Terroir-istes International - Italy, Chianto Classico plus Xmas party

Chianti Classico represents the original, historic core of one of Italy's most renowned wine regions. The story dates back to the 1600s when the first documented references to Sangiovese appeared in viticultural records. Genetically half Calabrian, half Tuscan, Sangiovese would become the foundation of Chianti's identity and its most profound expression.

The region's modern wine classification began when the boundaries of Chianti were officially delineated, with the Classico zone representing the original, historic heart between Florence and Siena. This geographic distinction would eventually evolve into Italy's classification system, with Chianti Classico earning separate DOCG status in 1996, recognizing its distinctive terroir and superior quality potential.

The vast Chianti region encompasses dramatically different growing conditions, but it's within the higher elevations of Chianti Classico where Sangiovese achieves its most eloquent expression. These elevated vineyards benefit from significant diurnal temperature variations, with warm days promoting ripening and cool nights preserving crucial acidity and aromatic complexity.

This elevation advantage translates directly to the glass—wines from Chianti Classico typically display more structure, additional aromatics, and superior ageing potential compared to the broader Chianti designation. The region's distinctive galestro and alberese soils—a mix of schist-clay and limestone—further contribute to the wines' characteristic minerality and tension.

Chianti Classico tends to be medium ruby in colopur and its characteristic aromatic profile shows as crushed oregano, sweet tobacco, gamey undertones, and distinctive salami notes—a savory quality that distinguishes these wines from other Sangiovese-based appellations.

In high-end examples or with bottle age, this profile evolves toward preserved cherries, complex balsamic reduction notes, dried salami, and an elegant integration of oak-influenced spice. As Chianti Classico ages, the tannins soften to a more silky, ethereal texture.

The quality pyramid within Chianti is:
- Basic Chianti requires only six months of ageing, producing approachable, fruit-forward wines.
- Chianti Superiore demands a minimum of one year's ageing, resulting in bolder expressions with more structure.
- Chianti Riserva requires two years of ageing to produce wines of greater complexity and ageing potential.
- Gran Selezione is a designation available exclusively within Chianti Classico, representing the finest expressions from estate-grown grapes with a minimum ageing requirement of 30 months.

While broader Chianti includes several subzones like Colli Senesi, Rufina, and Montalbano, Chianti Classico represents a distinct and smaller group of villages surrounding Siena. This geographic specificity translates directly to the glass—wines from Classico typically offer more concentrated flavours, firmer structure, and more significant ageing potential.

The black rooster (Gallo Nero) emblem adorns each bottle of Chianti Classico, symbolizing the region's Medieval history and its commitment to excellence that exceeds those of the broader Chianti designation.

• NV Louis Roederer Champagne Collection 242 92 Points

  France, Champagne

  (Tasted Blind): Light yellow-brass. Lively aromas of apple, fizzy lemon drink, light brioche, and a lick of yeast extract.
  A fine, linear bone dry palate with excellent intensity, vibrant acidity, and a creamy entry. There is a gentle savoury note of white peach, nougat, and lemon with a smidgeon of mineral that pans over its long finish.
  The "242" in the NV Roederer Champagne refers to the 242nd cuvée produced by Roederer. Traditionally the Brut Premier draws from a range of vintages to achieve its house style. However, the 242 base wine - this is its debut - comes predominantly from the 2017 harvest, with a significant portion of reserve wines from prior vintages (6 other years), including some aged in oak foudres. This will replace the Brut Premier.

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• 2015 Fattoria di Fèlsina Berardenga Chianti Classico Riserva Rancia 91 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Chianti, Chianti Classico DOCG

  (Tasted Blind): Mid+ mahogany to brick red. Aromas of damp earth, tomato box, leather, dried herbs and red fruits with an aged balsamic note. There is a funky development of charcuterie and thick pile carpet that also emerges.
  A medium to full body with piercing acidity, grippy tannins and an earthy textural note with some warmth suggesting a higher alcohol. Notes of tobacco leaves, dark chocolate, mineral and sour cherry flesh out some mid-palate as it heads to a lingering finish. Complex, deep and clearly showing some quality aspects it felt a little rustic.
  Sopurced from Castelnuovo Berardenga. 100% Sangiovese.

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• 2015 Isole e Olena Chianti Classico 89 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Chianti, Chianti Classico DOCG

  (Tasted Blind): Mid-bright red crimson. A little funky reduction again with some lanolin and diesel before revealing leather, dried earth, liquorice, sour cherry, red plum, oregano, and vine-ripened tomatoes. The entry is quite savoury, with sprightly lemony acid and grippy but finely grained tannins that are finely honed and focused, showing notes of crushed herbs, sweet Morello cherry, blackberry, and sun-dried tomato. It feels a little fresher, with a delicacy on the mid-palate. Medium-bodied, the wine is approachable, ticking the boxes on Chianti without really being that complex. It felt a little subdued or closed at the moment.
  Sourced from Barberino Val d’Elsa. 80% Sangiovese, 15% Canaiolo, 5% Syrah.

