Winemaker Notes
Pairs exquisitely with traditional Italian dishes such as a classic bisteca Fiorentina, pasta Bolognese, wild boar ragu, and eggplant Parmesan. It’s also wonderful with dishes such as grilled ribeye and roasted vegetables.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Lots of dried berry, orange peel and ginger aromas follow through to a full body with chewy tannins. Tangy finish. Rich and delicious. Drink now.
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Wine Enthusiast
Made with Sangiovese and 10% Merlot, this opens with aromas of toast, espresso, sunbaked earth and mature plum. The structured palate offers black cherries marinated in spirits, vanilla, toasted oak and coffee, while firm, fine-grained tannins provide the framework.
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Wine & Spirits
With the 2010 vintage, Ducale Oro Riserva gained Gran Selezione status. Harvested from galestro-rich soils in Castellina, the wine includes 20 percent cabernet sauvignon and merlot. Notes of clove, anise and coffee accent flavors of plum and cherry. Its dry and balanced finish would play well with the richness of slow-roasted pork shoulder.
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Wine Spectator
A complex red, evoking cherry, strawberry, tobacco, tar and underbrush aromas and flavors. Harmonious and detailed, this lingers with an aftertaste of fruit, earth and woodsy notes. Drink now through 2023.
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.