Winemaker Notes
Accompanies roasts and braised red meats well.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A red with layers of ripe, round tannins and a chocolate, dark berry and spice character. Full body and a fruity finish. Fresh and savory. Very pretty single vineyard Chianti Classico. Drink or hold.
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Wine Spectator
An opulent style, featuring lush black cherry, blackberry and plum fruit shaded by licorice, tobacco and spice flavors. Powerful and succulent, with a well-integrated structure and a long earth- and spice-tinged aftertaste. Best from 2017 through 2024.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
This wine was upgraded from Riserva status to Gran Selezione with the recent changes to the denomination. The 2012 Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Il Picchio opens to a rich and beautifully saturated appearance. This is a plush, rich, and modern wine with a seamless presentation of dark fruit aromas that are comfortably set against exotic spice and tobacco. There is a bit of tightness and sour cherry on the close that should flesh out with a few more years of bottle aging. The wine is composed of 95% Sangiovese with 5% Canaiolo.
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Wine Enthusiast
Aromas of ripe plum, scorched earth, dark baking spice, toast and a hint of leather open up in the glass. The ripe palate delivers ripe black cherry, grilled herb, pipe tobacco and a coffee note. Velvety tannins hold up the savory flavors.
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.