Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
An extrovert but elegant Tuscan red, this shows baking spices, dark cherries and plums, cedar, dried peppers and meaty undertones. Full-bodied and nicely structured on the palate, it expertly weaves a fine line between richness, spiciness and freshness. Drink from 2021
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The fruit comes from a two-hectare site called Vignalparco that is unique because ducks run free between the vines, doing an excellent job of fertilizing and hopefully eating any pests. (Yes, ducks can eat grapes, but rarely off of the vines.) The resulting 2016 Chianti Classico Riserva Vignalparco (with 11,000 bottles made) is a compact and solid wine with a very pretty bouquet composed of black fruit elements, spice and wild rose. There is smoke, tar and road paving at the end. There is a bright point of acidity on the close, making it a terrific candidate for (dare I suggest it?) a classic Tuscan pappardelle all'anatra, or pappardelle with fatty duck. Sorry.
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Wine Enthusiast
Earthy and structured, this has aromas suggesting forest floor, new leather and ripe berry. The juicy, solidly built palate offers black cherry extract, licorice and coffee bean framed against assertive, rather grainy tannins. It closes on a note of rusty nail. Drink 2021–2031.
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Wine Spectator
A solid backbone of tannins provides the backdrop for this lightly chewy red. Cherry, iron, tobacco and earth flavors are knotted together with the firm structure. A dusty feel lingers. Best from 2022 through 2036.
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.
Famous for its food-friendly, approachable red wines and their storied history, Chianti is perhaps the best-known wine region of Italy. This appellation within Tuscany has it all: sweeping views of rolling hills, endless vineyards, the warm Mediterranean sun, hearty cuisine and a rich artistic heritage. Chianti includes seven subzones: Chianti Colli Fiorentini, Rufina, Montalbano, Colli Senesi, Colline Pisane, Colli Aretini and Montespertoli, with area beyond whose wines can be labeled simply as Chianti.
However the best quality comes from Chianti Classico, in the heart of the Chianti zone, which is no longer a subzone of the region at all but has been recognized on its own since 1996. The Classico region today is delimited by the confines of the original Chianti zone protected since the 1700s.
Chianti wines are made primarily of Sangiovese, with other varieties comprising up to 25-30% of the blend. Generally, local varieties are used, including Canaiolo, Colorino and Mammolo, but international varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah are allowed as long as they are grown within the same zone.
Basic, value-driven Chianti wine is simple and fruit-forward and makes a great companion to any casual dinner. At its apex, Chianti is full bodied but with good acidity, firm tannins, and notes of tart red fruit, dried herbs, fennel, balsamic and tobacco. Chianti Riserva, typically the top bottling of a producer, can benefit handsomely from a decade or two of cellaring.