Winemaker Notes
Ruby red. The nose is intense with notes of wild berries, tobacco and liquorice. The palate is enveloping and elegant with a fine acidity and a long and persistent finish.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A refined and silky red with a solid core of dried cherries and hints of mushroom plus hints of tea leaf. Medium body, firm tannins and a crisp finish.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Castello di Albola hits the right chords with the 2013 Chianti Classico Riserva. This is a tight and graceful expression of Sangiovese that offers pretty floral detailing with wild berry, cola and balsam herb. The mid-weight finish reveals a good dose of variety-driven acidity with lean texture and bright menthol notes on the close.
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Wine Spectator
This red is nicely balanced and beginning to find a sweet spot, boasting cherry, plum, leather and spice flavors. The structure is well-integrated and supportive. The finish lingers. Drink now through 2023. 2,000 cases made.
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.