Winemaker Notes
Very complex and spicy nose recalling red berries, cherry jam and white pepper; abundant earthiness confirmed on the full, rich, silky and persistent palate.
Pair with grilled meat, game dishes and semi-aged cheeses.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
A sheen of vanilla and toasty oak complements the lush, ripe black cherry and plum fruit in this suave Chianti Classico. Focused and well-structured, showing fine balance and a long finish that brings tobacco and orange peel hints into play. Best from 2022 through 2040.
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Decanter
l Molino di Grace's Riserva is a little like the middle child: when a Gran Selezione is produced at the estate, this is the second wine to be assembled and is often made in smaller quantities - and much smaller quantities than the SoloSangiovese. Yet the 2016 is simply lovely. It's bright and lifted with well-defined aromas of sweet herbs, coffee, raspberry bush and violets. It's packed with fruit but remains light on its feet. Elegantly structured and long.
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Vinous
The 2016 Chianti Classico Riserva is another fabulous wine from Il Molino di Grace. Black cherry, plum, spice, lavender menthol and licorice all build in this beautifully layered, mid-weight Riserva. Ample, creamy and resonant, the Riserva is an absolute joy to taste today.
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James Suckling
This is a very pretty Chianti Classico that shows plenty of freshly picked violets, hazelnuts and blackcurrants. There’s lots of fruit here, but it’s all delivered in a neat, compact package, bound by firm tannins and wrapped up in bright acidity. From organically grown grapes. Drink now or hold.
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.