Winemaker Notes
Ideal with red grilled meat, like Bistecca Fiorentina. Moreover, this is a light, fresh and fruity wine, suitable to accompany everyday meals.
Blend: 95% Sangiovese, 5% Merlot
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Subtle aromas of raspberries and red plums with hints of roasted meat. Medium to full body, ripe yet tightly wound tannins and a clean finish. Just a baby. Drink from 2020.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
This wine is an absolute steal. The 2016 Chianti Classico Rubiolo is 95% Sangiovese with 5% Merlot. Most of the grapes come from the Panzano area, and a smaller percentage comes from Castellina in Chianti. Thanks to some of the high-altitude positioning of the vineyards (up to 500 meters above sea level), grapes were harvested late (in mid-October) in this cooler vintage. This is one of the reasons you get so much fruit freshness with intense berry aromas. The Panzano in Chianti vineyard has old vines planted in compact clay soils with galestro stone. The Castellina area has similar yet slightly looser soils with terraces that show increased vigor and fertility among the plants. This wine is not as dark or dense compared to the 2015 vintage, yet it is fresher and more elegant.
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Wine Spectator
Bright, bursting with black cherry, leather, iron and earth flavors, this red is rich and supple. Dusty tannins seep in on the finish, but overall this has an appealing softness. Drink now through 2028.
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.