| Community Tasting Notes (average 88.9 pts. and median of 89 pts. in 211 notes) - hiding notes with no text |
| | Tasted by bacchus on 1/11/2024 & rated 90 points: shared with pat at selkirk manor. i continue to prune the cellar of wines with past due drink by dates. i had opened this bottle a month or two ago but was unable to finish it. no formal notes. leftover wine was stored in the bottle with no preservation methods used. had the remaining wine today. the wine still offered pleasurable drinking. dark color. rustic nose and mouthfeel. earth and bramble. a hint of brown licorice. substantial sediment in the last glass. this wine appears to be indestructible. (341 views) |
| | Tasted by UpfromtheCellar on 5/25/2023 & rated 89 points: Smooth, mature, balanced. The cherry fruit has faded to almost nothing but the bitter almonds, earthiness and minerality still make for a nice remaining package. Very nice. (496 views) |
| | Tasted by bacchus on 12/25/2022 & rated 90 points: brought two bottles to elena and sal's christmas day family dinner but only opened one. wine was enjoyed by me, pat, elena and mario. i last tasted this wine in 2020. the wine has put on a little weight since then although it took 15 minutes for it to show its full profile. the wine appears to be fully mature and well balanced. overall, the wine was enjoyable but perhaps not identifiable as a typical chianti due to light body. will enjoy remaining bottle the next time that the family gets together. (700 views) |
| | Tasted by Georgenp on 2/3/2022 & rated 88 points: Garnet rim. Cherries. Fairly high acid. Nice with tomato sauce pasta. Tannins declining. Slightly bitter finish. Drink up i would say. (1196 views) |
| | Tasted by UpfromtheCellar on 6/26/2021 & rated 89 points: Lovely cherry notes across this medium bodied fully mature wine. Drinking very nicely at present. Don't see much room for improvement so I would recommend drinking up over the next few years.
Last tasted in 2015, this bottle pretty much tracked as predicted. (1518 views) |
| | Tasted by blanquito on 4/1/2020: Corked. (2227 views) |
| | Tasted by Outplaying on 3/23/2020: Wish I had more of these. This one drank great once it saw some air, but it still seems like it could go for years. Ann thought it was a little hard and masculine.
Earthy accents and some licorice notes at times. A mix of red and black fruits. Solid acidity. I really enjoyed it. (1878 views) |
| | Tasted by bacchus on 2/20/2020 & rated 90 points: shared with pat and selkirk manor. no formal notes. a very enjoyable bottle but this seems to have been a light vintage. have had monsanto in other vintages that offered more substance. nevertheless, will wait six months before trying the next one. would also like to do a vertical with other more recent vintages that i have in the cellar. (1563 views) |
| | Tasted by elyaz on 2/18/2020: very tight, very young, but delicious. tart, strong core, needs 2 hours to breathe now but should mellow in a few years.
June 2013: still needs a couple of hours, but delicious with that time. Balanced with great fruit.
ate with salumi and cheese - great. ate with tomato sauce on mushroom tortellini with brussels sprouts - also great. (1455 views) |
| | Tasted by Baylorwine on 10/26/2019 & rated 91 points: Delicious, just give it some time to open up. No rush, but in a great window. (1532 views) |
| | Tasted by winemaker on 9/20/2019 & rated 91 points: My last bottle out of 25. This has been a terrific wine throughout and well worth it's modest tariff. Still has nice acidity and grip. Delicious. (1077 views) |
| | Tasted by vdv115 on 3/26/2019 & rated 90 points: Decanted for approximately 1 1/2 hours. Paired with pasta and hot italian sausage. Color was dark purplish. Dark cherry, spice and tobaco with old world funk on the nose. On the palate was cherry, tabacco, cinnamon with hints of earth and petrol. Acidity was low to medium and tannins were medium to high. Glad this bottle sat in my cellar for the last 9 years. This was well worth the wait. (1401 views) |
| | Tasted by winemaker on 2/20/2019 & rated 92 points: 24th of 25. Terrific CCR to this day. 13+ yo. Cherry fruit, lip smacking juicy acidity. Just amazing QPR. (1557 views) |
| | Tasted by winemaker on 1/27/2019 & rated 91 points: Delicious. I agree with Eric Guido's note from 2017. Sappy, snappy red fruits. Love the orange rind mention from Eric. Nice grip. Long finish. Almost 13 yo and kicking butt. I only have 2 left out of 25. (1545 views) |
| | Tasted by wicozani on 12/21/2018 & rated 91 points: 2006 was a very good vintage in Tuscany, as good as 2001, but just behind 2004 in the eyes of many.