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• 2015 Fontodi Chianti Classico 91 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Chianti, Chianti Classico DOCG

  (Tasted Blind): Mid garnet. A savoury nose with plenty of salami, dust and leather before showing oregano, liquorice, and marinated cherry. It felt a little fuzzy and muffled as though also a little closed.
  The palate is deep, with some spices and damp wood running to tilled soil, towards earth-coated plums, marinated/rumtopf cherries, and a little sour like Marasca cherries.
  Concentrated with thick, chewy tannins, the wine has a bright, energetic acidity that lifts up the mid-palate. Improves with asir the wine closes with 100 dark chocolate, a liquorice infusion and tobacco notes (like a cigar bar on the following bay (!)
  100% Sangiovese. Aged in large oak casks for six months, then barriques for 18 months.

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• 2013 Fattoria di Fèlsina Berardenga Chianti Classico Riserva Rancia 94 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Chianti, Chianti Classico DOCG

  (Tasted Blind): Mid+ garnet to a mahogany rim. The nose is deep and very savoury with truffle, earthy notes offering a wealth of leather, liquorice, shoe polish and some balsamic edges with dark fruits.
  Full-bodied, the wine's entry is grippy, with a dense tannic structure and lively mineral acid that gives it excellent structure and some freshness. The mid-palate has a depth of flavour filled with sweet tobacco, truffle, liquorice, oregano, sage, and hints of prune juice, adding up to a penetrating layered Chianti.
  Superb concentration, complexity, tightness, and sublime length through to the back palate make this an excellent wine. However, it caused much discussion as I was an outlier!
  Some felt the wine lacked fruit richness and was a little skinny and it finished fairly drying, almost astringent.
  Castelnuovo Berardenga. 100% Sangiovese.

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• 2013 Fattoria Selvapiana Chianti Rùfina Riserva Bucerchiale 89 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Chianti, Chianti Rùfina

  (Tasted Blind): Mid mahogany to garnet. A bouquet of liquorice, shoe polish, tomato leaf, morello cherry, spice, earth, forest floor and tar.
  This is a medium-bodied wine with a coarse, leathery texture and lively acidity on which sweet marinated fruit and tobacco sit. The dense, grippy, almost astringent tannins felt like a corset around the fruit, perhaps giving them elegance and poise but depriving the wine of the ability to expand its wings. Fairly long, there is a rusticity that builds on the dry and less appealing finish, as well as a feral quality. Felt like a cooler vintage.

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• 2010 Fattoria Selvapiana Chianti Rùfina Riserva Bucerchiale 90 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Chianti, Chianti Rùfina

  (Tasted Blind): Mid garnet to mahogany edges
  Leather, marinated sweet cherry, dried herbs, blackberry and balsamic aromas are accented by some attractive tertiary notes.
  A medium-bodied palate, this is a delicate, caressing wine with a chalky texture and plenty of fruit that is both fresh and marinated cherry and plum, held together by wide, grippy tannins yet hasn't that much depth and leads onto show more charcoal notes. There is some clove that arguably is a touch of Brett but is positive, and it seems all be in balance. Medium finish.

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• 2010 Fontodi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Vigna del Sorbo 94 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Chianti, Chianti Classico DOCG

  (Tasted Blind): Deep ruby in colour with a browning rim, this wine has fresh aromas of plum, blackcurrant, graphite, fennel fronds, liquorice, and an edge of tilled soil.
  This medium-bodied wine's palate has a round, sumptuous entry with vibrant acidity and silky texture. It is filled with ripe black fruits, marinated black cherry, clove, earth, sour, unripe plum, leather, dark 100% chocolate. As it opens, it shows its compact, velvety tannic frame and some generosity with plenty of material in the mid-palate. With excellent concentration and complexity, it closes with a dry tobacco extended farewell.
  Mostly Sangiovese with a touch of Cabernet Sauvignon, organically farmed.

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• 2010 Fattoria di Fèlsina Berardenga Chianti Classico Riserva Rancia 88 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Chianti, Chianti Classico DOCG

  (Tasted Blind): Deep garnet in colour. The nose is packed with toffee, balsam, molasses, caramel chocolate and toasty oak.
  This is a medium-weight wine, supple in texture, with sweet dark fruits, black olive, and damson plum. It has a lively acidity to offset it and some freshness underneath. However, the mid-palate has plenty of caramel richness that detracts, as a sweet, almost toffee-like character comes through. Soft, resolved tannins make this an appealing, modern styling.

