Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A fresh and clean red with dried strawberry, cherry and hints of mushroom and shaved chocolate. Full body, fine tannins and a tangy finish. The quality of tannins and texture is impressive. Almost too much wood but shows polish and depth. Better in 2016.
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Wine & Spirits
The Capannino vineyard sits on a southwest-facing slope on this 543-acre estate in the Castellina zone. Sangiovese grosso vines from Montalcino were planted on its albarese-rich clay soils in the 1950s, and the wine has an old-vine concentration of dark berry and cherry flavors that mingle with earthy notes of dried porcini, underlined by ferrous minerality. Match the firm tannins with bistecca alla Fiorentina.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
In the past, this was a Riserva wine but it has now been upgraded to Gran Selezione (the highest tip of the Chianti Classico quality pyramid). I'm not sure if the winemaking was changed as a result. The 2011 Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Vigna del Capannino is a single vineyard expression that opens to brooding dark fruit and a great level of aromatic intensity. This is a luscious and generous Sangiovese-based red with dark fruit flavors followed by pretty layers of spice and tobacco. I would suggest giving this wine another two or three years of bottle aging.
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.