Winemaker Notes
Tenuta di Capraia Riserva is a deep ruby red wine. Its complex and sophisticated aroma reminds of fruits on a first step, gradually opening up and displaying spices and licorice. On the palate, it is fleshy, harmonious and full-bodied, with a long persistence.
Pair with roast meat, game and aged cheese
Professional Ratings
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Vinous
The 2017 Chianti Classico Riserva is layer, complex, and full of character. Pine, menthol, spice, lavender and dried herbs lend quite a bit of aromatic complexity to this chiseled, bright Riserva. The 2017 is a wine of notable complexity and dimension. Drinking Window: 2025 - 2037.
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James Suckling
Lots of red fruit here, together with fresh flowers, black cherries and some peaches. Full-bodied with pretty depth of fruit and firm, juicy tannins. Acidity lurks behind the ripe fruit and tannins.
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Wine Spectator
Rose, strawberry, cherry and currant flavors are the hallmarks of this pure, elegant Chianti Classico, with earth, tobacco and tree bark accents adding detail, while the dusty tannins flex their grip on the finish. Best from 2023 through 2035.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2017 Capraia Chianti Classico Riserva is rich and rewarding on the palate. TASTING NOTES: This wine offers aromas and flavors of fresh-tilled dirt, ripe fruits, and blackberries. Enjoy it with a serving of rosemary and garlic-infused leg of lamb. (Tasted: March 1, 2023, San Francisco, CA)
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.