1997 Fontodi Chianti Classico

Community Tasting Notes (36) Avg Score: 90.8 points

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  2/20/2024 - Tgood wrote: 95 Points

  Generous rating for a CC I know but at 27 yrs of age it borders on the supernatural to be so expressive and complete with its origins. So many 1990’s bdx, burg, brunelli, baroli, cal cabs, …. have when purchased alongside this Fontodi for mid-teens and parked at 55F been unable to escalate the ladder like this one — flowers and macerated strawberries jump from corkpull — terrific vinous energy on palate — bravissimo!!

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  12/12/2021 - Jarndyce Likes this wine: 93 Points

  Auction purchase. Perfect fill, cork broke on extraction. strained into decanter. Drank over a few hours, beautiful wine!

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  11/17/2019 - Vinoevelo wrote:

  Outstanding CC. Cherries, marzipan, moist leather. Would love to sneak this into a flight of BdM's and watch it clean up.

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  8/11/2019 - Ron Slye wrote: 94 Points

  This is what makes this hobby so much fun. I set this to open, but given its age and that it was a $20 purchase back whenever I got it. So I had another bottle in reserve just in case this was dead. It was not. It was really exactly what one wants in an old wine. In fact I would say this was drinking exactly at its peak. And it was steadily there throughout the evening -- not great the first few minutes then falling off a cliff, as some do. Here is the note I wrote while drinking it:
  Wow – this is just beautiful. Lovely laser like nose of cherries, leather, with hints of rubber and brown spices. The palate is very smooth, with all of the flavors of the nice enveloped in a nice structure provided by some acid and very fine tannins. I really expected this to be dead and had another bottle lined up. That one is going back to the cellar!
  
  Admittedly I have had my share of wines of similar age at a similar price point that were dead. Nice to find one that is not. Now if I had just had the foresight to have bought much more of it!

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  5/15/2019 - SommKennedy Likes this wine:

  At 22 years old, this Chianti Classico is a bit of a dinosaur. This wine has likely been out of its prime for at least 6 years. That being said, what a delight! Fontodi throufh and through. Decanted on account of the broken cork, it opened up quickly with damp earth aromatics. Dried cherry plums and ash on the pallette. Cohort noticed a warm butter note after the initial fruit. Dry finish was a bit stringent on its own but marvelous with a fried avocado and braised eggplant donburi, as well as a roasted pork chop with beans & rice and a chili-vinegar bbq sauce. Drink now or better yet, drink yesterday.

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