Winemaker Notes
Casaloste Chianti Classico is ruby red in color. On the nose, strong fresh red fruit such as currants, strawberries and cherries. A pleasant, fruity wine, supported by the typical acidity of Sangiovese and characterized by long and elegant tannins.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Vibrant and bursting with cherry, strawberry and rose flavors, this red also shows a solid structure. Remains fresh and balanced while playing out on the long, fruit-, earth- and mineral-filled aftertaste. Sangiovese and Merlot. Drink now through 2038. 2,160 cases made, 900 cases imported.
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Vinous
The 2021 Chianti Classico is expressive and nicely layered in the glass, marked by strong savory and earthy notes than run through. In this vintage, the fruit feels a bit pushed into the background, and there is less textural depth than most years, perhaps because of the May frost. The Casaloste Chianti Classico is a blend of 90% Sangiovese and 10% Merlot. Sangiovese is fermented on the skins of the Merlot (which ripens earlier), a Tuscan version of the ripasso method that is used widely in Veneto.
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.