Winemaker Notes
The Castell'in Villa Chianti Classico Riserva is concentrated well-tannined and with an elegance for the eye and nose. The taste is complex, showing ripe fruit, black cherries and some deep earthy spicy tones.
Professional Ratings
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Vinous
The 2010 Chianti Classico Riserva, a library release, is stellar. Dark, ample and explosive, the 2010 is just entering the first part of its drinking window. Black cherry, graphite, leather, scorched earth and incense add to an impression of brooding intensity. There is a touch of oak sweetness, a reminder that the estate introduced some new French oak casks during this era.
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Wine Spectator
This gives an impression of sweetness stemming from the ripe plum, black cherry, licorice and tar flavors. Dense and lively, with a muscular finish. Coming into its own now, and should age another decade. Drink now through 2029.
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.