Wine & Spirits - Spring 2022 - 84

Chianti Classico
91 | Monsanto
$28
2018 Chianti Classico Riserva (BEST BUY) ^
Laura Bianchi calls 2018 a classic vintage, the
cooler temperatures and frequent rainfall a
welcome respite after the drought and heat
of 2017. Bianchi's team works with 178 acres
of vines in Barberino Tavarnelle and selects
the best of the sangiovese, canaiolo and colorino
for the Riserva (setting most of the fruit
from Il Poggio aside for the Gran Selezione).
The 2018 Riserva is fresh and easy-drinking,
its vivid flavors of red cherry and raspberry
propelled by lively acidity. § Freixenet Mionetto
USA, White Plains, NY
90 | Badia a Coltibuono
$31
2017 Chianti Classico Riserva Cultus (BEST
BUY) ^ Cultus is Coltibuono's " modern " take
on Chianti Classico Riserva, aged in neutral
barriques rather than large casks, its
sangiovese base supplemented by 20 percent
of other local varieties like colorino,
canaiolo, ciliegiolo and mammolo. Its juicy
dark cherry and plum flavors are open-knit
and expressive, brightened by notes of dried
thyme and warm spice. § Dalla Terra, Napa, CA
90 | Bindi Sergardi
$50
2016 Chianti Classico Riserva Tenuta
Mocenni Calidonia ^ Alessandra Casini Bindi
Sergardi and her team make this Riserva with
sangiovese from the family's Tenuta Mocenni
estate in Vagliagli, near Siena. The galestro
and albarese soils gave a bright and lively
wine in 2016; its flavors of fresh red cherry
and orange peel are balanced by notes of
loamy soil and underbrush. The tannins are
ripe and round, ready for a rich ragù. § Broadbent
Selections, Richmond, VA
GRAN SELEZIONE
95 | Riecine
84
WINE & SPIR IT S
Dunkley and his wife, Palmina Abbagnano.
Lana Frank purchased the property in 2011,
overseeing an upgrade of the original cellar
and bringing on Alessandro Campatelli as
winemaker. Vigna Gittori is the estate's first
Gran Selezione, prompted by the strength of
the 2019 growing season. Frank and Campatelli
also appreciated recent changes to
the category that raised the minimum for
sangiovese to 90 percent, eliminated international
varieties and allowed producers to
list their village name on the front label. This
wine is pure sangiovese from the 5.6-acre Gittori
vineyard planted in 1971 at elevations
reaching up to 1,640 feet. The wine shows
deeply concentrated flavors of dark cherry,
raspberry and pomegranate that are focused
and precise, underlined by cool mineral
tones and lifted by scents of lavender and
thyme. Already layered and complex, this
has the freshness to age well for a decade. §
Classic Wine Selections, Chicago, IL
94 | Rocca di Montegrossi $80
2017 Chianti Classico Gran Selezione San
Marcellino ^ Marco Ricasoli's vineyards are
located in the Monti area, in the southern
sector of Gaiole. His 2019 from the 17-acre
San Marcellino vineyard shows how much
depth and concentration can be achieved
from these rocky soils, even in a hot and
drought-stricken vintage like 2017. Some of
his neighbors had already finished harvesting
by mid-September, but Ricasoli chose to wait
and benefited from some late-season rains
that helped to rebalance the vines. The wine
offers deeply concentrated flavors of plum
and black cherry, some of those dark fruit
tones enhanced by a small percentage of pugnitello
that's blended with the sangiovese.
Notes of fennel, lavender and red apple skin
weave through the wine, the flavors underlined
by a layer of graphite that gives a firm,
mineral texture to this wine. § North Berkeley
Imports, Berkeley, CA/Skurnik Wines, NY
gave a wine that reflects the cool, wet 2018
growing season in its lively acidity and tangy
red and black cherry flavors. The wine rested
mostly in Hungarian oak barrels, gaining
notes of vanilla and sweet spice that enliven
the vibrant fruit tones and contribute to the
silky texture. Cellar time will allow those
oak-derived flavors to integrate. § Ste. Michelle
Wine Estates, Woodinville, WA
91 | Villa Calcinaia
$68
2015 Chianti Classico Gran Selezione
Vigna Bastignano ^ This 100-percent sangiovese
comes from organically farmed vines in
Greve's marl soils. It shows the warmth of
the 2015 growing season in its densely concentrated
flavors of black cherry and cassis.
Soft, leathery tannins frame the flavors as the
wine takes on notes of warm spice and underbrush.
Savor its hearty flavors with braised
meats. § Scoperta, Cleveland Heights, OH
91 | Castelvecchi
$65
2016 Chianti Classico Gran Selezione
Madonnino della Pieve ^ Sangiovese vines
planted in 1950 produced a wine with vibrant
and precise red-cherry flavors characteristic
of the high-elevation vineyards in Radda.
The wine aged for two years in new French
oak barriques, gaining notes of sweet spice
that amplify the lively red fruit tones. It has
enough freshness and energy to improve
over several years while those oak flavors
integrate. § Serendipity, Austin, TX
91 | Castello di Querceto $35
2017 Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Il
Picchio (BEST BUY) ^ This concentrated wine
from Greve is loaded with dark fruit and
notes of spice and underbrush. Already
expressive, it would fit nicely at a steakhouse. §
Prestige Wine Imports, NY
$70
2019 Chianti Classico Gran Selezione
Vigna Gittori ^ This northern Gaiole estate
was founded in 1976 by Englishman John
92 | Antinori
S PR IN g 202 2
$60
2018 Chianti Classico Gran Selezione
Badia a Passignano ^ The limestone and clay
soils of Antinori's Barberino Tavarnelle estate
90 | Tenuta di Arceno
$60
2018 Chianti Classico Gran Selezione
Strada al Sasso ^ This large estate in Castelnuovo
Berardenga is owned by Jackson Fam
https://www.wine.com/product/castello-di-monsanto-chianti-classico-riserva-2018/864766 https://www.chianticastelvecchi.it/en/wines/chianti-classico-gran-selezione-docg-madonnino-della-pieve/ https://www.antinori.it/en/vino/badia-a-passignano-en/
Wine & Spirits - Spring 2022

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