Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This is toasty on the nose with red and dark berries and hints of cocoa and hazelnuts. Medium-bodied with polished tannins. Refined and pristine. Juicy and nicely filled with fruit, showing freshness and poise. Well made and really balanced. From organically grown grapes. Drink or hold.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Here's a classic organic expression of Sangiovese from the sun-drenched basin of vineyards found in Panzano. The Gagliole 2021 Chianti Classico Riserva is a medium to full-bodied expression with plenty of beautiful dark fruit to behold. The excellent 2021 vintage produced wines of depth, power and concentration with the added bonus of balance. It is one of the best vintages we have seen in recent years. The talented team at Gagliole works with vines over the 20-year-plus mark in this case and has excellent equipment in a new state-of-the-art winery. The Riserva is a step closer to primary fruit, with the complexity of aging in new and neutral oak, plus cement.
Rating: 94+
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.