Winemaker Notes
Pair with red grilled meat, like Bistecca Fiorentina, and semi to well-aged cheeses.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A dense and rich red with chocolate and leather. Hints of chestnuts. Medium to full body, dense fruit for the vintage. Excellent. Drink now.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Among the many new releases I tasted from this vintage, this wine offers an extremely pure and genuine expression of Sangiovese. The 2014 Chianti Classico shows wild and unpredictable aromas of wild berry, white almond and freshly milled peppercorn. There are subtle nuances of blue flower and moist earth as well. But this wine really excels when it comes to showing the tangy and spicy side of Sangiovese. The mouthfeel is thin and crisp, but this wine also shows introspective grace and inner elegance. The tannins are sweet and firm.
Rating: 90+
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.