Community Tasting Notes 18

• forceberry wrote: 91 points

  June 4, 2022 - A blend of Sangiovese (90%), Canaiolo and Colorino. Fermented and macerated in open-top stainless steel tanks for 18-20 days, aged for 15 months in 3800-liter French oak casks. 14% alcohol.
  
  Luminous, translucent dark-red color with a maroon dried-blood hue. The nose feels sunny and slightly alcoholic, but otherwise perfectly typical of a classic Sangiovese with aromas of sweet black cherries and fresh morello cherries, some dusty earth, a little bit of tobacco, light brambly notes of black raspberries, a hint of savory wood spicy and a touch of fresh red plum. The wine feels dry, dense and quite chewy on the palate with a moderately full body and quite intense flavors of ripe black cherries, some sour cherry bitterness, a little bit of sweet dark plummy fruit, light dusty earth notes, a hint of licorice root and a touch of pipe tobacco. Despite its somewhat sunny disposition, the overall feel is not at all fat, only firm and sinewy, thanks to the high acidity and moderately assertive tannins. The finish is long, quite tannic and rather tightly-knit with a dry aftertaste of sour cherries and tobacco, some licorice root, a little bit of brambly black raspberry, light woody notes of savory oak spice, a hint of dark plummy fruit and a touch of earth.
  
  Despite the solar (and at times very hot) vintage 2015, this turned out to be very firm, dry and classically styled Chianti Classico after all. The warmer vintage has resulted in some darker-toned fruit flavors and a slightly higher level of alcohol, but otherwise the wine comes across as wonderfully savory and structured with pure, fresh Sangiovese fruit and great sense of finesse. The wine is still quite tough and shows relatively little resolution, so I heartily recommend to let the wine age and resolve for another 5 years or even more. This is a lovely effort that is not only much better than I anticipated for the vintage, but also holds lots of upside for further cellaring. Highly recommended.

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• Papilles wrote:

  March 6, 2022 - Delicious

  Comment

• JohanPe wrote: 87 points

  July 30, 2020 - Dark dried fruit, balsamico, black tea, gravel road, dried herbs. Big fruit on the palate with alcohol coming through in the aftertaste. Good acidity. Personally I like a cooler style of sangiovese.

  Comment

• Lederhosen wrote: 87 points

  December 5, 2019 - Dark dried fruit, leafy, herbs and tomato paste. High acid and tannin.

  Comment

• Jamesspies Likes this wine: 92 points

  October 30, 2019 - Light bodied, smooth pleasant, good value at $24.

  Comment

Pro Reviews 4

Wine Definition

• Vintage 2015
• Type Red
• Producer Castello di Monsanto
• Varietal Sangiovese Blend
• Designation n/a
• Vineyard n/a
• Country Italy
• Region Tuscany
• SubRegion Chianti
• Appellation Chianti Classico DOCG
• UPC Codes 8033237490100, 8033237490186

Community Holdings

• Pending Delivery 0 (0%)
• In Cellars 291 (47%)
• Consumed 328 (53%)

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