Winemaker Notes
Vibrant ruby red, intensely redolent of cherries, violet and hints of aromatic herbs and spices, with well rounded tannins and a long-lasting finish on the palate. This is a structured jet silky wine that can be served with different types of food.
Blend: 100% Sangiovese
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
From the artists' series, the organic Nittardi 2021 Chianti Classico Casanuova di Nittardi La Doghessa shows rich, warm-vintage fruit with sweet berry, baking spice and toasted almond. The wine offers nice intensity over a balanced mouthfeel with plenty of dark fruit definition. It closes on a sweet note with dry oak tannins. The label artwork is by American film director James Ivory.
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James Suckling
This has a chocolaty character with ripe red berries, sweet orange peel and red flowers. Medium- to full-bodied, firm and chalky, but fruit-forward and succulent. Ripe core of fruit and a velvety finish. From organically grown grapes.
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Vinous
The 2021 Chianti Classico Casanuova di Nittardi Vigna Doghessa is vibrant and full of energy. Bright acids drive through a core of dark red fruit, leather, rose petal, mint and licorice. Dynamic and nuanced, the 2021 is an absolutely gorgeous wine.
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Wine Spectator
Round and succulent, sporting dark fruit flavors of black cherry, blackberry and plum accented by iron and tobacco. In the end, the dense tannins gain the upper hand in the balance, yet overall this is satisfying. Best from 2027 through 2042. 2,500 cases made, 700 cases imported.
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.