Winemaker Notes
Profoundly deep ruby red. Very ripe fruit aromas are backed up by classic gladiolus florality nuanced with balsam, mint, spiciness and sweet tobacco. Superb poise in the mouth, where structure, softness, acidity, extract and savouriness come together to perfection, leading into an aroma-rich finale that thrills to warm notes of ripe fruit lifted by fresh balsam.
Outstanding structure and soft texture set in a rich aromatic array of fruit and sweet spice make this wine a wonderful accompaniment for flavoursome meat-based dishes, such as game and spicy or aromatic herbbased recipes, or with mature cheeses.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Cherry and floral aromas with some perfume following through to a full body. Firm, silky tannins and a fresh finish. Linear, focused and refined. Drink now.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
I'm happy to see the name of the vineyard on the front label of the 2013 Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Vigneto di Campolungo. Vineyard designations are becoming an ever more important tool for vintners in this large appellation. It helps to draw attention to specific territorial characteristics. More work still needs to be done in this direction. This is a full and generous expression with dark fruit followed by a soft and layered presentation. Bright cherry and blackberry lead to spice, cured leather and grilled herb.
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Wine Spectator
Rich and mellow, this red exudes cherry, loam, underbrush and tobacco aromas and flavors. Firms up, with assertive yet integrated tannins and lively acidity. Fine length. Drink now through 2030.
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Wine Enthusiast
Truffle, toast, dried mint and plum aromas come together along with a charred note. The taut, chewy palate delivers dried black cherry, cranberry, clove and star anise set against tightly wound, close-grained tannins.
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.