Winemaker Notes
Its distinctive floral freshness merges with initial spicy notes, acidity and well-defined minerality; tannins just right. A pure Sangiovese that reveals all the magnificent qualities of this grape, further exalted by the small size of the vineyard whose name it bears.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This is so perfumed – the red fruit and flowers just jump out of the glass. So aromatic. Full-bodied, yet the precise, fine tannins just melt into the glass and spread wide across the palate. A gorgeous wine. Drink or hold.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The Barone Ricasoli 2017 Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Castello di Brolio Roncicone is balanced and bright with plenty of fruit, spice, flower and potting soil. The wine is stitched together with balance and precision, making for a terrific and worthy partner to a Tuscan spezzatino, or beef stew. The tannins are especially fine and well integrated, considering the quick-ripening fruit in this hot vintage.
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Wine Enthusiast
Spice, rose and wild berry aromas waft out of the glass. On the austere palate, polished tannins elegantly support cranberry, sour cherry, espresso and licorice. Drink 2023–2029.
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Decanter
On rolling southern slopes, Roncicone is characterised by sandy soil with marine fossils and rounded stones. Harvested on 6 September, it was the first of Ricasoli’s crus to be picked. Led by macerated cherry, blackberry, vanilla and toast, it is the ripest of the lot and comes across as the most influenced by oak. Intriguing mineral notes lurk underneath. Structure-wise, the acidity is soft while the tannins are broad and grainy with a firm edge. Full, rich and approachable.
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.