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Maestro -> Chianti Delivers in 2006 (8/13/2008 3:10:57 PM)
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So, I am back from the annual event that I usually avoid for two reasons:
(a) it is usually crowded with the wrong crowd; and
(b) the wines usually disappoint me.
Alas, there was no improvement regarding the crowd.
As for the wines... Yes, Chianti 2006 is nearly as miraculous a turnaround for a region as one can hope to witness. Most wines I tasted had balance, body, and excellent structure. The fruit is ripe but elegant, and the wines continue to be food-friendly, but have gained a good deal of personality.
Chianti drinkers often do not understand why I am so prejudicious against Chianti, and usually throw a number of examples at me of nice Chianti bottles they have consumed. Granted -- Chianti has produced fine wines over the years. But the point is that they ought to deliver much better.
Their terroir (particularly in Chianti Classico) is privilieged, the Sangiovese they grow should be as good as the one in Montalcino, and they have much more flexible rules for blending than Montalcino does, allowing Merlot, Cannaiolo, and Cabernet Sauvignon, for instance, to account for up to 10% of the blending.
They are also able to cover a wider range of styles by being able to put the "Chianti" brand on a number of different DOC and DOCG appellations ranging from fruity fresh wines for drinking at their youth (Chianti DOC) to massive wines that require 10+ years of cellaring (Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG).
And they have money. Lots of it.
And finally -- and here we have a particularly sensitive issue -- they are Italy's wine flagship in terms of volume, whether I like it or not. Sure, we may talk about the BBB (Barolo, Barbaresco, Brunello) as much as we like, but everyone is drinking truckloads of Chianti abroad.
The combination of generous rules, money, market share, great varieties, and great terroir leaves the Chianti folks with no excuse. They must deliver better wines.
And in 2006 they do.
Exactly what has changed from 2004 (which was a good vintage) until now is hard to pinpoint at this stage. There is obviously the change in Chanti rules that banned the use of a number of white grape varieties in the blend, particularly the horrible "Trebbiano" (a clone of Ugni Blanc). Jancis Robinson credited the change in quality primarily to that. But I don't think that is the main reason, as most producers had already reduced the role of varieties such as Trebbiano and Malvasia for quite some time, and turned instead to grapes like Merlot and Cannaiolo to bring balance to the ferocious character of Sangiovese.
No, my money is on the winemaking. I can't yet quite figure out who started what where, but whatever it is that happened it is working.
As it usually happens with these events, I had no time for detailed TNs, but I took some broad notes, along with producer names and first-impression ratings, which I will post soon, once I managed to decipher my own handwriting.
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