Chianti 2009: moving on
Posted on 21 February 2012
Greetings from Florence. I’m tasting 100 Chianti Classico wines today at the Chianti Collection, the annual presentation of the new vintage. There are 292 wines on show today, so I’ve had to make a tough decision and discard all the Riservas: I’m only tasting 2009 Chianti normale.
So far I’m happy. From a hot dry vintage, I was expecting alcoholic breathless wines such as those from 2007 I criticised here, but producers have actually avoided overemphasis and many wines are surprisingly fresh and drinkable. And mercifully moderate in alcohol: where 15% was not an exception in 2007, 13,5% seems to be the norm in 2009. That’s good.
13,5% alc. and that's enough for me.
That freshness and drinkability are final confirmations that Chianti has finally moved on from the overoaked, overextracted style of the 1990s and early 2000s. Parkerized fruit bombs are few and far between, and many wines are showing the fresh flowery elegance and crisp poise that marks good Sangiovese. There is also progress amongst the lesser-known wineries. I’m halfway through my blind tasting but from what I could see, I found some very good wines from estates such as Castellinuzza e Piuca, Castello di Radda, Castello di San Sano, Selvole, Cerbaia and San Michele a Torre. Chianti is improving.
Oh, and one more thing. Big personal thanks to Coralia Pignatelli della Leonessa of Castell’in Villa for never betraying the true nature of Sangiovese. Look at the splendid colour of her 2008 Chianti:
Unmistakeable: the true colour of Sangiovese.
Diclosure
My trip to Tuscany including flights, accommodation and wine tasting programme is sponsored by the consorzios of Vernaccia di San Gimignano, Chianti Classico, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and Brunello di Montalcino.