if weightless but fully formed and gliding though macerative juices. When everything comes together this will show as one of the great Chianti Classico Gran Selezione 2018s – for a decade and a half’s time. Drink 2025-2038. Tasted October 2023

Rocca Delle Macìe

Rocca Delle Macie Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, Castellina

Rocca Delle Macìe Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2021, Castellina

Rocca Delle Macìe Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 1995, Castellina

Good if at times cool and wet vintage, especially in August of 1995 with the style at the time being all about hanging for ripeness and creating power through extras provided by the barrel. Also more international grapes used at the time, with 15 percent cabernet sauvignon and merlot. Still some acid and freshness here with true fruit and wood sweetness. In really nice shape and who would not be pleased to have a glass with a braise of coniglio. Drink 2023-2024. Tasted December 2023

Rocca Delle Macìe Chianti Classico Riserva di Fizzano DOCG 1995, Castellina

Very different from the Rocca delle Maciè Riserva in that maturity and depth are both increased though bright fruit and sweetness less so. An earthy and soy-juiced 1995, feeling older and clearly pushed a bit harder while also receiving more wood at that time. Still it’s a good showing for a 28 year-old sangiovese with its very noticeable cabernet and merlot. Tasted Drink 2023-2024. Tasted December 2023

Rocca Delle Macìe Chianti Classico Riserva di Fizzano DOCG 1988, Castellina

Reeks of mint and a pine forest with aged balsamic. A massive aromatic display that feels old but oh so nice. Wow aromas and you feel like taking a sip is almost unnecessary to find the beauty in this wine. The palate is very consistent and carries the same message. Fresh and inviting from another sip, this from a 35 year-old wine out of Chianti Classico. Drink 2023-2024. Tasted December 2023

Rocca Delle Macìe Famiglia Zingarelli Tenuta Le Maciè Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Sergioveto 2021, Castellina

A single estate wine that used to be an IGT with 20 percent merlot and cabernet sauvignon but now 100 percent sangiovese from Tenuta le Maciè. A north exposition that just 20 years ago could not fully ripen. The acidity still runs high but the fruit ripeness has caught up and so a much more balanced wine, in the vein of lets say Radda Chianti Classico. This is harvested in October, later than many with calcari (Alberese) soil and its outcroppings of schist-flakey Galestro. No new wood, just 3rd and 4th passage for a light covering but the fruit still stands on its own. This is very refined and sleek with mid-term aging the sure and famous guarantee. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted December 2023

Famiglia Zingarelli Tenuta Fizzano Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Il Crocino 2021, Castellina

The name Il Crocino is the name of the plot (within the larger vineyard) and the second of this label because it takes five years to receive approval after initial filing the application. From the upper part of the hill with 10 percent colorino and the only sangiovese that sees some tonneaux, along with Gamba botti. The soils are quite sandy, Arenaria style and so Fizzano delivers a finer, sleeker and less structured wine. Was literally the beach way back when and so that is the mindset you would have when drinking this Gran Selezione though preferably up on a terrace with simple if fine and delicate cuisine. Was bottled in July and so some five more months should be granted before really considering a first glass. These are fine tannins, lightly grainy but not chalky and age-ability from the very proper vintage should be up to 10 years after vintage. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted December 2023

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

Moving forward 20 months and know this. Fizzano is in the zone, ready, willing, able and intent on pleasing as it can, must and should. And no, do not put these away for much longer, a year or two if you like but the best drinking times are now, in the immediate present tense. Some fresh noodles prepared by your favourite Italian chef with a ragù of veal or wild boar and behold: Sergio’s your zio! Last tasted October 2023

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

Rocca Delle Macìe Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Sergio Zingarelli 2020, Castellina

Since 2014 has only been 100 percent sangiovese with this 2020 still so youthful in fact it’s a bit reductive so give these early opened bottles some agitation. Better to wait a few years and allow this to settle in. A bit of frost but nothing to fret about and a less complicated vintage as compared to the coming 2021. Only French wood with grapes coming from the single vineyard down from the winery on Alberese soil. Best selection from three of the five hectares and ripening was just about as even throughout from, top to bottom, 30 metres (330 to 360) in change on five terraces. Still a few harvests are made because the bottom retains more water and acts with great vigour. Rich and full, substantial and yet fresher than many Gran Selezione. Also the silkiest and smoothest, Castellina calling card of a Gran Selezione. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted December 2023

Rocca Delle Macìe Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Sergio Zingarelli 2018, Castellina

Has been 20 months since first tasting the 2018 Zingarelli Gran Selezione and as it was expected the drinking window is by now open, but not fully so. A bigger and gripper wine than originally assessed with string bones and plenty of flesh hanging on this well-developed ’18 frame. In fine shape right now, the fruit showing some maturity and every reason to drink with a fine dining experience in this glass. Last tasted October 2023

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

Marco Ricasoli – Rocca di Montegrossi

Rocca di Montegrossi – Gaiole

Rocca di Montegrossi Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Gaiole

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

So fresh, young and structured but my if there is another Gaiole Selezione with as much stuffing as San Marcellino it would be beneficial to hear about it. Thirty-plus year potential. Truthfully. Tasted May 2023 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

Rocca di Montegrossi Vinsanto del Chianti Classico DOCG 2013, Gaiole

The methodology at Rocca di Montegrossi is not simply one of drying grapes but hung on nets tied to rails where berries can be removed if they show negative mould. Vinsanto from Montegrossi and 2013 is a seriously unique iteration, transparently mahogany, deep and sonorous, acidity a rumble like a low bass line. The wine after pressing in January is kept for a few months in tanks at 16 degrees celsius which stabilizes and “cleans” the wine. Then to caretelli in mulberry and chestnut wood. As viscous as Vinsanto can get, texture developed after eight years plus three more in bottle. High sugar concentration, a maple syrup note, caramelized orchard fruit, quince, clarity and so clean. Only malvasia nera, finished at 13 percent alcohol. Ideal, nutty and as focused as it gets for this level and style of dessert wine. Drink 2023-2038. Tasted October 2023

Canadian sommeliers tasting at Ruffino

Ruffino – Castellina

Ruffino Chianti Classico DOCG Aziano 2021

Multiple estates gathered Classico, mainly sangiovese with some canaiolo and only stainless steel. Herbal, dusty and deep in fruit, some fennel and true depth, but also local savour. Could only be Classico no matter the number of vineyards are organized, collectivized and championed inside this wine. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted May 2023

Ruffino Santedame Chianti Classico DOCG 2019, Castellina

Single estate Classico, that being Santedame in Castellina and the next vintage will be certified organic. Augmented and stylized, in fact also made stylish by cabernet sauvignon and merlot to raise the sangiovese bar. Chewy and substantial, wood developed texture and a full on chocolate plus espresso finish. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted May 2023

Ruffino Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Ducale 2019

The Riserva that has always been made, in every vintage, as opposed to the Ducale Oro, only made in selected vintages, now and for the last 10-plus years as Gran Selezione. A selection from all of Ruffino’s Chianti Classico estates and truly the workhorse to connect quantity with quality. Wholly and recognizably impressive length tells us everything we need to know about Ruffino quality at the Riserva level. Especially considering there are often one million bottles produced. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted May 2023

Ruffino Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DCCG Riserva Ducale Oro 2019, Castellina

With five percent merlot and (15) colorino but the merlot will disappear going forward. Take the Riserva Ducale and imagine every part elevated, exaggerated and taken to a more precise but also intensified level. That said there is a new idea of elegance not certain this historical wine has ever really shown. Just now entering a social and open place as we speak. Drinking beautifully. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted May 2023

Ruffino Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Romitorio Di Santedame 2019,

Castellina Romitorio, the name of the vineyard, from an Italian word that means “not something mine or yours, an abbey or monastery that belongs to all.” Some toasty oak involved in this estate specific Selezione and a more structured composition that will require several years to loosen, freshen and eventually drink with distinction. My what a professional and designed expression of Chianti Classico. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted May 2023

Leonardo Bellacini – San Felice

San Felice – Castelnuovo Berardenga

San Felice Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Mixing in colorino and pugnitello does more than just variegate the Annata but effects unique changes and reactions that sangiovese wants to achieve. That is to find an expression of its own and a way to interpret much of San Felice’s 150 hectares in one broad brushstroke of hue and texture. This is the crux, especially from what Leonardo Bellacini describes as a “buonissimo” 2021 and the spiced aromatics are accepted by balsamic to create the thing. The definition and dictionary entry into the world of San Felice is right here. Last tasted October 2023

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 and May 2023

San Felice Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Il Grigio 2020, Castelnuovo Berardenga

San Felice Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2020, Castelnuovo Berardenga

San Felice Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Poggiorosso 2020, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Poggiorosso as the second Gran Selezione is also labeled as Castelnuovo Berardenga for the first vintage under the new allowable UGA rules. Now from a single vineyard, an Alberese limestone source planted in 2000 and yet a consistent or at least seamless segue from the multi-site and multi-varietal GS. An extraordinary example of Selezione, rich and powerful but so accepting of its wood, seamlessly organized, oriented and original in every respect. Really elegant here from Leonardo Bellacini. Drink 2025-2035. Tasted October 2023

San Felice Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Poggiorosso 2019, Castelnuovo Berardenga

With Sophie Conte

Tregole

Tregole Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Castelllina

Tregole Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2019, Castellina

Comes from Vigna Adulta, the young one below the oldest planted vineyard. Spends close to three years in old barriques and part in the large (700L) tonneaux. Important time in cement as well but also in bottle before hitting the market. This was the first year it spent an extra year in bottle. Lower vineyard with more organic matter and it comes out meaty, almost gamey, with concentration and musculature. Tannins are very fine, no rusticity, less austere and more texture from the sweetness of the parts. Maybe less Tregole but more a matter of warmth and the mature ways of sangiovese. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted December 2023

Sophie Conte – Tregole, Castellina

Tregole Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2018, Castellina

Comes from the block called Asine (because there are donkeys on this part of the farm), and receives the longest maceration (nearly a month). The problem of 2018 was rain, for Tregole quite a bit in September and the picking happened three times because of unclean grapes and ripening variability. Tannins were green before October but the last few days of September brought heat (30 degrees) and nearly 30 degree drops at night. Saved the vintage with preserved acidity and while early appreciation may have been difficult in the beginning the llof of this Gran Selezione is surely improving over time. Great acidity and salty character, a bit sanguine and in the end a classic (this part of Chianti Classico) sandstone effect. More so than most that are not called Lamole. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted December 2023

With Roberto and Lis Bianchi

Val Delle Corti

Val Delle Corti Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, Radda

Val Delle Corti Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2020, Radda

Riserva comes from the steep 1974 vineyard to the left (north) of the house planted by Roberto Bianchi’s father Giorgio, aged for 30 months in botti and tonneaux. A true single plot that may or may not as well be wink-wink, nudge-nudge Gran Selezione. Cool and ethereal like Annata 2020 with some spice cupboard arriving at the same time as the tannins for that unresolved protein powder feeling. Still it is understood that Val delle Corti’s sangiovese are youthful, fresh, crunchy and tart. Full and corpulent with potential being the thing about this 2020 and what’s required to see it open three years later before beginning to tell its true story. A bit raw or crudo at this stage. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted December 2023

With Andrea Bianchi-Bandinelli – Villa di Geggiano

Villa di Geggiano

Villa di Geggiano Chianti Classico DOCG 2019, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Solo sangiovese aged in 500L tonneaux for 18 months. Dry ice is used during fermentation which means no to very little sulphites usage. Wines are stable, pure and eight months later this acts like it’s almost ready because of soft tannins – but think again. They are sneaky ones and while we are teased by the generosity we also know this ’19 will age a decade or two. Last tasted October 2023

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 and May 2023

Villa di Geggiano Chianti Classico DOCG 2003, Castelnuovo Berardenga

A most intriguing older vintage to taste because of the great heat that swept across the whole of Europe and here of a hue that could best be described as nero di sepia. Dark inflections, a grainy transparency and truth be told there is great freshness in this near 20 year-old Chianti Classico, certainly more than what shows in 2007 (or at least the bottle poured). The nose is what can be referred to as stern, a thing of age and yet blood orange and even more so sanguine character. Freshness again, dios mio, especially on the palate and tasted blind I might say 2010. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted October 2023

Villa di Geggiano

Villa di Geggiano Chianti Classico DOCG 2000, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Aromatically similar to 2003 and perhaps even more maturity but it seems the wood was very much in charge. And yet the perfumes are essential and elevated, oils and distillate compounds that could have only come out in the last two or three years. Truffle and porcini, not quite a broth but more dried and then this frutta di bosco note. The finish is all caffé and liquorice. Very complex wine Drink 2023. Tasted October 2023

Geggiano Chianti Classico DOCG Ai Lecci 2019, Castelnuovo Berardenga

The newest wine, from an east/southeast vineyard shaded with a line of silver oaks, thus the name Ai Lecci, a nod to these protectors of the block. A project of Andrea’s son Gregorio with a sensitivity to the natural world; organics, beeswax capped and the most minimal of sprays, but also motivations that express vineyard from the get go in a very young wine. Sharp, pointed, linear, focused, precise and of tannins so wise and very fine. Approximately 4,000 bottles will be released in January, 2024. Drink 2025-2035. Tasted October 2023

With Cokie Ponikvar at Geggiano

Villa Di Geggiano Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2018, Castelnuovo Berardenga

There is five percent cabernet sauvignon to enrich the pure Geggiano micro-climate, organic and generously rich sangiovese. The concept of Geggioan’s Riserva is not to make the biggest, baddest and strongest but one of charm and grace. This is close to the latter yet still shows it teeth and there is some gariga in this ’18 – but also a classic balsamic “terziale” that comes from the combination of Riserva style and older vines. Seriously good from a variable vintage. Not quite ready. Last tasted October 2023

Riserva is 90 percent sangiovese with (five each) canaiolo and cabernet sauvignon, vinified just like the Classico, with dry ice at the time of pressing. Only coarse filtered and by doing so keeping all the structure intact. Aged 18 months in 500L tonneaux and truth is the connection to Annata is guaranteed, simply because the micro-climate and generosity of the soils are sure to be the most important factors involved. Fruit concentration is as full, impressive and layered as it gets, tannins as ripe as they will be anywhere in the Chianti Classico territory. Will only improve with a few years in bottle. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted May 2023

Villa Di Geggiano Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2016, Castelnuovo Berardenga

A particular perfume and very fresh ’16 as Riserva, deep in hue, berries also fresh with so much acidity intact and this mentholated (mentolato) note, with mirto and pepe lungo. Incredibly chalky and so adept at its structure, ready and willing to surprise with complexities known and also so many unknown. Drink 2024-2033. Tasted October 2023

Villa Di Geggiano Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2012, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Always the same recipe with five percent cabernet sauvignon with this a cold and wet vintage but history tells us that these do end up being the kind of structured wines that surprise well into the future. Tells Andrea Bianchi Bandinella “to be honest we were suspicious in 2012 but made Riserva anyway.” Good thing because it has held up more than admirably, in fact the umami is extraordinary while the presence of Brettanomyces is anything but a distraction. Porcini broth and dried herbs line the inside walls and help to elevate the interest. Great showing. Last tasted October 2023

The 2012 is the current release because they (Geggiano and sangiovese) need time in the bottle. They simply keep a firm grip on their youth for quite an extended period of time. Riserva for the Bianchi-Bandinelli brothers is a matter of the best vines and the better barrel samples. Creosote and graphite really come from this nose, with tapenade, blood orange and violets. It’s almost more red fruit than the Annata “but that’s alchemy,” says Alessandro BB. This is a great example of work done alongside sangiovese oenologist Paolo Vagaggini, to transfer the variegate of the vineyard, through the conduit of time, into the glass. Still so young with great chains of stretched tannins, to be better in three more years. Drink 2020-2031. Tasted September 2018

Villa Di Geggiano Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2009, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Arguably the finest secondary character and now the initialization of the tertiary but there’s still this fresh plum note that keeps the wine in a state of macerate tremors. Showing as stylish and elegant as a 14 year-old sangiovese (with five percent cabernet sauvignon) and the sense of calm is meditative, zen and in the regulated place. Breathes are cool, even and the wine seems motionless. Remarkable place and time. Last tasted October 2023

Tasted alongside the 2012 there is a marked humidity and warmth of vintage and now three years on the balsamico and chocolate are really beginning to emerge. Certainly more strength and depth, the chains of tannin and command are breaking down and the wine is entering its next stage of life. Warm, silky smooth and soothing. Drink 2020-2027. Tasted September 2018

Villa Di Geggiano Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2007, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Very mature, silky and liquid chalky. Salty and mineral. Showing with great complexity if also quite a bit of age. Last tasted October 2023

A warm and balanced vintage, older vines (between 20 and 35 years old) speak straight to me though proprietor Andrea Boscu Bianchi Bandinelli prefers his 2006. Geggiano’s Castelnuovo Berardenga Chianti Classico vineyards are located northeast of Siena and Ponte e Bozzone, a terroir composed of clay, river silt and galestro. Clean, pure and bright, this could easily pass for 2011, or even 2013. The aromatic brightness eases the mind and prepares the palate for the 10 year development of grit and power so in the end there is equity that leads to elegance. Chianti Classico Riserva as a gift of experience. Drink 2017-2021. Tasted February 2017

Tomasso and Cosimo Bojola – Squarcialupi

Tenute Squarcialupi

Tenute Squarcialupi La Castellina Chianti Classico DOCG Cosimo Bojola 2020, Castellina

“The vintage 2020 was for me the perfect combination between vineyards and amphora,” explains Cosimo Bojola, in how the mix of yeasts, fruit and time could come to what he and his oenologist wanted to achieve. Aromatic herbs are very prominent, of laurel (bay leaf) and teas mixed with minerals that induce the want for tasting another glass. Just about a year in amphora and the aromas can never escape this idea, but tasting this one year after a fresh and frankly too young 2021 is now the right time. Cosimo loves the sweetness of the nose and truthfully speaking this has settled so that it can be looked at as a finer structured wine than that of 2019. “I would like to reduce the amount of sulphur dioxide to increase the perception of sweetness,” says Cosimo, “but it can be a dangerous trick.” The finish is piqued with spiciness, a machia della terrenea, again of the wild Mediterranean herbs. Anaesthetizes the palate and leaves you wanting more. Drink 2023-2030. Tasted December 2023

Tenute Squarcialupi La Castellina Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, Castellina

Much different expression than the Cosimo Bojola, here without amphora and also with five percent colorino. Not quite as easy drinking as the Bojola of tannins drier and tighter. The aromas and flavours but also textures are smooth, pliant and compliant but the wine overall still needs some time. Last tasted December 2023

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

Aged part in barriques and part (Gamba) cask 15 and 26 hL sizes. Riserva sees the long maceration, as much as 60 days in the ways of macerazione Piedmontese, that being capello sommerso (under a submerged cap). For father and son Riserva must be made, for tradition, every vintage, even if you only make Gran Selezione once every few years. It is 100 percent sangiovese and one that does nothing to abandon its roots or what it means to its makers. Suave and smooth though there is a spiciness and a sweetness that can’t be denied. Extra layers to peel away and next moment to be revealed. A wine of thought and length, nearly in its right place. Last tasted December 2023

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

Single vineyard Gran Selezione made in a vintage that just seems to have been designed for this kind of appellative wine. Not labeled but the vineyard is called the “lavendere,” a place that was close to where the clothes were washed, like a “sorgente.” Deep and sonorous, a sangiovese that has settled with sauce and long-chained tannins. A remarkably centred if also vertical Gran Selezione that speaks to a very specific part of Castellina in Chianti. Can drink this now but will surely shows its best in two years. Last tasted December 2023

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

Sangiovese of the Castellina UGA

Annata

Castellina

Buondonno Chianti Classico DOCG Podere Casavecchia Alla Piazza 2021, Castellina

The biggest and most fruit compacted vintage for Gabriele Buondonno, so free and natural, unhindered and with no distraction to take away from the fruit. No jam, not a bomb but compressed and just massive. Acids are neither shy nor lagging but right there in stride- though this does not qualify as the most tannic of Buondonno’s wines. Structure of a different accord. Last tasted May 2023

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

Fattoria Rodàno Chianti Classico DOCG 2019, Castellina

The name is not exactly known but records show that the property was a hospital for pilgrims on the French road to Rome. The name is preserved in books since the 13th century. Amazing aromatics, sweet florals and brushy herbs, neighbour to and so similar to Bibbiano but there really is no fully qualified comparison. Nice little bit of sausage felt on the palate for a truly characterful Classico. Sangiovese is 90 percent with (5) each canaiolo and colorino. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted May 2023

Capraia Chianti Classico DOCG 2019, Castellina

The Castellina property of Gaiole’s Rocca di Castagnoli, upwards of Lilliano on the way up to Rodano and Bibbiano. Intense and dusty, feeling so very Alberese in its stony and really taut aromas. A wine needing quite a bit of time, that much is perceived from how wound and unforgiving it is at this time. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted May 2023

Canadians sommeliers on tour with Masnaghetti

Casanuova Di Nittardi Chianti Classico Vigna Doghessa DOCG 2020, Castellina

All sangiovese from above the Conca d’Oro looking east and a neighbour of both Buondonno and also Bucciarelli. Quite a tannic 2020, dusty and filled with garriga. Savour of a unique and fulsome kind. Must be given time. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted May 2023

Castagnoli Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Castellina

Balsamic straight away from a deftly traditional Chianti Classico that speaks of place with bay leaf and perhaps some spice brought on by wood, especially barriques. Taut, tart and a new kind of Classico intensity, very fresh and young. Last tasted May 2023

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

Fattoria Pomona Chianti Classico DOCG Vigna Pomona 2019, Castellina

Pomona was a goddess with a garden rich in fruit who preferred to be with plants then with a man. Smart deity that one. Riserva once called Bandino (after Monica Raspi’s grandfather Bandino Bandini). Only sangiovese and a precision at the highest level in a glycerin meeting structural composition. The combination of grace under pressure and finessed focus is something special with those who feel it, know it. Drink 2025-2034. Tasted May 2023

Alessandro Masnaghetti

Fattoria Rodàno Chianti Classico DOCG 2019, Castellina

Lornano Chianti Classico DOCG 2019, Castellina

No shock to say this ’19 from Lornano is still so young and immovable, a 100 percent sangiovese with all its character, love and passion locked in tight. Generous yes but not yet ready to open, flesh out and deliver what’s behind the wall. Savour and sweetness of natural fruit, compact and substantial, as big a bang for buck as there exists in Castellina. Sangiovese foot soldier. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted May 2023

Piemaggio Chianti Classico DOCG Il Maggio 2019, Castellina in Chianti

Il Maggio may or may not make you feel what it means to be sangiovese from the 2019 Chianti Classico vintage but this much is true. Other grapes make their play and they feel like some kind of combination of canaiolo, colorino and/or especially malvasia nera. The rusticity, yang-yang mix of salinity and sapidity but most of all a gentle swarthiness indicate Castellina off a northwesterly position abutting the ridge coming down from San Donato in Poggio. The blood orange note is a much darker one here and the fruit depth delivers density. This is substantial Chianti Classico, ready to go. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted August 2023

Piemaggio Chianti Classico DOCG Fioraie 2019, Castellina

Highly aromatic sangiovese but also one with so much liquorice and the spice brought on by traditional cask aging. Proper bitter aspect. Tar, roses and old school sentimentality. Last tasted May 2023 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

Canadians Sommeliers at Villa Geggiano in Castelnuovo Berardenga

Castelnuovo Berardenga

Podere Lecci e Brocchi Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, Castelnuovo Berardenga

At the village of Villa a Sesta with Galestro above the red top soils, fruit coming at the palate in waves.Thick swells of reds with a markedly obvious ferric addendum. The red soils are very much in play, as is a minor sauvage, part volatile and part raw salsiccia. Chewy and cool, a specific kind of Castelnuovo savour and an aftertaste left behind that defines truly sanguine sangiovese. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted May 2023

San Felice Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Tolaini Chianti Classico DOCG Vallenuova 2020, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Perfect place for Vallenuovo here and just 14 months later the concentration and flesh have not only increased but come together seamlessly. Tannins are anchored into the middle cheek, both sides now, “near and far, and still somehow.” Vallenuovo from Castelnuovo Berardenga’s Tolaini is an extracted, generously macerated and humorously concentrated 2020. Last tasted May 2023

Castelo di MeletoThere 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

Wines of Gaiole

Gaiole

Castelo di Meleto Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Gaiole

Wonderful to feel the Gaiole spice straight away on a Classico of local aromas part forest and part stone. Both are encouraging and lifting up of fruit so very fresh and alive. Crunchy sangiovese, high acid and just that much rounded by five percent merlot. Just a few months have actually encouraged this ’21 to arrive in a great place and one so accessible for immediate gratification. Last tasted May 2023 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

La Montanina Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, Gaiole

Manucci Droandi Chianti Classico DOCG Ceppeto 2019, Gaiole

As floral and also mature as any Gaiole sangiovese, lower in acid and conversely elevated in pH so as a result making for a more sapid wine. Lifted as well and so the acidity is more volatile than lactic, again contributing to the florals of this wine. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted May 2023

Podere Ciona Chianti Classico DOCG Proprieta Gatteschi 2019, Gaiole

Intensely floral, cherries at peak, savoury and texturally Gaiole terroir. No matter what, where or how Podere Ciona may have previously interpreted their old vineyards it is this clarity and modernity that now speaks to the future. The rise and standing up to counted is a type of pronouncement felt in palpable ways. Great wines are coming. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted October 2023

