Winemaker Notes
From certified-biodynamic estate vines in San Casciano in Val di Pesa at the northern edge of the Chianti Classico zone. The fruit comes from two sites—one lower-lying, warmer, with heavier clay soils with alluvial stones, the other much higher, cooler, north-facing and limestone-forward and rich in limestone—but the majority, including the Colorino and Canaiuolo, from the lower-lying one. The bunches are harvested by hand and mainly destemmed (though up to 30% may remain as whole clusters depending on the vintage), with the whole berries left uncrushed. The berries and clusters are layered in concrete tanks and fermented spontaneously with natural yeasts and no sulfur or temperature control. Maceration is only 10 days with no extractive techniques, only a submerged cap or cappello sommerso. The wine is aged mainly in concrete for up to 1.5 years and bottled with a small amount of sulfur and without fining or filtering.
Blend: 90% Sangiovese, 10% Colorino-Canaiuolo
Professional Ratings
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Vinous
The 2021 Chianti Classico is one of the wines of the vintage in the Chianti Classico 'Annata' category. Rich, layered and super-expressive, the 2021 offers up red/purplish berry fruit, rose petal, lavender and spice race across the palate. The Montesecondo Chianti Classico raises the simple question of why there aren't more wines like this.
Disenchanted with Italian winemaking laws in the 1970s, a few rebellious Tuscan winemakers decided to get creative. Instead of following tradition, to bottle Sangiovese by itself, they started blending it with international varieties, namely Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah in differing proportions and with amazing success. However, some Tuscan Blends don’t even include Sangiovese. Somm Secret—The suffix –aia in Italian modifies a word in much the same way –y acts in English. For example, a place with many stones (sassi) becomes Sassicaia. While not all Super Tuscan producer names end in –aia, they all share a certain coy nomenclature.
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.