Variety: Sangiovese
Region: Chianti, Tuscany
Gary Walsh 92 points!
"Fontodi is one of my favourite Chianti producers, based in Panzano, with beautiful vineyards farmed bio-dynamically. While Chianti Classico can include other red varieties in the mix, this is 100 per cent sangiovese. Give this wine time to open up - it is so much better the next day. It's youthful and vibrant with a core of juicy, dense black fruits, woodsy, earthy with hints of juniper and dried sage. It has very good acidity, with the distinct sangiovese savoury-sour notes that are so appealing sitting alongside ripe, grainy, firm tannins. The perfect match? A big, juicy steak.
Jane Faulkner, The Age, 18th May 2013.
Gary Walsh 92 points!Little bottles of Chianti are one of life's little pleasures.
Leather, spice, rich dark cherry fruit and chocolate. A dense style, though only appropriately medium bodied, with chewy ripe tannin and plenty of length. It has rustic gamey characters, though they don't spoil the wine for me. Very good to drink.
Wine Front, 26 April 2013.
Certain wines and certain sets of flavours are better matched to rustic, gamey characters than others. This is a good example.
Sour dark cherries rub up against dried herbs, aniseed and earth. Has distinctive drinking chocolate notes and is more concentrated than many Chianti Classicos. Spent twelve months in French barriques. There's a fair degree of saddle leather and barnyard about this but within the setting I don't think it detracts. Lots of chewy, toothsome tannin. Enjoyed it.
Jeremy Pringle, Wine Will Eat Itself, April 29 2013
Giovanni Manetti describes his 2008s as higher in acidity and lower in alcohol than his 2007s. The spring and early summer were quite damp, which caused quite a bit of shatter and therefore lowered yields considerably. The summer was on the cool side and the harvest began in late September. The 2008s are decidedly mid-weight wines from Fontodi, yet the acidities are excellent and the wines are texturally very fine. I would not at all be surprised to see some of these wines show even better in another 5-10 years. Such is the nature of Sangiovese.
The 2008 Chianti Classico is very elegant and restrained in this vintage. Sweet red cherries, flowers, tobacco and incense float on a core of bright, persistent minerality. This is a rather Burgundian styled vintage for the Chianti Classico. It is a model of precision and elegance. Menthol, spices and a host of balsamic aromas and flavors add complexity on the delineated, precise finish. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2020.
Antonio Gallino, Wine Advocate #196
Aug 2011, eRobertParker.com
Country:
Italy
Region:
Italy - Chianti
Variety:
Wine Red - Sangiovese
Size:
750mL