Sangiovese of the Greve UGA

Greve

Carpineto Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, Greve

A transparent wine from Carpineto, dusty and tart cherry wth a balsamico edge. The accents come straight from the source. Last tasted May 2023

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

Montecalvi Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, Greve

Full perfume from Greve, lift of fruit and really exotic for the UGA. That lift is a guarantee mixing with implosive intensity and then drift. Draughty but gritty, needing time to settle. Drink 2024-2027. Last tasted May 2023

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

Tenuta Di Nozzole Chianti Classico DOCG Nozzole 2020, Greve

Evergreen and garrigue as per Greve in Chianti, silken textured with glycerol fill, more tense than combative. Verdant, piquant and yet to shed its wood. Needs some time though the green savour will always be there. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted May 2023

Tenuta La Novella Chianti Classico DOCG Casa Di Colombo 2019, Greve

From 500m Località San Polo in Greve a reductive and earthy sangiovese in the dried red (bokser) pod fruit style and an almost blood orange appeal. Akin to San Donato in Poggio and so unique for Greve with an organic and biodynamic plus from a place just one hop and skip over from the Dudda Valley. This is Chianti Classico of a perfume never really nosed before. The mix of freshness and dried fruit should keep the wine in this state and allow it to age quite well. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted May 2023

Sangiove of Lamole UGA

Lamole

Fattoria Castello di Lamole Chianti Classico DOCG Le Stinche 2016, Lamole

A whole other matter in Lamole from Paolo Socchi, reductive and older, having needed every moment of these seven years to arrive at a place of grace but more are warranted. So evergreen, feeling like a wine picked early and macerated long. In other ways it’s quite mature but one thing’s for sure this sangiovese is unlike any other, even for Lamole. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted October 2023

I Fabbri Chianti Classico DOCG Olinto Grassie e Figlio 2021, Lamole

From the highest vineyard between 620 and 680m for a varietal sangiovese that separates itself from Olinto because that label holds 20 percent merlot, though 2021 will be the last vintage. From what Susanna Grassi calls the “crispy vintage” which translates as freshness incarnate and a crunchiness from seriously spot on pure red fruit. This is so precise and the Lamole perfume exudes out of every pore. Only sees concrete and at Annata level for Lamole that is the exact and proper thing to do. Brilliant. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted October 2023

Wuth Susanna Grassi and John Szabo M.S. in Lamole

I Fabbri Chianti Classico DOCG Terra Di Lamole 2020, Lamole

The adage must always be repeated. The perfume of Lamole is omnipresent, all-pervasive and impossible to separate from the wines themselves. How and why? The answer is difficult to articulate though it is surely a response to the Macigno soils and the climate circulating in the UGA’s amphitheatre. Stand anywhere on the ring road between Casole and Lamole village and you may just feel as though you are in a rainforest. The sandstones mixed with calcareous rock just has to mean mineral transferral onto fruit that in turn scents floral. Not in the classic bouquet of flowers sense but as an example it is Terra di Lamole by Susanna Grassi that makes all this happen. Behold a sangiovese born in the shadow of the Monti del Chianti that shines in its own special way. Terra di Lamome – the land of the UGA, definite, elegant and full of grace. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted May 2023

Il Campino di Lamole Chianti Classico DOCG Testardo 2020, Lamole

Frankincense, myrrh and clove? Smells like a church and feels like an R.E.M. song. From the newest project in Lamole and the aromatics are wild, the wine swarthy and something else altogether. Clove and incense, quinine-based Byrrh liqueur and so much coming from wood. Liquid chalky and somewhat cloying. Drink 2023-2024. Tasted October 2023

Il Campino di Lamole Chianti Classico DOCG Testardo 2019, Lamole

Newest game in town, the neophyte producer making wine from high elevation in Lamole. Similar of expression to 2020 but with more elasticity and elegance. All those elements noted in the 2020 are hereless exaggerated; frankincense, clove, an old house, pine and cedar, amaro herbals and a cloying texture on the palate. But the stretchiness is a bit more stealth this time around. Tannins are finer as well. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted October 2023

Jurji Fiore & Figlia Chianti Classico DOCG Sono Così 2022, Lamole

From Jurji and his daughter Sara, their Lamole vines at 580m on the west/southwest side on sabbioso limo (sandy silt) picked on the 13th of October. Perfumed to the Lamole hilt but make no mistake this is a Fiore wine, a red lightning scintillant of sharp red fruit that comes with some glycerol. The unction and refinement puts this is a rounded and getable place – a very attractive wine for lovers of nebbiolo (from Neive) and Etna Rosso from high elevation like Santo Spirito. Acids are stronger than words and tannin. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted October 2023

Jurji Fiore & Figlia Chianti Classico DOCG Porcacciamiseria 2022, Lamole

An ancient word to say “bugger off,” yet in a polite way, or perhaps “shut the front door,” or maybe “what the flowers.” From a higher point than Sono Così at 650m which is about as high as it will get in Lamole. This has more breeze and also depth with less lightning red fruit and glycerol. Some grit and more endemic rusticity, in part because other endemic varieties join the sangiovese fray. Nutty and plenty of bitter chocolate grip the finish. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted October 2023

Lamole di Lamole Chianti Classico DOCG Maggiolo 2020, Lamole

Quite a plate full of stuffing in Lamole di Lamole’s Maggiolo and so if talking turkey this is impressively concentrated and plush sangiovese from the producer that makes 50 percent of the wines out of the Lamole UGA. Luxe and silken, easy to like, no worries at all to push through what’s right, well and good from the Macigno terraces and terroir of the UGA. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted October 2023

Podere Castellinuzza Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Lamole

Podere Poggio Scalette Chianti Classico DOCG Lamole Nonloso 2020, Greve

Superlative aromatics flying out of the glass, first and foremost cinnamon with this combination of its evergreen host’s leaves and also the dried Cinnamomum cassia. Why cinnamon? Just because that’s what it is, a factor of Lamole but in a whole other and truly pinpointed way. Must be the woods nearest this vineyard and the kind of sandstone that pervades beneath its vines. Nonloso is graced by a label designed by Jurji Fiore’s daughter Sara that is so apropos for the gracious and confident expression so specific to the identified and exulted cru. Not to mention the fiery lightning red fruit that defines a Fiore sangiovese. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted May 2023

Lamole-Greve-Montefioralle UGAs

Montefioralle

Villa Calcinaia Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, Montefioralle

From the moment you sniff and sip Sebastiano Capponi’s 2020 Chianti Classico you are either reminded or perhaps introduced into his Montefioralle UGA world of ripeness and harmony. Ideal pitch and sway, tactical forces playing off one another and everything in its right place. Always a challenging vintage but the words of Capponi in the Covid summer of 2020 speak to how far he and the territory have come. “I think that winemakers in Chianti Classico now have the ability, like Roberto Conterno had in 2002 when he made Monfortino, to interpret every single vintage without distorting what nature bestows to them.” And there is no distortion out of Calcinaia’s ’20, only similarity and continuation. It breathes sangiovese and lingers with demure philosophy, long after the last taste is gone. Will drink beautifully beginning next winter. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted August 2023

Panzano

Il Palagio Di Panzano Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, Panzano

Cool, lightly dusty and then salt-licked, intimating ethereal sangiovse from Il Palagio with a distinctly Pietraforte mixed with Galestro Panzano style. Hard to hide the terroir in 2020, not that it should ever be suppressed but there was no keeping it low this time around. Wood spice, almost of a cupboard masala and the graphite that comes from sangiovese in this part of the UGA. Last tasted May 2023

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

Le Fonti Di Panzano Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, Panzano

Bigger and clearly firmer vintage for Guido Vitali and Vicky Schmitt-Vitali’s Panzano sangiovese (with some merlot and cabernet sauvignon). That said there’s a glide about the aromas accented and spiced by pencil lead, fresh cut oak and balsamico. Aromatically tart fruit as well and so there is enough going on early to distract from the larger nature of this Annata. Thank goodness Vitali’s “svinatura” is slow and gentle otherwise there might be more here than our palates could handle. Instead there is wry and sly charm, do it yourself workability and in the end a fine example of 2020, Panzano and Le Fonti. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted December 2023

Tenuta Carobbio Chianti Classico DOCG 2018, Panzano

Candian Sommeliers at Terrabianca in Radda

Radda

Arillo in Terrabianca Chianti Classico DOCG Sacello 2021, Radda

Taken from the largest parcel up the hill to the right of the church and no wood involved. Soft and suave, the silkiest Annata imaginable and one that coats the palate with its substantial fruit. Perfume and spice are Raddese, as is acidity, of course. Last tasted May 2023 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

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 and May 2023.

Brancaia Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Radda

Brancaia is Brancaia, 100 per cent sangiovese and only done up in concrete, accessible without any obstacles or reasons not to get at this perfect level of freshness. Uncomplicated, acids strong, tart and supportive, fruit all in. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted May 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 and May 2023

Istine Chianti Classico DOCG Vigna Casanova Dell’aia 2020, Radda

L’Erta di Radda Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Radda

Extreme perfume for a Diego Finnochi Annata and fully expressive of an iron-rich clay with above ground ensual of Galestro terroir. Really full, fleshy, juicy and substantial, acids tempered by a small percentage of (10 percent) canaiolo. Notable for the sanguine note that arrives on the palate and yet waiting to be drinking this Annata is not an issue. Lovely, consequently and subsequently structured stuff. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted May 2023

Livernano Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, Radda

Uses the minimum (80 percent) sangiovese with merlot for as round as it gets as a Chianti Classico expression. Not hot or powered but dusty and lavender floral. Simple and a bit creamy. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted May 2023

Poci Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, Radda

A rare Classico with alicante bouschet (10 percent) and as a reaction there is this grenache or zinfandel response. A bit oxidative and also lactic, dried fruit and a caramel creaminess. Tasted May 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 and May 2023

San Casciano

Castelli del Grevepesa Chianti Classico DOCG Clemente VII 2020, San Casciano

Open, fragrant and fleshy, a sangiovese entirety, chewy, full of liquorice and plum. Getable, straight away, no reason to wait – so pop, pour and enjoy. Very well made Chianti Classico juice of classic proportion by design. Last tasted May 2023

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 2023

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

New label alert. The knight (Il Cavaliere) still rides but the name is removed so that Castello di Gabbiano is fron and centre. A 90 percent sangiovese with (10) split between merlot, cabernet sauvignon and colorino of wild fermentation, partial carbonic maceration and aged in steel with some cask. Finishes in concrete. Freshness incarnate, spicy notes and notable balsamico. Olive and gariga. Fine acidity. Last tasted May 2023

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

Montesecondo Chianti Classico DOCG 2019, San Casciano

Hard to find a sangiovese from this UGA as sweetley endowed, of fruit and acidity but also savour that celebrates pace. You can recognize estate through the transparency of vintage and the future is clearly expressed in Annata like this. Very special. Last tasted October 2023

The work of Silvio Messana nearly 20 years into his San Casciano tenure, now with organic and biodynamic agriculture. Hard to find this UGA-specific sangiovese has sweetly endowed and structurally empowered as this, of fruit and acidity but also savour. Celebrates San Casciano in a most beautiful way and you can recognize place. Estate as well it seems, through a transparency of vintage and if this is the future of both then we call all look forward to many special wines. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted May 2023

Pazzi Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, San Casciano

Nicely textured sangiovese, dry in may ways, warm and dry. Tannins are a bit resinous, brittle and astringent. New young producer with promise. Tasted October 2023

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

Yet another Le Corti sangiovese darkened ever so slightly by (five percent) colorino of a style pure, San Casciano driven, warming and spiced. As luxe as it gets for Mediterranean scented and fleshed Chianti Classico with thanks to a particular mezo-climate and river pebbles in the soils. Finishes at sweet flavours and balsamic reduction. Last tasted May 2023 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 Corsini gets better and better at making wines of clarity and profundity. Grande Principe! Drink 2025-2033. Tasted February 2023

Tenuta Orsumella Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, San Casciano

As intensely floral as it gets for San Casciano Chianti Classico, of violets and herbal blooms like lavender and rosemary so very beautiful. The UGA’s earthy-savoury underbrush is also there, mixing seamlessly with the flowers. Lovely vintage, airy, lyrical and unrestrained. Some chalkiness in the tannin so be confident this will be a four to six year Annata. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted May 2023

Sangiovese of Viticoltori San Donato in Poggio

San Donato in Poggio

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 and May 2023

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

Le Masse’s 2019 is San Donato in Poggio come into its own, the window wide open and the wine is showing colours vibrant, fresh and clearly visible. A biodynamically produced wine of soul and true identity. Salty and conversely sapid, in great harmony between acids and pH, ying-yang, AC/DC, plus or minus all that needs to offer pleasure and just enough structure for aging. Last tasted May 2023 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. 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

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 and May 2023

Montecchio Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, San Donato In Poggio

Fullest sense of ripeness from 2020 that distinct blood orange note as strong as it gets for Montecchio. The estate right at the village is always consistent of a style for which 14 months in botti grande surely elasticizes and stretches the angles and lines of this persistent wine. Bigger than some vintages and yet also linear, rising and the peak will be reached in a year or three’s time. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted May 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 and May 2023

Le Filigare Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, San Donato In Poggio

Le Filigare is at the highest point in San Donato in Poggio, between 450 and 500, owned by Alessandra Casete-Burcchi. Dark fruit yet salty and surely a sangiovese come about as a factor of elevation and ocean breezes. Breezy and also a briny-kelp note that gives this Annata its umami finish. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted May 2023

Torcilaqua Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, San Donato In Poggio

Darker of fruit, savoury and notable salinity. Also great freshness but that pitchy and developed fruit does work the glass as much as the minerals, elements and natural acidities. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted May 2023

Masnaghetti and Godello

Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG

Castellina

Bibbiano Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2019, Castellina

My what and intense and tight example of Chianti Classico Riserva. Succulent and grippy, a best of two worlds Riserva that just seems to wrap around itself and persist in this unrelenting state. Last tasted May 2023 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

Casale dello Sparviero Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2019, Castellina

Casina di Corina Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2016, Castellina

A bit cooked though clearly a stable sangiovese of clarity and charm, fruit mature and developed, advanced and in the proverbial ready zone. Still some sharp edges and formidable tannins. Needs time to settle but don’t give too much because the fruit is already moving forward. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted May 2023

Fattoria La Ripa Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2019, Castellina

Strawberry, not a wild one but creamy, between layers of cake and liberally spiced. Very sweet, nearly candied fruit, repeated on the palate – almost cloying. Vanilla swirled in and so the wood is omnipresent and in charge of the fruit. Very little structure to speak of. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted May 2023

Castelnuovo Berardenga

Fèlsina Berardenga Rancia Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2019, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Pagliarese Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2019, Castelnovo Berardenga

A consistent and authentic expression for Fèlsina’s Pagliarese, here in its fifth revivalist vintage with DNA and lineage going back in time when Giulio Gambelli was in charge of making wines from this Castelnuovo Berardenga estate. Clearly more upfront fruit in 2019, still brushy and herbal savoury but the maturity strikes a raspberry-esque confiture pose. True sweetness from both nose and palate, in full bloom and toothsome activity. Not the vintage of great structure but so much is on offer from the word go. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted May 2023

Tentuta di Arceno Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2018, Castelnovo Berardenga

Riserva is cast in dark violet light, plenty of barrel but violet fruit perched high in the sky. The fruit waiting to explode is felt with palpable concern. Please let Riserva sit in the glass for 15-20 minutes or more. It will change, develop floral aromas and juicy flesh will also come forth. That said, wait at least another year before the fireworks are want to begin. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted May 2023

Tenute Poggio Bonelli Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Bonelli 2018, Castelnovo Berardenga

Riserva from Bonelli is twice deep and dark (100 percent) sangiovese with quite mature fruit in early advanced stage form. All in, now and for the short term, generous of acid yet mild of welcome tannin with little to nary a moment of astringency. Clean, all about the fruit, high in alcohol. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted May 2023

Gaiole

Tenuta San Vincenti Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2020, Gaiole

Dusty with a cooled white charcoal aroma and then suave, open and generous on the palate. Chalky and drying tannins, wood not fully integrated and time will help soften the harder angles. Family style Riserva incarnate. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted May 2023

I Sodi Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2020, Gaiole

Lamole and Greve UGAs

Lamole

Castellinuzza di Claudia Cinuzzi Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2018, Lamole

A five percent mix of malvasia nera and canaiolo does wonders to stretch the salinity and change the elemental composition of sangiovese while adding exaggeration to the perfume that is Lamole. Grandi Botti (Slavonian) bring a true wood component that is like spiced resins but there is no make up to distract from the real situation. That being Lamole, of perfume and sweet savour. Nicely settled and mature by now. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted October 2023

Lamole di Lamole Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Lareale 2019, Lamole

More reserve and less glycerin than the 2020 Maggiolo while also a sangiovese from sandy Macigno soils that stretches with increased nimbleness and elasticity. Love the 2019 acidity and the sweet bitters to give this wine some salty bites and fine complexity. Much higher caste and well made wine by comparison. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted October 2023

Podere Castellinuzza Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2020, Lamole

Reduction and youth, a hard candied shell of Macigno and fossilized wood that locks this great fruit in tight. Crunchy sangiovese, the epitome of croccante and a wine that speaks a true Riserva vernacular that is all about the cooler, minty and Amari reaches of Lamole. This has so much upside and positive structure to live a good long life. Great work from Paolo and Serena Coccia with oenologist Marco Chellini. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted October 2023

Panzano

Casaloste Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2018, Panzano

From primarily clay soils (with outcropping of Galestro) and made with with the unique technique of stacking sangiovese on the (five percent) of fermented merlot grapes. Suggestive of “appassimento” by way of a practice that began in 2000 and explains so much about the Casaloste wines tasted over the last seven years. Brings some dried and leathery fruit notes to mix with already fully ripened 2018 phenolics and yet just enough freshness is preserved. Exaggerates and accentuates just about every aspect, including what we think of as Chianti Classico Riserva. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted May 2023

Dr. Jaime Goode, Angela Fronti and Godello in Radda

Radda

Castello di Albola Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2020, Radda

Impressive perfume from Albola Riserva, candied rose and sweet, gently caramelized fennel. A bit boozy on the nose with the feeling of cherry or Amara as liqueur. High glycerol content, plum fleshy and spicy. Acid structure is bigger than the tannin and so in the end this is very much Radda as Riserva. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted May 2023

Fattorie Melini Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2018, Radda

A bit reductive and fruit with serious traction, dark and of a paint can meets tomato paste character. Savoury though not entirely clean, with boozy aromas. Not spicy but a bit of nail polish or vinyl shower curtain. Oak is a major factor. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted May 2023

Poggerino Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Bugialla 2020, Radda

There is no riper fruit bomb character than Piero Lanza’s Riserva and the vineyard is the reason, or a certain portion thereof that delivers this amount of luxe flesh for Riserva. Generous in every respect and the wine must have wood and also tannin to balance out what happens when full ripeness is achieved. Clean, balanced, good acidity and ultimately a sangiovese offering great appeal. Look away from California cabernet and Aussie shiraz for a date with Bugialla. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted May 2023

Val Delle Corti Chianti Classico DOCG 2019, Radda

It must always be reminded that Radda’s elevation and only that UGA’s acidity so instructionally Raddese are still the greatest determining factors for a Val delle Corti Classico. The operative just iterated is exactly that and while some might see vintages like ’18 and the coming ’20 as being the classics – well think again because this 2019 could not be more like the Chianti Classico of yore. Cleaner, purer and better made of course, but blasted if this Roberto Bianchi sangiovese does not take you back and intimate the best aspects of the past. For lovers of cool, salt-licked, sweetly savoury and ethereal Chianti Classico made in the past by the mamas, babbos, nonnas and nonnos of so many families. Coupled with today’s abilities Piemontazino effects and a trust in your own very special nook of the territory. The connection between Val delle Corti and 2019 forged, bonded and unbreakable. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted February 2023

The soils of Chianti Classico

San Casciano

Castello di Gabbiano Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2019, San Casciano

Fulsome and also dusty vintage for the Gabbiano Riserva, deeper than so many, including previous iterations of itself. Mainly sangiovese with flavours and baritone notes that linger long after the wine’s song is sung. Goes on and on and on. Last tasted May 2023 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

Coli – Fattoria Montagnana Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2019, San Casciano

Juiced exuberance of aromas, for sure namely blood orange and a low rumble of acidity with classic San Casciano verdant savour. Earthiness, plums and bokser pod, liquorice and openly accessible. Pop and pour. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted May 2023

La Sala del Torriano Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG La Sala 2018, San Casciano

Brighter, high-toned, elevated acidity, vibrant and pulsating sangiovese from La Sala, no matter the hot vintage that was 2018. Crunch and crispness, fresh and ready to go. The trend in recent San Casciano wines is early accessibility, as here, on repeat. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted May 2023

San Donato in Poggio

Casa Sola Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2019, San Donato In Poggio

Sweetly herbal, Amaro aromatics, botanical and quite wood sappy. Soy and just shy of mushroom-tartufo character. Secondary stage is imminent. With 10 percent merlot. Tasted May 2023

Cinciano Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2020, San Donato In Poggio

Il Poggiolino Chianti Classico La Riserva DOCG 2020, San Donato In Poggio

Really unique for Classico and also San Donato aromatics, somewhat herbaceous, lifted and floral. Definitely salty while well-seasoned, namely with white pepper and a curious note of mirto. Quite a swath of unresolved wood and very much a thickened texture. As Riserva and especially San Donato goes this will need and benefit from time in bottle. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted May 2023

Vagliagli

Bindi Sergardi Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Calidonia 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 and May 2023

Fattoria della Aiola Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Fortezza della Aiola 2019, Vagliagli

Aromatically particular, herbaceous with a mix of rosemary and cedar inclusive of essential oils acting resinous in. Mimic of really woody parts of bushes and trees. Pickling seasoning, finnochiona sausage, twiggy and an exceptionality of liquorice flavours. Very much sangiovese, concentrated and just a Riserva that scents of the land in great hyperbole. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted May 2023

Vallepicciola Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2019, Vagliagli

Concentrated aromas, compact sangiovese and floral if in a brushy, herbal Mediterranean way. Like Rosemary and Ginestra in early May bloom, magic acid strength and truly juicy varietal palate. Riserva holds great restrained power and exudes energy for the vintage. Wood is obvious and integrated. A true Galestro expression, suave and structured enough to maintain freshness to evolve slowly over a five to seven year period of time. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted May 2023

Vallepicciola Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2018, Vagliagli

No real surprise to find great and substantial fruit out of a warm, inviting and developing 2018 with more than ample grounding. A sangiovese well constructed of wood couverture and fruit coming into confiture. Showing some maturity yet systematically satisfying with a spicy finish. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted May 2023

Godello at Enoteca Pitti Gola e Cantina, Firenze

Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG

Castellina

Bibbiano Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Vigna Del Montornello 2019, Castellina

The sangiovese side of the tracks (as opposed to the Grosso for Cappanino) and a beautiful little amount of proper reduction imitates and reels in for what’s to come. As rich as 2019 needs to be yet Montornello crosses neither the macerated or extracted line to mesh with sweet acids and come out with all parts balanced and intact. Top quality 2019 for Castellina and one to age somewhere between the mid and long term. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted October 2023

Bibbiano Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Vigna Del Capannino 2019, Castellina

The sangiovese grosso planted side of Bibbiano’s vineyard is not exactly the opposite of Montornello but the results are certainly another matter. More power, grip and firm shake of tannin after an aromatic front that rolls through like a threatening storm. The acids too are more in charge so in tandem there is a whole whack of structure in this very mineral expression of Castellina sangiovese. Must be the Alberese. Drink 2025-2034. Tasted October 2023

Casale Dello Sparviero Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Paronza 2018, Castellina

Well traveled, maturing and warm Gran Selezione from Castellina’s Casale dello Sparviero, of high aromatic intensity to match stride for stride a sangiovese poised at the ready. Herbal for Castellina though neither brushy dry or brassy, but instead a juicy bleed of fruit and flora. Solid GS through and through, equivocating and evocative of the UGA. Last tasted October 2023 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

Castello Di Fonterutoli Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2020, Castellina

Castello La Leccia Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Bruciagna 2020, Castellina

Fattoria La Ripa Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2017, Castellina

Well aged Gran Selezione and a good thing to tame what rusticity and woody savour would have been most in charge just a year or so ago. Varied in expression, of fruit ripeness and also slightly unripe stems but also the brush of hillsides and dried herbs. Quite rustic for Castellina though with the aforementioned age the spice and chalk have settled to make for some old school charm. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted October 2023

Lornano Gran Selezione Chianti Classico DOCG 2017, Castellina

Villa Trasqua Gran Selezione Chianti Classico DOCG Nerento 2017, Castellina

Castelnuovo Berardenga

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

Certainly not expecting three months to change anything though new feelings will always come out when tasting Montaperto. Today there is an unspoken sense of generational lineage and that which makes us look deeper into how family leaves an impression on its wines. Last tasted May 2023 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

Scheggiolla Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2015, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Delightful, pretty, so very perfumed, florals flying from the glass. Well-aged, softening now with classic Castelnuovo Berardenga tannins, meaning non-aggressive, elastic and so complimentary to good vintage fruit. Fruit is just now transferring structurally to secondary staging, sweet and leathery if surely pliant and gracing the palate without tension or unnecessary effort. Drinking beautifully and we thank the estate for holding this Gran Selezione until this time. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted May 2023

