Castello di Ama Chianti Classico San Lorenzo Gran Selezione 2014

Professional Ratings

• 95 Wine Enthusiast
  Fragrant and refined, this radiant wine opens with scents of violet, red berry, baking spice and a whiff of plum. The chiseled palate delivers succulent wild cherry, white pepper, cinnamon and star anise alongside firm, refined tannins. It boasts a long licorice finish while bright acidity lends balance. It's already delicious but hold for even more complexity. Drink 2020–2033.
• 93 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
  The 2014 Chianti Classico Gran Selezione San Lorenzo flaunts its importance. It boasts confidence and an outward-looking personality that comes as a refreshing surprise. Like all Gran Selezione wines, it is released 30 months after January 1st following the harvest. That means it still has a few more months to go before it hits the market. This expression of Sangiovese shows depth and power with ripe fruit tones of cherry and forest berry. Like many of the other high profile wines I preview-tasted from the difficult 2014 vintage, I am delighted and surprised by the elegant and soft nature of the mature tannins. The wine’s finish offers bright freshness with layers of dark fruit, wet earth and forest floor.
  Rating: 93+
• 93 James Suckling
  This is extremely tangy with plenty of chocolate and lemon character and hints of cedar, too. Medium body, bright acidity and chocolatey aftertaste. Very refined and well-crafted for a 2014.
• 92 Wine & Spirits
  Marco Pallanti decided not to bottle his single-vineyard Vigneto Bellavista and Vigneto La Casuccia in the difficult 2014 vintage, devoting that fruit instead to this bottling of San Lorenzo. It rounds out its wild-cherry flavors with subtle notes of spice and woodsmoke from ten months in barriques (18 percent new) while brisk acidity lends freshness, emphasized by notes of orange peel and mint.
• 91 Wine Spectator
  Shows fine purity to the cherry, strawberry and leather notes, with a hint of licorice. Ripe, sweet fruit and a juicy texture collide as this plays out on the long finish. Drink now through 2025.
• 91 Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
  COMMENTARY: The 2014 Castello Di Ama Chianti Classico Gran Selezione San Lorenzo is a top wine as expected. TASTING NOTES: This wine is old school and Old World. Its rustic aromas and flavors of dried leaves, earth, and dust should pair beautifully with a wild blend of sun-ripened tomatoes, wild mushrooms, and pancetta. (Tasted: March 5, 2019, San Francisco, CA)