Opened and glass decanted to warm up from cellar temps one hour before pairing with spicy marinara, hot Italian sausage and pasta. A dark purplish ruby in the glass, with color out to the edges. Dark cherry, ripe plum, soil, garrigue and forest floor on the nose. Very broad on the palate, with considerable dry extract, a little low on acidity, with stout tannins still and ending with spice-tinged finish. This is built for the long haul, though perhaps not enough acidity to make it to 20 years in excellent shape. Will follow. Will the fruit outlast the tannins? This is the question with this bottle. (1452 views) |
| | Tasted by Eric Guido on 11/19/2017 & rated 91 points: Always a great QPR, and when you're willing to cellar the Monsanto Chianti Riserva for 5-10 years, it repays you 10 fold. After an hour open in bottle, the 2006 showed classic dried cherries and orange rind, dusty florals, spice and leather. On the palate, I found finessed, acid-driven textures with notes of dried cherry, spice, minerals and inner floral tones. It finished fresh and a bit spicy with a twang of acidity, residual tannin, and tart red fruits. (2666 views) |
| | Tasted by Outplaying on 9/22/2017: Give this an hour in the decanter to open up and flesh out and then it's game on. (2183 views) |
| | Tasted by bags on 3/30/2017: loving after an hour (3884 views) |
| | Tasted by Eric Guido on 1/12/2017 & rated 92 points: It's been over five years since I tasted my last bottle, and this was worth the wait. As usual, the 2006 Riserva took a good hour to really come around after being opened. However, once it did, I was greeted to a dark and sensual bouquet of dried cherry, fig paste, sweet florals, hints of cedar and vanilla (not oak). On the palate, I found a perfectly resolved and mature Chianti, with dried cherry giving way to exotic spices, cedar and a twang of citrus. It lasted on the finish with a zing of zesty acidity giving life to it's dried red fruits.
This is simply in a perfect place right now. If you saved a few bottles in the cellar, than you're in luck. (4426 views) |
| | Tasted by DRS-Inc on 11/13/2016 & rated 91 points: This has aged nicely with similar TN to the last time I had this a few years back, yet showing a bit more tertiary notes. Dry and full-bodied with chewy tannins, abundant acidity and ending on a nice moderately lingering finish. (3821 views) |
| | Tasted by winemaker on 5/25/2016 & rated 91 points: Still delicious. Plenty of acid and grip. Fruit seems a bit muted. (4332 views) |
| | Tasted by bags on 11/7/2015: great again; will drink well for >5 yrs (4974 views) |
| | Tasted by Ranjan on 8/30/2015 & rated 88 points: Old world, soft nose. Tart, tannic, medium bodied. I recommend finishing any remaining bottles soon. (3711 views) |
| | Tasted by Seafoam Manor on 8/28/2015 & rated 89 points: Really well integrated, but limited in its complexity. This was showing some age, but there wasn't a tremendous amount of tertiary flavors and still was heavy on deeper cherry and slight orange peel notes. However, given the fact that this was like $18, it remains a really solid wine. (3380 views) |
| | Tasted by robmatic on 7/21/2015 & rated 88 points: Sturdy and reliable. Drinking well, a great value. (3779 views) |
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