Facing down 243 Chianti Classicos

How to tackle 243 wines? That was my dilemma at the Chianti Classico Collection 2021, held May 20 in New York City.

Complicating matters, the Chianti Classico Consortium had decided to present a mix of vintages and classifications. Vintages ran from 2015 to 2019 in the regular Chianti Classico category, and from 2012 to 2018 in both the Reserve and the Gran Selezione tiers. How to get a handle on that?

Plus, the format wasn’t anything I’d experienced before. Arriving at your chosen timeslot, you were led to a small table that only you occupied. Using an app, you ordered four wines at a time, waited a few minutes, then a server arrived to pour. It was a simple and elegant solution to social distancing. 

Castello di Cacchiano’s view in Gaiole in chianti. All photographs © Patricia Thomson

Until I dove in, I didn’t realize how well it suited my plan: I’d decided to taste by commune (township) to see if I could detect broad differences between locales. I limited myself to four of the nine communes that make up the Chianti Classico zone — Radda, Gaiole, and Castellina, which comprised the medieval League of Chianti, a military jurisdiction under Florence which had the black rooster as its emblem — plus Castelnuovo Berardenga to the south. If this had been a normal walkaround tasting, I would have wasted most of my time hunting for bottles. It was the perfect opportunity to compare.

My rationale? Winemakers have long been debating the topic of subzones in Chianti Classico, the original nucleus of the broader Chianti appellation. It makes sense to me, given the enormous size of the Classico DOCG zone, but it’s very contentious.

Roberto Stucchi of the historic Badia a Coltibuono (a monastery turned winery, founded in 1051) argues for it. In a 2014 letter to the DoBianchi wine blog, he wrote, “This zone is too large and diverse to remain locked in the current DOCG regulations, which make no distinction between the extremely diverse expressions of Sangiovese in its original territory.”

Stucchi goes on to say that the first and easiest step would be to allow the commune name to be written on the label. He notes, “Today, someone vacationing in Gaiole might return home and buy a Chianti, wrongly believing it’s a wine produced in the land she or he visited. With clearly defined communal appellations, this wouldn’t be the case.”

“The next step,” Stucchi writes, “would be to define village appellations, the smaller zones that are distinctive and that would clearly define some of the top wines in the appellation. So we could have Panzano, Monti, Lamole,” and so on.

Three years later, Stucchi’s sister, Emanuela Stucchi Prinetti, joined forces with Francesco Ricasoli of the equally historic Castello di Brolio estate (founded in 1141) to launch a Gaiole Vintners Association, putting words into action.

Other growers’ associations have popped up since 2015, and I have to assume they share the same thinking. These include associations in San Casciano, Greve, Radda, Castelnuovo Berardenga, and San Donato. You have to believe that eventually this movement will take root officially.

Trying to compare apples with apples, I worked my way through the communes by choosing basic (“annata”) Chianti Classicos whenever possible, instead of Reserves or crus. Of course, differences in vintage, blends vs. pure sangiovese, and soil composition made this a fool’s errand. But it’s something I’d wanted to try for a long time, and now I had my chance.

a quartet from Radda in Chianti

Radda in Chianti

The altitude of Radda in Chianti, highest of them all, was evident in the verticality of these wines. Distinguished by high-keyed acidity, the four I tried all tended towards red fruit like cassis and tart cherry, best exemplified by Caparsa’s Chianti Classico 2017, a 100 percent sangiovese. Radda wines were the most ethereal of the lot.

a selection from gaiole

Gaiole in Chianti

Gaiole wines had more depth and breadth than Radda’s, leaning towards a fruit-of-the-woods mix of red and dark berries. Riecine’s Chianti Classico 2019 showcased sangiovese’s racy qualities, with tart cherry, bright acidity, and dusty tannins. (Match this with a wild boar ragu.) Whereas Castello di Cacchiano’s Chianti Classico 2016 had sweet, delectable cherry fruit with a light floral scent, the sangiovese here being tempered both by time in the bottle and by a splash (5 percent) of traditional Tuscan grapes, namely canaiolo, malvasia nera, and colorino. Perhaps it was the luck of the draw, but five of the seven Gaiole wines I tried were blends. (By DOCG law, the limit is 20 percent other red grapes, with a long list of permitted grapes, both native and international.)

4 of the 10 wineries from castellina

Castellina in Chianti

Warmer and drier than Radda, Castellina produces wines that are plush and ripe. San Fabiano Calcinaia’s Chianti Classico 2019 exemplified this, with sweet fruit backed by whiffs of baking spice and soft ripe tannins. A traditional blend (with 10 percent colorino and malvasia nera), it gave a warm and harmonious impression. And 2019 happened to be an excellent vintage in Chianti Classico. Perhaps for that same reason, Bibbiano’s Chianti Classico 2019 also stood out. This 85/15 sangiovese/cabernet blend had plush, ripe mixed-berry fruit, velvety tannins, and was well balanced.  

a foursome from Castelnuovo berardenga

Castelnuovo Berardenga

The wines from Chianti Classico’s southernmost commune aren’t quite the brooding giants of Brunello di Montalcino, but they come close. This commune is lowest in altitude and is less densely wooded, more open, hot, and sunny. As a result, the wines are riper, rounder, and full-fleshed. Of the pure sangioveses, I found Castello Bossi’s Chianti Classico 2018 to have an appealing warmth. With vivid forest fruit and soft tannins, it was drinkable now. Bindi Sergardi’s La Ghilanda Chianti Classico 2018, a single-vineyard wine, had darker fruit than its pure-sangiovese brethren to the north. In structure, it was loose-knit and relaxed, with no sharp edges nor in-your-face acidity. Just enough to give it vibrancy and make it a perfect food wine, as all Chianti Classicos are.

UPDATE: In their June 2021 meeting, the consortium voted overwhelmingly to approve Additional Geographic References (below). For now, that’s only in the Gran Selezione category, but they say the rest will follow in the “near future.”

They also voted to change the grape requirements for Gran Selezione Chianti Classicos. Henceforth, the 80% sangiovese minimum will be increased to 90%. The balance of red grapes will be only local, native varieties. That means international varieties like merlot and cabernet will be prohibited. No hint as to whether that will be eventually be applied across all tiers of Chianti Classico. Read more here.