Winemaker Notes
#11 Wine Spectator Top 100 of 2023
Deep ruby in color with garnet lights that hint at the wine's extended barrel aging, Castello di Bossi Gran Selezione is explosive in its intensity and yet the wine manages an astounding complexity and finesse. Aromas of rich black cherry and plum integrate well with cedar, sweet cooking spices, chocolate and saddle leather. On the palate the wine is fleshy and dense. The finish achieves great balance and very pronounced length. This is a wine that will age with grace for many years.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
A solidly built red, this has a purity to the cherry, strawberry, rose, mineral and herb aromas and flavors. The muscular finish begs for more time for the beautiful fruit to assimilate. Offers excellent balance and length.
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James Suckling
Lots of blackberry, black-cherry and lavender aromas with some sage. Medium to full body, firm tannins and a fresh finish. Linear and polished red.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
You drive through a postcard-perfect panorama of cypress-lined roads and sun-lit farmhouses as you approach the tiny hamlet of Bossi on the southern side of the appellation. The organic Castello di Bossi 2019 Chianti Classico Gran Selezione reveals a dark core of black fruit that is surrounded by flinty mineral, spice and black licorice. This wine should become even silkier and softer with more bottle age. This 20,000-bottle release will hit the market this fall.
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Wine Enthusiast
Woodsy aromas of pine needles and underbrush blend with spices and herbs before a distinctive note of anise takes over on the nose. On the palate, herbaceous, earthy flavors remain dominant, joined by black cherries and finishing with the citric, astringent bite of orange pith.
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Vinous
The 2019 Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Castello di Bossi is laced with dark red cherry, incense, tobacco, game, spice and licorice. Dense and a bit wild, the 2019 has plenty of personality. This really needs quite a bit of air to emerge, but there is plenty of stuffing there.
With a history dating back to the 9th century AD, the Castello di Bossi estate has evolved with the times. A dynamic team leads the estate and never shies from technological innovation, while remaining true to the terroir of Chianti. It is this balance that has been a key part of Marco Bacci’s vision as he has brought Castello di Bossi to the highest ranks of international wine. As the mastermind of Castello di Bossi, he oversees all operations, from beginning to end, with careful attention to detail. In the last 10 years, Marco has added two properties to his holdings: Renieri in Montalcino and Terre di Talamo in the Morellino di Scansano appellation. The Bossi Castle is located in the town of Castelnuovo Berardenga, the southernmost appellation of Chianti Classico, amid evergreen woods and long rows of vines. With his brother Maurizio, Marco owns one of the best collections of estates in Tuscany, and is creating high-quality wines from some of the top Tuscan appellations. The wine consultant is Alberto Antonini and Federico Curtaz is the agronomist. Following in his father's footsteps, Marco's son Jacopo joined the company in 2004. First involved on the production side, Jacopo has come to be especially active in sales in the US and Asian markets.
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.