Streamlined and focused, the 2016 Chianti Classico—95% Sangioveto (Sangiovese) and 5% Canaiolo, aged in tonneaux for seven months—is a simple wine with a slightly hollow mouthfeel and a metallic tinge to its taste profile. This wine opens to aromas of wild berry, rusty nail and scorched earth. This is an excellent vintage in Chianti Classico, and I am to assume that the best fruit and most focused efforts went to the high-end wines. Some 120,000 bottles were made.

Camphor, smoke and tar notes are matched to blackberry and blueberry flavors. A bit unyielding now, but packed with ripe, juicy fruit. An underlying mineral element adds depth and the firm structure grips on the finish. Best from 2021 through 2035. 9,500 cases made, 4,000 cases imported.??–BS??Region: Italy / Chianti Classico Select to Add