Winemaker Notes
Full and well-expressed notes of ripe red fruits & plum. Dry, austere, with elegant tannins.
Pair with steak, aged pecorino, roasted game meat
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A rich, opulent red with cherry, walnut, chocolate and light grilled-meat undertones. It’s medium-bodied with light tannins and an intense, savory and juicy finish.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
With fruit from high altitude vineyards at about 400 meters above sea level, the Castello di Querceto 2017 Chianti Classico Riserva is a tight and elegant expression with bright aromas of tart cherry and cassis, crushed flower, red berry and forest fruit. The wine is tangy and bright with the kind of lifted and fresh personality that is so specific to Greve in Chianti. This site does very well in the warm years such as 2017.
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.