Winemaker Notes
Classic wine, deep ruby red in color with violet reflections, with an intense aroma, rich in fruity aromas such as cherry and blackberry. The taste is harmonious with great balance, good structure, slightly savory, with a fine and sweet tannic component and pleasant notes of red fruits.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Pure and succulent, featuring cherry, strawberry, rose, iron and tobacco aromas and flavors, this precise and beautifully balanced red reveals terrific energy, intensity and finesse. Still youthful, with excellent persistence and detail. Drink now through 2043.
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James Suckling
A bright and juicy red with notes of red and dark fruit, crushed herbs, dried flowers and chocolate. Juicy and crunchy on the palate with a medium to full body and chalky, slightly chewy tannins. Lengthy and velvety.
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Wine Enthusiast
Aromas of tart cherry, red plum, dried cranberry, potting soil and graphite make for a snappy, sanguine nose. On the palate, a dusting of salt and pepper and an undertone of bitter herbs accentuate the sour, barely-ripe fruit elements, while acid flares around powerful, chalky tannins.
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.