Winemaker Notes
Fairly cold spring with heavy rainfall until mid-June. Following good climatic conditions without excess heat. The grapes ripened gradually. The wines obtained are highly concentrated and well balanced with good acidity.
Blend: 95% Sangiovese, 5% Canaiolo
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
This red offers a pure core of black currant, blackberry and violet flavors shaded by earth and mint notes. The tannins are uplifting and refined. This has terrific energy and balance, with a long, expansive aftertaste of fruit, earth and mineral. Should have a long life ahead. Sangiovese and Canaiolo. Best from 2021 through 2043.
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James Suckling
Subtle aromas of cherries, blueberries and lavender follow through to a full body with firm and chewy tannins, which are polished and intense. Bright acidity, too. Needs three or four years to come together. A beauty. Better than 2015. Drink in 2021.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
This benchmark Chianti Classico estate guarantees impressive quality on its most basic and carefree wines. The 2016 Chianti Classico is elegantly streamlined and tight with wild berry and cherry aromas that maintain their brilliant sparkle and freshness, especially in this classic vintage. You get that characteristic crunchiness or spiciness that Sangiovese awards in cooler years such as this. This wine is made with 95% Sangiovese and 5% Canaiolo, and aging is straightforward with just ten months in botte, barrique and tonneaux.
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.