Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Rich and expressive up front, offering sweet cherry, raspberry, mint, rosemary, iron and spice flavors. This supple, luscious red firms up, with refined tannins on the long, mouthwatering finish. Sangiovese and Canaiolo. Drink now through 2032.
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James Suckling
Fresh, red-fruited character with spices and hints of cedar and crushed stones. Vivid and juicy, with a medium body and a dusty texture to its tannins. Flavorful and zesty at the end. Drink now or hold.
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Vinous
The 2022 Chianti Classico Vallenuova is an attractive, open-knit wine to drink now and over the next handful of years. Crushed red berry fruit, mint, spice and wildflowers are some of the notes that grace this understated, mid-weight offering from Tolaini.
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Wine Enthusiast
The nose is earthy and savory, with aromas of warm pavement, top soil and graphite, then has the tangy sparkle of bergamot, bing cherry and wild strawberry. Those red, crunchy berries and citrus star on the palate, with the metallic tang and savory, earthy heat also persisting for balance. Tannins are firm but flexible, while acid adds energy.
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.