Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A fascinating combination of ripe fruit, fresh bark and mushrooms. Soya too. Full body, round tannins and a tangy and juicy acidity at the finish. So much going on. Drink or hold.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2011 Chianti Classico Riserva is a wine of enormous depth and personality. It shows an immediate rush of berry aromas with grilled herb and tilled earth. It does a great job of presenting the varietal characteristics of Sangiovese in a pure and unadulterated manner. You can feel a touch of fruit ripeness that is common in most of the wines of 2011, but the mouthfeel is polished and direct.
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Wine Spectator
Notes of cherry and strawberry show restraint in this elegant, taut red, with savory, mineral accents emerging as this develops. The finish finds an equilibrium and all the elements are there, but this will need time to develop. Best from 2017 through 2027.
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.