Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Crushed red berries, flowers, bark and fresh mushrooms. Complex nose. Medium-bodied with fine and firm tannins that run the length of the wine. Chewy yet polished and fine. Juicy at the end with some crunchiness.
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Wine Spectator
A bright, focused style, offering black cherry, blackberry, pomegranate and floral aromas and flavors. Taut, vibrant and balanced, with fine intensity from start to the mineral-tinged finish. Sangiovese and Merlot. Drink now through 2030.
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Decanter
Castello di Ama’s just-bottled annata features lifted aromas of violet, lilac and blood orange. Crafted with young-vine Sangiovese between 10 and 12 years old, it is padded out with a dash of Merlot which lends a touch of plushness to the streamlined, sleek red cherry fruit. The graceful palate is smoothly textured, with an appealing chalkiness on the finish. An overall lively, zesty character speaks to the northwest- to southeast-facing vineyards at cool heights of 460 to 525 metres above sea level.
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.