Tenuta Di Arceno Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Strada Al Sasso 2018, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Fourth vintage of Strada al Sasso, all from warm ones (aren’t they all) but ’17 and ’18 were seriously warm, especially in Castelnuovo Berardenga. Fruit is fully and I mean fully developed with powerful to nearly formidable tannins in surround. Such a mouthful, hard to handle but time with sooth, quell and solve many issues. Last tasted May 2023 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

Tenuta Di Arceno Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Strada Al Sasso 2017, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Quicker to fruition and though the driest of vintages there is an approachability from 2017 without aggressive tannins that will allow for immediate gratification. Some jam, almost impossible too avoid considering the desiccation of the grapes and so tomato confit and raspberry confiture are the two-toned notes. An herbal Amaro finish. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted May 2023

Tenuta Canonica A Cerreto Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG La Canonica Lady Anna 2019, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Quite the floral sangiovese Gran Selezione but there is no avoiding the landscape, fully expressed in herbaceous and dusty Mediterranean ways. Also balsamic this time around, serving to hyperbolize the style. Fruit is more than ample and swelling with blood orange like acidity and a scrape of citrus zest. Good energy here. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted May 2023

Villa a Sesta Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Sorleone 2018, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Needing time but given that, there is indeed an explosion of fruit flavours in Villa a Sesta’s Sorleone. Simpler as an expression for Gran Selezione perhaps and readier than most this early. Rich as it gets, of a dusty and warm location and also climate exaggerated by vintage. Thick glass of black raspberry confiture. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted May 2023

Gaiole

Barone Ricasoli Castello Di Brolio Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2020, Gaiole

Barone Ricasoli Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Colledilà 2020, Gaiole

Castello di Cacchiano Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Millenio 2015, Gaiole

Maturing quickly now from a sangiovese with dried leathery fruit, now into truffle plus soy. Tannins are still a touch drying so air is needed but the wine needs to be consumed in the very near term. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted May 2023

Castello di Meleto Gran Selezione DOCG 2019, Gaiole

Just terrific and suave sangiovese, another grand step forward for Castello di Meleto, fully formed with rich and concentrated, though never complicated fruit. Acids are sweet, supportive and glide across the palate to where even finer and sweeter tannins awaits. A delight in Gran Selezione and from a set of wines also occupied by the Meleto crü, by this “Villages” example from Gaiole is ready to go. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted October 2023

Castello di Meleto Gran Selezione DOCG Poggiarso 2019, Gaiole

Vigna Poggiarso is a another tour de force in the new Meleto stable of cru and Gran Selezione wines, fine and pulsing with Gaiole savour. Perhaps the warmest, richest and most developed aromatic presence of the four and something that presents itself with great perfume. The palate neither disappoints nor takes a break from getting this single vineyard sangiovese of expressive personality to the finish line. That will happen in a few years time because all structural parts are locked in a tight embrace. Drink 2025-2034. Tasted October 2023

Castello Di Meleto Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Vigna Trebbio 2019, Gaiole

As a cru example it is this Vigna Trebbio that defines a new focused era for Castello di Meleto Gran Selezione but also their wines as a whole. More richness and luxe comport fantasy than that of the Villages example with spice and a chalky-stony sensation that pervades throughout the length of the wine. Really spicy and complex finish with lots of tannin. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted October 2023

Castello di Meleto Gran Selezione DOCG Vigna Casi 2019, Gaiole

Vigna Casi is apposite to Trebbio, sweeter of fruit and with more grace in the relative context of Gran Selezione. Still plenty of spice cupboard and complexities brought out and urged on by great vintage acidity and yet no matter the cru there is 2019 and Gaiole all over these wines. Sweet savour, the freshness of the air, aided and abetted by the woods and in the end, elegance and refinement. Casi is a more precise wine. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted October 2023

Riecine Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Vigna Gittori 2020, Gaiole

Il Colombaio Di Cencio Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2020, Gaiole

Gotta be Gaiole, aromatically lifted, herbal and filled with potpourri. Only Gaiole delivers this combination of fresh lift and dried fruit notes, not leathery but skin scraped ones. Unique for Classico Gran Selezione yet typical for Gaiole and that is not always so easy to do. A bit of extra wood compacts the finish yet time will do well to guarantee integration. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted May 2023

Podere Il Palazzino Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Argenina 2019, Gaiole

Slightly reductive, not in a peppery or rubbery way but earthy. Sauvage and swarthiness here from Argenina, a term that makes reference to being of silver or silver coloured, as in the Latin “argentum.” The hue is so very 2019 and with Gaiole (and more specifically Monti in Chianti) as its origin there is a true breath of fresh air that serves as the silver lining to this Gran Selezione’s grippy character. Very well made, seductive and lengthy. That and the chalky tannins indicate a long life lays ahead. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted October 2023

Podere Il Palazzino Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Grosso Sanese 2016, Gaiole

Truly dark fruit for Gaiole, say blackberry if you will, violets on the nose and a streak of red fruit running through. Power and restraint, lift and elasticity, dovetailing with the tannin, dangerous yet fine. Walks the edge and in the end the vintage has been respected, celebrated and ultimately refined. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted May 2023

Rocca Di Castagnoli Stielle Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2018, Gaiole

Has been but a mere five months since first tasting the 2018. Still and truth be told not much has changed save for an elective addition of juiciness to confirm the delicacy and potential of this fine wine. A real winner for 2018 Gran Selezione that will reveal great complexities over the coming years. Last tasted October 2023 Classic in very respect, for a warm vintage, of Gaiole savour and red fruit lift. Tart and spicy, clearly structured for long life and slow evolution ahead. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted May 2023

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

Greve

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

Lanciola Le Masse Di Greve Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2017, Greve

Greve Quite the savoury and dusty Greve number here in Gran Selezione clothing with 2017 as the dry backdrop and that just can’t be ignored. Showing well if with parochial character to examine the rustic and local way of sangiovese. Some of this fruit is drying and desiccated, as are the tannins. Drink up. Tasted October 2023

Tenuta Di Nozzole Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2018, Greve

A Folonari property in the Greve UGA, western side on route to San Casciano, lower lying relatively speaking. By now mature and ready to roll with plenty of dry brushy elements, especially on the aromatics. Like fennel and sage, wild thyme and mirto. All about red fruit in classic sangiovese cherry with some softening from what usually comes by way of merlot though the sapidity could very well be imagined as canaiolo. No, just 100 percent sangiovese, tart as Gran Selezione, balanced and proper. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted October 2023

Toraccia Di Presura Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2019, Greve

Once aging the glycerine texture and concentration, satiny as a Gran Selezione with lots of wood up front. Captures the generosity and richness of the vintage with more style points than the previous 2018. The wood is also judged with finer acumen so that the maturity here will occur earlier and also linger longer, overall with pace as a slow release experience. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted October 2023

Toraccia Di Presura Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2018, Greve

Glycerol all the way, silky and concentrated while also a Gran Selezione with lots of wood on top. Relatively warm and developed example as far as 2018 is concerned and likely picked early, well ahead of the hot final days of September. The alcohol is lower than those that waited until October which also explains the particular Greve location. Just too much wood that needs resolution without having to wait years for that to happen. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted October 2023

With Victoria and Sebastian Matta

Vicchiomaggio Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG La Prima 2020, Greve

Vicchiomaggio Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Le Bolle 2020, Greve

Vignamaggio Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Monna Lisa 2017, Greve

Well aged Gran Selezione as far as the category is concerned and ready to fly. Hot and dry season, middle of the road fruit, acidity well adjusted with and tannins readying for their final push. Solid if unexciting example and well-fitting or befitting the Greve oeuvre. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted October 2023

Lamole

Castelli Del Grevepesa Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2019, Lamole

The Grevepesa cooperative (out of San Casciano) grabs and works with fruit from Lamole with the UGA put front and centre on their label. This they do with Panzano as well and in both cases the Gran Selezione is written vertically, boxed and smaller in font. Celebrating an adjunctive location is most curious and when you think about it, quite clever. As with their Panzano Gran Selezione this Lamole 2019 is clearly parochial in origin with the UGA’s perfume up front and centre by way of a sandy Macigno mineral meets savoury character. Similar astringency but that all important bright red fruit keeps the faith alive. Rustic and will require a year to further settle in. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted October 2023

Podere Castellinuzza Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Vecchie Vigne DOCG 2019, Lamole

Podere Castellinuzza Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2018, Lamole

Lamole sangiovese is always perfumed in ways no other UGA wines will express but here from Castellinuzza there is something other, wholly unique and fascinating. It is a combination of hillside savour and mineral meeting copious amounts of wood. Comes away smouldering, vanilla swirled and slightly cloying. A most unusual and hard to figure style but one that just might integrate, settle and become something altogether new. Remains to be seen. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted October 2023

Castellinuzza e Piuca Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Vigna Piuca 2019, Lamole

Three types of vessels used, 10 months in cement, botti and steel, followed by ample (minimum) 14 further months in bottle to walk this Lamole path paved with herbs. They are all here; rosemary, curry leaf, fennel and marjoram, a veritable garden of greens and Amaro bitters. Complex and rustic, not too woody but there is some forest and stem feelings gained from this Gran Selezione. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted October 2023

With La Susanna (Grassi) of I Fabbri – Lamole

I Fabbri Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2019, Lamole

Le Masse di Lamole Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2016, Lamole

There are some issues in Le Masse’s Gran Selezione 2016, namely a composite and cabbage note but also maturity well beyond where it should be. Tasted blind it could be guessed early 2000s due to the caramel and soy. From a usually consistent producer and soy the two bottles tasted may well likely be to fault. Tasted October 2023

Montefioralle

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

Bastignano is beginning to show some of its charm and also beauty just eight months later but that iron fist in velvet glove feeling simply can’t be ignored. There is concentration in every respect, in balance and when all parts takes a few more breathes – well then all will be revealed, if slowly, over a ten year period of time. Last tasted October 2023

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

Conti Capponi/Villa Calcinaia Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Vigna Contessa Luisa 2019, Montefioralle

So challenging to pinpoint which of the three Capponi Gran Selezione will be the first to relent and open to their drinking window. Tempted to say Vigna Contessa Luisa because the fruit from 2019 is arguably the fleshiest and most openly aromatic. A gregarious and generous sangiovese she is, sweetly floral, like candied roses and the swirl of equally treacly mineral makes this wine so bloody seductive. There are some angles and also tension in the structural parts so beware of tannins drying at the finish, meaning wait two years to see this showing on reliant point. Drink 2025-2035. Tasted October 2023

Villa Calcinaia Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, Montefioralle

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

The furnace continues to smoulder, long after the fire has gone out and the vintage has been safely tucked away in bottle. There are so many 2019 layers yet to peel aside and to see what measured moments in fruit meeting structure this Gran Selezione will deliver. Two years minimum before the walls begin to soften. Last tasted October 2023

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

Terreno Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Sillano 2019, Montefioralle

Viticcio Gran Selezione Chianti Classico DOCG Prunaio 2017, Montefioralle

Prunaio as in macchia di pruni, the blackthorn bush. Prunaio, made since 1985 and a Gran Selezione now for Viticcio out of the Monterfioralle UGA. A huge step forward for the estate with a pure, unadulterated and honest expression that will please anyone jonesing for a glass of proper sangiovese. No worries about hot and dry 2017 because this fruit was hung longer, caught at peak and with acids intact. Really fine if also chalky tannins with stones tying it all together. Finest work to date from Viticcio. Drink 2024-2033. Tasted October 2023

Panzano

Castelli Del Grevepesa Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2019, Panzano

Le Cinciole Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Aluigi Campo Ai Peri 2019, Panzano

So very firm with a Gran Selezione that will remain in this position for the expected two-plus further years. There is great beauty and a handsomeness in this sangiovese, especially in the facial features but also upright strength in the bones. Last tasted October 2023 At once lovely but also striking vintage for Le Cincole’s Gran Selezione, 100 percent sangiovese from eastern Panzano. A 2019 with sapidity, not rare but also not exactly common. Juicy, through daggers or pricks on the palate and then taken over by austerely drying tannins. Length is dramatic and most invigorating. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted May 2023

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

Le Fonti Di Panzano Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2018, Panzano

Le Fonti surprises for the vintage. You know it, feel it, embrace it. Indelible stamp of north-central Panzano with the most perfume ever nosed from a sangiovese by Guido and Vicky (Schmitt) Vitali. Intoxicating, hypnotizing and simply put this is beautiful Gran Selezione worthy of every note, word and waxing praise. The aromatics are off the proverbial floral charts and the rest, as they say is gravy. Sweet fruit elixir with complex intrigue driving the imagination to places visited and those yet to find. There are sweet-tooth fungi and whitest of Porcino that release their sugars almost the moment they hit the pan. Would like to drink a glass of this nearly ready Gran Selezione with the crack of all snacks, that being fried fresh Porcini. Yes, that would be fine. Waiting another year or two would probably be the best advice. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted October 2023

Renzo Marinai Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2018, Panzano

Fully developed fruit at optimum ripeness for a Panzano Gran Selezione that truly exemplifies the appellative level with wholly substantial sangiovese. Fruit swells and texture created with no missing elements provided by wood. Chewy mouthful in just about every respect with near formidable tannins to see this live long and into which unlimited secondary characteristics will surely join the fray. Expect truffles before too long. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted May 2023

Tenuta Casenuove Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2018, Panzano

Firm, stoic and serious sangiovese from Casenuove situated at the top of the hill overlook with Panzano splayed out to the south and east, San Donato in Poggio and San Casciano behind, direction west and northwest. Glycerol and a depth of red fruit for a chic and stylish Gran Selezione that right here shows the real potential of these vineyards and what the future holds for Casenuove’s sangiovese. Tannins could use some time to resolve, the wood as well, before this settles into its pliable skin. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted October 2023

Tenuta Di Vignole Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Créspine 2018, Panzano

Lovely fruit to structure balance to this Gran Selezione by Tenuta di Vignole with a marked propellant note mixed with tar and graphite. No lack for wood involved and a true note of the Panzano earth. Silky and saucy though the tannins are massive. Must give this plenty of time. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted May 2023

Radda

Arillo In Terrabianca Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Terrabianca 2019, Radda

Arillo In Terrabianca Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Terrabianca 2018, Radda

A departure from the recent past in terms of Terrabianca, wood involved but never in charge and fruit so reasoned, seasoned and true. Taut and spiced, a full cupboard of the stuff, sweet and fine-grained tannin so suave and supportive. Surely a Gran Selezione you just want to soak up and inhale every bit of aromatic potpourri. Delectable and succulent – a new era has begun. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted May 2023

Brancaia Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2020, Castellina

Castello di Albola Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Santa Caterina 2019, Radda

Typically Radda and in more micro terms also Albola because we recognize the brushy Mediterranean scents as elements truly savoury. Dusty and balsamic style working in cohorts with substantial 2019 fruit though concentration is a bit modest in Santa Caterina, at least as it may compare to Il Solatio. A swirl of scents and flavours include both liquorice and dried fennel to double down on the initial response to this parochial sangiovese. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted October 2023

Castello di Albola Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Il Solatìo 2019, Radda

Dusty, balsamic and Mediterranean brushy sangiovese, distinctly Radda and from what has to be angular slope meets aspect with elevation for breaths of inhalation and exhalation. Spa sangiovese, meditative, in the zen zone and ideal for those who want a soothing glass after relaxing treatments. All parts are naturally sweet from fruit through acids and into tannins. Fine lines, well made, sleek and of just enough grip meeting intensity. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted October 2023

Castello Di Fonterutoli Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Badiòla 2020, Radda

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 and October 2023

With Giovannella Stianti – Volpaia

Castello Di Volpaia Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Coltassala 2020, Radda

One hundred layered tannins, unrelenting abd setting up for a 10-20 year run, very likely closer to the side of 20. Last tasted October 2023

Sister to Il Puro and here not the 100 percent sangiovese but the “other,” the cuvée that includes five percent mammolo, less common in Chianti Classico and surely unique to Gran Selezione. Of a lighter, brighter and more sun-kissed stylistic, first of luminescent hue and veritably by way of lifted perfume. Lovely swirl of glycerol and velvety texture in a GS that entices and covers the palate form the start. Drink 2020 Coltassala years ahead of (2019) Il Puro and that relationship makes for a beautiful and complimentary appellative team. Drink 2024-2032. Tasted October 2023

Volpaia Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Il Puro 2019, Radda

There can be little surprise that Il Puro is about as fresh, tight and immovable as there is in Gran Selezione but this from heights in Radda comes off of a vintage equipped with so much fruit there will always be unconditional love sent forth from the bottle. Like Cupid’s arrow shot straight through the heart the pure one captures imagination and appeals to our most sensitive emotions. Hooked, smitten and driven by passion we stay with a glass for minutes to try and steal a kiss but we are teased and left to try again. Keep at it, for as long as it takes for eventually Il Puro will cease playing hard to get. A twenty year relationship to look forward to. Drink 2026–2038. Tasted October 2023

Castelvecchi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG “Madonnino Della Pieve” 2017, Radda

Volpaia Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Coltassala 2018, Radda

Even just a few months have done wonders to coax out the waves of Coltassala perfume. No quiet phase here, only expressiveness, beauty and grace. Last tasted May 2023 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 this is not the biggest and baddest of the Gran Selezione, even by Volpaia’s standards. Tasted February 2023 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

San Casciano

Antinori Gran Selezione Chianti Classico DOCG Badia A Passignano 2019, San Casciano

Thick and unctuous, aromatically of fruit in swells, both blacks and reds, syrupy and viscous. Tons of wood still to integrate and there is no denying the depth, particular character and style of the wine. Spiced and sappy, rich, full and substantial. Return in two or even three years. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted May 2023

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

The “other” or rather original San Casciano label for the Grevepesa cooperative is Clemente VII which just about anyone who has ever purchased a Chianti Classico in Ontario will surely recognize. The UGA verdancy and savour are so obvious, along with rustic moments that can’t be denied. That said there are more complexities than the Bibbione label and also grip. Expect this to outlive the other by a few years easy. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted October 2023

Castello Di Bibbione Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2019, San Casciano

Bibbione is a property (or label) of the Castelli di Grevepesa cooperative out of San Casciano and this would be their homefront UGA label. Classically parochial, red to black (cherry) red fruit matched by so much verdant savour and a local rusticity that is just part of the micro territory. A rather simple example of Gran Selezione that works in the short term. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted October 2023

With Maddalena Fucile, President of the Viticoltori di San Casciano

Castello Di Gabbiano Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Bellezza 2018, San Casciano

Quite reductive and backwards for a sangiovese no matter the appellative level but as Gran Selezione this is in a funny place to be sure. Big swirl of fruit, soils and wood, all in chaos at the moment and likely to be a misunderstood 2018 for those trying to make sense of it all. Loads of stuffing and spice, chalkiness and intensity. The fact that the wood is really up front but also on top makes the wine seem rustic at present. It will soften, morph and step into a new void. I’d suggest waiting five years. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted October 2023

La Sala Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Il Torriano 2019, San Casciano

Hard to control emotion with this follow-up Torriano by La Sala because a producer running from strength through strength can only make haste to greatness with a vintage like 2019. Such is the case with this Gran Selezione if mainly because what happens in the cantina resolves all parts and puts them in a lovely structured line. The fruit is ripe, that much is certain, perhaps even some raisin in the mix though the swirl of fruit, acids and stones makes for a truly ethereal result. As a representative of San Casciano there is a word for this example and that would be benchmark. Drink as soon as you feel you would like to get friends with this Selezione. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted October 2023

Villa Mangiacane Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Z District 2018, San Casciano

It is possible for sangiovese to go reductive, if allowed and here is a prime example, über fresh and taut as it gets for Gran Selezione. Plenty of wood on this 2018 from a particularly warm vintage from out of one of Chianti Classico’s warmer hotspots. Classic San Casciano spice, black olive, caper and sweet espresso to finish. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted May 2023

San Donato in Poggio

Castello di Monsanto Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Il Poggio DOCG 2019, San Donato in Poggio

Castello di Monsanto Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Il Poggio DOCG 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 and May 2023

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

Poggio Al Sole Gran Selezione DOCG Casasilla 2019, San Donato in Poggio

Not just notably aromatic but so blood orange and sanguine. Typical of San Donato in Poggio sangiovese but the Badia a Passignano location can’t be forgotten. Lovely swirl of red to orange fruit and this stony bleed from limestone plus above ground flaky Galestro manifestations. Warm, concentrated and invited if finishing with just a wee bit of older-schooled rusticity. Tannins are in fact a touch austere. Spicy too. Last tasted October 2023

Luxe if also closed, yet to relent, fruit darkness part of the mix, oak tannin very much compact and blocking the fruit. Needs years to integrate, settle and unwind. The fruit should last. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted May 2023

Quercia Al Poggio Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Vigna Le Cataste 2018, San Donato In Poggio

The most important vineyard falling away from Vittorio and Michaela Fiore’s San Donato in Poggio peninsula is Le Cataste, the “stacks” or “piles” and yes the fruit, acid and tannin truly layer in this warm vintage 2018. And yet the self-taught Fiore acumen finds a way to keep alcoholic heat and weight low for a Gran Selezione that attracts with great style. There are some verdant and even reductive moments in this 2018 but agitation helps – time in bottle will do even more to soften the savoury edges. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted October 2023

Vagliagli

Fattoria Di Valiano Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG San Lazzaro 2019, Vagliagli

Very young and dusty sangiovese with good and substantial fruit but also tannins underlaid, waiting, biding time, working the room. A balanced wine through and through, professional and ample enough to well represent the appellation. Would set this aside for two or three years. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted May 2023

Vallepicciola Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Lapina 2020, Vagliagli

Lapina, one word but likely ‘the pine” from Vallepicciola that nearly always communicates a verdant-evergreen sentimentality. The 2020 comes from a grander vintage, not full throttle Vagliagli dark berry but still a developed maturity at the top of what the UGA is nominally known to express. Lots of glycerol and silky texture from a rich yet understated Gran Selezione as suave as it is amenable. A drink sooner rather than later 2020 as far as that vintage is concerned. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted October 2023

Toscana IGTs

Badia a Coltibuono Montebello 2018, Toscana IGT

Made since 2011 with equal parts of the nine varieties, one barrel of each, gathered together. Came about as a result of varietal experiments and most of these also get together with sangiovese for the Cultus Chianti Classico. A stacked Tuscan put together from their individual aging after a year in barriques. The future sees this as a field blend because why not put them together earlier. Quite different than the Cultus, here more wood noted in lavender and vanilla, but also violets, blue fruit and wood sweetness. The caramel and soy exaggerate in the 2018 Montebello for an expression more chic, suave and meant for another kind of consumer. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted October 2023

Bindi Sergardi Tenuta Mocenni 91 2019, Toscana IGT

Varietal cabernet sauvignon from vines planted in 1980 on the Mocenni Estate in Vagliagli and the experience shows with power, finesse, elegance and intensity. Five years away (easy) and the Cassis is front and centre. Serious and beautiful, in control and charming. Impressive in a non sangiovese way. Tasted October 2023

Borgo Scopeto Borgonero 2020, Toscana IGT

Toscana IGT makes Chianti Classico look rustic and über savoury by comparison while conversely showing truly sweet aromas and flavours. Far more barrel influence, sheathing and silkening for the most “international” and full-bodied expression available. Massive commercial appeal. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted May 2023

Buondonno Campo Al Ciliegi 2020, Toscana IGT

Approximately 40 percent each merlot (’99 plantation) and syrah (’92) with (20) cabernet franc (also 1990s) for a blend thought of by Errico Buodonno, son of Gabriele who saw the merlot (in particular) getting too big and alcoholic. The syrah is the mitigating catalyst, to insert lift and energy into the other two, each of which were before made into varietal wines, but no longer. Also the vineyard in Tignano within Barberino Tavernelle, on the road past Casa Emma for Casa Sola, just one km outside of the Classico territory. Sangiovese is planted in 1.8 hectares with two more still to plant, including white grapes, likely trebbiano spoletino and even fiano. Cool and ethereal red blend here, neither salty nor phenolic but handsome and balanced. 4,000 bottles produced. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted December 2023

Buondonno Lèmme Lèmme, Da Vecchie Viti Maritate Podere Casavecchia Alla Piazza 2021, Toscana IGT

A recent analysis of the field blend vineyard proves the existence of a few plants preserved of a variety thought lost to Tuscany. It is called bonamico and while that may seem insignificant, there are vitaceae texts that show it’s actually similar to canaiolo. It’s also known as “canaiolo roma.” The work was carried out by the nephew of the owner of the tower on Gabriele Buondonno’s property. This means another lovely catalyst to endure or rather encourage local sapidity because it will help to maintain pH and also temper acidity for a red and white field blend mix that thrives on its balance between the two poles. Hard to figure which reigns supreme in Lèmme Lèmme; salinity, sapidity or tannic chalkiness. All are important, in 2021 just about in near perfect equilibrium. Drink 2026-2034. Tasted December 2023

Castello Di Gabbiano Alleanza 2018, Toscana IGT

The “alliance” is a re-styled sangiovese with its one specific hectare each of merlot and cabernet sauvignon aged in French oak, 50 percent of it new. Fully on top of the fruit though this will diminish but will take the same 14 months the wine had aged in those toasty barrels. The vines are grown on exposed clays, picked late when the leaves begin falling to the ground. In certain years the fruit can be co-fermented and both the best Belleza and Alleanza are made. The 2018 is a very good wine though one can’t help se the idea of seasoning new wood as a tool for future Gran Selezione. Drink 205-2028. Tasted May 2023

