Winemaker Notes
With a deep ruby color and intense aromas of cherry and red berry, this Chianti Classico balances ripe fruit and acidity with notes of spice. A great match with roasted meats and flavorful pastas, this wine is also delicious to sip on its own without food.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Deeply fragrant, with aromas of ripe cherries, warm stones, dried oregano and a touch of blood oranges. It’s medium-bodied with a fine texture and well-integrated tannins that give focus and drive. Shows balance and depth throughout.
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Vinous
The 2023 Chianti Classico Bramosia offers up ripe red cherry, kirsch, mint, cinnamon, orange peel and a kiss of sweet oak. Racy and aromatic, the Bramosia is another wine in this range that is ready to deliver pleasure. The overt style works quite well here.
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Wine Spectator
A darker expression of the vintage, this red sports black cherry, blackberry, plum, violet and iron aromas and flavors. Dense and solidly structured, with a detailed aftertaste. Sangiovese and Merlot.
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.