Castell'in Villa Chianti Classico 2017
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Estate grown in Castelnuovo Berardenga in alluvial soil with pebbles and sand; 100% Sangiovese. The wine is fermented in stainless steel using indigenous yeasts, and is kept in contact with the skins for a little less than two weeks. The wine is aged in large oval barrels ('botti') for two years before bottling. The resulting wine is the best kind of classic Chianti, with the classic aromas of sour cherry, fine leather, sandalwood and cedar, fresh acidity, attractive fine tannins, and a long, complex palate impression. This style of Chianti Classico is a very useful wine at table, medium-weight, savory, based on fresh acidity rather than tannins; I drink it with pizza, roast chicken, pork, and red meats (although the Riserva is best of all for this, amazing with rib-eye).
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Castell'in Villa is a small estate in Castelnuovo Berardenga, at the south end of the Chianti Classico region. Both the Chianti Classico and the Riserva are made entirely of Sangiovese, vinified using indigenous fermentations. They’re aged in the traditional large oval barrels, and have been some of the best wines in the appellation for decades. The owner of the estate, Coralia Pignatelli della Leonessa, has never wavered in her commitment to traditional winemaking. The resulting wines are soulful, distinctive, long-lived, and delicious, proof that the Sangiovese grape can rise to greatness when grown in the right place.
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.