Castello di Monsanto Chianti Classico Riserva 2016
-
James
Suckling -
Wine
Spectator -
Robert
Parker -
Wine &
Spirits - Decanter
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
The Chianti Classico Riserve has a medium-full body with excellent depth of fruit, distinct spice, outstanding acidity and nicely weighted tannins. This award-winning Riserva can be enjoyed for 10-12+ years. Decanting is preferable. Pair with roasts, game and young cheeses. An exceptional compliment to red meats, roasts and game.
Blend: 90% Sangiovese, 10% Canaiolo and Colorino.
Professional Ratings
-
James Suckling
A fresh and bright red with sliced-orange and black-cherry aromas and flavors. Medium body. Tight and compact. Long and flavorful finish. Will age beautifully.
-
Wine Spectator
This is packed with black currant, black cherry, floral and juniper aromas and flavors. The tannins are assertive, matched to bracing acidity and a touch of heat. A bit boisterous today, but this should settle down nicely over time. Sangiovese, Canaiolo and Colorino. Best from 2022 through 2039.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Offering richness, density and a sharply delineated approach, the 2016 Chianti Classico Riserva is an elegant but also classic expression from this storied estate. The best qualities of this vintage come through here with tight and focused fruit flavors and clear perfumes of wild cherry, rose and button mushroom. There is a lingering note of cherry sweetness that serves to glue the wine's other attributes, like its freshness and integrated tannins, together in harmony. Pair it with a veal and mushroom lasagna.
-
Wine & Spirits
The Bianchi family’s Riserva fi res on all cylinders in the 2016 vintage, unfolding with black cherry and red currant fl avors framed by dusty tannins and laced with notes of thyme and lavender. The fl avors are taut and precise, already highly expressive yet with the potential to age gracefully. Best Buy
-
Decanter
Monsanto's Riserva represents almost half of the estate's production. It is assembled from throughout its 56 hectares of Sangiovese, which are a massal selection from the Il Poggio vineyard, as well as Canaiolo Nero and Colorino. Headily scented - anise, tobacco, violet and juniper echo on the palate. Here fleshy ripe red plum provides the backdrop and chewy tannins kick in. This is dense without being heavy and sports a lustrous sheen. While aromas and flavors are ready, the structure says wait a bit. Drinking Window 2022 - 2032.
Other Vintages
2019-
James
Suckling - Decanter
-
Jeb
Dunnuck -
Robert
Parker - Vinous
-
Wine
Spectator
-
James
Suckling - Vinous
-
Wine
Spectator
-
James
Suckling -
Wine &
Spirits -
Robert
Parker -
Wine
Spectator
-
James
Suckling -
Wine
Spectator - Decanter
-
Wine &
Spirits
-
Wine
Spectator -
James
Suckling
-
James
Suckling -
Robert
Parker -
Wine
Spectator
-
James
Suckling -
Wine
Enthusiast -
Wine
Spectator -
Robert
Parker
-
Wine
Spectator
- Decanter
-
James
Suckling -
Robert
Parker -
Wine &
Spirits -
Wine
Spectator
-
Robert
Parker -
Wine
Spectator
-
Robert
Parker -
James
Suckling
-
Wine
Spectator -
Robert
Parker
-
Robert
Parker -
Wine
Enthusiast
-
Robert
Parker
-
Robert
Parker
-
Wine
Enthusiast
-
Wine
Spectator
The Castello di Monsanto estate was established by Fabrizio Bianchi in the hillsides of Barberino Val d’Elsa in the province of Florence in the north-central reaches of the Chianti Classico denomination. Bianchi worked to clear a vineyard he named “Il Poggio” (“The Hill”), which would be utilized for production of a single vineyard wine riserva, the first example in Chianti Classico. Always the pioneer, Bianchi began to eliminate the white varieties, Malvasia and Trebbiano, from his Chianti Classico in 1968, preferring to use only the traditional red varieties of Sangiovese, Canaiolo and Colorino.
Cellar innovations in the early years included Slovenian casks for aging, instead of old chestnut barrel, as well as the introduction of stainless steel tanks for fermentation. Furthermore, Castello di Monsanto harvested the first 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, ‘Nemo,’ from the ‘Il Mulino’ vineyard. Today, the Monsanto estate totals 500 acres, of which slightly more than half are woods, while olive orchards occupy an additional 37 acres. Vineyards, situated between 800 and 1,000 feet above sea level, account for 175 acres. Three quarters of the plantings are Sangiovese, the basis for Chianti Classico, while Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot are the next most widely planted varieties.
One of the most impressive components of Castello di Monsanto is the cellar and its underground tunnel, some 820 feet in length that serves as an aging cellar as well for a potential total of 1,500 barriques. This cave system, one of the most dazzling in all of Italy, took six years to build by hand. The gallery, connecting the new cellar with the original, is located underneath the castle and dates back to 1740.
Today, Fabrizio Bianchi and his daughter, Laura, represent the tradition and elegance that have been associated with the estate throughout its existence. “Il Poggio” was not just an innovation back in 1962; it truly represented a new vision for Chianti Classico. Today, each new vintage is eagerly anticipated as one of the very best bottlings of this wine type.
Each of the wines of Castello di Monsanto, from the award-winning Chianti Classico Riserva, to ‘Nemo’, a Super Tuscan, to the lush and exotic Vin Santo ‘La Chimera’, are true Tuscan treasures. Simply what you would expect from Castello di Monsanto, the grand jewel in the heart of Tuscany.
Among Italy's elite red grape varieties, Sangiovese has the perfect intersection of bright red fruit and savory earthiness and is responsible for the best red wines of Tuscany. While it is best known as the chief component of Chianti, it is also the main grape in Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and reaches the height of its power and intensity in the complex, long-lived Brunello di Montalcino. Somm Secret—Sangiovese doubles under the alias, Nielluccio, on the French island of Corsica where it produces distinctly floral and refreshing reds and rosés.
One of the first wine regions anywhere to be officially recognized and delimited, Chianti Classico is today what was originally defined simply as Chianti. Already identified by the early 18th century as a superior zone, the official name of Chianti was proclaimed upon the area surrounding the townships of Castellina, Radda and Gaiole, just north of Siena, by Cosimo III, Grand Duke of Tuscany in an official decree in 1716.
However, by the 1930s the Italian government had appended this historic zone with additonal land in order to capitalize on the Chianti name. It wasn’t until 1996 that Chianti Classico became autonomous once again when the government granted a separate DOCG (Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita) to its borders. Ever since, Chianti Classico considers itself no longer a subzone of Chianti.
Many Classicos are today made of 100% Sangiovese but can include up to 20% of other approved varieties grown within the Classico borders. The best Classicos will have a bright acidity, supple tannins and be full-bodied with plenty of ripe fruit (plums, black cherry, blackberry). Also common among the best Classicos are expressive notes of cedar, dried herbs, fennel, balsamic or tobacco.