Cigliano di Sopra Nuvola del Cigliano 2022, Toscana IGT

A mix of 75 percent trebbiano and (25) malvasia, five days whole bunches for a quick syringe of carbonic and then a short, old wood stay. Comes away with just that quick strike of matchstick and a finish at 11 percent alcohol. Citrus is very lemon, juiced and gelid like curd but what stands out is the dry extract and sweet tannins. This can and will age – there is no doubt. Picked on September 17th, 2023 – a week later than previously – on the 24th. Less than 1,000 bottles made. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted October 2023

Fattoria Carpineta Fontalpino Boulé Vino Spumante di Qualità Metodo Classico Brut

Pas Dosé sangiovese because “I love Champagne,” smiles Gioia Cresti. This is simply the most easy, lovely and elegant sparkling wine in this territory, first made in 2019 and it’s just composed of the finest, lightest touch. Every occasion would benefit from a glass of Boulée. Single vineyard made in small quantity (5,000 bottles). Drink 2023-2025. Tasted October 2023

Fattoria Carpineta Fontalpino Do et Des 2019, Toscana IGT

At 200m on very clay soils with alluvial content and the presence of river stones. A mix of merlot, cabernet sauvignon and petit verdot. A bigger wine than the Classico and in many ways. True rich and luxe vintage for this Super Tuscan. A style so different that is a matter of the soil but “also my hand,” tells Gioia Cresti. Soft tannins here and though youthful there is an approachable aspect that the sangiovese do not allow for when they are this young. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted October 2023

Fattoria Carpineta Fontalpino Do et Des 2017, Toscana IGT

Yes the vintage was a great challenge, including for Bordeaux reds with merlot being picked in late August, almost unheard of for any harvest time in Chianti Classico. Still there are soft tannins as per this blend and yet also dried fruit because of the vintage. Last tasted October 2023

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

Fattoria Le Masse Forasacco 2022, Toscana IGT

A mix of chardonnay and (25 per cent) pinot gris from a 1986 planted vineyard on the farm purchased by Robin Mugnaini’s father in 1996. Just 1,800 bottles coming from steel only and the 2023 will improve quantity and Mugnaini feels also quality This ’22 amount is emarkable considering the Chianti Classico production will overall be down 50 percent. Feel the solar accumulation and as a result the phenolics that manifest as preserved lemon and sweet herbs with a side of textural lees. Five months that is and that really drives the point. Stays the course, never drifts away and finds its balance in the end. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted October 2023

Fattoria Le Masse Camporella 2022, Toscana IGT

Varietal trebbiano, the orange wine, from a 1974 planted vineyard with perhaps (five percent) malvasia. Twenty percent whole bunch put to terra cotta pots, between eight and nine months, just two months on the skins (as opposed to six in 2021). Wild yeasts and no sulphites, organic (certified since 2020) and biodynamic. Clean, phenolic and quite precise, dry and a mild scotch note, neither smoky nor smouldering, nor paraffin neither. Good clarity and mouthfeel. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted October 2023

Fattoria Le Masse Spruz 2022, Toscana IGT

Sangiovese as Rosato, label done by Robin’s sister, light, bright and under 12 percent alcohol. Shockingly aromatic in a terrific way, red current burst, pink grapefruit and juice that could have re-fermented as Pét-Nat but that risk-reward was averted and the result was better than what could have very possibly gone wrong. Quite a bit of colour for a quick drip as Rosé, salty like it should be and lingering with great presence, complex flavours and all that one could want for quenching satisfaction. Just 1,000 bottles made. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted October 2023

Fattoria Le Masse Santa Goccia 2022, Toscana IGT

Bottled in June of 2023 so still in the cellar and not to be released until 2024. Comes away at 12.5 percent alcohol, a full percent higher than the 2021, “now just the way we want it to be,” notes Robin Mugnaini. “The ’21 was a bit strong for our intentions.” Fine showcase of reduction, on the gentle side of that stage, showing the verdant edges that the field blend of endemic red and white grapes are want to express at this level of competition. No it is not yet in a good place but when it settles, morphs in composition and decides what it wants to be – well then and with the lower alcohol this should change for the better. Feels a bit more like frappato or gamay now – less rustic then the 2021. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted October 2023

Fattoria Le Masse Santa Goccia 2021, Toscana IGT

The blend is 70 percent sangiovese with a (20) mix of canaiolo, colorino and ciliegiolo plus (10) trebbiano. A wine that harkens back to the old Chianti recipe where a mix of endemic red and white grapes adhered to tradition as a true field blend. Mostly raised and aged in concrete, just a little bit more than 3,000 bottles. Two vineyards side by side, clay and sand, planted in 1974 and 1986. Chill, pop and pour concoction, grippy and phenolic, juicy as F and edgy. Don’t hold these – just enjoy the F out of them. Think Chilean Paìs or rustic gamay. This will attract a knowing and nodding crowd. Bottled in June of 2022. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted October 2023

At Villa Pomona

Fattoria Pomona Trebbiano Pomonica 2022, Toscana Bianco IGT

Monica Raspi’s white made in Chianti Classico is something her son Cosimo surely takes interest in and so the future will likely see more of this kind of wine. Just a handful of rows of vines produce 200, maybe 300 bottles that Raspi insists are “to produce easy drinking wines.” As this is just that, a factor of 15 degree (celsius) fermentation, pressed 24 hours later and aged in concrete egg. A finer texture as compared to that first, reductive and raw ’21 which only saw stainless steel. Ever so slightly phenolic is this ’22 but that serves to pique curiosity. Well, anyway, just drink it. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted October 2023

Fattoria Pomona Fattoria Pomona Piero Rosso 2022, Toscana IGT

Piero is an ode to Monica Raspi’s brother, a communist who loved to drink red wine. The 2022 was just bottled a moth ago, a young vines sangiovese that sees only stainless steel. A really hot vintage and so if fruit concentration was the only qualifying criteria then Piero ’22 could very well be considered as Chianti Classico. Also substantial in mouthfeel and surprisingly tannic to tell us something important. Without wood aging those tannins are purely a result of pips and skins. Not the easiest drinking Piero but it is a Raspi wine from Pomona vineyards so there is of course a sweet level of charm. Works the glass, room and palate though choosing a food match is essential. Home Enrico-cured and transparently sliced pork shoulder for the win. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted October 2023

Fattoria Pomona Cabernet Sauvignon 2021, Toscana IGT

No wood but only concrete which serves to avoid any density or heavy character. As far as cabernet sauvignon is concerned Pomona’s is pure and unadulterated, from exceptional fruit that simply delivers varietal personality. This would be high quality cabernet sauvignon anywhere and it is exceptional for vines grown in Chianti Classico. Cassis, pyrazine and a solid tannic presence. if sweetly so. Then the Pomona balsamico arrives to remind that place is just as strong as grape variety. The soils are so present and accounted for. Easy to drain two glasses. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted October 2023

Fattoria Rignana Bianco 2022, Toscana IGT

Just 4,000 bottles made of this “white” sangiovese, chosen from younger vines in the lowest vineyards near the Pesa River where production is highest. Only stainless steel, wild yeasts and a proper saltiness to balance the phenolics of what transpires in treating sangiovese this way. Charcoal is added to the juice to remove the colour. Not a heroic wine but something more than curious and quite satisfying. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted October 2023

Fattoria Rignana Rosato 2022, Toscana IGT

Same process to make Rosato as how the Bianco (white sangiovese is) yet fermented lower (13 degrees celsius) for 28 days. Bottled early in January or February of the following year. Truly clean and stable Rosé, absolutely no distractions, neither sharp, nor phenolic but yes it’s gastronomic. Pair with really fine salumi artigianale. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted October 2023

Fattoria Rignana 2020, Toscana IGT

A 100 percent canaiolo, something very few producers will attempt and a very floral expression at that, some might say it scents like freisa. Smells like fresh roses and the texture is complimentary to the aromatics. Picked at the same time as sangiovese yet seems a bit riper if also variegate because the green notes are more prevalent. Not so much unripe but specific to the varietal style. Cosimo Gericke adds 10 per cent whole bunch on the top of the ferment and bingo, there’s the rub. Has been made five times, it really is curious and worthy of further investigations. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted October 2023

Fattoria Rignana Il Riccio 2020, Toscana IGT

Il Riccio, the hedgehog because the estate once belonged to the family Ricci and the animal is found on their crests. A varietal cabernet franc, partly because winemaker Paolo Salvi agreed to work with it, even though Giacomo Tacchis considered cabernet sauvignon easily its equal. A rarity in Chianti Classico (also produced by Vignamaggio, Buondonno, Candiale and used with respect by Castello di Rampola) but that’s about it. Quite ripe and intense, high acid, some roasted fruit notes, figs, char, tar and balsamic. Lots of interest. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted October 2023

Fèlsina I Sistri Chardonnay 2021, Toscana Bianco IGT

As luxe and rich a chardonnay as I Sistri has even been yet with a vintage that more than sufficiently supplies the substance. An IGT of sustenance yet there is a fine sharpness or tuning, a bite or chiseling, not quite green apple or stone but certainly a balancing measure to keep the wine from expressing too much voluptuous behaviour. Drinks beautifully and will continue to do so for a minimum three more years. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted October 2023

Fèlsina I Sistri Chardonnay Selezione Privata 2019, Toscana Bianco IGT

Fruit comes off of a 15 year-old vineyard (at the time of this vintage) and a selection that makes this a Tuscan white that is essentially a “selezione speciale,” though Fèlsina chooses the addendum “privata.” The most special vines are chosen to separate and elevate this SP from the classico I Sistri label. Ostensibly a more concentrated version from this first, foremost and original (Chianti Classico producer) chardonnay. Yes it is luxe and volupté by comparison but its greatest significant asset is texture, exaggerated and extrapolated by way of viscosity. Hard not to name 2023 as the ideal time to see the best of this chardonnay, nor would it be odd to suggest four more very fine years lay ahead. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted October 2023

Fèlsina Fontalloro 2019, Toscana IGT

Fontalloro is the two-part, 50-50 sangiovese with one foot in the southeastern tip of Chianti Classico and the other in the Chianti Colli Senesi. A joint between Fèlsina and Castello di Farnetella but each location is as important as the other. The former delivers limestone (Alberese), dry, dusty and tannic backbone while the latter offers clay-sandy fruit concentration, roundness and amenability. Like mixing Marsannay with Santenay but here in IGT sangiovese clothing. The 2019 leans more to the Colli Senesi because fruit is everything and not really a surprise considering the season was one of the easiest and most generous of a stretch between 2013 and 2023. This Fontalloro shows density and offers drinkability while explaining that cousins (and neighbours) are meant to blend and play together. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted October 2023

Godello and la Famiglia Manetti

Fontodi Bianco 2022, Toscana Bianco IGT

A new sku for Fontodi and the inspiration comes from the next generation, that being Bernardo Manetti. Made with vermentino, 50 year-old vines, fermented in 600L barrels, 2nd passage (previously used for sauvignon blanc Merrigio). Low temps, every day bâttonage, whole cluster pressed, no skin contact and use of dry ice. Picked at high acid and this is just about spot on but thankfully a dry if not exceptionally hot season has resulted in great freshness, piquant personality and a truly linear Bianco. This is smart and focused. Just a bit more than 12 percent alcohol. 780 bottles produced. Drink 2023-2024. Tasted October 2023

Fontodi Flaccianello Della Pieve 2020, Toscana Centrale IGT

Fontodi Flaccianello Della Pieve 1983, Toscana Centrale IGT

Same as it ever was. Hardened and frozen in time, immovable, not to be modified and persistently itself as a manifestation of 1983. Last tasted October 2023

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

Gagliole 2020, Colli Della Toscana Centrale IGT

First vintage was 1993, in what could be considered the second wave of Chianti Classico territory wines made as IGTs outside of the appellation, at the time inclusive of cabernet sauvignon. Today it comes from the finest selection in the Pietraforte of Panzano and is only sangiovese, crunchy and as UGA transparent as it gets. Time is the requiem to understand this wine and sangiovese in general. As for 2020 well it is hard to fathom how Gagliole could have coaxed this much finesse when so many things could have gone sideways. The level of trust in the process is to be admired. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted May 2023

Il Molino di Grace Gratius 2020, Toscana IGT

Campione (Sample): “With Gratius we work in a different way,” explains Iacopo Morganti. “Aging in barriques and tonneaux.” From 2022 the aging will happen in 15 hL Austrian wood. Big wine from 2020 and that is not written, spoken and pronounced lightly. It is the vintage, hot and heavy, a romance between sangiovese and weather that does not happen so often. A lustfully romantic wine but be patient and allow the friendship and the longevity of the union to develop. Two years in wood and now needs a “cleaning” by way of vegetable gelatin (vegan, 3 g/l per 4hl) and then bottled by the end of the year. Very tannic finish. This should be Gran Selezione. It’s single vineyard and arguably the top wine. Starting with 2020 the artwork changes on the label with each vintage. Drink 2027-2035. Tasted October 2023

Il Molino di Grace Gratius 2019, Toscana IGT

Isole E Olena Cepparello 2021, Toscana IGT, Tuscany, Italy

Paolo’s first tasting of this finished 2021 Cepparello since bottling back in May is this right here. The frost vintage, namely on April 7th, with secondary buds on the Cordone vines being the source of most of the wine’s fruit. Not a disaster at Isole e Olena, maybe 35 percent loss in total but the quality was high and so less Chianti Classico was made. “That wine is less about the vintage for us,” says de Marchi and so this as the decision made to cope with the small crop. Once again (and since forever) Paolo employs the aromas and proteins inducing method of soft maceration, long délestage and skins connected back with already half fermented juice. The ’21 is a wine of frescezza and yet saying freshness does not do the description justice. There is tension and a nervous energy buzzing from Cepparello 2021 and one to really hold your attention. There may be no Italian word for texture but were there one that made any real sense it might be the dramatic threads of “weft” from this 2021 youthful work in progress. This will be a Cepparello for the ages, Buy it and bank on it. Drink 2026-2040. Tasted December 2023

Isole E Olena Cepparello 2020, Toscana IGT

The Covid vintage, beautiful weather in late winter and early spring before intermittent rains through mid-May and June. Summer was very hot and thankfully water reserves were available to keep the plants healthy. The grapes did accumulate major sugars, maximum ripeness and the finish at 15 percent alcohol was matched by very well balanced parts, especially substantial tannins that are anything but aggressive. Like 2018 this was unavoidable unless you wanted to pick two weeks earlier along with what would have been green tannins. “A wine like this is really the result of the viticulture,” insists Paolo de Marchi. Also soft maceration, cap unbroken, long délestage for a result that is suave, stylish and democratic. The actual method is two days of maceration, Rosato liquid removed, four or five more days of the solids half fermenting. Then the liquid is added back, the cap is kept wet and the rest of fermentation happens with skins that hold already half fermented juice. The method induces more molecules in the aromatic compounds and also proteins are developed in added ways. An accommodating Cepparello, purity of sangiovese, rounder as a vintage, something that old and new buyers of this IGT will be drawn to, for early gratification and also long a life ahead. The following 2021 bottled last Spring will be Paolo de Marchi’s last finished vintage at Isole e Olena. Drink 2025-2038. Tasted December 2023

Istine Rosato Toscano 2022, Toscana IGT

“My idea was a light Rosé that you can drink in good quantity.” – Angela Fronti. Three hours on skins then put to tank at maximum 18 degrees. More grapes come from Radda for freshness, picked 10 days ahead of the Chianti Classico, but also from Cavarchione in Gaiole. Fruit meets salinity at the junction where everything turns to stone. These are all hallmarks of Rosato made here that can only satisfy as it quenches thirst. 11,000 bottles produced. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted October 2023

Istine Bianco Toscano 2022, Toscana IGT

The most unctuous and substantial of Angela Fronti’s whites may be trebbiano and malvasia bianca but tasted blind you might convince yourself that you are tasting white Châteauneuf-de-Pape. Good thing Angela Fronti chose these grapes for Bianco instead of Vinsanto because this is not the kind you can find in this region with any regularity. The malvasia may be a bit ripe but the acidity keeps the faith and the aging in terracotta pots delivers a far out amount of texture. Bâttonage in the early days stirs up quality lees and so mouthfeel gets the full treatment. Flavour profile is dry and savoury while honeyed with just that minor notation of beeswax. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted October 2023

Istine 550 Merlot 2020, Toscana IGT

Rich and sweetly verdant with weight and massive tannins form this vintage. The name refers to the elevation and tonneaux are the vessels to age this varietal wine. Tat, serious tang and age-ability confirmed. Would wait at least five years for this special wine from Istine’s Chianti Classico lands. Drink 2025-2031. Tasted October 2023

La Montanina Nebbiano 2019, Toscana IGT

Sangiovese in purrezza made with “a little bit of wood” and also concrete, like the Chianti Classico yet those appellative wines are slowly but surely settling in their last days in that vessel medium. This sees more time in concrete and so the lessening of tonneaux means more freshness and increased energy. What matters most is the verdancy that comes from Monti, the green notes of the forest, air and the vines. Here is what you call inniorante, the feeling of Monti that is quite frankly not translatable, something that is unknown by someone who does not know. Like birbi, as in naughty, or better yet clever or sly. This is to say typical of Monti sangiovese. Why not be a Gran Selezione? Drink 2025-2032. Tasted December 2023

Le Cinciole 2022, Toscano Rosato IGT

First made in 2008 with the largest sangiovese berries chosen because they are the juiciest and most expressive for making Rosé. Salty and just a two hour contact with the skins which brings the subtlest bitterness that makes this more than just the aforementioned juicy and salty pink wine. All about satisfaction and thirst quenching. Just at the beginning of an evening, no more. Average production is 3,000 bottles. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted December 2023

Le Cinciole Petresco 2019, Colli Della Toscana IGT

A fantasy name but it is the place and one full of stones, a.k.a. “la Pietra.” Solo sangiovese, not the juicy and open style that is Aluigi but something that comes form a more rocky soil, of Pietraforte, calcareous stones and schist which opens above as flaked Galestro. A much more structured sangiovese and you feel the rocks; sandstone and true calcium carbonate with some quartz. Feels like minerals and metals are piquing the palate with a real sanguine note. Serious and austere, not Gran Selezione but says Luca, “never say never.” Drink 2026-2034. Tasted December 2023

Le Cinciole Camalaione 2018, Colli Della Toscana IGT

Camalaione, mainly cabernet sauvignon with (15 each) merlot and syrah. All from one vineyard and amphora is used for vinification. Wild ferment and for a few months before transfer to barrel. Inky and chalky with a true cabernet character coming through, truly of Cassis and this real Mediterranean brushy attitude. That said it’s juicy while also clearly structured for a wine that would make lovers of real Napa Valley stand up to request a glass. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted December 2023

Podere La Cappella Oriana 2020, Toscana IGT

Podere La Cappella Corbezzolo 2016, Toscana IGT

Finest selection of sangiovese grapes, always having been labelled as IGT yet going forward from 2019 it will become Gran Selezione. There was time when it seemed as if Podere La Cappella would be one of the last to embrace the appellation but when yo have sangiovese as particular and expressive as Corbezzolo you may as well get with the program. Serious lift, elevating sangiovese to lofty status and a most structured wine with wood a much more accenting factor as compared to the Chianti Classico wines. Good and sapid, fresh and fine. Remains to be seen if the team will stay this course for a GS-designate Classico. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted May 2023

Podere La Cappella Cantico 2015, Toscana IGT

Rich and structured, old vines merlot of an accord between San Donato in Poggio lands and a grape planted decades ago because times were different and it just felt right. Still is in pockets here and there with Podere La Cappella’s sector of San Donato in Poggio being one of those places where merlot continues to thrive. Impressive and maturing though complexities will continue to develop for a few more seasons. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted May 2023

Poggi al Sole Pontente 2020, Toscana IGT

Sangiovese with merlot and cabernet sauvignon with near equal parts facing the borgo of Badia a Passignano. Third vintage for the poetic red blend meaning “facing the sunset,” which speaks to the west-facing orientation of the vineyard. More evening sun which rounds the wine, especially the palate, as do the Bordeaux varieties. A five hectare vineyard (that is incidentally called Pontente) and the canaiolo also grows there. Acidity is higher but certainly sweeter, alcohol generous (at 14.5) but c’mon this is west facing and 2020. Integration is impeccable and balance the result. Very refined and age-able. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted December 2023

Poggi al Sole Syrah 2021, Toscana IGT

The vineyard planted in 1992, same year Valentino Davaz was born and this is the lone survivor of dad Johannes’ varietal experimentations. Bottom line is people like syrah and this has its place, also in a different way then say Isole e Olena or Fontodi. A sommelier would be all over a syrah like this to sell to a customer who would be pleased to try a different wine from a classic place. Very vertical but even more so Tuscan and truth is defined by its Pietraforte soils in this unique corner of San Donato in Poggio. Which translates as a mix of Panzano sleekness and Badia a Passignano grip. The most lifted of the Poggio al Sole wines, the one with a balsamic edginess. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted December 2023

Principe Corsini – Villa Le Corti Per Filo 2020, Toscana IGT

Per Filo, the most savage or wildest rebel of the Le Corti sangiovese but it’s a paradox of fruit and energy. The nose here with no added sulphites shows us the wild side but this will change. The palate is so very different and “it’s like a sunset that changes every moment you look and look again. You feel the sensation the whole way – it’s there.” Seriously austere tannins will also take quite some time. Reconvene in five years time. Drink 2026-2034. Tasted October 2023

Principe Corsini – Villa Le Corti Figo Sangiovese 2020, Toscana IGT

Picked one week ahead of Zac (Gran Selezione) yet from the same vineyard sourcing. Less feral than Per Filo and yet more weight, flesh and the familiarity is so apparent, of brothers, sisters and cousins. Not as huge as Zac (at 15 percent) but something impressive in its own right. Austere tannins again but a juiciness that slings vitality and spirit. Wow. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted October 2023

Querciabella Camartina 2019, Toscana IGT

First produced in 1981 as a Vino da Tavola, now a blend of 70 percent cabernet sauvignon and (30) sangiovese picked in late September to early October. So bloody young and virtually immovable, not merely tannic in an austere or compact way but something intangible happening to define structure. More herbal aromatics and compression that contend with the fruit’s energy and there feels like history and philosophy trapped in a bottle years away from expelling the story. Will unfold over a ten to fifteen year period. The shape of this IGT is so very different to Chianti Classico, by cabernet sauvignon of course but also the place that nurtures the vines from which Querciabella’s team are sure to abide so that it may lead this charge. Drink 2025-2036. Tasted May 2023

Querciabella Batàr 2020, Toscana IGT

The pinot bianco artist formerly known as “Batard” has morphed over the years though continues to keep track of what it was always meant to be. The current incarnation goes at the pristine style equal partners with chardonnay, all Ruffoli fruit at 450, 500 and 600m on Macigno (sandstone) soil with Galestro shelving. The “D” dropped is a tongue and cheek memory but now the opening “B” and finishing “R” connects Bourgogne with Ruffoli. Do you not feel the way this white blend just kind of takes your breath away? The nervous energy, like a strong wind before a storm, a deep inhale followed by a long, slow exhale. The pinot bianco and chardonnay equally proportionate to ensure balance and yet each sip incites a slight gasp. Move past this initial feeling of being frozen in time and then everything goes calm, the tempest not arriving with plenty of time still to enjoy the moment before it does. Drink 2024-2032. Tasted May 2023

Rocca Delle Macìe Vigna L’Aja Bruciata 2021, Maremma Toscana DOC

Andrea Zingarelli wanted to make a white wine, not any white wine but something more than just something simple and fresh to drink straight away. Chardonnay from Chianti Classico? No. Oxidative trebbiano? Uh-uh. Vermentino from the coast made the most sense but only with the freshest, cleanest and least sun-burnt berries. Grows on Macigno Toscano, non-calcareous, poor soils, of cooler temperatures overall than in Chianti Classico. Nine months on lees, racked off and the lees goes into to barrel, some of which will be added back into the mix. Just 1,800 bottles and a very aromatic white wine (vermentino is semi-aromatic) and the gemstone, metallic and mineral elements are all over the phenolic nose of this wine. This is a yeoman first iteration from a grand idea and with great potential. The future is wide open. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted December 2023

Rocca Delle Macìe Vigna L’Aja Bruciata 2022, Maremma Toscana Vermentino DOC

Second vintage for the white wine brainchild of Andrea Zingarelli and the first labeled under the new DOC of Maremma Toscana Vermentino DOC. Winemakers Luca Francioni and son Duccio are very much a part of this project with the intention to make a vermentino of flesh and karst with some potential to age. This second attempt really makes an impression because of how it expresses place with more brightness and harmony between its parts. The citrus is here, as are those mineral elements from 2021 but without the overt phenolic and botanical aromas. Length is better, precision is finer and finesse bringing this vermentino into better focus. 3,241 bottles produced. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted December 2023

Rocca Delle Maciè Ser Gioveto 1990, Vino Da Tavola Rosso Della Toscana

Before 1998 Ser Gioveto was 100 percent sangiovese and then up to 2013 it was made with 20 percent merlot and cabernet sauvignon. The first harvest was 1985 and so here in the sixth vintage the wine was created in one of the finest vintages for the Chianti Classico area. Keep in mind that this predates the creation of denominational IGT labelling. Arguably the best of its time and we are fortunate it was made as solo sangiovese, still bright, fresh and pure. Frescezza and salinity, finest Castellina acidity and hard to believe this is 33 years of age. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted December 2023

Rocca di Montegrossi Rosato 2022, Toscana IGT

Always and only sangiovese, from all estate vines, including San Marcellino and picked later in ’23, starting on the 11th of September. Only one hour contact with the juice, fermentation lasts one month at low temperature (16 degrees celsius), CO2 added to each tank every day. Full oxidative prevention. Wine is never racked and the lees increases both character and structure, three months more or less. Then finally racked and put to bottle. Limestone salinity meets sangiovese sapidity. Dry as a bone and karst from vineyard stone for Rosato that is so satisfying with bonds between fruit and vineyard for something of true Chianti Classico identity, defined as gastronomy. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted October 2023

Rocca di Montegrossi Geremia 2018, Toscana IGT

Rocca di Montegrossi Ridolfo 2017, Toscana IGT

Ridolfo was the son of Geremia in the Ricasoli family, builder of the fortress at Montegrossi. First vintage was 2015, making this the third. Marco Ricasoli was not looking for a new wine but by accident or happenstance he had conjoined 50 percent each pugnitello and cabernet sauvignon. Marco could not believe the seamless connection and juiciness so he felt compelled to turn the union into a new wine. His family holds the extra name Firidolfi, son of Ridolfi or the true meaning, “the Ricasoli coming from Ridolfo.” Ages longer than Geremia and is made in 2000 magnums. There is a sweetness of perfume that imagines violets more than anything else and while this also shows off the spice cupboard of Geremia it’s just as much a matter of the vineyard, meaning Alberese chalkiness, salinity and as per that of Chianti Classico – sapidity too. The pugnitello connection to San Marcellino is more than prescient and the longevity here will be long, slow and fascinating. Poured from Magnum. Drink 2025-2035. Tasted October 2023

San Felice Vigorello 2019, Toscana IGT

The “original” Super Tuscan, a blend that used to be 100 percent sangiovese (born in 1968) but today that best fruit is destined only to the Gran Selezone. Now the blend is pugnitello, cabernet sauvignon, merlot and a splash of petit verdot. Still a wine with a Tuscan DNA and one that speaks to San Felice’s vineyards. Lovely vintage and that is no small feat for a wine based on pugnitello. The most elegant Vigorello to date. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted October 2023

Vecchie Terre Di Montefili Vigna Vecchia 2018, Toscana IGT

High level acidity elevates the juicy and pulsating nature of this deeply hued and developed Gran Selezione by Vecchie Terre di Montefili. Tannins are nothing to ignore and their drying character makes sure to explain how young this sangiovese still is. Big-boned, high-toned and with captured freshness like few others. So many layers to unfold. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted May 2023

Villa di Geggiano Rosato 2022, Toscana IGT

Non-saignée Rosato from sangiovese and syrah, the latter of which are from vines nearly 40 years of age. “We needed something for the cellar,” tells Andrea Bianchi Bandinelli and after white grapes were removed from the Chianti Classico rules it meant a new chapter for Geggiano. Just 1,000 bottles are made of this salty and briny Rosé, sharp, pointed and intensely flavourful. Great spirit with sapidity and citrus bitters on the finish. More gastronomy than patio sipper. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted October 2023

Villa di Geggiano Bandinello 2021, Toscana Rosso IGT

A blend of 60 percent sangiovese with 20 each syrah and ciliegiolo. The dangerous wine because it can disappear so quickly and the label is the same that Andrea’s grandfather used for the fiasco bottles of the day. No wood, only stainless, juicy, snappy and super sharp. Cracker IGT with verse and juicy spirit. Tasted October 2023

Good to go!

