Chianti Classico’s Top Designation Ups Wine Game Amid Rule Changes

Chianti Classico is taking its wine region to new levels this year, first through the release of some amazing quality bottles of its top designation, Gran Selezione, and second by revising its wine production rules.

“The designation is keeping the eyes and the attention of a lot of wine lovers on the great job that many of the producers of Chianti Classico have been doing,” Francesco Ricasoli, president of Barone Ricasoli, said during a Zoom interview earlier this year. His recently released Barone Ricasoli Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Ceniprimo 2018 is the first Chianti Classico that I have ever rated a perfect 100 points. His other three bottlings were not far behind. “Riserva was not enough anymore to describe the rising quality of a lot of Chianti Classico that were produced in the last 10 years. It’s a message … it’s a message,” he said.

His message is loud and clear. This year we rated more than 300 Chianti Classicos and our top 10 wines all carried the moniker Chianti Classico Gran Selezione. I rated 128 different bottlings of wines with the designation and their average score was 93 points, significantly higher than the average for other Chianti Classicos. I also found the general quality to be the best ever, perhaps because about a third of the wines were from the excellent 2015 and 2016 vintages, although the cooler and slightly less outstanding 2018 also made some excellent quality wines.

A TOUCH MORE SANGIOVESE

I also noticed that winemakers are using less new wood in their aging, so their Chianti Classico Gran Selezione are much more vineyard-specific and typical instead of showing too much vanilla and oak character, which masks the origins of the wine.

This point of being less woody and more terroir-driven is an essential part of new laws for Chianti Classico Gran Selezione that were forwarded to the Italian government in early summer.

The changes to the rules include increasing the percentage of sangiovese in the blend from 80 percent to 90 percent and cutting the use of international varietals completely, as well as only allowing such indigenous grape types such as canaiolo, malvasia nera and colorino.

The changes also will allow producers to use the names of villages and areas in the region on their labels to communicate the origins of their wines, including: Castellina, Castelnuovo Berardenga, Gaiole, Greve, Lamole, Montefioralle, Panzano, Radda, San Casciano, San Donato in Poggio and Vagliagli. We have been supporting the use of such Unita Geografiche Aggiuntive for years for Chianti Classico, which should help consumers and trade alike understand the complexity and uniqueness of the different parts of the region.

“With the new reformation that we introduced a few days ago, there will be much more interest for Chianti Classico Gran Selezione because the introduction of geographical areas such as specific names of the village or the sub-areas will appear at the beginning only on bottles of Gran Selezione,” said Giovanni Manetti, the president of the Chianti Classico consortium and the head of Fontodi, one of the top estates in the region.

THE END OF INTERNATIONAL VARIETIES

Granted, not everyone is 100 percent happy with the new proposals. Apparently 90 percent of the Chianti Classico consortium voted in favor of the changes, but some are disappointed that international varieties such as cabernet sauvignon and merlot will no longer to be allowed in their bottlings of Gran Selezione, even in small quantities. In fact, some of the top Gran Selezione in this report will no longer be able to carry the designation after the approval of the new rules by the Italian government.

“As a winemaker, I don’t think that this decision makes a lot of sense,” said Barbara Widmer of Brancaia winery, which has been using small amounts of international varieties in their wines for decades. “If I have merlot that is already 40 years old at my estate, it’s more linked [to my estate] than if I plant malvasia nera tomorrow.”

Personally, I think it would have been better if the new rules stipulated that Chianti Classico Gran Selezione should be pure sangiovese, just like Brunello di Montalcino. This would give the wines a clearer and more transparent character that could transmit the true character of the best parts of the region. But the current change is clearly an improvement for the designation.

READ MORE: TOP 100 WINES OF ITALY 2020

“The goal is to reinforce the link and the relationship between the wine and the territory that is giving birth to a wine that's fantastic,” Manetti said. “There is a great desire in all the wine lovers that you have a much deeper knowledge about the relationship between the territory and the wine and when we are all committed at work with the producers to put into the bottle.”

Regardless of the new rules, our tastings of Chianti Classico Gran Selezione show that many truly outstanding wines are being made with the designation and more will be coming, and it will be great for all of us to understand a little bit better the wines’ origins and character.

Below are all the Chianti Classicos that we have rated this year, including normal bottlings, riservas and Gran Seleziones.

– James Suckling, Chairman/Editor

The list of wines below is comprised of bottles tasted and rated for this report by the tasters at JamesSuckling.com. They include many of the latest releases not yet available on the market, but which will be available soon. 

Note: You can sort the wines below by country, vintage, score and alphabetically by winery name. You can also search for specific wines in the search bar. 

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FROM THE ARCHIVES: CHIANTI CLASSICO DIARIES

CHIANTI CLASSICO DIAIRES: JamesSuckling.com has always promoted village and sub-appellations for Chianti Classicos, and we are happy the rule changes pertaining to the sub-appelations are taking effect. Our video series on Chianti Classicos covers each comune, and includes interviews with owners, enologists and members of the Chianti Classico Consortium. It looks at their wines, their comunes, the history and the future of Chianti Classico. You can click on the various comunes to the right to hear each of their stories.

Chianti Classico Diaries: Panzano

Chianti Classico Diaries: Castelnuovo Berarderga

Chianti Classico Diaries: Gaiole in Chianti

Chianti Classico Diaries: Castellina in Chianti

Chianti Classico Diaries: Greve in Chianti

Chianti Classico Diaries: Radda in Chianti

Chianti Classico Diaries: Barberino Val d'Elsa

Chianti Classico Diaries: San Casciano in Val di Pesa

Chianti Classico Diaries: Tavarnelle Val di Pesa and Poggibonsi

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