Winemaker Notes
The voice of a single vineyard, 10 hectares in the family hills of San Casciano in Val di Pesa, a century-old estate where Sangiovese grapes have unique strength and precision. The soul of this wine is in the details, with a rough character in a precise texture that widens in complexity with the evolution. Intense aromas vibrating in fragrant notes of dark cherries and plums, violets and dried roses, liquorice powder and myrtle leaf, with a fresh touch of fine spices. The palate is powerful and direct, with a crescendo in the mouth: a dry and warm body without excess of tannins, like a stretching muscle, defines a full and harmonious development.
Pair with risotto with glazed quail and “Aceto Tradizionale” vinegar.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Aromas of blueberries, violets and lavender follow through to a full body with chewy tannins. A juicy finish. Lots of wood tannins, as well as grape tannins. Needs three to four years to soften. From organically grown grapes. Better in 2021.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Here's a beautifully concentrated and darkened wine that delivers an impressive level of intensity and balance. The 2015 Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Don Tommaso is a lovely wine with a loose texture that is layered with fleshy fruit flavors and spicy flavors of smoke and sweet allspice. The blend of fruit used here is 80% Sangiovese and 20% Merlot. Most of the wine (70%) is aged in new French oak, and the rest goes into second year barrels.
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.