A Lesson in Excellence

We've spent the last few days tasting, comparing and understanding the three greatest terroirs for Sangiovese, I think, in the world: Chianti Classico, Vino Nobile de Montalpuciano, and Brunello di Montalcino. We've had a chance to visit and taste with growers from some of the diverse and sprawling areas of Chianti Classico - north of Castellina with Alessandro at Le Filigare and with Paulo at Isole e Olena. Their terroirs are not dissimilar but their winemaking styles are very different. Paulo is Piedmontese and as you might expect he chases aromatics, grace and minerality, while Le Filigare's house-style is more extracted, dense and meaty. Kind of a Fonterutoli style with even more punch.

We also have tasted down south in Castelnuovo Berardenga at Felsina. Their wines are broader with denser tannins, a bit less crisp and more dried fruit flavors - blacker fruits as well. The wines north of Castellina all have crunchier fruit than Felsina. Felsina's wines also take on darker aromatics as they age. Whiskey has been spilled on the sweet leather of the nose. Some tasting notes for Chianti Classico:

CC Le Filigare ‘05
Anise, cranberry, fresh (86 points)

CC Le Filigare Lorenzo ‘05
Dried black plum and currant, smokey punch of fruit and clove. (90 points)

CC Riserva Maria Vittoria Le Filigare ‘04
Complex mineral and Christmas fruitcake aromas. Superb depth and breadth. Sweet dried red fruits with floral and dried meat accents. Top notch. (93+ points)

CC Isole e Olena ‘05
Crisp, clean dried cherry, tangerine aromas and palate. Touch of seaweed. Calcaire dustiness comes through. (85 points)

Cepparello Isole e Olena ‘03
Brooding sangiovese but not dried fruit. Still fresh. Broader wine than usual. Sweet fat tannins. Early drinkability. Fabulous restaurant wine. (92 points)

Cepparello Isole e Olena ‘04
Classic and more powerful and riper than the superb 2001. Excellent density but still firm structure. Needs 10 years truly...okay at least 7 (it won't survive that long unless I buy a lot). Instinctively I believe that it will become exceptionally rich and perfumed. An upgrade from the ‘01. Benchmark wine. (92+ points)

CC Felsina ‘05
Firm and fresh but more generous fruit than the wines up north. They must not have had the rains at the end of harvest to the same degree as the growers further north. (88 points)

CC Riserva Felsina ‘03
Broad, sweet and generous with peppery, meaty caramel to finish. Dried figs and anise...even a touch of basil for perfume in the mouth. Unusual. The reliability and QPR of this estate is remarkable. (91 points)

CC Fonterutoli ‘03
Fat, sweet black currants with a salty mineral snap. No flab. Excellent length for an ’03. (89+ points)

CC Fonterutoli ‘97
Super complex aromas. Notes of venison jerky, dried flowers, cinnamon and saddle leather. Red fruits are drying out in a most pleasant way. (91 points)