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Palencia Sparkling Albariño

A steamy August in Washington

Jan12

Hot red August sun in the Walla Walla Valley

In August of 2023 a small group of intrepid Canadians traipsed through the wilds of Washington’s wine country in search of the new but found so much more. A fine fettle of wine producers and estates fill up the eastern landscape, fully encapsulating the industry with the experienced, quaint, artful, zealous, time-tested, animated and cerebral. The trip was a hunt in persistence, finding it all, revelling in its mottled and striped splendour, sitting back to admire the people and the scenery. Smoke taint was on everyone’s mind but clear skies dominated imagination. The journey was winding, snaking contiguously like the Columbia, Yakima and Walla-Walla Rivers, working an itinerary through the Tri-Cities, Yakima Valley, Red Mountain, Walla Walla, Woodinville and finally to finish in Seattle. The weather ranged from 90 to 115 degrees Fahrenheit (32-46 Celsius for the rest of the metric world), fires burned far off in the distances near Spokane and widespread in British Columbia. The air was thick as pea soup though there was no fog and spirits remained high. Unwavering you might say, always ready for road-tripping, to reach further, for action and of course tasting.

The group convened in Richland, one of three city-siblings conjoined at the aggregate network of urban communities that include Pasco and Kennewick. On day one we took in the Yakima Valley and Red Mountain AVAs with J. Bookwalter Winery, Palencia Winery, Goose Ridge Estate Vineyard & Winery, Col Solare and Hedges. Day two down to the Walla Walla Valley AVA with SMAK Wines, Gramercy Cellars, Valdemar Estates, L’Ecole N° 41 and Woodward Canyon Winery. Morning of day three still about town in Walla Walla, at Seven Hills Winery, House of Smith and Vital Wines. Further south to The Rocks District of Milton-Freewater with Rotie Cellars and in the haze of the evening an oasis harvest party at Spring Valley Vineyard. Day four and onwards to the Yakima Valley AVA with Tirriddis, Sonder Wines, JB Neufeld and 14 Hands Winery. Day five more of the Yakima Valley AVA and then on to Woodinville, first with a blending experience and tasting at Chateau Ste Michelle, culminating at Airfield Estates. A long finale of a drive over the Cascade Mountains, a change in scenery and more profoundly weather ,with clear blue skies and sunshine in Seattle.

Lunar landscape in the Walla Walla Valley, akin to a Wes Anderson set of “parched gulch and arid plains.”

Grape cultivation in hostile climates

Cultivating wines in much of Washington is not a native exercise. Most of the southern part of the state is desert and nothing comes easy. There are many vistas akin akin to a Wes Anderson set of “parched gulch and arid plains.” This reminder comes by way of Christophe Hedges. “To plant a vineyard we just have to thin out a few sage bushes. Vine-growing is not a natural practice.” Yet Hedges also reminds that practicing biodynamics is not commonplace, but it is natural and so the Vineyard Manager reigns have fallen to 26 year-old Kayla Braich. Christophe insists she is the most knowledgable biodynamic expert in the Columbia Valley. “Hiring an old white guy to do biodynamics would not have worked.” At Hedges, Sarah Hedges Goedhart tells how Portuguese varieties are a focus, especially touriga nacional (but also tinta cáo and sezão) for their heat and drought resistant, terroir-driven qualities. They are late flowering and developing but also deal with the stress of extreme climate events better than the Bordeaux varieties. “Red Mountain is a small-knit community,” says Christophe. “We hope the way we are farming will be the direction of the future.”

Justin Neufeld talking Yakima, Rattlesname Hills and Red Mountain

“We’ve made wine in Spain for the past five generations, and we plan to make wine in Walla Walla for five generations to come.” — CEO Jesús Martínez Bujanda, 5th Generation at Valdemar Estates

Justin Neufeld finds the cabernet sauvignon from Red Mountain more granular and austere. Vibrant yet one-dimensional as compared to the (relatively) cooler climate sites of the Yakima Valley. There are different wind patterns here and the tannic profile becomes softer, chalkier and ultimately more elegant, with a true red fruit personality. Yakima lends to more “blended” cabernets, in particular as it pertains to structure, also more aromatic complexity and classic varietal style. Herbal, red fruits, herbaceous and vegetal character. More acid driven. Much of Yakima’s style is because of landscape orientation. Here the ridges run east to west where the cataclysmic glacial lake outburst Missoula Floods peaked at 1,200 feet. There is also the Stuart Range in the Enchantment Basin which hosts a granite soil profile while wrinkles in the central crust resulted in basaltic, south facing slopes. Meanhwile Neufeld is one of a few producers to discuss the fires and potential for smoke taint. He comments that 2023 reminds him of 2007 when there really was no issue on the grapes.

“My sisters and I grew up with the understanding you don’t farm for this generation, you farm for the next one” – Bill Monson, President, Goose Ridge Vineyards

Heritage Vineyards

Old vines are key to the tenets of quality and success for growing regions worldwide. There are parts of Europe and also grape varieties that suffer from increased disease pressure and low fruit vigour but there are also locations, especially in warmer and more southern climates that host century vines still in positive rotation. South America, Australia and South Africa especially celebrate the heritage and age of old vines that keep on giving. While there are some vines and wineries populating the wet, mild climate of western Washington, it is the greater fields of Washington State’s warm and predominately desert climate playing host to many special blocks, many of them planted in the 1970s and 1980s where the finest expressions of the region’s terroirs are produced. Still dozens of others are coming on strong and on their way to joining the heritage account. Not to be forgotten is the high quantity and profound importance of own (as opposed to grafted upon) rootstock in Washington’s vineyards.

Airfield, Arnaut Boushey, Canoe Ridge Estate, Cold Creek, Dubrul, Moxee, Olsen, Phil Church, Rainmaker, Red Willow, Rosa Hills, Rothrock, Two Blondes and Upland vineyards in the Yakima Valley
Hyatt, Outlook, Portteus, Morrison, Stonemark and Whisky Canyon in the Rattlesnake Hills
Bacchus, Dionysus, Double D, Evergreen, Galitzine, Klein, Lawrence, Lewis Estate, Phinny Hill, Sagemoor, Stoneridge, Sundance, Tapteil and Wallula Gap of the Columbia Valley
Andrews, Champoux, Discovery, Lake Wallula, Mach One, Palengat, Sorella and Zephyr Ridge in Horse Heaven Hills
Clifton Bluff, Desert Wind, Fox Estate, North Ridge, Riverbend, Rosebud, StoneTree and Weinbau in the Wahluke Slope
Beautiful Powerline, En Chamberlin, Ferguson, Forgotten Hills, Heather Hill, Hidden Northridge, Leonetti, Loess, Pepper Bridge, Powerline, Serra Pedace, Seven Hills, Spring Valley, Sur Echalas, Woodward Canyon and Yellow Bird in the Walla Walla Valley
Mill Creek and Upland in the “North Fork” (of the Walla Walla River)
Bel’Villa, Cara Mia, Ciel du Cheval, Grand Ciel, Hedges, Jolet, Kiona, Kingpin, Klipsun, Les Gosses, Magdalena, Quintessence, Shaw, Upchurch, Terra Blanca and Weather Eye on Red Mountain
Ancient Stones, Holy Roller, Lafore, (Freewater, River and Rotie) Rocks, SJR in The Rocks District of (of Milton-Freewater)

These are but a shortlist with many more qualified and soon to qualify vineyards coming into their own. Heritage means more than grapevines, succinctly iterated by Bill Monson, President of Goose Ridge Vineyards. “My sisters and I grew up with the understanding you don’t farm for this generation, you farm for the next one.” CEO Jesús Martínez Bujanda of Valdemar Estates may be newer to the Washington wine scene but he echoes the sentiment. “We’ve made wine in Spain for the past five generations, and we plan to make wine in Walla Walla for five generations to come.”

Canadians and Kate at Spring Valley Vineyard

Syrah and Rhône varieties rising

Washinton State’s reputation has above all else been built on Bordeaux varieties but the present and the future see syrah and other Rhône grape varieties taking up more airspace, vineyard acreage and mind. The reds in syrah, grenache, mourvèdre, cinsault, carignan and counoise; The whites in marsanne, roussane, viognier, grenache blanc, clairette blanche and picpoul. On this last trip the Rhônes and varietal syrah were poured, discussed at length, waxed rhapsodic upon and just plain celebrated at Airfield Estates, Hedges, Gramercy Cellars, Rôtie Cellars, SMAK, Sonder, Spring Valley Vineyards, Valdemar Estates and Vital Wines. The Rhônes are taking hold and growing exponentially in the Yakima Valley, on Red Mountain, upon the Royal Slope and throughout the Walla Walla Valley, especially at the Oregon border in the Rocks District of Milton-Freewater. Plantings began in the mid-1908s in the Red Willow Vineyard of Yakima Valley.

Team Canada at House of Smith

WAugust in Washington

This WAugust trip to Washington wine country was made possible by the erudite folks at the Washington State Wine Commission, both in that spectacular state and also here in Canada. Just two months earlier a full-on participatory Pacific Northwest Wine event took place in Toronto and some added notes can be found at the end of this lengthy report. Three great humans work tirelessly (amongst many others behind the scenes) on behalf of the state’s more than 1,000 wineries, large and small. Keep in mind that Washington is the second-largest wine producing state in the United States, with over 1,050 wineries making over 17 million cases of wine, contributing more than $8 billion in annual in-state economic impact. That is a profound breadth of ground to cover for the small WSWC team. Chris Stone is Deputy Director and Kate Salisbury is International Marketing Manager. Chaperones Salisbury and Claudie Lamoureux of Washington State Wine for Canada were charged with the on point, on time task for five fulfilling and over-achieving days. Hard to say which of their characters or abilities were tops – driving prowess or durability, kindness, patience or grace. All of the above and it is imagined that Godello’s fellow travellers would wholeheartedly agree; Alana Lapierre, Angela Aiello and Mandi Roberston. In any case there was everything to experience, much along the lines of the varied and diverse wineries, AVAs and personalities encountered. Of conglomerates and boutiques, generational families and new blood, the established and the start-ups, pedagogues and rock stars, boffins and balladeers. There was much wine poured and these are the 135 tasting notes.

J. Bookwalter

Columbia Valley AVA

J. Bookwalter

John Bookwalter was a graduate of UC Davis Vineyard Management program and farmed some of Washington’s most famous tracts, Sagemoor, Bacchus and Dionysus. In 1982 he started J. Bookwalter, making approximately 2,000 cases of white wines. In the 90s he started the reds program and 2023 marked the 40th harvest. Chance Cruzen is winemaker and happens to be a big fan of Iggy Pop.

With the boys of J. Bookwalter

J. Bookwalter 3rd Edition 2019, Columbia Valley AVA

Flagship white, Bordeaux idiom, based on sémillon (63 percent) with sauvignon blanc (20) and muscadelle (19). The sém is both anchor and driver, dominating the aromatics and that speaks to how well this has been managed and blended. They keep the faith, act as catalyst for integration of both the varietal trilogy and the wood. John Bookwalter was known to say “choose your wood like you would choose a picture frame.” Equally important is the creation of consequence between flowing grace and bracing tension. Good strong mid-palate, tight and focused, length is outstanding. Proper flagship appellative white blend. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted August 2023

J. Bookwalter Merlot Readers 2020, Columbia Valley AVA

Mainly merlot but not exclusively, with small amounts of cabernet sauvignon, malbec and cabernet franc for good support, measure and spice. The oak is noticed, the tannins powdery yet silky enough to make this über sippable. Still a bit gangly to be honest with some white peppery piques on the aromatics and so another year will surely send this merlot to be in a place it was intended to be. A few grams of residual sugar plump it up and then chocolate, a next effect by barrel aging which only serves to make this a truly silken, creamy and yet acid retentive red wine. Produces up to 1,500 cases. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted August 2023

J. Bookwalter Conflict 2020, Columbia Valley AVA

Conflict, aged on lees, bottled 18 months after harvest. A great vintage save for some smoke that drifted in from fires all over the west, though really less dramatic here in the Columbia Valley than many other places. Pretty taut red that has not yet released its true aromatic charm, in fact it could be another 18 months before that really begins. The Readers Merlot is a much earlier proposition and the more diverse varietal meets barrel make-up with style intendment to make this a more structured and powerfully restrained merlot-dominant proprietary blend. Good yields though and a juiciness here that says the type of acidity in Conflict is quite different to that of Readers. This shows real potential, luxe as it is and all parts are prepared thoughtfully, with blood sweat and tears, yet neither by pretence nor blind ambition. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted August 2023

J. Bookwalter Cabernet Sauvignon Readers 2020, Columbia Valley AVA

Rounded out by five percent syrah and petit verdot, with thanks to a most important grower/vineyard, that being Dionysus. A richer, thicker and more unctuous red (as compared to merlot) but fruit concentration is on par. That said the warmer Dionysus site can’t help but deliver this kind of glycerin viscosity and so the blackberry-Cassis dominance will not be denied. Can’t miss the silky syrah and petit verdot depth that put this in the kind of red best defined as full and substantial. Refined and finessed enough, never overarching or reaching, best now and for a few to five years forward. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted August 2023

J. Bookwalter Cabernet Sauvignon Protagonist 2020, Columbia Valley AVA

Change of pace, in a way, from Conflict to Protagonist because for the first time there is an Italian (think Bolgheri) like stylistic coming through. Dusty, chalky and powdery tannins are evident, even in the face of fulsome and concentrated fruit. Juicy to the nth degree, ridiculously delicious and then a chocolate plus espresso crema all over the back end. The cumulative effect by fruit, terroir, climate and barrel aging make this climb to a rich and creamy finale pretty much unavoidable. Some sweetness follows and after some REM sleep there will be a long, melodic and jangling future for this Columbia Valley red. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted August 2023

Vic Palencia

Palencia

Victor (Vic) Palencia’s grandfather was a first generation immigrant from Spain (to Mexico) and he is first gen. American, so the symmetry, from Valencia to Palencia, is something to hang a northwest hat on. Vic started in Walla Walla in 2012 after taking a flyer and to realize a dream. As a first generation immigrant it cements the legally forming “sueno” even deeper. Thus the “Monarcha” brand, “earning my wings,” says Vic. “If you drink two bottles, cabernet and merlot side by side, you can fly.” A symbol for lifestyle, easy drinking wines and then the Palencia label, more serious, exulting Washington State’s diversity of grape varieties grown. The label depicts his father holding a shovel, “always working the land.” Palencia is located in Kennewick.

Godello foreground, background Vic Palencia

Charmat method, sweet and salty, like nuts and caramel corn but leaner and tighter as per the grace by variety. Simple stuff with good energy. Tasted August 2023

Palencia Albariño 2022, Columbia Valley AVA

Says Columbia Valley but really should be called Ancient Lakes located in northwest Washington. But Columbia is more recognizable and so here we are. If it smells like albariño and tastes like albariño well, you know the rest but truthfully this is a less herbaceous and more mineral example. And so Ancient Lakes it is. The terroir is hardpan calcareous limestone, good for drainage and reduction of hydric stress with sandy loam of up to 19 inches above. Pretty good albariño for dessert lands so far from a coast – but the place is definitely the reason. Nice little CO2 buzz about it as well which is so varietally correct. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted August 2023

Palencia Malbec Monarcha 2019, Columbia Valley AVA

From Vic Palencia and family in Kennewick with Columbia Valley fruit, 14 months in wood. Nice little char and smoulder on sweetly salty and sour-edged fruit. Higher acidity than many malbecs and also valley wines so this wants and needs food. Mojo bowl anyone? Drink 2023-2025. Tasted August 2023

Palencia Cabernet Sauvignon Monarcha 2019, Columbia Valley AVA

From the Richland Hills in the Columbia Valley where thicker skins and high quality fruit translate to unction and developed tannin. Cassis and Ribena mix, tart and candy hearts sour, in a good place right here and right now. Some powder in those tannins but resolution is just about complete. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted August 2023

Palencia Petit Verdot 2017, Wahluke Slope AVA

Part of the El Viñador line which is essentially Reserve style but the name is more specific and indicative of what it means to grow and make these kinds of varietal wines. From fruit grown on the Wahluke Slope AVA. Structure and mouthfeel justify the reasoning and the result, especially the tannic intensity and power at the yet to relent finish. Wood thickens, spices and sweetens the last third of this petit verdot which is really unlike any other, grown anywhere and produced as a solo artist. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted August 2023

Palencia Syrah El Viñador 2019, Red Mountain AVA

Red Mountain fruit and signature varietal effort but also style that Palencia seems most comfortable with. This is because the balance, restraint and finesse are at their collective finest in this kind of handsome and sturdy wine. Still some chalky and powdery tannin but overall the harmony and seamlessness are pretty spot on. Ready to go and please. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted August 2023

Top notch Paella at Palencia

Palencia Carmenère 2019, Red Mountain AVA

Sourced from the hottest region in Washington, that being Red Mountain and picked quite late. Nothing green about this carmenère, in fact it’s fruit and wood are thick as thieves, the tannins silken and the capsicum or jalapeño non-existent. Chewy like chocolate liquorice and very much a wine made for those who like it rich, luxe and thick. Drink 2023-2024. Tasted August 2023

Palencia Albariño El Viñador 2022, Columbia Valley AVA

The founding vineyard for albariño at Palencia’s reserve line is as advertised more concentrated, focused and finessed. From various harvests each fermented separately for 30 days in Hungarian oak puncheons then blended together before bottling. Aiming for a Galician style though truth be told you can take the albariño out of Galicia but you can’t take the Columbia Valley out of this albariño. Warm, rich and unctuous, in the end. Drink 2023-2024. Tasted August 2023

The Tirriddis Boys – Matthew Doutney, Gabriel Crowell and Andrew Gerow

Tirriddis

Tirage … Riddle … Disgorge. Tirriddis, acronym of sorts for three sparkling wine producing friends (Andrew Gerow, Gabriel Crowell, and Matthew Doutney) who celebrated the end of school with Gimonnet and Janz Champagne, fried chicken and chips. All attended Washington State University for viticulture and oenology. Their collective motto is “if we fail, we can always move back in with our parents. “Wine is a super architectural art form,” explains Gerow. “We’re really just trying to define Washington – defining typicality that really doesn’t exist yet.” First base wine were made in the Fall of 2020.

Tirriddis House Gris, Columbia Valley AVA

House tier is all about distribution, for restaurants and export in a fun and recognizable style. Here 100 per cent pinot gris, creamy aromatics, mousse as well, the sweetest of all the Tirridis wines at 11 g/L. Looks at reeling in a Prosecco crowd that can’t afford $50 sparkling wines. Sees 12 months on the lees and it is traditional method so expect some autolysis, mild oxidation and ultimately great energy. Drink 2023-2024. Tasted August 2023

Tirriddis House Brut, Columbia Valley AVA

More than 50 percent of the base wine is original (from the fall of 2020) and is essentially chardonnay with a few percentage points of albariño. Tirridis for tirage-riddle-disgorge (clever) and the sugars are hidden behind the acidity. Raises a bar for the vital scintillant nature of grapes farmed for wines that transfer energy like sparks jumping from hydro pole to hydro pole. Similar creaminess and mousse to the pinot gris but the orchard fruit here is different than that peachy stone. Who would dare not pour this as a warm home welcome or by the licensee glass? Tastes like unbaked Washington with tight bubbles. Drink 2023-2024. Tasted August 2023

Tirriddis House Rosé, Columbia Valley AVA

One-quarter each cabernet sauvignon, syrah, merlot and chardonnay, not unusual for Washington per se though no real frame of reference from the sparkling diaspora neither. Celebrates red fruit, from currants through plums and this surely comes across drier than it is, not quite the 12 g/L of pinot gris but this is pretty taut and wound for Rosé bubbles. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted August 2023

Tirriddis Brut Rosé, Columbia Valley AVA

The second rendition of the Brut Rosé, three parts, in triage two years, of cabernet sauvignon, syrah and chardonnay. One-third each means less red fruit so more of a currant current and the yeasty feels step up sooner and for longer. Still a scintillant intensity of vitality and energy plus some bitters this time around. Anything but a soft, upturned Brut style and saying this is a tasting room profile is pretty much spot on. Just feels like the teaching moment and in turn signature for the boys’ intonement of style. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted August 2023

Tirriddis Washington Blend, Columbia Valley AVA

Everything but the kitchen sink though in actuality it is anything but because it’s not the last lot to be put together each season. A blank slate concept that intends to represents the region in an unapologetic way. Fruity first, of merlot, riesling, pinot gris, cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay, viognier and syrah. Neither Blanc nor Rosé but a rainbow of multifariousness and truth be told this is seamless fizz, a Venn diagram of varietal and geography, of potential, diversity and exceptionality. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted August 2023

Tirriddis Blanc De Gris, Columbia Valley AVA

Third rendition looking for pure honeycomb and the guys feel they nailed it on number three, or at least set themselves upon a path to get it right there when number four comes to fruition. Why more sparkling producers do not refer to a varietal sparkling pinot gris in these terms is beyond me. It just fits. Creamy yes, with botanicals and bitters but the pear coulis flavour is uncanny. This goes a bit to herbal and preserved lemon foamy (and acidity is a bit subdued) but it’s close, oh so close. Can’t wait for rendition number four. Drink 2023-2024. Tasted August 2023

Tirriddis Blanc De Blanc Stonemark Single Vineyard 2020, Rattlesnake Hills AVA

First single vineyard sparkling wine, all chardonnay, small plantings in the Rattlesnake Hills AVA, 1,600 feet of elevation, of brushy savour and direct hits of more than one kind of citrus. The concept is a growers’ one – with obvious connotations. Elevation is clearly the driver because this is about acidity and high intensity, all pervasive and above all else in what this site wishes to give. Poured from Magnum, extended triage. Lemony, tight, zesty and just about zero dosage. Can see this living six or seven years. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted August 2023

Riley Miller, Sonder

Sonder

Established in 2016 by Riley Miller. Low-Fi, non-intervention, but not natural wines. Inspired by his time in the McLaren Vale. The initial production in 2016 was 100 cases – today about 3,000 cases. A thinker, but not too hard, yet still a man of wonder. Likes to consult the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, from which the realization is concluded that everyone around you has a complex life, as much as your own – but we can’t comprehend half of it. “We are like monkeys flying on a rock through space.” Observe Miller conduct a wine tasting for visiting journalists and you can imagine the inner workings of a modern day winemaking production. Riley’s bottles are anything but some kind of toad swindle. They are made for all of us, including those who don’t know it yet.

