Selvapiana Chianti Rufina Riserva Bucerchiale 2018
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Winemaker Notes
Bucerchiale is Selvapiana's flagship wine, a Riserva-level Chianti Rùfina crafted from the grapes of the estate's best vineyard, Bucerchiale. Francesco Giuntini, working with young winemaker Franco Bernabei on his second vintage at Selvapiana, created this special wine to be a long-aging benchmark of the best of Rùfina's and Selvapiana's Sangiovese. The wine is not a blend, as is normal with Chianti, but rather is pure Sangiovese to show that variety without any adornment by other blending components. First produced in 1979, Bucerchiale is made in only the best vintages, seven or eight times per decade.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A very pure and beautiful red with cherry and strawberry. Subtle spice, such as nutmeg and cedar. Orange peel, too. Medium to full body. Firm, silky tannins melt nicely into the wine. Fresh and clean finish. A little tight at the end. A beautiful single-vineyard Chianti Rufina with structure. Drinkable now, but better after 2023, when it will have softened a little.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2018 Selvapiana Riserva Bucerchiale is an impressive wine with excellent staying power. TASTING NOTES: This offers aromas and flavors of bold black fruits, licorice, and suggestions of oak. Try it with a spit-roasted goat. (Tasted: May 11, 2023, San Francisco, CA)
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Wine Spectator
Savory, balsamic aromas and flavors of wild herbs and Tuscan scrub are a nice foil for the ripe cherry and macerated plum fruit in this expressive red, which is balanced and lively on the long finish. Drink now through 2028.
Other Vintages
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Selvapiana, located in the heart of the Chianti Rufina area of Tuscany, was founded by the Giuntini family in 1827, and is managed today by Silvia and Federico Giuntini Masseti. It is a typical Tuscan estate consisting of the owner's villa, cellars and other historic buildings — now no longer used — including an oil mill, granary and joiner's workshop.
For a long time, Selvapiana was a summer residence for Florentine bishops. It then belonged to a series of Florentine merchant families including the Scalandroni. Purchased in 1827 by Michele Giuntini Selvapiana, the estate now covers an area of 600 acres, of which 100 are devoted to vineyards and 75 to olive trees. Five generations of the Giuntini family have lived on the estate over the years.
The current owner, Francesco Giuntini Antinori, has dedicated a great deal of energy towards restoring the prestige that Chianti Rufina once enjoyed. In recent years, responsibility for running the estate has been taken over by Silvia and Federico Giuntini Masseti. They are sticking to the path forged by Francesco, and continue to work closely with Franco Bernabei, the consultant winemaker at Selvapiana since 1978.
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.
Famous for its food-friendly, approachable red wines and their storied history, Chianti is perhaps the best-known wine region of Italy. This appellation within Tuscany has it all: sweeping views of rolling hills, endless vineyards, the warm Mediterranean sun, hearty cuisine and a rich artistic heritage. Chianti includes seven subzones: Chianti Colli Fiorentini, Rufina, Montalbano, Colli Senesi, Colline Pisane, Colli Aretini and Montespertoli, with area beyond whose wines can be labeled simply as Chianti.
However the best quality comes from Chianti Classico, in the heart of the Chianti zone, which is no longer a subzone of the region at all but has been recognized on its own since 1996. The Classico region today is delimited by the confines of the original Chianti zone protected since the 1700s.
Chianti wines are made primarily of Sangiovese, with other varieties comprising up to 25-30% of the blend. Generally, local varieties are used, including Canaiolo, Colorino and Mammolo, but international varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah are allowed as long as they are grown within the same zone.
Basic, value-driven Chianti wine is simple and fruit-forward and makes a great companion to any casual dinner. At its apex, Chianti is full bodied but with good acidity, firm tannins, and notes of tart red fruit, dried herbs, fennel, balsamic and tobacco. Chianti Riserva, typically the top bottling of a producer, can benefit handsomely from a decade or two of cellaring.