This time around Drinks International's editor Christian Davis looks at a wine from one of the world’s most famous wine producing region.
San Felice Chianti Classico 2009
Brand owner Agricola San Felice
RRP €10, £8, US$13
Markets Global
Contact agricolasanfelice.it
Background
Agricola San Felice has added 10% Pugnitello, a Tuscan grape that had almost disappeared, to its 2009 Chianti Classico blend.
Recovered by San Felice and the Università di Agraria di Firenze, San Felice now has 12 hectares of Pugnitello. In 2008 it began adding a percentage of Pugnitello to its cuvée of the Chianti Classico Riserva Poggio Rosso cru.
Packaging
Classic Bordeaux-shaped bottle with traditional label. Good back label in Italian and English. Crucially it says what the grape varieties are in the blend, Sangiovese, Colorino and Pugnitello (no percentages unfortunately, see above). Blends should give constituent grape varieties and percentages for those of us who are interested, along with a tasting note and some meaningful food matches – not “good with chicken or pasta”.
Tasting notes
Nose: An enticing nose, beckoning you in.
Taste: Medium bodied but on the heavier side of medium. Smooth, elegant with soft, yielding tannins. Typical sour cherries to the fore, married in with darker berries and some well behaved spices, not too loud or obtrusive, just adding a little breadth and edge.
Editor’s notes
This is the sort of wine that requires time to savour. There should be a law against gulping such a delightful wine. Although not a devotee of Sangiovese as a grape variety, in good quality Chianti Classico it comes into its own.
Rating (based on value and relevance to price point)
8/10
