Winemaker Notes
Pairs well with beef fillet, game birds, and rack of lamb.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Earthy aromas of leather, tilled soil, blue flower, mature black fruit and a balsamic note waft from the glass. The firm palate delivers spiced plum, ripe black cherry, menthol, vanilla, mocha and well-integrated oak alongside youthfully assertive tannins. Drink 2015–2025.
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James Suckling
This is so decadent and beautiful with a dried-meat, berry and spice character. Full-bodied, round and savory. So juicy and gorgeous. Yummy. Drink now.
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Tasting Panel
Dried flowers, tobacco, wild herbs, smoke and black cherries inform the 2010 Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Il Margone. A silky, graceful wine, the 2010 possesses lovely balance in an understated, feminine style for the year. All the elements are in the right place. Sweet floral notes add lift and perfume on the finish. This is one of the most finessed wines I have tasted from Il Molino di Grace.
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Wine Spectator
A mix of spicy oak, mineral, tobacco and wild herbs accents the core of pure cherry flavors in this vibrant, austere red. The tannins are muscular, and the finish lingers. Best from 2016 through 2024.
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.