Winemaker Notes
This Chianti Classico Gran Selezione has an intense ruby red color with purple hues. A combination of a dense structure and elegance, strength and finesse. Well balanced and harmonious to the palate, with a very pleasant taste and sweetness due to the velvety and ripe tannins. An outstanding flavor wrapped in elegant softness with aromas of sour black cherry, prune, balsamic with sweet spices, cinnamon, and cloves. Very long final persistence.
This wine pairs well with traditional cold cuts: salami and matured sheep and cow cheeses. Roasted white and red meats, pasta with traditional game meat sauces or heavy creamy sauces.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This is really succulent with sliced plums, blackberries and some dark chocolate. It’s full-bodied and beautifully crafted. Long and flavorful with gorgeous polish. From organically grown grapes.
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Wine Spectator
Harmony and grace are the hallmarks of this red, whose cherry, currant, tobacco, iron, sanguine and underbrush flavors are nicely integrated with the firm structure. Ends on a savory note, with an undercurrent of ripe fruit.
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.