Community Tasting Note

• bensony Likes this wine: 90 points

  April 9, 2020 - The 2015 Chianti Classico is opaque deep ruby in color. I decanted this for 3 hours and drank it over the following hour. The nose showcases aromas of black cherry, blackcurrant, black plum, red licorice, rose and violet, tobacco, truffle, scorched earth, mocha, white pepper, and sage. There is also some heat which throws off the balance and needs time to integrate. Once in the mouth, the wine displays notes of blackberry, jammy blueberry, rich black plum, black cherry, cigar box, graphite, dried chalky soil, ground green herbs, black pepper, and espresso. This is medium- to full-bodied with medium (+) acidity, grippy medium (+) tannins, and a long finish dominated by black and blue fruit. Needs at minimum another 5 years, as it’s kind of a kick in the teeth right now, but the quality is certainly there.
  
  100% Sangiovese; 15% ABV
  
  NOTE: Some bottles display 14% ABV, others 14.5% ABV, and yet others (including mine) 15% ABV. I am waiting on an explanation from Fontodi.

  4 people found this helpful 3,461 views

3 Comments

• Coffee and Pie commented:

  4/10/20, 8:49 PM - Are you sure this review is for the normale%?
  15% is the Vigna del Sorbo if I remember correctly.
  The normale is labeled as 14.5%.

• bensony commented:

  4/11/20, 6:43 AM - Coffee and Pie: Yes, this is accurate as it pertains to my bottle of the entry 2015 Fontodi Chianti Classico. Funny enough, this caused quite a ruckus on my social media where I normally post my reviews because one of my friends has bottles that display 14% ABV, another friend has 14.5% ABV, and my bottle shows 15% ABV. If you scroll through the images here on CellarTracker, you will see the label image I uploaded that clearly shows the 2015 vintage in the upper left of the label and the 15% ABV designation in the bottom right. We are waiting on an explanation from Fontodi as to why there is such a discrepancy across bottlings.

• tward commented:

  7/10/20, 6:49 PM - This seems like something to continue to pursue. Lots of shenanigans in wine. They should be held to account. Golly, kind of makes you wonder about those reviews of barrel samples, doesn't it...?

Add a Comment