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Chianti – Not a Poor Relation

February 2010

By Christian Botta

Chianti is a kind of stealth wine. It hides in plain sight, cloaked by its outdated reputation as a rustic, cheap bottle clad in straw. While its upscale cousins, Brunello di Mantalcino and the Super Tuscans, grab all the headlines, Chianti quietly goes about its business, satisfying wine lovers who want to put a quality bottle on the table. If you try to apprehend Chianti with only the old straw bottle as your description, you may come up empty-handed.

The fact is, Chianti is made from sangiovese, the same grape as the glamorous wines mentioned above. This evidence tips us off to Chianti’s potential for quality. Traditionally, Chianti had to be made from around 80 percent sangiovese with the rest of the blend coming from red grapes like canaiolo and colorino, and even some white grapes, such as trebbiano and malvasia. More recently, producers in Chianti have been working to push the quality level higher, and most modern Chianti has no white grapes and can even include small but significant amounts of cabernet sauvignon or merlot.

There are three important levels of Chianti: the most basic, labeled simply Chianti, can be made with grapes from the entire region; Chianti Classico, a higher quality wine, is made in a much smaller sub-zone, and must receive at least seven months aging in oak; Chianti Classico Riserva receives a minimum of eighteen months aging in oak casks and bottle before release.

Basic Chiantis are good quaffing wines and perfect for a mid-week meal. They go extremely well with pasta and especially red sauces, and usually cost around ten dollars. With Chianti Classico, your extra five or ten clams go a long way. These wines are much more complex and will complement your better efforts in the kitchen. They can also age for up to ten years. Chianti Classico Riservas are even more refined and can be drunk young, but will really shine after five years of bottle age and can continue to improve for much longer. There have been a number of excellent vintages in Tuscany over the last decade, including 2001 and 2004 through 2007. 2006 is a top vintage in Chianti, known for more structure, which translates to higher acidity and tannins, and therefore greater potential for aging.

Loggia Del Conte’s 2008 Chianti ($8) is a solid wine with cherry fruit, a touch of earth and good balance and structure. Coltibouno’s ‘07 Cetamura ($10) is slightly softer but has a little more of the Chianti earth and dark fruit flavours. These wines are for drinking now.

Felsina’s 2007 Chianti Classico ($20) has a rich, complex nose. Medium body, good finish and balance. Dark cherry fruit with a chocolate note. This 100 percent sangiovese wine is modern in style and has a lush quality that is a hallmark of 2007. Not particularly tannic and somewhat low acid for a Chianti.

One of my favorite Chianti producers is Viticcio. Their wines are consistently delicious—stylish, full of fruit and great with food, and they boast great Chianti typicity. The 2004 Riserva is highly concentrated with a long future ahead, full-bodied and elegant. The luscious 2005 Chianti Classico is medium-bodied and charming and in need of drinking now. The 2005 Chianti Classico is velvety and complex, with great blackberry fruit and medium to full body. These wines are a blend of 95 percent sangiovese with 5 percent merlot.

Castello di Monsanto is another favorite producer of mine, and of many other Chianti lovers, as well. Monsanto’s 2006 Riserva ($20) has a subtle but rich nose with chocolate, vanilla oak and red/black fruits— chocolate cherries, what the heck. Bold tannins, medium body and a very long finish. Great balance, quite dry. Elegant, complex and powerful. Gains weight in the glass and with food. Subtle spice notes—baking spices? Paprika? A tightly wound wine that needs time and will last for many years, but if you want to taste top notch wine making tonight, decant for an hour and enjoy with a hearty meal. An incredible value.

Some other Chianti producers of note include Casaloste, which made a fine 2004 Chianti Classico, and Rodano, whose 2004 Chianti Classico ($16) is complex and earthy with notes of leather and tobacco. Rodano’s Riserva, “Viacoste,” is also worth looking for, as they made excellent wine in 1999, 2001 and 2004 ($26).

Don’t get me wrong, Chianti is no social climber. It knows its place. But it also knows that its place is not always in a picnic basket, but quite often at an elegantly set table, with well-informed wine drinkers in attendance.

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