Winemaker Notes
Ruby red with reflections tending to garnet with aging. It has attractive aromas of violet, cherry and berries, combined with pleasant spicy notes. It is round and velvety, very elegant and supported by thick and non-aggressive tannins. Long persistence and intensity on the palate.
Perfect to accompany pasta with meat sauce and game. It is also ideal with aged cheeses such as pecorino.
Professional Ratings
-
Wine Spectator
Bright and effusive, delivering cherry, strawberry and floral aromas and flavors, set against a silky texture. The tannins are refined, keeping this harmonious and impeccably balanced. The terrific finish echoes the fruit, with a light vein of mineral. Drink now through 2038.
-
James Suckling
Aromas of violets, lavender and cherries follow through to a full body, medium tannins and a chewy and fresh finish. Drink from 2020.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2016 Chianti Classico Riserva Vigna Casi (100% Sangiovese) offers great value with tart and bright fruit followed by spice, leather and tilled earth. The wine is simple and straightforward in terms of mouthfeel, nothing too exciting, leading to this smaller drinking window.
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.