Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
It's so encouraging to see a winery produce these results in what was a very challenging vintage. The 2014 Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Il Grigio offers ripe cherry aromas with subtle hints of cured leather and smoked bacon at the back. This is a medium-weight wine with a fiber-rich and juicy finish. The blend is 80% Sangiovese with other red grapes. Each variety was fermented apart in stainless steel (with up to 22 days of maceration). After malolactic fermentation, it was aged in various sizes of oak vessels for 24 months. Some 40,000 bottles were made.
-
Wine Spectator
Spice and toast aromas are followed by flavors of cherry, plum, wild herb and tobacco in this firm, dry red. Racy acidity keeps this focused, with a finish evoking tobacco and tea. Best from 2020 through 2032. 3,300 cases made.
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.