Winemaker Notes
Ideal with roasted or grilled meat, especially rosemary scented roast lamb, pork loin, grilled steak, pan-cooked rabbit; pasta and risottos with sausages or mushrooms; polenta; vegeterian dishes, especially grilled porcini mushroom caps; cold cuts and medium aged cheeses.
Professional Ratings
-
James Suckling
This smells so much like truffles it’s uncanny. Then enticingly fresh red fruit springs from the glass in a myriad of different shades. Red plums, crushed roses, dried cranberries and hibiscus. The palate is so unbelievably polished that it’s quite startling. Fine, firm tannins and umami flavors lurk through layers of glimmering fruit and carry right through to the long, polished finish. Drink now or hold.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
This is a new, high-end release from Gagliole. The 2015 Chianti Classico Riserva Gallule represents a cru selection of Sangiovese from old organically farmed vines (between 25 and 30 years old with rows positioned between olive trees). The age of the vines contributes to the dark intensity and thickness of its aromatic profile. Yet its unique Panzano territory contributes to the wine's freshness and bright elegance that comes through so beautifully despite the heat and sunshine of this vintage. Grapes were harvested during the last days of September and fermented in rotating barrels as well as conical-shaped vats. The wine is aged in neutral and second year oak only. Gallule opens to a dark garnet-purple color with fine aromas of wild berry, spice, tar and moist potting soil. The mouthfeel is broad, ample and generous.
-
Decanter
Cherry, sweet spice and roasted coconut oak nose. The palate is juicy and spicy with crunchy black fruit, soft and elegant tannins and a persistent, spicy finish.
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.