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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Decanter
Castell’in Villa’s Riserva is crafted from the estate’s higher altitude plots at over 300m. After forgoing this bottling in 2018, proprietress Coralia Pignatelli follows up the striking 2017 release with this austerely captivating 2019. It is classically savoury with discreet scents of sundried tomato, chestnut, roasted coffee and rust. After much aeration, sweeter nuances of macerated cherry, thyme and almond emerge. The palate is unquestionably strict and linear: stony tannins and brisk acidity make for a steely backbone. While far from rich or plush, it does have meat on its bones, and very toned muscles. It hints at blood and liquorice throughout, with a salty mineral finish.
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James Suckling
A deep and complex wine with elegant aromas of potpourri, dried cherries, licorice and earthy minerality. Graceful palate despite the structure, with dusty yet ripe tannins, refreshing acidity, expressive dried flowers and a long aftertaste. Drinkable now, but best from 2026.
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Vinous
The 2019 Chianti Classico Riserva is a bomb. Castell'in Villa fans will find a heady, explosive Riserva that hits all the right notes. Dark cherry, plum, new leather, cedar and grilled herbs give this broad-shouldered Riserva tons of intensity. The 2019 can be approached now, but it will be even better in a few years' time. Superb.
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.