Winemaker Notes
The wine is a deep ruby red color. The aroma is very intense, persistent, delicate and full-bodied, with hints of oak and berries. A full, long, warm mouth feel.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2010 Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Monna Lisa was the highlight of this vertical tasting. Revealing aromas of kirsch, fresh leather, balsamic herbs, and pine on the nose, the palate offers a good deal of freshness and has more verticality, with a medium to full-bodied frame, refined tannins, even acidity, and a long, silky finish.
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Wine Enthusiast
Sleek and structured, this offers aromas of blue flower, pressed powder, perfumed berry and leather. The bright palate delivers juicy black cherry, cinnamon, licorice and tobacco, with firm, polished tannins. It's already tempting but hold for complexity.
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Wine Spectator
The mix of black currant, cherry, plum and tobacco flavors picks up a loamy accent as this unfolds on the palate. Firm and balanced, with a long, savory finish. Drink now through 2020. 3,250 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.