Sonder Rosé Cinsault 2022, Columbia Valley AVA

Trying to capture a Provençal style, 24 hours of skin contact, gently extracted and truly crushable. Lightly tart, basic, simple, unadorned. Native ferment. Truly cinsault to be honest. Drink 2023-2024. Tasted August 2023

Sonder Grenache Blanc 2022, Columbia Valley AVA

Big chunk of the fruit comes from Boucher Vineyards and a smaller portion out of the Rattlesnake Hills. Warm and mature though high elevations keep it fresh and again the naked nature of a Riley Miller wine make this immediately crushable. Unadulterated, no make up and local. Drink 2023-2024. Tasted August 2023

Sonder Roussanne 2022, Columbia Valley AVA

True expression of grape, not necessarily “perfect” wines, nor is there any reason to want them to be but they are representative of site and Washington. Neutral oak, tropical notes, fresh papaya and pineapple syrup, tart and textural with thanks to some stirring. Drink 2023-2024. Tasted August 2023

Sonder Field Blend 2022, Columbia Valley AVA

Orange, mostly viognier with some marsanne and roussanne, six weeks on skins, six months in neutral oak. Grapes that don’t really bring the orange but instead the partly cloudy pineapple juice hue. A wine that challenges why orange is the ubiquitous term because funk and melting salve are not the thing. Spice yes and litchi, also grapefruit and the most mild of bitters. Has that anesthetic feel on the palate. Third iteration of this wine. Drink 2023-2024. Tasted August 2023

Sonder Co-Ferment 2022, Columbia Valley AVA

A co-ferment of grenache and picpoul, first time trying, served chilled, “a patio pounder.” Watermelon Jolly Rancher insists Riley Miller, 11.5 percent and as crushable as wine can possibly get. Juice. Water, pink, alcohol. Drink 2023-2024. Tasted August 2023

Sonder Red Field Blend 2022, Columbia Valley AVA

Mostly counoise and grenache with some cinsault, viognier and roussanne. A couple of weeks on skins, co-fermented with some whole cluster and carbonic maceration. Simple, drinkable, low alcohol, currants and red berries, sweet acidity, a moment of balsamic and charred herbs. The grapes almost combine for a cabernet franc or even lightly smoky cannonau meets carmenère effect. Nothing else like it and better for that. Drink 2023-2024. Tasted August 2023

Sonder Grenache 2022, Yakima Valley AVA

Rarely made grenache by method and style “as close to pinot as is humanly possible” says Riley Miller. Picked early, 20 percent whole cluster, Western Cape stylistic, light, low alcohol, fresh and shadowy, suggestively if sneaky tannic. Drink 2023-2024. Tasted August 2023

The Orcas Project Nebbiolo Andrews Vineyard 2022, Horse Heaven Hills AVA

“The Orcas Project is a collaboration between some of the most talented winemakers in the Northwest and a collection of Orcas Island artists. The idea to combine these two groups of people was born on the island and continues to expand throughout the Northwest. Each winemaker that is part of The Orcas Project is paired with an artist and represented by a different label.” Riley Miller’s is pseudo carbonic for which 50 per cent whole cluster is added back on top – makes for a grippy if light and effusive style. Cherry, candy apple and onion skin. Picked early as if for Rosé and frankly reminds of Cerasuolo. Fine bitters, good balance and a bit of roasted nightshade char. Cinnamon heart finish. Drink 2023-2024. Tasted August 2023

Kinnikinick Red

Chateau Ste Michelle

Chateau Ste. Michelle is Washington State’s oldest winery, and many of Washington’s most famed winemakers got their start with the Estate. Ste Michelle is also the largest producer of Riesling in the world, and has winemaking partnerships with two international vintners: Col Solare is an alliance with Tuscany’s Piero Antinori and Eroica Riesling is a partnership with the Mosel’s Ernst Loosen. As part of the visit, the Canadian team was treated to a Blending Experience.

Chateau Ste. Michelle & Dr. Loosen Riesling Eroica 2022, Columbia Valley

More than a hint of residual sugar yet the driest style for CSM and though the relationship is with Ernie Loosen this is not Mosel style. Fruit is sourced primarily from the Evergreen Vineyard to bring Eroica into its proverbial and ironic sweet spot. The “hero” is in ode to the winery’s varietal roots and a Beethoven reference. Bit of residual CO2, high acid and truly tart. Balanced vintage, vital and energy elevating. Will be one of Eroica’s better agers. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted August 2023

Chateau Ste. Michelle Riesling Indian Wells 2022, Yakima Valley AVA

Much like Eroica there is a residual CO2 buzz and at least twice if not three times the number (here eat 30 g/L) of residual sugar. Quite rich, luxe and opulent with just a few sites left to create this round and sweet style. High Kabinett or low Spätlese in a sense but without the supporting acid. More Mosel here and yet also quite a lot more phenolics and tonic. For a consumer that likes sweet wines but can be drawn into riesling, followed by some less sweet varietal examples. Some wine producing and drinking habits never die. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted August 2023

Chateau Ste. Michelle Chardonnay Canoe Ridge Estate 2019, Horse Heaven Hills AVA

Relatively rich and luxe chardonnay style, sweetly buttery, soft and creamy. No real bite but just easy, amenable and though considered a cooler spot with better acidity than some it’s still as round as chardonnay gets. Softens more and more as it slides down and feeds away. Drink 2023-2024. Tasted August 2023

Chateau Ste. Michelle Cabernet Sauvignon Indian Wells 2020, Columbia Valley AVA

Reds are the main focus at Indian Wells and while the style is opulence, this cabernet sauvignon is surely designed to be consumed ASAP. Tannins are present yet sweetly soft and wood soaks up everything, then returns it with semi-sweet chocolate. A quarter is new American oak and 20 percent is French. Soft with some sweetness, macerated plums and that ever pervasive chocolate. Hugely consumer friendly. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted August 2023

Chateau Ste. Michelle Merlot Canoe Ridge Estate 2018, Horse Heaven Hills AVA

A third new French and seven percent American wood truly sheathes, thickness and wraps merlot up in a nurturing flannel blanket for merlot that has softened into an almost ideal drinking state. The 2016 was much more tannic and though some omnipresent balsamic shows here it’s more reduced, sweeter and less high-toned. Lower acid here, at 4.8. Warm and caressing vintage for the palate and our emotions. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted August 2023

Chateau Ste. Michelle Cabernet Sauvignon Cold Creek Vineyard 2019, Columbia Valley AVA

Cold Creek Vineyard is a very successful vintage for cabernet sauvignon, more finely tannic and higher in acid than 2016. The energy is special, the harmony between fruit, acid, tannin and wood far superior to other seasons and also other growing sites. Yes there is luxe fruit, concentrated and substantial but the combination of harvest and winemaking makes for an exceptional combination out of 2019. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted August 2023

Chateau Ste Michelle Syrah Limited Release Organic 2020, Horse Heaven Hills AVA

Deep purple, fruit sweetness from über ripeness and a clarity or cleansing feeling for naturally curated and orchestrated syrah. So profoundly bright new world in style and effect, delicious to the nth degree and openly gratifying. Drink up. Tasted June 2023

14 Hands Winery

14 Hands

Chateau Ste Michelle property located in Prosser.

14 Hands Pinot Gris 2022, Columbia Valley AVA

Clean, fresh, soda feel that puts the style in gris though there’s not much separating it from grigio, either from the Columbia Valley or across the pond delle Venezie. Vague melon and honeyed flower blossoms but when all is said and done this easiest to get at pinot gris from the grand Columbia Valley is a simple glass of white ubiquity. Drink 2023-2024. Tasted August 2023

14 Hands Roussanne Marsanne The Reserve 2022, Rattlesnake Hills AVA

Crisp Rhône white blend with a small percentage of wood to give it a wisp of smoulder that combines with some lees stirring for a creamy mid-palate. Higher in pH than some of this sort of Yakima ilk to result in elevated sapidity, a toothsome quality and finally piquant bite. Quite a bit of sulphur to work through but no worry because being structurally sound and very “reserve” in style the fruit and the composure will rise and win in the end. Give this some air, a swirl and agitation to coax out the charm. Just a 350 case production. Drink 20224-2027. Tasted August 2023

14 Hands Stampede 2018, Columbia Valley AVA

Stampede is 14 Hands’ self-declared “bold red wine” and while the marketing sounds like something in the realm of BBQ sauce this is really impressive for the price. Essentially syrah with some petit verdot “to give it some shoulders” tells winemaker Keith Kenison who has been with the winery since its inception. French oak dominant translating as lavender, jasmine and vanilla, the latter a tincture that permeates much of the aromas and flavours. Yes it’s confected but also rich and unctuous for $15 (US). Drink 2023-2025. Tasted August 2023

14 Hands Cabernet Sauvignon The Reserve 2019, Horse Heaven Hills AVA

Led by cabernet sauvignon and labeled as such though there are supports from both cabernet franc and merlot. A protein cabernet, meaning it drinks with strength and pairing it alongside entrée portion meats, preferably red will do it best justice. Carries that full barrel feeling in surround of a swell (mainly black) fruit and incredible richness, feeling like sweetness, but the wine is bone dry. Wood resin, syrups, up and into a whole other level of concentration. The most refined and luxurious of the 14 Hands reds (or whites) that competes with top Washington and also some heavier priced California examples. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted August 2023

Goose Cap AVA at Goose Ridge Vineyards

Goose Gap AVA

Goose Ridge Vineyards

Goose Ridge in Richland and adjacent to Red Mountain is unique in that it is the owner of its own (Goose Gap) AVA, approved three years ago. The first planting of cabernet sauvignon was 25 years ago in 1998 and today there are a total of 2,500 acres of vines. The Monson family dates back to the early 1900s when M.L. Monson brought his family to the Yakima Valley. Taylor is the fourth generation, dad and two sisters (Bill, Molly and Valerie) are the third. The family is equally famous for cultivating Cosmic Crisp Apples (that don’t brown), developed with Washington State University and the first to grow them. The visit in the vines and through the facility culminated in a quick tasting of four wines though the setting was not conducive to formulating proper tasting notes.

Red Mountain

Col Solare

Located on Antinori Road in Benton City is the Château Ste Michelle Red Mountain partnership with Tuscany’s most famous family. A tour with Col Solare’s hospitality team reveals the bond with the mothership. “Antinori dictates what we do and the style of wines they want us to make.” There are no problems, only solutions and fixing issues like re-planting problematic cabernet sauvignon blocks is in the process of a three-year plan. “The only wine we make here that the Antinoris care about is cabernet sauvignon – so it has to be great.” The new winemaker is Stephanie Cohen, a Michigan graduate in Chemical Engineering. Cohen worked in New Zealand, Margaret River and Napa Valley, where she met Marcus Notaro, first winemaker at Col Solare. Stephanie went to Oregon, then Columbia Crest, then arrived at Col Solare three years ago. She was appointed head winemaker on July 1st, taking over from Darel Allwine. “Do we love what Stephanie is doing? Short answer is yes.”

Col Solare Cabernet Sauvignon 2019, Red Mountain AVA

The vintage brings about three major changes; label, style and price. The Col Solare had been in the $75-85 range going on 10 years but now it’s about Antinori wanting something “better.” In every respect ’19 is certainly darker and richer, of an impenetrable hue and structure. An Italian cabernet sauvignon, as close to Bolgheri Guado Al Tasso as Col Solare has ever been, but this holding pattern will almost surely be temporary. A Red Mountain interpretation from small (blueberry-sized) berries, raised with low vigour off of soils of sand and silt. Aged 22 months, not quite but pretty close to 100 percent new oak. Racked every three or four months, to eliminate slag and to refine, refine, refine. Aids in tannin transformation and eliminates the need for fining. A cabernet of great depth, of Cassis, mint and graphite. Luxe character, finesse, if not the level of fantasy wished for – but this new is the first of the new. By 2020 invention should meet vision for the next level of Col Solare quality. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted August 2023

Col Solare Cabernet Sauvignon 2018, Red Mountain AVA

Essentially cabernet sauvignon with five percent franc while only 2015 and 2020 have been 100 percent. From the hottest wine-growing AVA in Washington state, with basalt below the soil surface, irrigated six to eight inches per year. Early picked and in 2023 this will likely start on or around the 20th of August, to finish off what has been “a really weird year.” There are 4,040 total acres in an AVA considered one of seriously high quality. Col Solare has been growing here since 2011 but not enough to meet production numbers and so six Red Mountain contract growers are involved. The average case number is 5,000 for a cabernet sauvignon as suave as it is rich though 2018 is the last of an era, because 2019 will mark changes to concentration, detail and price. Meanwhile the ’18 is equipped with the finest powdery tannins. Truth is there can be no denying the quality levels of fruit, wood and tannin. All relatable to uncompromising labour, time put in and attention to detail. It’s all too perfect. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted August 2023

Col Solare Merlot 2019, Red Mountain AVA

Though 2019 was marked by an unusual Spring in a cooler and by extension leaner year it’s a relative thing and so Col Solare has still made a very substantial wine. This label falls under the auspices of the Component Collection, a “Tenuta” expression mainly intended for the Wine Club. All estate fruit, built on the premise of perfume ostensibly if allegedly a Washington state desert opportunity exaggerated on Red Mountain. Intense violets with blue fruits that merlot will express at these magnified levels when allowed to. Still tight as far as structure is concerned but thankfully three-plus years have allowed for some wood integration and tannic settling. A fruit emergence is underway and frankly encouraged, more so than the cabernet, if here in merlot not quite as polished as a wine. The finish shows the rusticity and austerity of the tannins while the quality of the chocolate is nothing if not impressive. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted August 2023

With Sarah Hedges Goedhart and Christophe Hedges

Hedges

“Our driving force is for our wines to have a Red Mountain quality,” is basically the first sentence uttered by proprietor Christophe Hedges. “I don’t know if we’re trying to be authentic but we are following our mother’s lead, that if you are going to do something, do it correctly.” Anne-Marie Liégeois grew up in Ossey-les-Trois-Maisons, in Champagne, France. She married Tom Hedges from Richland, Washington in 1976. Their first wines were sold to Sweden in 1997. The first vineyards on Red Mountain in the Yakima Valley were planted in 1989 and 1990 and the winery-Chateau was built in 1995. Christophe returned in 2012 and is National Sales Director while sister Sarah Hedges Goedhart took over full-time winemaking in 2015. This coincides with the first certified label under the biodynamic program which began back in 2008. Goedhart says there’s no formula ever. “We’re just trying to be guided by what the grape’s want to be. Blending is the hardest part.”

Sarah Hedges Goedhart and Christope Hedges

Hedges Le Blanc Déscendants Liégeois Dupont 2021, Red Mountain AVA

A program that began in 2014, use of older barrels, some lees contact and bâttonage. A niche wine from Rhône grapes (namely marsanne with viognier), because whites at this level just don’t sell all that much. Even as brix levels rise the pH on this wine remains quite static and so as an aromatic white this remains pungently salty and avoids the starchy. Richer than expected and dutifully harmonious, clearly a wine of class, beauty and understatement. Lemon and orange peel, really nutty and slightly toasty, with only 400-500 cases made from just one hectare. It will change a lot and get brinier and brinier, becoming even better with stronger aged cheeses and many things cured. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted August 2023

Hedges Family Wines CMS Made With Organic Grapes 2022, Columbia Valley AVA

The “American” version label, minimally sulphured and just bottled a week ago. A “farm” style wine, crunchy and sitting right there with a local sense of terroir, northwest, Columbia Valley, very different than what comes from Red Mountain. That said it has more Red Mountain fruit than Columbia Valley. The blend is 48 percent cabernet sauvignon, (44) merlot and (8) syrah, subjected to very, very little new wood. Fresh and clean with an iodine and wet concrete note, almost Western Cape in style. Spice and intensity speak about house style with a broad stroke on a painted picture. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted August 2023

Hedges Family Estate Red Wine 2021, Red Mountain AVA

A blend off all the vineyards on Red Mountain (Hedges, Jolet, Bel’Villa, Magdalena and Les Gosses), berries about half the size of what comes from Columbia Valley. A higher pH place with less water conversion and more evaporation. Yields are smaller by half and extraction levels the opposite with thicker skins and when ripe, also crunchier seeds. The ’21 blend is 55 percent cabernet sauvignon, (26) merlot, (9) syrah, (6) cabernet franc, (3) malbec and (1) petit verdot. Aged in 62 percent American and (38) French wood. Rich, luxe, concentrated and fixated on its home, that being these five blocks on the Red and frankly the palate feels intoxicated or anesthetized by the command of attention and purpose dictated by place. A top vintage, without a doubt. Drink 2024-2032. Tasted August 2023

Hedges Family Estate Le Haute Cuvée 2018, Red Mountain AVA

This is 99.77 percent cabernet sauvignon and the rest, well does it matter? A cuvée that goes back to 1987 and here a Hedges professed, native ferment instructed great vintage. Lots of different cabernet sauvignon components make up this prominent and confident biodynamic wine. Red to black fruit, a noted brininess, higher acidity, seemingly lower pH, saltiness and dusty Christmas spice. The potential here runs long and deep, without weight and still some iodine, balsamic and minty freshness. Shot of espresso conclusion that speaks to another level of tannic dust and combust. Drink 2024-2032. Tasted August 2023

Hedges Family Estate Touriga Nacional 2018, Red Mountain AVA

Quite possibly the future of Red Mountain, at least for Hedges, having planted three Portuguese grapes some time ago. Their heat resistance and ability to adapt preps them for next level climate extreme to come. Aged in 100 percent neutral American barrels and coming away liquid chalky, dark and feigning vague sweetness. Drips and oozes with Red Mountain iron, iodine and though truly opaque, there is this transparency of pace and place that cannot be hidden. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted August 2023

Déscendents Liégois Dupont Syrah Les Gosses Vineyard 2020, Red Mountain AVA

No mention of Hedges on the front label but instead Anne-Marie’s family name because you have to respect your history. And the vineyard is hers, planted in 2006 then certified biodynamic in 2019. A block that winemaker Sarah Goedhart runs through with several different picks, some falling on one side and some on the stylistic other, than blended back in together. Its richness is anything but gratuitous, the depth descendent and built upon the idea or concept of gravitas. Full, complete and a most satisfying mouthful. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted August 2023

Déscendents Liégois Dupont Syrah Les Gosses Vineyard 2019, Red Mountain AVA

Rich, thick and finely layered syrah from the distinct entity that is Red Mountain with its not to be missed meaty, mineral, sanguine, ferric rich, red earth character. There is an underlying chalkiness here and one that will surely determine a long life ahead, as witnessed by the linger and hang around ability of of a syrah on a clear and present mission. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted June 2023

Déscendents Liégois Dupont Le Rosé Les Gosses Vineyard 2022, Red Mountain AVA

A kitchen sink Rosé blend led by syrah (42 percent) with (21) mourvèdre, (18) cunoise and (14) grenache. Aromatic as much as syrah is want to go, for us and so the Rhône gang’s get together works so bloody well. There is a sanguine character with thanks to the mountain’s soil and the movement here is classical, strings reverberating, flowing, rising and falling, no real cresencedo but a softening and fade. Just lovely stuff. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted August 2023

Hedges Family Estate Red Mountain Reserve 1999, Red Mountain AVA

The artist formerly known as Red Mountain Reserve became Le Haute Cuvée with the 2012 vintage. Hedges was both ahead of their time (because the word Reserve was already losing its wine world lustre) and respectful of family history by labelling in a Champagne or at least a French vernacular. Here is a nearly 24 year-old red blend that has aged remarkably well and though thinking miraculously was a momentary thought – there is no miracle but something more profound at play. The Mountain for one thing and a family at least a decade ahead of the curve. Early Washington organics, no reverse osmosis, no mechanical filtration and no lobotomizing a bottle of red wine. Yes the secondary notes are present and they are settled in a state of absolute proprietary grace. Very little trace of tannin, nor any barrel that is but a superfine mountain induction that makes for a silky feeling in the mouth. There is a chance this will live another 24 years but the fruit is already leaving and so 12 should be the maximum with half that the truest and most honest recommendation. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted August 2023

Hedges Family Estate Syrah Bell Villa Vineyard 2012, Red Mountain AVA

Tasted from magnum (bottle 110 of 200 to be exact) and shocked (in a redacted moment) by how fresh and non-advanced this wine persists to be. This syrah is from a vineyard that was the second one planted on Red Mountain and what we are faced with is a 15 year-old block that was so far ahead of its time. Tasting this 10-plus years after vintage feels like fiercely re-reading an old Tom Robbins novel, celebrating the proper work of the past and predicting what will be essential in the future. The search back then begets syrah in hot climates now. Getting the sage brush but now, now the fungi have come about, though not the kind that grow in a western rainforest. More like that which emerges from a burn site. In any case the impression is syrah from a beautifully stark place. La belle de campagne. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted August 2023

Walla Walla

SMAK Wines

SMAK Wines is the first Asian woman owned and operated winery in Walla Walla producing exclusively Rosé. “Rosé to me is more than just a beverage, it is a lifestyle. I wanted to bring this lifestyle here and so SMAK was born.”- Fiona Mak, Owner & Winemaker.

SMAK Sangiovese Spring 2022, Walla Walla Valley AVA

SMAK Wines is the work of Fiona (Sui Wah) Mak and sangiovese is made just like the pinot gris, save for how it exults the high acid and sharp nature of sangiovese. Still so light and rainwater clean, not quite petrichor but yes, a Rosé that drinks like water. Back up the truck for this glug-glug, glou-glou, grape witches fantasy of Rosé. Salty. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted August 2023

SMAK Pinot Gris Summer 2022, Walla Walla Valley AVA

I mean not all that different than the sangiovese if lighter, lower in acid and well, summery. Light, bright, tender, carefree, unadorned and even saltier, to be honest. Just what you need, whether you know it or not and well before you even know your needs are needed. Salty magic as koan. Koan of Rosé. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted August 2023

SMAK Syrah Autumn 2022, Walla Walla Valley AVA

Made with syrah and its autumnal personality, barrel fermented in neutral wood, some malolactic and so not the usual but rather a Rosé with some extra nuance, spice, texture and fantasy. No lewd or ambitious stylistic departure from Spring and Summer, just a bit more grounded, of blush gravitas, creaminess and something needed to be explained. Rosé smackdown without any undesired anxiety or tension. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted August 2023

SMAK Syrah Bubbly Blend Winter 2022, Walla Walla Valley AVA

Fizz Rosé by syrah with some addendum by grenache and a few extra grams of residual sugar to keep the harmony and faith alive. Nice little bit of naturalization in the way the wine sits on the palate and melts like a caramel and lemongrass salve. Red currants and again, coming across dry and just tannic enough to keep things moving forward. Would like another half gram of acid for best energy and more length. Drink 2023-2024. Tasted August 2023

SMAK Cabernet Franc Rosé Abstract #1 2022, Walla Walla Valley AVA

There is just something about cabernet franc that when it’s made into Rosé (and made well) the grape variety is more recognizable than almost any other. Fiona Mak has captured grape and what just has to be place with a level of calm and hypnotism that Rosé rarely sees. Drink a glass, get your Rosé buzz on, feel OK for the rest of the day. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted August 2023

SMAK Pinot Noir Rosé Abstract #2 2022, Walla Walla Valley AVA

Gotta say this might be the best use of pinot noir in Washington, light, salty and without distraction to cause any overthinking. Closer to the sangiovese than any of the others and with an extra layer of volatility, sharpness and tang. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted August 2023

With Brandon Moss, Production Winemaker – Gramercy Cellars

Gramercy Cellars

The story of Gramercy Cellars began with a Manhattan-based sommelier tasting and becoming inspired by Washington State wines. He sells everything to move across the country to make his own. Master Sommelier Greg Harrington and production winemaker Brandon Moss are the mad scientists, experimental music makers, open-minded and forward thinking team. They are intuitive and paying attention to the extremities of climate events. Fully aware that 2020 was a brutal smoke year and so 25 percent was balked out after remediation. “Mourvèdre can handle it” tells Moss, but “cabernet franc and pinot noir simply can’t.” Elizabeth Tommasino at Oregon State is researching “columns” that neutralize smoke taint without stripping varietal from wines.

