Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Wow. What a nose to this wine. Amazing aromas of blackberries, licorice and blueberries, with hints of flowers. Vivid and complex. What a wine! Give it two to three years of bottle age.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2008 Chianti Classico Castello di Brolio reveals gorgeous layers of wild cherries, tobacco, herbs, spices and new leather. Darker, balsamic notes develop in the glass, contributing weight and dimension. The Castello di Brolio shows gorgeous delineation and a long polished finish peppered with hints of smoke, tar and incense. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2020.
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Wine & Spirits
Francesco Ricasoli has focused attention on this top wine of his family's estate, raising its stature while removing the riserva designation from its name. It's a cellarworthy 2008, with lush and delicious black cherry flavors in the middle, and meaty, black peppercorn-scented tannins giving the wine shape and density in the end. Blanced and sophistocated, this should age with grace.
Among Italy's elite red grape varieties, Sangiovese has the perfect intersection of bright red fruit and savory earthiness and is responsible for the best red wines of Tuscany. While it is best known as the chief component of Chianti, it is also the main grape in Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and reaches the height of its power and intensity in the complex, long-lived Brunello di Montalcino. Somm Secret—Sangiovese doubles under the alias, Nielluccio, on the French island of Corsica where it produces distinctly floral and refreshing reds and rosés.
One of the first wine regions anywhere to be officially recognized and delimited, Chianti Classico is today what was originally defined simply as Chianti. Already identified by the early 18th century as a superior zone, the official name of Chianti was proclaimed upon the area surrounding the townships of Castellina, Radda and Gaiole, just north of Siena, by Cosimo III, Grand Duke of Tuscany in an official decree in 1716.
However, by the 1930s the Italian government had appended this historic zone with additonal land in order to capitalize on the Chianti name. It wasn’t until 1996 that Chianti Classico became autonomous once again when the government granted a separate DOCG (Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita) to its borders. Ever since, Chianti Classico considers itself no longer a subzone of Chianti.
Many Classicos are today made of 100% Sangiovese but can include up to 20% of other approved varieties grown within the Classico borders. The best Classicos will have a bright acidity, supple tannins and be full-bodied with plenty of ripe fruit (plums, black cherry, blackberry). Also common among the best Classicos are expressive notes of cedar, dried herbs, fennel, balsamic or tobacco.