Winemaker Notes
#14 Wine Spectator Top 100 of 2025
Opulent, this red is maturing, with black cherry, blackberry, plum, leather and mineral flavors that are beginning to transform into woodsy, dried fruit notes. This is still fresh, focused and balanced, nevertheless, with plenty of time ahead.
Blend: 90% Sangiovese, 5% Merlot, 5% Syrah
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Aromas of violet and wild herbs give way to flavors of black cherry, blackberry and black currant in this tense, saturated red, which is just beginning to relax and open up now, six years after the harvest. Shows terrific balance, with a long, black pepper–infused aftertaste. Sangiovese and Merlot.
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James Suckling
Attractive nose of dark cherries, dark chocolate, dried herbs, bay leaves and beeswax. Medium-bodied with round tannins. It’s polished, balanced and harmonious with a delicious core of juicy fruit and a precise finish. From organically grown grapes.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
In the bottle with the black label, the organic Viticcio 2019 Chianti Classico Riserva reveals a loose texture with plenty of generous black fruit packed tight at the core. You don't get the high tones as much in this expression, but the baritone tones are well covered. The tannins are fine and the wine shows medium length. The blend is 90% Sangiovese with 5% Merlot and 5% Syrah.
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.