Gramercy Cellars Picpoul Pét Nat

Sparkling picpoul, low pH, high acidity, aromatically neutral and boom, Pét-Nat. Left on its lees for something like 10 months before being disgorged and so yeasty is the understatement. Graffiti labeled, an element of Gramercy Park, NYC ode. Smells like chèvre and preserved lemon, minutely funky and well, extremely French. Weirdly so and the yeasty-bready ready quality is more sourdough than anything else but also this dry-aged beef note that purists will really love. This is how you make wine without excess sulphur, cultured yeasts and for the purpose of re-fermentative ideals. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted August 2023

Gramercy Cellars Picpoul 2022, Walla Walla Valley AVA

Not a whole helluva lot of picpoul made in the United States and especially in hot climates but it ripens late and the acidity can be maintained – that said you need a lot of heat to get it ripe. This may not be the Languedoc and the lean, salty, low pH style without lees weight or drive puts this in a league of its own. Vines were planted in 2013, clusters are loose and massive, the wine it makes is acid-driven, fresh and simple. Pencil lead, cinnamon heart and fennel pollen. More complex than you might think. All lemon and lime on the finish. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted August 2023

Gramercy Cellars Viognier 2022, Columbia Valley AVA

Sourced from Lake Chelan for a cooler climate base and then the Gramercy vineyard called Forgotten Hills in the Walla Walla Valley. The WW fruit is all barrel fermented while the Lake fruit is only treated to forty percent. The complete opposite of the typically recent warm vintages and so don’t come looking for tropical fruit and fresh roses. Think orchards, of pear and then that douse of lime with a salty finish. Summertime temperatures in later September brought weight and closure to this ’22 viognier. Might still be a tad lean but phenolics are solid and balance is not to be questioned. This is viognier for those who don’t always love viognier. Thank you warm October. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted August 2023

Gramercy Cellars Mourvèdre “L’Idiot Du Village” 2020, Columbia Valley AVA

Varietal, from Olson Vineyard west of Red Mountain up on the north ridge, back hill of Benton City. Hot for ripeness though not quite Red Mountain hot. Fermentation and aging in concrete with more barriques involved and then a racking back to concrete. Nearly 60 percent whole cluster because the vintage said so and biting into the stems directed such a decision. First vintage was 2009 and along with 2010 it was a GSM-C blend but over time (and as a result of a trip to Bandol) the weird blend was dropped in favour of making mourvèdre, a.k.a. the true Washington rock star. Peppery but no char, herbal though never herbaceous, red fruit strong without any unnecessary tension or power. Kind, soft and nurturing for the grape. Terrific use of whole bunch, proper and grape related. No bitterness, no smoke taint. Clean as it gets. Pretty much ready to pop and pour. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted August 2023

Gramercy Cellars Syrah Forgotten Hills 2019, Walla Walla Valley AVA

On the Blue Mountain side of Walla Walla, picked early in most parts of the state but not until October in Forgotten Hills, set down below in an ancient riverbed in the valley. De-stemmed in 2019 because of some mild issues and very much a red fruit juicy, lighter character of syrah with peppery liquidity and little to no sharp bites of tang. Crunchy stuff, relatively low in Rotundun and made to respect the vintage which did not want the makers to keep the bunches whole. Nothing aggressive here, fruit always winning. A fifth of the tannic austerity that the (whole cluster component) brought to the 2017. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted August 2023

Gramercy Cellars Syrah Forgotten Hills 2017, Walla Walla Valley AVA

Nothing wrong with a little bit of age on a syrah that has come into its own with thanks to the powers that be so that we can enjoy the fruits and the result of great labour. The present matters and yet there is a tension and even tannic austerity that asks for even moie time. Such a well crafted syrah, as meaty and coursing as it is fruity or getable, in fact there are few that can match the wound intensity, focus and restrained power as this by Gramercy denotes. Drink 2024-2032. Tasted June 2023

Gramercy Cellars Syrah Lagniappe 2019, Yakima Valley AVA

From Red Willow Vineyard in the Yakima Valley near the town of Wapino. The first Washington syrah vineyard planted in the 1980s by David Lake, a Master of Wine, with Mike Sauer, in 1987. The old block is called Chapel Hill and this is 100 percent whole cluster syrah, completely apposite to Forgotten Hills even though it’s the same vintage. Aromatic concentration, full bodied nature and a naturally sweet meets savoury personality that is quite frankly intoxicating. Lagniappe as Frangipane, something wild and free, a crushed rock and berry entanglement and something profound. Really tight and precise. “Wait, did you hear that?” What’s the music playing? Somewhere down the Crazy River? Drink 2025-2032. Tasted August 2023

Valdemar Estates

In 1889, Joaquin Martínez Bujanda began the family winemaking tradition in Oyón, a small town in Northern Spain. His son, Marcelino, and his grandson, Jesús, followed in his footsteps. Jesús’ son, Don Jesús Martínez Bujanda, created Bodegas Valdemar in the 1980s. His son, Jesús Martínez Bujanda (5th generation), is the current CEO of the family’s winemaking business, and his sister, Ana Martínez Bujanda, is the Cheif Operations Officer for Bodegas Valdemar. Jesús fell in love with the Walla Walla Valley while he was a student at the University of Washington. His passion for winemaking and for the valley led him to create Valdemar Estates.

Valdemar Estates Chardonnay 2021, Columbia Valley AVA

Clearly a top chardonnay site and the luxe character is evident, as is the acid, freshness and piqued intensity. The look here is texture, playful movements and interactions between parts so think down south but back to the motherland and south from there. Valdemar paired this with beets, mango and pistachio – my that does work. The finale on this chardonnay is warm and spiced, a harmony of seasoning after fruit and wood subside. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted August 2023

Valdemar Estates Cabernet Sauvignon Entre Nosotros 2020, Columbia Valley AVA

“This is our entry level cabernet sauvignon (at $44),” tells Jesús Martínez Bujanda, “but it is the most important wine that we make at the winery. It has to over deliver.” And so the introduction (with some merlot and petit verdot) is the wine that acts as the entry drug and bridge to the top end wines that a Rioja producer thinks creates exceptional wines out of not only the Walla Walla Valley, but also the greater Columbia Valley. You can immediately feel and tell that a Rioja mentality infiltrates the place but how could it not? The chalkiness of the tannins are remarkably fine and the spicy character actually pricks and piques the palate. Purple fruit, creosote, graphite and wood that will take a few years to melt in. The fruit is equipped to handle it. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted August 2023

Valdemar Estates Cabernet Sauvignon Klipsun Vineyard 2020, Red Mountain AVA

Immediately noticeable as a cabernet sauvignon from a warmer site, fruit rich and concentrated, doubly substantial and even further developed as richly tannic. Fully, completely substantial and laden with finest grains of tannins in chains every finer, braided as tight as is seemingly possible. Dusty but a thick, duff like matter, coating every minute part of the palate. There are no holes or moments of lag but only heavy set fruit, supportive acids and those massive tannins. Terrific work from winemaker Marie-Eve Gilla and not sure there is a better cabernet sauvignon made anywhere in Spain. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted August 2023

Valdemar Estates Syrah 2020, Walla Walla Valley AVA

Here Syrah comes from the hottest districts in North America, known as The Rocks, an ancient riverbed on the Washington-Oregon border filled with basaltic cobbles. Valdemar owns a portion and this is arguably THE PLACE to grow syrah in the west. Floral with high level black pepper for classic syrah-Rotundun style. Meaty, with iodine and charcuterie but with no compromise to fruit concentration. A substantial wine in all respects, tannic and well extracted, again across all parts of regard. It can be imagined that the style will change over the next few years as finesses continues to hone in on just what the Rocks wants to give out of vintages ever diverse. Last tasted August 2023

Full on pitchy dark fruit swells from Valdemar, layered, chewy and ropey, like liquorice of many splendored flavours. Full on ripeness and natural sweetness by way of expression without any compromise or conceit of structure. An earlier drinking example though also one that will do well for up to five years because the fruit is just that deep. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted June 2023

L’Ecole No. 41

The old Frenchtown school operated until 1974 and was bought in 1977 with the idea of turning it into a winery. First harvest and official founding was in 1983. Marty Clubb is celebrating his 40th Anniversary. Jean and Baker Ferguson founded the winery in 1983, well before there was a wine industry in Washington. Third in Walla Walla, 20th in the state. Marty was winemaker from 1989 and today its Mark Trafanelli, since 2018. Now 50,000 cases, increasing by 1,000-1,500 every year since 1989. Cabernet is into its 50th leaf, merlot close, chenin blanc next and first sémillon was on Sagamore, also the Wahluke Slope. Not a lot off new plantings and so the overall amount is declining. They make upwards of 30 percent in the state and even more than that in chenin blanc. The school at 500 ft is in a cold frost belt so the older vineyards are planted at 800-900 ft and the new Ferguson Vineyard on basalt is at 1,500. Climate change has improved winter weather ability while diurnal temperature changes can add up to 40 degrees Fahrenheit.

With Marty Clubb, L’École 41

L’École No 41 Chenin Blanc 2022, Walla Walla Valley AVA

Older than 35 years of age and so like the Western Cape OVP the labelling is old vines. Akin to old bones but with experience, resistance to weather issues and creating high level concentration. Some of the fruit comes from the Newhouse family’s vineyard with century vines, sour rot dirty laundry and all. Clones probably came up from Dry Creek Valley in California and my if this does not strike a balanced accord between dry and sour, concentrated and tart. Just woollen enough to mimic the Loire and act nothing like California. Length is more than impressive. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted August 2023

L’École No. 41 Sémillon 2022, Columbia Valley AVA

Comes across as having some sweetness but be fooled once because it’s glycerol that gives the impression, so truth be told the sensory give is astral and incidentally Van Morrison’s seminal track from the eponymous record is playing in the tasting room as the wine is poured. The 2022 shows some early flint and petrol, balanced by the texture developed as a result of extra lees time. Another push-pull example of a L’École No. 41 white off of vines with experience. Just the right amount of tonic and bitters pop at the finish.
“To be born again
In another world
In another world
In another time.”
Drink 2023-2028. Tasted August 2023

L’École No. 41 Chardonnay 2022, Columbia Valley AVA

A good chunk of this fruit comes from the original block on a crested hill of the larger Evergreen Vineyard. Dear Mr. Fantasy, pour me some chardonnay, from ice age silt and sand, stones and minerals that when respected, treats a consumer to this kind of salty-sapid harmonic chardonnay. All barrel fermented, all French and 20 percent new. I mean it’s an amount and style truly Burgundian with some tropical fruit because it is 2022 and yet acidity is crisp with green apple bites to balance what is also creamy texture. Middle road compared to the chenin and sémillon but also so perfectly professional. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted August 2023

L’École No. 41 Merlot Black Label 2020, Walla Walla Valley AVA

The original estate red, the only one made in the 1980s and still the one that delivers earthy and herbal tones. The 18 percent cabernet franc (plus drips of malbec and petit verdot) creates the verdant and forest floor notes. Good red to red-black fruit from 2020 with highest level phenols and a sweet, pretty persuasion. A couple of glasses and then the melatonin sets in, followed by a near guarantee of REM sleep. “It’s what I want, hurry and buy.” Drink 2023-2027. Tasted August 2023

L’École No. 41 Cabernet Sauvignon Black Label 2020, Walla Walla Valley AVA

“We have a lot of old vine cab,” says Marty Clubb, which indeed drives the machine, but there no real reason to name that on the label. Minimum age is 30 with many over 50 for a 100 percent cabernet sauvignon, all picked in October. Rich, viscous, unctuous and most important – experienced. Chalky and the barrel brings both good dark chocolate and dusty espresso to the finish. Age this five years. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted August 2023

L’École No. 41 Merlot White Label 2020, Walla Walla Valley AVA

The highest level for merlot has Bordeaux Right Bank in mind and here the mix of windblown loess topsoil and basalt takes the grape up to where great minds and ambition want to meet. Huge fruit vintage, thick as thieves with structure twice pointed and the overall result is a big and cellaring potential merlot. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted August 2023

With La Leggenda, Ange Aiello

L’École No. 41 Cabernet Sauvignon White Label 2020, Walla Walla Valley AVA

Less than 2,000 cases are made of the three vineyard (Seven Hills, Pepper Bridge and Ferguson) sourced cabernet sauvignon. Here comes the Cassis and herbal-savoury note with dried fruit moments red to purple and finally an impressive set of varietal meets site(s) circumstances. Averages out at 35 percent new wood and yes the fruit receives the wood with open arms. Long and age-worthy, longer than the merlot. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted August 2023

L’Ecole No. 41 Apogee Pepper Bridge Vineyard Proprietary Red 2020, Walla Walla Valley AVA

The 31st vintage of Apogee. From the central part of the valley where cool air seems to be blowing through at all times. Heat accumulation is lower, hang time longer and the site is picked in late October, just ahead of the first frost. Planted in what would a millennium ago have been wher there were ice age flows. This is 56 percent cabernet sauvignon, (28) merlot, (12) malbec and (4) cabernet franc. The site tends – to more leather-tobacco and here it is also horse saddle noted which is Bordeaux in mimicry. The soil derived from ice age flows is what we extend in belief as being the reason. Why not? Serious character and complexity, finest tannins of the estate’s Bordeaux reds and from 2020 likely a 15 year run to come. Maybe longer. Drink 2025-2035. Tasted August 2023

L’École No. 41 Perigee Seven Hills Vineyard 2020, Walla Walla Valley AVA

A proprietary name imagined by Martin Clubb’s father-in-law to explain site which is at high elevation on the south side of the valley planted in 1980. The soil is 15 feet of wind-blown loess sitting atop another 15 feet of ice age flow. Extended maceration is the treatment for this proprietary blend which is composed of the free run portion of the juice because both the cabernet sauvignon and petit verdot showed hints of smoke taint. Perigee incidentally is the closest spot in the moon relative to the earth. A super moon in lay-person’s terms. The blend is 54 percent cabernet sauvignon, (24) merlot, (12) cabernet franc, (6) malbec and (4) petit verdot. Rich and smouldering, thick black currant almost syrupy but so high in glycerol and what impresses but also harmonizes this red is its sweet and bracing acidity. Makes the smoulder unimportant though it will always be there in the shadows. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted August 2023

L’École No. 41 Ferguson Vineyard 2020, Walla Walla Valley AVA

The basalt vineyard with hardened-fractured, three-dimensional cube of rock that breaks or fragments to the touch. Also iron rich clay and this is the only place in Washington State with soil like this. The third of three estate proprietary reds that buds early and are picked late. Grapes are thick-skinned and the conversion rates mean rich fruit, high acidity and length. Blend here is 59 percent cabernet sauvignon, (24) merlot, (7) cabernet franc, (6) malbec and (4) petit verdot. Picks at an acidity level off the charts and then settles so that pH is low, but not crazy low. First vintage was 2011 and believe it or not Phylloxera was found in the vineyard. New plantings are helping to keep things moving swimmingly along. Rich berries of three colours, dusty meets chalky tannins and all the dark chocolate and espresso of great and fine ilk. Huge wine and that’s exactly what it wants and is surely touted to be. Drink 2025-2034. Tasted August 2023

L’École No. 41 Syrah 2020, Walla Walla Valley AVA

“What’s the sense of changing horses in midstream” and so syrah is poured last, with 1+2 percent grenache and mourvèdre. Some stem addition (20 percent at the bottom of the totes) to make sure a bit of Mediterranean black olive and caper note slide on in. Black pepper necessity and more barrel than some but well integrated and no doubt also seasoning to add more of what skins and stems have already given to the fruit. A sanguine note, hematic streaks, blood on the tracks. Spicy and fulsome, a very substantial syrah that like the Bordeaux reds will also age quite well. Acumen and top vineyards ensure this will be. Syrah, you’re a big girl now. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted August 2023

The Cellar at Woodward Canyon

Woodward Canyon Estate Vineyard

Family owned, by Rick and Darcey Small. Selena Kritsonis runs hospitality and husband Sager Small is vineyard manager. Kevin Mott is the winemaker. 8,000 cases in total

Woodward Canyon Estate Vineyard Chardonnay 2022, Washington State

First planted in 1978, barrel effect dialled back over the years, now 20 percent new wood and no malolactic whatsoever. All estate fruit with the newer (north facing, refreshening) block planted back in 2011. Pretty spot on classic ode to the motherland style that sees ripest fruit without freshness limitations meeting just enough wood for softness, creamy texture and overall Washington State high caste ubiquity. Truly proper and correct for sense of place and intendment. Vague impression of sweetness says quite a bit about fruit quality and style. The length is impressive. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted August 2023

Woodward Canyon Estate Vineyard Merlot 2020, Walla Walla Valley AVA

Estate fruit at the western edge of the Walla Wally Valley, two blocks used, 25 year-old Clone 3 old vine and also the younger Clone 181. The most western vineyard in the AVA, drier and warmer, a climate as much akin to red Mountain as it is to the Blue Mountains area of the WWV. Warm and dry vintage, lower than average yields and nearly 50 percent new wood, French and Hungarian. Pushing 15 percent alcohol yet holding both that and the wood with esteem. Aromatically spicy, dusty fennel pollen, tannins as well. Fine acids and chalky like so many, especially from vineyards west of this valley. Two-toned in all these respects, cooler herbal Amaro notes meeting warm and developed richness. Lots of ganache on the back end of this wine. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted August 2023

Woodward Canyon Estate Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Artist Series #29 2020, Washington State

Flagship wine from vines averaging 35 years with each label painted by a different West Coast artist. The vineyards are four-fold; Woodward Canyon Estate, Sagemoor, Weinbau and Wallula Gap. Nearly 40 per cent new wood, French and American, actually cab-dominant (76 percent) with other Bordeaux grapes involved. The rest are (12) petit verdot, (5) cabernet franc, (4) merlot and (3) syrah. Shows less wood than the merlot and more variegate red fruit. Also more espresso and less chocolate because the red berries really stand apart. Something candied comes late, like cinnamon hearts meeting reduced balsamic. Would match well with flank steak and chimichurri with slow roasted aubergines. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted August 2023

Woodward Canyon Estate Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Old Vines 2020, Washington State

Originally called “Dedication Series” and first made in 1981. Oldest cabernet blocks are chosen from three vineyards; Woodward Canyon Estate, Sagemoor and Weinbau. This sees 100 percent new French wood and just three percent each petit verdot and malbec bring grip and spice to the cabernet. So much wood to integrate, melt and assimilate before a wine of this luxe nature and fullest concentration can pour with any real charm and grace. Huge fruit and creaminess, The 1972 Sagemoor fruit (equivalent to Bacchus for other producers) is the experienced anchor and overall the wine does act out as a heritage passion play with age-worthiness at the highest level for the estate. It’s unctuous and thick, again in delivery of that vague impression of sweetness though that number is not listed on the technical sheets. Those who love the fullest of full cabernet sauvignon should keep this in their hearts along with any number off much higher prices iterations from Napa Valley. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted August 2023

Seven Hills Winery

Casey McClelland is the founder, of Celtic roots (thus the logo). 1980 planted founding vineyard, established winery in 1988, was originally setup in Milton-Freewater (in Oregon). Moved into the Whitehouse Crawford Building in Walla Walla in 2000. #5 winery in WWV. Yvonne Davis is the tasting room manager. Purchased in 2016 by Crimson Wine Company. Winemaker Bobby Richards is the Washington Organization Winemaker (WOW), overseeing both Seven Hills and Double Canyon.

Yvonne Davis, Seven Hills Winery

Seven Hills Winery Sauvignon Blanc 2022, Walla Walla Valley AVA

A little bit of everything adds up to a complete and straightforward package of sauvignon blanc that’s as crisp and sapid as it is predicated on fruit. Clean and tidy, ideal as correct would be from and for a desert climate. Chill well is the operative phrase to make this stand out and satisfy. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted August 2023

Seven Hills Winery Rosé 2022, Walla Walla Valley AVA

A Rosé of cabernet franc splashed by malbec and petit verdot for what is about as much clean flavour to come from the combined grapes and this valley as you are ever going to find. Currants and tart cherries, sweet Genovese basil and just a perfect crabapple. This is spot on Rosé with red citrus running through even vein and artery of a wine of pulchritude and toothsome bite. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted August 2023

Seven Hills Winery Merlot 2020, Walla Walla Valley AVA

The word on merlot perpetuates because you know the mention in “that movie” and while many characters in Walla Walla make mention of it, well frankly merlot is terrific in this AVA. Especially when it’s made with the fruit-centric, spice cupboard and graceful restraint as it is by Seven Hills. Do you even notice the wood? Not nearly or so much and everything about the grape, including its smooth state of being and gracious personality are captured, in fact doubly so from the warm and dry vintage. Don’t drink f-in merlot you say? Drink this you ignorant perpetuator of stereotypes. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted August 2023

Seven Hills Winery Merlot Seven Hills Founding Vineyard 2018, Walla Walla Valley AVA

Rock star vintage. Someone up above or below gave you great grapes and said don’t mess it up. Gotta say that the pedigree established by Casey McLelland down through all the winemakers and team at Seven Hills have figured out how to do much more than not screw up. Forget about the name of the variety for a while, close you eyes and taste this wine. Plush and ripe, all those dusty and chalky elements shaken, not stirred and emulsified like few other. Now concentrate and exult the name, say it aloud and tell the world. Seven Hills knows and does merlot. Really darn well. Bloody ‘ell this is delicious. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted August 2023

Double Canyon Cabernet Sauvignon 2021, Columbia Valley AVA

Owned by the Crimson Wine Company, along with Seven Hills Winery, winemaking overseen by Bobby Richards. Blends fruit from two appellations, Red Mountain and Horse Heaven Hills for a truly two-toned cabernet sauvignon as fruity as it is sweetly herbal. Cassis and Amaro, balsamic and caramelized fennel, flavour compounds running amok, hither and thither. Nothing black fruit thickness and wood make-up about it here – just fruit, great acid, haute grip and medium bodied goodness. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted August 2023

Double Canyon Cabernet Sauvignon 2018, Horse Heaven Hills AVA

Back in 2018 just two years after this brand became part of the Seven Hills world there was only HHH fruit from the hills where wild horses did once upon a time run free, including through the vineyards. Important and quintessential vintage for this part of the Columbia Valley’s reds, well pretty much anywhere in eastern Washington. Cassis still persists, as do sweet herbals and savoury elements, less brushy than Walla Walla, now silkened and smooth. Grip has dissipated and the cabernet might still show a bit of chalky tannin but it is drinking right in the heart of its window. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted August 2023

Seven Hills Winery Pentad 2020, Walla Walla Valley AVA

For Seven Hills all rules and roads lead to Pentade, “the sum of five,” narrowed down from six, carmenère included in 2020, not cabernet franc. Always cabernet sauvignon dominant, label designed by Ian Boyden, paint made holistically from minerals, alloys and metals. Grace under pressure, richness without rush, no hesitation and confidence throughout. Important and audited acids, fruit auditioning for tannin that controls but like a parent for all the nurturing reasons. Noteworthy for its stage presence and deft abilities to impress without ego. Drink 2023-2032. Tasted August 2023

Seven Hills Winery Cabernet Sauvignon Seven Hills Founding Vineyard 2020, Walla Walla Valley AVA

Signature varietal wine, for all it’s meant to be and for reasons that matter in every profound way. Not quite as rich and fortified as Pentad but equally grippy and of fine karst to bone structure, both by bright acids and trenchant tannins. Cassis reduced and herbs sweetened like no other wine in the portfolio. Top vintage for this wine. Truly. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted August 2023

Seven Hills Winery Cabernet Sauvignon 2021, Walla Walla Valley AVA

The “distribution” cabernet sauvignon, as opposed to the high-end signature Seven Hills Founding Vineyard iteration, here a year younger and from a more challenging vineyard. Makes for high caste aromatics if neither the concentration, acumen or confidence of the SHFV. Teaching varietal wine, epitomizing vineyard fruit, health and estate style. Everything that cabernet sauvignon should and shall be for SHW and why decisions have been made for these positive consequences to follow. Proper and satisfying. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted August 2023

House of Smith

Charles Smith grew up in Sacramento, one of 6 children. Went to Copenhagen with his girlfriend, booked and managed bands, most notably The Breeders of Denmark. Moved to Bainbridge Island, opened a bottle shop. Came to Walla Walla and he met the OG winemakers, borrowed equipment and was gifted some grapes. K Vintners K Syrah was born in 1999, 230 cases, was given a 250,000 loan form the bank, House wine with Costco was created and sold two years later to Precept wines. Then the came Charles Smith wines, five labels including Kung Fu Girl, 10 years went past, sold to Constellation Brands for 124 million dollars, name was changed to House of Smith and the rest is history.

