OLIVER’S NOTES:

America’s best-loved Italian red wine, Chianti Classico, is in a state. The worst wines are failed attempts at the International Style, blended with Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and thrashed with French oak, devoid of personality or regional character; the best are vivid, distinctive, and delicious, made of local varieties and aged in the traditional large barrels. (Or as my colleague Marie Tyler said recently ‘terroir and culture versus international stupidity.’) Why is this? 

Chianti Classico is made entirely or predominantly of the Sangiovese grape, which has some obvious disadvantages. If grown at high yields to make inexpensive wine it is mostly disappointing; on the other hand it is easily overwhelmed by new oak or exotic grape varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot, so expensive bottlings that show these elements often lack real personality or regional typicity. Given that many of the estates in the region are owned by wealthy outsiders it’s not surprising that the region generally lacks the respect for its roots shown by other regions of Italy, such as Piedmont. (It’s hard to imagine any self-respecting French wine type abandoning its roots so easily.)

So why bother with Sangiovese? Well, when made in the traditional way - when grown at moderate yields in the right places, and not messed with by the addition of foreign varieties or intrusive oak - it can produce excellent wines. These range from lively, red-fruited everyday ‘normale’ to deep, sandalwood/tobacco/cedar/spicebox Riservas that age beautifully. In either case the bright natural acidity of the variety is very welcome, particularly in this age of warmer vintages and jammy flavors. There is no better all-around table wine than a good, genuine Chianti Classico ‘normale,’ and the mere idea of grilled rib-eye with a Riserva is making me hungry. The best Chianti Classico Riservas are amongst the best red wines made in Italy.

In the Middle Ages the Chianti zone consisted of the townships of Radda, Gaiole, and Castellina, which now constitute the heart of the Chianti Classico appellation. A number of other villages between Florence and Siena have been added to this historic core to create the current appellation. Soils vary, and altitude varies a lot (higher altitude tends to make for fresher wines), so there are clear variations in character across the appellation. There are a number of extensions of the Chianti zone, including the straight Chianti appellation, and more limited appellations such as Chianti Rufina. Some good wines come from these surrounding areas but in my opinion they are rarely as good as the historic Chianti Classico area. (Sangiovese also makes some good wines in the Romagna, on the other side of the Appenine hills, towards the Adriatic.)

The grape varieties used by our Chianti Classico producers are all indigenous to the area. Sangiovese is predominant, but there are a number of other local varieties that have traditionally been blended with Sangiovese, such as Canaiolo, Colorino and Malvasia Nera. Most Italian appellation rules insist on traditional varieties for traditional appellations, but some years ago the rules for Chianti Classico were inexplicably changed to allow a host of non-native varieties to be legally used, and now there are 49 permitted varieties, of which only a handful are traditional. I like traditional combinations because they have been tried and because they succeed; the wines are better and more interesting. 

The winemaking methods used by our Chianti Classico producers are traditional. In particular no barriques are used, only large barrels (or in the case of Castellinuzza e Piuca, cement tanks, which work very well). The lack of vanilla/milk chocolate notes from new oak allows the red-fruit/violet notes of the wines to shine.