Castello di Volpaia Chianti Classico Riserva 2019
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Winemaker Notes
The Chianti Classico Riserva has a ruby-red hue with a trace of garnet. The nose is elegant, displaying hints of spice and fruit. This a well-structured wine with smooth tannins and a long finish.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
A bright yet firmly structured Chianti Classico, with iron, leather, almond and floral accents surrounding a core of cherry fruit. Sleek and intense, with a lingering finish echoing cherry, red berry and mineral notes. Best from 2024 through 2040.
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James Suckling
Aromas of sweet berries, crushed stones and violets follow through beautifully to a medium-bodied with fine, integrated tannins and a pretty finish. Crisp and crunchy with structure.
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Decanter
Selected from eight vineyards with yields between 35 and 45hL/ha, Castello di Volpaia’s 2019 Riserva is aged in a combination of French and Slavonian oak barrels. It's polished and detailed without sacrificing its tousled charms and grip. Heady cherry blossoms, warm flinty stone and grilled herbs greet the nose. On the palate, crunchy acidity and a clever blood orange lift lend brightness to black cherry and dark earth nuances. Sturdy enough for the next decade. Drinking Window: 2023 - 2032.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Taking on a somewhat darker expression, the 2019 Chianti Classico Riserva is floral and concentrated with candied blackcurrant, lavender, and graphitic mineral earth. It is full bodied without being weighted and has finely polished tannins, a stony texture, and a warming finish. On the back end, a delicate amaro-like finish emerges, with hints of tea leaf and iron earth.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Here's a wine I highly recommend. Packaged with a black label, the Volpaia 2019 Chianti Classico Riserva is certified organic Sangiovese from a site with sandstone soils that rises up to a cool 600 meters above sea level in Radda in Chianti. These well-priced results are perfumed and vibrant with black fruit, crushed stone and wild rose. I especially appreciate those drying mineral tones that match the wine's elegant, mid-weight mouthfeel. Best After 2022
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Wine Enthusiast
The nose on this wine opens with cherry candy and candied orange peel joined by medicinal herbs and underbrush. The palate offers cherry, chocolate, fig and sugar plum. Dusty, gritty tannins and plenty of heat on the backpalate keep things lively.
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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.