January 1, 2024 - Not showing well. Swampy nose. Some VA. Palate a touch better than nose throughout. Slightly improved over the night, but poor showing.
September 9, 2023 - My first bottle of L G713121, this was decanted one hour before dinner but needed three hours to really open up. I would highly recommend a three hour decant right now for this wine; we wasted several glasses because of the insufficuient air. Anyway, when open it's a fine wine indeed, relatively dark but with a medium-weight body, firm acidity, and subtle but firm tannins. It has a wonderful mix of sour cherry and sweet cherry, red fruits and darker fruits together, indicating the period of transition it is in, early middle age, still not in its peak drinking window. Drink to 2035. This transmits sikiness, smoothness and balance, and is the perfect savory dinner wine.
September 8, 2023 - Fantastisk 👌🏻
June 7, 2023 - Drinking great - when I think about what I want from a Chianti, this pretty much nails it. Earthy red fruit on the nose, tart red fruits with good acidity on the palate. At peak, IMO.
May 28, 2023 - Very dark in the glass, nose of dark berries. Brooding/serious. Far from leight weight. On the palate loads of sour cherries, plenty of accidic freshness and still a fine tannic pressure. Not tertiary yet. A very dark expression compared to other in Villas I had. Could it be the vintage or do they gain weight with bottle age?
May 7, 2023 - Sangiovese tasting at Malborghetto (Lecchi in Chianti - SI): 👀 Medium cherry red color with a little garnet nail.
👃 Very Chianti style nose, with orange and blood, earthy and elegant, very often changing in the glass.
👅 On the palate the lighter body of the four but very elegant and full of complexity.
🏁 Another long finish.
March 11, 2023 - Compact and concentrated. Stll young and restrained and still a lot of sweet, pure fruit. A great Chianti.
November 2, 2021 - At once virile and a bit sedate. Well into savory territory but with some leathery fruit and herbs. Resolved enough in structure to be really delicious but I imagine there will always be a line of tannin down the middle. Ready to go now and great with grilled ribeye covered in EVOO, rosemary, garlic and sea salt.
July 16, 2021 - Man, this is gorgeous stuff - I really liked it the last time I tried it (over 18 months ago), so no change there. More red fruited on the nose, and this really spreads out on the palate. 2006 was a great vintage in Tuscany, and to be honest, this wine drinks better than quite a few Brunellos I can think of.
June 7, 2021 - 100% Sangiovese made with the highest-quality fruit sourced from 8 different vineyards. Aged for 2-3 years in old, large oak casks. 14% alcohol.
Somewhat translucent blood-red color with a slightly evolved brick-red hue and a pale garnet rim - looks slightly more youthful compared to the Castell'in Villa Chianti Classico 2006 that was tasted alongside. Brooding, restrained and subtly sweet-toned nose with somewhat closed aromas of ripe figs, some leather, light earthy notes, a little bit of tobacco, a lifted hint of VA and a touch of woody spice. The wine is ripe, somewhat concentrated and moderately full-bodied on the palate - the overall feel is fuller, weightier and somewhat more bitter than the regular CC 2006. Pure flavors of fresh wild strawberries, quite pronounced sour cherry bitterness, some crunchy notes of red plums, a little bit of tobacco, light gamey tones, a hint of ripe dark forest fruits and a touch of savory wood spice. The overall feel is quite structured with the rather high acidity and moderately grippy medium-plus tannins. The finish is long and somewhat grippy with dry flavors of sour cherries and tart lingonberries, some gamey tones, a little bit of savory wood spice, light earthy notes and a hint of pipe tobacco.
A very nice, pure and quite stern Chianti Classico Riserva which has quite a bit of stuffing, yet doesn't feel overdone one little bit. The regular Castell'in Villa Chianti Classico 2006 was more expressive and accessible at this point, whereas this Riserva bottling came across as slightly closed and more tightly-knit, yet this wine felt more impressive in comparison - and also relatively youthful for its age. The regular CC 2006 was already starting to show some age, but this Riserva 2006 wasn't - on the contrary, it felt like this wine could use another 5-10 years or so before it really starts to enter its drinking window. Honestly, this feels like a wine that is going to make some beautiful old bones. Expect the score to go up as the wine ages. Highly recommended.