2019 Chianti Classico Riserva
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The Riservas from across the appellation are showing very well in 2019. This wine is no exception. The 2019 Chianti Classico Riserva (which is a blend of 90% Sangiovese with Canaiolo and Colorino aged in different-sized oak barrels for up to 18 months) offers pretty richness and concentration. The wine's ample volume is fleshed out with dark fruit, spice and blue flower. It should be fun to try this wine in five years' time, when it loses its baby fat. Happily, production is very generous, with 200,000 bottles made.
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Average Score
Walter Speller, jancisrobinson.com
Jeb Dunnuck
More reviews and scores
The 2019 Chianti Classico Riserva is 90% Sangiovese and the rest Canaiolo and Colorino, raised only in used barrique and large cask. It pours a pure ruby and has floral and herbal aromas of cherry candy, black raspberry, forest herbs, tomato leaf, and dried roses. It is medium to full bodied, with good concentration, fine tannins, and a long, clean finish, and it is savory with dried herbs, oregano, dried cherry, salty earth, and an angular structure. This pure and detailed wine is going to be a fantastic one to cellar and to drink 2025-2040. Aldo Bianchi purchased this historic estate in 1961, and in 1986 they began excavation to build the incredible 300-meter tunnel that today is home to their historic cellar, with bottles dating back to 1962. (That vintage was the estate’s first as well as that of the denomination.) Il Poggio was the first wine in the region to be labelled with a single vineyard. The third generation is now in charge, with Laura Bianchi having taken over from her father Fabrizio. In the cellar, they work with Slavonian oak for the aging of the wines.
The 2019 Chianti Classico Riserva is a dark, brooding wine. Black cherry, incense, tobacco, menthol, licorice, scorched earth and savory undertones all take shape in the glass. There's real intensity here, not to mention tons of character. There are many beautiful wines in this range, but for the money, it is pretty hard to beat this Riserva.
San Donato in Poggio. 90% Sangiovese, 5% Colorino, 5% Canaiolo. Cask sample. Lustrous crimson. A fascinating nose of lifted red fruit with a touch of ground pepper and orange skin. Lots of pure raspberry and cherry fruit on the palate with lifted acidity while the whole is framed by powdery tannins. Classy stuff. (WS)