Winemaker Notes
Made only from the finest Sangiovese grapes carefully selected from the estate Chianti Classico vineyards, this Reserva represents the perfect blend of the traditional and the modern. It spends some 24 months in oak, with about 20% in small barriques, and one year in the bottle. The front label bears Titian’s famous portrait of a medieval knight in armour.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A very pretty, refined red with ultra-fine tannins, vivid fruit of crushed berries and tar, which all follow through to a medium to full body. Flavorful finish. Structured. So you can be patient; drink or hold.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2016 Chianti Classico Riserva Il Grigio is a beautiful wine with an inky dark appearance and softly contoured aromas of ripe cherry and dried blackberry. There is plenty of spice, tar and sweet tobacco to smooth over that beautiful fruit intensity; this is the sort of Chianti Classico you'd open for a marinated ribeye on the grill. The wine is compact and tight in the mouth. With 260,000 bottles made, Il Grigio is one of Italy's ultimate value reds.
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Wine Enthusiast
Dark-skinned fruit, toasted hazelnut, eucalyptus and underbrush aromas form the nose. The medium-bodied palate offers dried black cherry, dried botanical herb and ground clove alongside fine-grained tannins.
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Decanter
A warm, sweet melange of red fruit, baking spice and smoky woodland; lush and ripe with a vibrant acid tang.
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Wine Spectator
Intense, featuring plum, cherry, earth and leather aromas and flavors that intermingle with the dense structure. The balance is there, but this needs time to absorb the tannins. Best from 2022 through 2033.
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.