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• 2014 Michel Genet Champagne Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs "Author" 91 Points

  France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru

  (Tasted Blind, short notes at dinner): A light golden colour with profuse bubbles. A fresh intense nose with notes of brioche, Stroopwafel, lemon slices, crushed hazelnuts, marmite and toasted brioche. The palate is ripe and broad with sweeter fruits, quite lees-y, generous and fairly weighty with a fine lively acidity running through it. Didn't feel knit but enjoyable with a long finish.

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• 2016 Sigalas Assyrtiko Kavalieros 92 Points

  Greece, Aegean, Cyclades, Santorini

  (Tasted Blind, short notes at dinner): Medium straw yellow with silver reflections. Delightful aromas of white flowers, peach, hazelnut, river stones, lime zest, and mineral. A juicy entry, the wine is elegant with a mineral spine of strident acidity in which sits yellow mango, which peach and sour lemons. A long and lingering finish, complex with a fairly generous alcohol.

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• 2016 Hubert Lamy Saint-Aubin 1er Cru En Remilly Blanc 91 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Saint-Aubin 1er Cru

  (Tasted Blind, short notes at dinner): Light stone fruit and lemony aromas with oatmeal and minerals. The entry has a lovely line of fresh acidity, bright fruit and a touch of toffee, lees-infusion. Upright, restrained the wine has an orange peel salinity towards the long length making for a delicious wine.

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• 2020 Henry of Pelham Baco Noir Old Vines 87 Points

  Canada, Ontario, Ontario VQA

  (Tasted Blind, short notes at dinner): Wow, the nose explodes with sweet, obvious oak notes of toffee, cigar box, and coconut before being inundated by fresh raspberry ripple, blueberry cheesecake and tinned Bing cherries.
  A very sweet fruited entry, full-bodied with lively acidity that goes some way to balance the wine, whilst the mid-palate is brimful of raspberry, boysenberry, dark (50%) chocolate and cherry pie filling giving a syrupy impression, some splintery oak and a distinctively hectic and bold character that slap you around the face! Challenging modern fare!

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• 2020 Antinori Tignanello Flawed

  Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT

  (Tasted Blind, short notes at dinner): Unfortunately, this bottle was corked

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• 2008 Château Calon-Ségur 91 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Saint-Estèphe

  (Tasted Blind, short notes at dinner): Deep ruby red colour. Earthy tones with ripe black and red fruits, spice cake, and tobacco. Clearly, Bordeaux, there is a touch of herb (lesser vintage) and cedarwood qualities.
  A full-bodied wine with some richer, sweet chocolate and toffee notes set against a vibrant acidity and firm, wider-grained tannins. Tilled soil, more red fruits here than black. The mid-palate has a silky plushness to instigate quality, yet I picked up a touch of leaf, fresh herbs and greener tobacco with the more open tannins to suggest a lesser year like 2008.

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• 2011 Château Angélus 94 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Saint-Émilion Grand Cru

  (Tasted Blind, short notes at dinner): A deep crimson colour, this wine has an earthy bouquet with dark chocolate, spice, yeast extract, and red berries. It is a deep, intense wine that is rather earthy and savoury yet expressive. Its bolder black and red fruit flavours are well-supported by dense, finely woven tannins, and the wine exhibits an impressive finish. Full-bodied and very focused throughout, this has the depth and complexity to be a top example.

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• 2004 Tokaj Hétszőlő Tokaji Aszú 5 Puttonyos 93 Points

  Hungary, Tokaji

  (Tasted Blind, short notes at dinner): Light amber-orange in colour. Aromas of dried candied orange peel, dry spices, fungi, clotted cream, pineapple, and a squeeze of lemon juice. A fresh, vibrant entry that has plenty of well-managed sweetness but not a heap of ginger-infusion botrytis notes. Intense and bright, there is some honeycomb, tropical fruit, and spice but less on the marmalade front. Finishes more medium than long. This has a dynamic acid thread that runs through it, and the alcohol seems lower.

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• 2015 Château Raymond-Lafon 94 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

  (Tasted Blind, short notes at dinner): Light amber in colour, the bouquet has intense apricot, pineapple and orange marmalade, accompanied by botrytis. Full-bodied, this has excellent concentration, marzipan richness, perky acidity, noted sweetness, and a core filled with classic ginger botrytis, candied lemon peel, mango, and fresh honey.
  It exhibits mouth-coating complexity, lovely depth, and a lengthy finish. Yet, being critical, the acid does struggle a tad against the sweetness. But it's still a smart wine!

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