Brancaia Chianti Classico Riserva 2019
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Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Perfect with grilled meat, roast or braised beef and veal, stewed dishes, grilled fish and pasta dishes with strong tasting sauces.
Blend: 80% Sangiovese, 20% Merlot
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2019 Chianti Classico Riserva is an organic blend of 80% Sangiovese and 20% Merlot. I can't say enough good things about Barbara Widmer and her winemaking efforts in this wild and forested corner of Radda in Chianti. Her wines always express clarity and focus, and this is especially clear in a mid-range product like this. This vintage offers more concentration and darkness for sure, followed by blackberry and wild plum. There is oaky cinnamon and sweet spice at the back.
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Wine Spectator
A classy red, this is notable for the supple texture as much as the cherry, plum, loam, mineral and spice flavors. Dense, vibrant and complex, with fine balance and a long fruity, minerally aftertaste. Sangiovese and Merlot.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Coming from vineyards in both Castellina in Chianti and Radda, the 2019 Chianti Classico Riserva is Sangiovese with the addition of 20% Merlot, raised in French oak barrels for 16 months. A soft and expressive perfume lifts from the glass and reveals pure, ripe aromas of licorice, candied cherry, and lavender. The wine is medium to full-bodied, with crunchy red plum fruit, turned forest floor, and dried herbs. It cleans off the palate with freshness and has fine but coiled tannins.
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Wine Enthusiast
The nose on this wine is reserved, delicate and approachable. It opens with a strong presence of eucalyptus and sambuca flower followed by gunpowder, slate, brick and bright cherries. The palate is still very herbaceous, giving way to coffee grinds, chocolate and more cherries. Tannins still feel dense but not impenetrable, and acid lends crunch to the fruit.?
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Founded by Swiss couple Brigitte and Bruno Widmer in the famed hillsides of Tuscany more than 30 years ago, Brancaia is the modern face of luxury Italian wine. Rooted in the bold Super Tuscan movement that forever changed Italy’s winemaking culture, the wines of Brancaia blend classic Italian grapes with international varieties, bringing a decidedly modern touch to a centuries-old wine region.
Today the winery is still family owned and operated, led by the Widmers’ daughter, winemaker Barbara Widmer. Barbara has excelled at perfecting the style and quality of Brancaia wines by producing elegant, complex wines with a strong Tuscan identity.
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.