Substance Sauvignon Blanc Sb 2021, Columbia Valley AVA

Just 10 per cent barrel fermented seems insignificant when you consider the amount of tropical fruit ripeness on this sauvignon blanc. Fresh and clean, zesty and though that fruit is healthy and luxe, the wine is also linear. The right stuff people. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted August 2023

Substance Chardonnay Ch 2020, Columbia Valley AVA

Minor yet significant barrel addendum for what is again seriously ripe Columbia Valley fruit making for almost indiscriminately edible chardonnay you can’t help but ruminate and chew. Fulsome, light butterscotch and an unexpected salve dissolve upon then palate. Natural feel. What’s happening here? Drink 2023-2024. Tasted August 2023

Sixto Chardonnay Moxee 2019, Washington State

Moxee is the name of the vineyard, a high elevation site in the Columbia, near to the Yakima Valley. the Charles Smith team is looking for acids and mineral, less butter and essentially a Burgundian feel. Nine months in concrete and nine more in 20 percent new wood. Barrel reduction as flint but also minor sulphide yet to integrate or blow off, some butterscotch but the elements and minerals do well to harmonize acids sweet enough to mimic and carry the fruit. Good intentions but 18 months of elévage can’t help but hide site more than it should. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted August 2023

Sixto Chardonnay Frenchman Hills 2019, Washington State

Right next to Stoneridge Vineyard at 1,650 feet of elevation, cooler, frost free, nine months in concrete and a further nine months in 21 percent wood. Yes Sixto is a reference to Sixto Rodriguez who was lost to the world on August 8th. A story of renewal, second chances and regeneration, a.k.a. vines planted back in the 1970s by Château Ste. Michelle, abandoned and resurrected by Charles Smith. More than technically old vines, much higher acid than the Moxee, still rich of vintage fruit but this one bites, piques and attacks with white peppery jolts. This is an exciting wine to drink while watching Searching for Sugarman. Serious quality in old vines chardonnay. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted August 2023

Sixto Chardonnay Rosa Hills 2019, Washington State

Sees the most French wood after nine months in concrete and so expect more butterscotch and golden pineapple, compounded as a result of lower elevation in the Yakima Valley. No doubt the most complete and developed of the three single site chards, no apologies and in Rosa’s case none necessary because varietal nirvana in the style is acceded. “In the sun, in the sun, Mary.” Driving chardonnay, rising slowly, incrementally, resinous and substantial. Weightier, bass drum and line, droning in the end. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted August 2023

Substance Pinot Noir Pn 2021, Washington State

Of 200 acres planted nine years ago the intention was to make a single block pinot. Syrah makers were in charge and so the learning curve was heavy and long. Seven years later this entry level pinot noir brings ripeness, that much is clear but also vanilla-lavender ubiquity. The use of Evergreen Vineyard fruit does bring extra pop and oomph because syrupy savour and vinous character needs some infiltrate lift. Works fine if with noted make-up and overworking involved. Drink 2023-2024. Tasted August 2023

CasaSmith Sangiovese Cinghiale 2021, Wahluke Slope AVA

In 2013 Charles Smith began working with North Ridge Vineyard in the Wahluke Slope AVA where barbera and primitivo are also planted and they too came with the contract. Rosebud Vineyard (88 percent), and (12) Wahluke Slope. Eight months of neutral oak, Vino de Tavola style and concept, fresh, crunchy, “scorreviole,” as it must be. Fine work, representative of northern exposure, glug-glug, really respectful and well made. Shocked that it comes away away at 15 percent alcohol. No heat, so bravo to the team. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted August 2023

Substance Cabernet Sauvignon Cs 2021, Columbia Valley AVA

Pulled from nine different vineyards and this is House of Smith’s wine that keeps the light on. Hums and grooves like a 1970s vibe, Marc Boland’s T-Rex to be exact. Some sweetness and also volatility but both are the kind that make a consumer feel like they are tasting something complex and upscale when really what’s in the bottle is a $14 Costco wine. No matter because it’s Neo-varietal cabernet sauvignon that the masses should choose above critters and California reds with 24 grams of residual sugar. Drink 2023-2024. Tasted August 2023

K Vintners The Creator 2019, Walla Walla Valley AVA

A three pound bottle. Why? “Charles wanted to make a statement.” He also wanted to make something new from the state of Washington, not that cabernet-syrah has never been done, “but not to the extent that this team set out to do. From Powerline Vineyard in the Walla Walla, cabernet sauvignon at 73 percent with (27) syrah and the fine thing about this blend of moderate (13.5 percent) alcohol is finesse and powerful restraint, a Killers wine that “doesn’t look a thing like Jesus.” There’s only one creator and Charles Smith is not they, but this wine so reminds of classic Western Cape Blends where the most ancient geology gifts this earthy, reductive and savoury character. This is a very good red blend in spite of the sustainably egregious heavy bottle. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted August 2023

Vital Wines

Non-profit offering financial support for vineyard workers. Everything is donated, including the grapes. Ashley Trout is the founder, winemaker at Brook and Bull. All tasting room staff are volunteers so thank you to Renée and Thomas for donating their time and knowledge.

Vital Wines Rosé Valdemar Estate Seven Hills Vineyard 2022, Walla Walla Valley AVA

Made with grapes grown and also winemaking donated by Valdemar Estate, of 80 percent mourvèdre and (20) syrah. Lots of spice here, candied aromatics too, not a shock considering the dominant grape and the tart fruit gains your immediate and keeps attention. Tastes like Rioja Rosado, oddly enough. Drink 2023-2024. Tasted August 2023

Vital Wines The Given 2019, Columbia Valley AVA

Four-part Rhône-ish blend, based on 60 percent syrah with (25) grenache, (13) mourvèdre and (2) cinsault. The blend changes every year and so the donations are also in flux. Major spice, a cupboard full dominates the aromas, namely cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, all dusty and soaking in balsamic. Sensing American oak as if Rioja in style though the grapes all harken the Rhône. Chock full of flavour and relatively easy drinking with fruit both dark and floral. Whatever tannins were involved have fallen away. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted August 2023

Vital Wines Syrah 2020, Walla Walla Valley AVA

Fruit is donated from The Rocks District in the southern Walla Walla AVA, basaltic cobbles that do syrah like no other terroir on earth. It’s really true that only The Rocks scents syrah like this, meaty and Rotundun peppery but also a speciality of flowers that simply do not come from anywhere else. A varietal-place sensation like sangiovese from Lamole in Chianti Classico, a perfume that is the place. “What can I get you?” Syrah on the Rocks, please.” Drink 2024-2028. Tasted August 2023

Vital Wines Cabernet Sauvignon 2019, Red Mountain AVA

Made with fruit donated out of the Red Mountain AVA and there is no real shock to feel the warmth, thickened stew consistency and shaken texture. Full, oaky and designed for those who like it big and unctuous with just a bit of sweetness in their cabernet sauvignon. Very much southern Washington in style, chock full of flavour if not the most finessed iteration off of Red Mountain. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted August 2023

Vital Wines The Visionary 2019, Walla Walla Valley AVA

Bordeaux blend from grapes donated out of the Ciel du Cheval Vineyard farmed by Seven Hills Winery, among others. Led by 60 percent merlot, with (27) cabernet franc, (12) petit verdot and a splash of cabernet sauvignon. First vintage with the proceeds going toward eye exams and glasses for vineyard workers who are unable to afford them. Quite the aromatic and also classic Walla Walla blend, thick, viscous and buoyed by pretty impressive acidity. Coffee, dark berries, lavender, graphite, dustiness, balsamic and a merlot-ness that is truly AVA dictated. Well made considering the grapes donated are always in flux and most of the wines are a first kick at the can kind of experience. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted August 2023

Rotie Rocks Vineyard

Rôtie Cellars

Sean Boyd moved here in 2003, started the Rotie Rocks Estate winery in 2007, with no distribution. Only selling from the cellar door and in Seattle. Originally a geologist working in oil and gas, from Tacoma. Was the winemaker at Waters, fell in love with the Rocks District in Milton-Freewater at the confluence of Washington and Oregon. Property had been devoted to red delicious apples which were subsequently ripped up and planted to Rhône varieties, modelled after Beaucastel. Six square (5.9) mile sub-AVA and essentially the only American AVA with just one soil type. Each year a new vintage of the Northern and Southern red and white blends are released, one a “rounded trifecta” of grenache, syrah, and mourvèdre, the other a play on that other threesome, viognier, marsanne and roussane.

The Rocks (District) at Milton-Freewater

Rôtie Cellars Southern White 2022, Walla Walla Valley AVA

Half viognier with (30) roussanne and (20) marsanne, more than estate vineyards with some Blue Mountain foothill area viognier and roussanne coming in form that cooler clime. Partially barrel-fermented, minty cool, green eggs and ham fantasy, essentially dry so if there is a gram, that sweetness does little to effect the blend. Sapid white, neither tropical nor searing but somewhere comfortably in between. The barrel ferment on the viognier does induce longan fruit with a douse of marsanne lime that extends the flavours over a good length of time. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted August 2023

Rôtie Cellars Southern Blend 2022, Washington State

A take on southern Rhône G-S-M with acid addendum and zest from cinsault. Somewhere in the vicinity of 60 percent Rocks District fruit with the remainder coming from the gorge that separates Washington from Oregon. The vineyard is literally on the river’s edge. A good portion is put into concrete (large cube) fermentation for 25 days, followed by neutral wood. That grip just has to be The Rocks but also a rush or whoosh of flavour that seems so very Gorge relatable. Curious metal motion mineral country twang, somewhat of a Chris Stapleton meets Lucinda Williams punchy anxiety that can’t help but grip the palate. Meaty, charred nightshade finish. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted August 2023

Rôtie Cellars Northern Blend Rotie Rocks Estate Vineyard 2022, The Rocks District of Milton-Freewater, Oregon

The Côte Rotie mimic with five percent Viognier co-fermented with two different clones of syrah. Sees 15 percent French oak and is really the only Rôtie wine that sees some new wood. Agriculturally speaking it is the method of goblet head-training that makes for more efficient use of sap flow while fruit at 24 inches above the ground concentrates power. Also with winter help by “stoning up” from the basalt is The Rocks’ version of burying canes. Here a cobblestone cause and effect, of iodine, potassium and uranium, three pillars of these rocks that deliver wet stone, struck flint and balsatic tapenade. That crusty black olive sensation doubles down on aromatics and then the palate with shocks to the system like jumping across power lines in fits of sparking light. Impressive work here. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted August 2023

Rôtie Cellars Rosé 2022, Washington State

Namely syrah with (15 percent) mourvèdre but the free run can’t come from more than an hour of skin contact because this is pale as it gets Rosé for syrah. Nearly vin gris, salty as F and purposed grown but also that acidity with the mourvèdre coming from The Gorge. Another sku is made with grenache called Stonewall Rosé that supports LGBTQ programs. Whistle as you sip this back because it delivers a one-two coordinated cool savour-grip punch. You can age this. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted August 2023

Rôtie Cellars Northern White 2022, Walla Walla Valley AVA

Apposite to the Rhône with 60 percent roussanne and (40) marsanne, all about yellow flowers and texture, lemongrass sabayon and basaltic saltiness. This speaks as much about Etna Bianco in terms of volcanic saltiness as it does Rhône varieties so c’mon – this is all about The Rocks, right? This is the launching point for the whites of this place, even while syrah, grenache and mourvèdre are the true signatures. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted August 2023

Rôtie Cellars Big G Rotie Rocks Estate Vineyard 2020, The Rocks District of Milton-Freewater, Oregon

Just the second vintage of the grenache from the Olives Vineyard back away from the Rocks district, just recently planted in 2015 now coming into play, likely real soon to be what will be talked about as “into it’s own.” Concrete ferment and used puncheons, unadorned, red fruit high caste and naked as the day a grape is born. Crystal clear transparency, and while many would wonder what drives this crystalline wine, the fact is concentration and power, not to mention depth are all in play. Don’t be fooled, this is indeed a glass of raw meat and red flowers. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted August 2023

Rôtie Cellars Dre 2020, Columbia Valley AVA

From the benches or “cliffs” of Wallula Vineyard, depending on who you talk to, of naturally formed terraces with elevation changes along and above the river’s gorge. The Boomerang Block produces mourvèdre and it is a seriously dramatic place. Doctor my eyes this Dre is somewhere between America’s premier (male) singer songwriter and the OG Hip Hop man, from both of which there are no artists not influenced by one or the other. Exaggerations are key to making sure people understand the uniqueness and potential of future iterations of a varietal wine that one day may just blow your mind. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted August 2023

Rôtie Cellars Bubbly Rosé 2021, Washington State

Not from any particular AVA, “just for fun, don’t overthink it.” Traditional method has been done here but this is forced carbonation (as in Charmat) method, all about the peaches and herb. Peach iced tea and just bloody delicious juice. That’s all folks. Drink 2023-2024. Tasted August 2023

Rôtie Cellars Grenache Blanc 2021, Washington State

From the Olson Vineyard owned by Prosser in the Yakima Valley, also pulled by Gramercy. Made in a sharp, high acid, zesty lemon and lime style. Fresh, extremely refreshing that turns a bit tropical with weight at the finish. Apricots and nectarines after that zesty citrus. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted August 2023

Winemaker Kate Derby, Spring Valley Vineyard

Spring Valley Vineyard

Washington State is rife with winerys and locations as unique to one another as anywhere in the world but Springfield Valley Vineyard is a universe unto itself. It may be Walla Walla Valley but the drive in and out is akin to riding shotgun in the Rover tumbling over and through a lunar landscape. The winery and vineyards are an oasis on the bright side of the moon and a harvest party setting next to the massive weeping willow is something to experience. Winemaker Kate “Crushinit” Derby is the granddaughter of Spring Valley Vineyard owners Dean and Shari Corkrum Derby and great-great-granddaughter of Spring Valley founder Uriah Corkrum. In 1993, Shari and Dean Derby planted the first grapes at Spring Valley and their first vintage was 1999. Derby works closely with Serge Laville and Carlos, longtime ranch manager. In the summer of 2007, 66 acres of new vineyards were planted. Today, Spring Valley Vineyard consists of 111 acres of grapevines including merlot, cabernet sauvignon, syrah, cabernet franc, petit verdot, and malbec.

With Carlos and Kate at Spring Valley

Spring Valley Vineyard Viognier 2022, Walla Walla Valley AVA

A short stay in barrel lends a lees creaminess to what is ostensibly true mineral stage presence for a viognier essentially borne out of a veritable oasis in the midst of a grand desert. Healthy alcohol just under 14 percent that integrates and balances within the overall master plan filled with fruit, salinity, fresh flowers, sapidity, botanical tonic and gentle bitters. A subtly exotic beauty, understated and if viognier could be expressive of humility then this by Kate Derby and team is just that. A joy to be around. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted August 2023

Spring Valley Vineyard Frederick Red Wine 2017, Walla Walla Valley AVA

Ode to Frederick Corkrum born in Spring Valley in 1900 to Katherine and Uriah. Classic Bordeaux blend and traditional (SVV) styling based on cabernet sauvignon with merlot and cabernet franc, aged for up to 30 months in barriques, stainless steel and neutral 500L puncheons. Notably warm growing season results in a mature, gently oxidative, well-seasoned and fully reasoned red as nurturing and easy to sip as it is polished, calming, non-plussed and refined. Always the tobacco and dry-brushy native plants mixed with dark fruit and a local savoir-faire that is unmistakable. Gentle giant of a red blend clearly made by this undulating corner of the Walla Walla Valley. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted August 2023

Spring Valley Vineyard Katherine Corkrum 2017, Walla Walla Valley AVA

Varietal cabernet franc, 100 percent, named in honour of Katherine Corkrum, wife to Uriah, a native of Wales who immigrated to Walla Walla Territory in 1897. She and Uriah had four sons, including Frederick Corkrum. Current winemaker Kate Derby is current generation Katherine and there’s just this feeling that KD and CF share an affinity for one another. The silken quality of both the fruit and tannins align to keep this 2017 living, breathing and gifting no matter the maturity or advanced nature of its present state. Acidity was and still persists as a catalyst to lift and carry the notions of Walla Walla, but more importantly the varietal Spring Valley Vineyard site. This is cabernet franc that tells you to slow down, smell the roses and sip without any rush at all. Make this glass and that bottle last. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted August 2023

Brooke and Justin Neufeld

Yakima Valley

JB Neufeld

J and B, Justin and Brooke, partners who produced their first vintage in 2008. The Yakima Valley is the state’s oldest AVA and says Justin, “in my opinion the most diverse terroir.” Especially for cabernet sauvignon and “by focusing on one variety is forces me to concentrate on the nuances of sites.” For Neufeld this means the Rattlesnake Hills and the upper valley.

JB Neufeld Sauvignon Blanc 2022, Horse Heaven Hills AVA

Straight away and without any doubt Justin Neufeld’s is bloody delicious sauvignon blanc. Aromatic enough, hopping on the palate, creamy mouthfeel yet sharp and clearly optimum of ripeness. Harmonic and long, fresh, clean and a finale with a lovely sweet herbal push. Impressive for grape and state. The 2020 was the first (at 250 cases) and 2022 is the third vintage, of 600 cases. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted August 2023

JB Neufeld Cabernet Sauvignon 2021, Yakima Valley AVA

“I want the Yakima Valley cabernet sauvignon to be a gateway wine,” explains Justin Neufeld. “A solid introduction to our style and friendly to many palates.” Here he makes use of lots of upper valley fruit for a variegated aromatic representation of the entirety of the Yakima. Some merlot here to help soften the overall expression and temper cabernet’s inherent austerity. Getting roasted nightshades in eggplant and red pepper, a lighter or subtle Cassis aspect, richness without thickening and luxury though never density. Truly proper Yakima Valley and by extrapolate extension, Washington State cabernet. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted August 2023

JB Neufeld Cabernet Sauvignon Ciel du Cheval 2020, Red Mountain AVA

A wine that is evolving into a blend with increased amounts of merlot and petit verdot because Red Mountain’s cabernet sauvignon is more austere and gritty than that of the upper Yakima Valley. Then again it’s all about Justin Neufeld’s “feel” in any given year. Classic Red Mountain and clearly JB’s biggest wine, especially on the palate where structure and specifically tannins come in thick waves, more balancing Kelvin than monster rogue. The chalkiness is indeed of an unctuous type and the approach here is spot on, maximizing fruit without barrel or aggressiveness getting in the way. No faults, nor VA nor Brett neither, no distraction or misguided orientation. Some native ferment involved but not in any early inducing secondary or tertiary potential. This is piloted cabernet sauvignon, make no mistake, insured and respectful, harmonic and solid. The backing vocals are very important, reminiscent of the Rolling Stones if more Bernard Fowler than Mary Clayton, which puts Ciel Du Cheval in less raw, more contemporary cabernet sauvignon times. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted August 2023.

JB Neufeld Cabernet Sauvignon Two Blondes Vineyard 2021, Yakima Valley AVA

From Justin and Brooke Neufeld who first bottled their cabernet sauvignon in 2008. “In my opinion the Yakima is the state’s most diverse terroir,” explains Justin. “By focusing on one variety it forces me to concentrate on the nuances of the sites here in Rattlesnake Hills and the Upper Valley.” A cooler clime for a less granular if also reduced austerity as compared to what comes from Red Mountain. Here the ridges run east to west and Two Blondes is as cool a site as there is the Upper Valley where the cataclysmic glacial lake outburst Missoula Floods peaked at 1,200 feet. Early concrete raising for a cabernet of place above all else, conspicuously aromatic with a whole helluva lot of things (and love) going on. Famously and indelibly connected to the winemakers who created it. A cerebral cab that makes you perk up, ponader and pay attention. The wood factor is quite present, the wine is so young and this feeling of delicasse, grace and repose are on the indigo horizon. Should take about three years time to get to a point of heartsease and another three to gain serenity. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted August 2023

JB Neufeld The Old Goat 2021, Yakima Valley AVA

Fruit taken entirely from Red Willow Vineyard located as far west as you can get in the Yakima Valley AVA, up against the Cascade Mountains. A true child of the rain shadow effect and compacted soils layered atop with volcanic ash originally spewed out by Mt. Saint Helens. In fact this is the only place in the state where this exists, in several layers, including material from the 1980 eruption. So much more than the (Mongolian) loess that has blown in to the east and through much of the Yakima. There is a charming aromatic set of tar, tobacco and ash notes, again those charred nightshades and here some balsamic reduction. The quality of the fruit has much to do with the combined acumen of OG grower Mike Sauer, his son Jonathan and the collaboration with MW David Lake. Their first vintage together was 1979, the year they met. This Old Goat is not “an elderly man who is disliked, especially for being mean to or disapproving of younger people,” but is in fact a big red, high in acid and of greater structure than the other Valley cabernets made by the Neufelds. The blend is 67 percent cabernet sauvignon with (33) merlot, just recently released. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted August 2023

Airfield Estates

Fourth generation, all in the Yakima Valley, now with 130 acres of grapes, 20 different varieties grown, the agriculture dating back to 1907. In 1968 the family began growing grapes, one of the first pioneer commercial wineries and the first vintage was 1971. Was purchased back for $1by Lloyd Miller who was an aviator in WWII. Marcus Miller is current generation and winemaker (with Travis since 2017).

Airfield Estates Lone Birch Pinot Gris Estate Grown 2022, Yakima Valley AVA

Fresh and clean, baking soda nose, easy, herbal, pear and direct. Palate brings the stone fruit, yellow-green aromatics and pretty much essential Yakima Valley pinot gris. Drink 2023-2024. Tasted August 2023

Airfield Estates Sauvignon Blanc 2022, Yakima Valley AVA

Really warm days with thankfully cool nights maintains freshness and knowable Washington acidity of a side palate up and down attack. Green herbs, gooseberry and a cut grass moment or two. Handsome, muscular yet not too taut and all in all very proper. A varietal workhorse exemplary for Yakima and Washington. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted August 2023

Airfield Estates Rosé of Sangiovese 2022, Yakima Valley AVA

More than interesting use of sangiovese for a place where not too much Rosé is produced and quite aromatic at that. Red citrus, high acid cherry and pink grapefruit, some RS and plenty of fruit that indicates a full’s day run and a grape relationship with great red potential. Almost Cerasuolo in style – from elevation, cool nights and high level interest. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted August 2023

Airfield Estates Merlot 2021, Yakima Valley

“A super interesting vintage and not in a good way,” tells Alexandra Lafontaine, “because it was cool in eastern Washington. But the grapes hung longer and escaped smoke-taint free.” True and yet there’s just that back palate char showing up, though the rest of the soft, nurtured and silky parts are highly credible and important to distinguish merlot for the Yakima Valley. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted August 2023

Airfield Estates Lone Birch Syrah 2021, Yakima Valley AVA

Great meaty, iodine and crusted earth nose for a syrah cold soaked for 17 hours, on skins 13 days. Dual inoculation, 15 percent new wood, aged 11 months in assorted French vessels. Truly syrah with a minor amount of palate sweetness while the acids are solid and the balance well struck. Smoked meat finish with extinguished tobacco and roasted nightshade char. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted August 2023

Airfield Estates Syrah 2020, Yakima Valley AVA

Clearly a step up from the Lone Birch on all fronts though not as noticeably meaty and earthy on the nose. Still a smokehouse smoulder but this falls into demure character without needing to be recognized as immediately one thing or the other. Fruit is deeper and feels more macerated though this is anything but a luxe and connected vintage. Wood also more in charge and yet not far away, meeting well with vineyard fruit (next to the famous Boucher block) and sometime next winter this will begin to drink at its best. Last tasted August 2023

Extreme ripeness of syrah being, some meatiness and that kind of iodine meets sanguine quality but mostly fruit, more fruit and then that aforementioned notion, like rare roast beef. Delicious wine with a mineral streak, not overly complex but enough to bely a creeping towards and into jammy flavours. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted June 2023

Airfield Estates Runway 2020, Yakima Valley AVA

Aviator ode red blend by way of a marketing perspective in 55 percent cabernet franc and (45) merlot though the blend will change from year to year with cabernet sauvignon often in the mix. Full on new wood at 85 percent but also a month of concrete to just elevate the freshness, if ever so slightly. Holds its wood quite well which is pleasantly surprising but it’s big, luxe and bold no doubt. Good buy – true Yakima Valley. Real discovery. Will be in November Classics, though only ten cases. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted August 2023

Airfield Estates J. Lloyd Miller 2020, Yakima Valley AVA

Ode to the company’s founder in a blend of 60 percent cabernet sauvignon with (22) merlot, (16) cabernet franc and (2) petit verdot. Signature, small production wine of 250 cases. Despite the warm vintage and obvious luxe styling there is grace, charm and lovely harmony in this wine. Sees 22 months in all new French wood, integrated beautifully and just about ready to go. Some 1968 planted vines are party of the fruit source. Silky smooth and there is absolutely no austerity or heat. No ego. It deserves to be well-rated and will surely be seriously pleasing to a discerning Bordeaux blend loving consumer. The quality is high and the winemaking prowess impressive. Coming out in a Classics release in March 2024, though only five cases. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted August 2023

Other wines tasted in Toronto, June 2023

Hilltop Wines Ltd. Terra Blanca Syrah Arch Terrace 2019, Red Mountain AVA

Estate Vineyard in syrah that leans mineral and ferric like few others – in fact the elemental surge from Red Mountain soil is felt in the most thorough of palpable ways. The intensity keeps a palate mindful of place and though fruit is no slouch or second fiddle played, one can’t help but feel the earth move beneath this syrah’s feet. So bloody and a mouthful of powdery rocks. Just wow. Drink 2023-2030. Tasted June 2023

Hilltop Wines Ltd. Terra Blanca Syrah Signature Series Block 8 2018, Red Mountain AVA

Going back another season and into Block 8 for syrah with an ulterior example that delivers a blood orange and plum fruit combination, much more so than the Estate. Acids are sharp, tang is a major factor and this really hits the high notes. Great length as well though without the hematic and ferric swirls. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted June 2023

Hilltop Wines Ltd. Va Piano Syrah 2019, Walla Walla Valley AVA

Serious syrah business, thick, ripe and liquid chalky. Some tart edging and also mineral intensity but fruit is explosive and seemingly unrelenting. Big-boned and structured for what should be a long life ahead with a fleshiness that will not be denied. Intensity is off the proverbial charts for a wine of this kind of stature and price. Quite impressive and nearly ready to boot. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted June 2023

Good to go!

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Hot red August sun in the Walla Walla Valley

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