2021 Rocca di Montegrossi Chianti Classico

True Chianti Pleasure $29.99
with shipping included on 6 bottles or more

How do you like your Chianti? Casual-like; with burgers or chicken from the grill in the backyard, maybe, or alongside a plate of pasta? Fresh, flavorful and on point, a great Chianti is delicious and fun to drink. Or maybe you see it more as a special occasion wine. Guests are over, a prized bistecca is on the sideboard waiting to become the crowning moment of a fine Tuscan-style meal, and something a little more, I dunno, aristocratic and complex, is called for. Here’s one producer whose Chianti will fill the bill no matter how you want it. All located within a few kilometers of each other in A Monti in Gaiole-in-Chianti, San Giusto a Rentennano, Il Palazzino, Badia a Coltibuono and Rocca di Montegrossi form a quartet of top Chianti producers, each making distinctive, top-quality wines we love to have in our store. Rocca di Montegrossi’s recently arrived Chianti is a sensational example of the style of the region, a classic that will grace your table for many years to come. And it’s not only a sensation drink, it’s a sensational value too: One of our all-time favorite Chianti Classicos. Blended with 5% Canaiolo and 5% Colorino (no messing with Cabernet or Syrah in their Chianti at this address), owner/winemaker Marco Ricasoli Firidolfi ages the wine in small Allier forest French oak barriques for a year before bottling…not your typical handling for a simple Chianti Classico. The attention to detail shows. Great color (the sun-splashed ‘21s are all quite dark), classically complex Sangiovese aromatics, and a wonderful mouthful of dusky mint-chocolate, dark plum and cherry-infused fruit make this a delicious drink. Plush but firm, it’s nicely balanced for such a young wine, making it a wonderful partner right now for sage butter ravioli, smoked meat platters, red-sauced pastas and (why not?) grilled burgers piled high with good stuff! Drink it now because it’s delicious, or drink it in five to seven years because you like what Sangiovese becomes with some time- it’s up to you. At still $30 a bottle, you can afford to do both. Half bottles coming soon too!

Decanter: As high temperatures in mid-August shut down the ripening of Sangiovese, Marco Ricasoli reports picking approximately a week later than usual. He also introduced a sorting table to remove dried or green berries as well any pieces of stems. His resulting annata is pristine and sophisticated. Deep violet in colour and equally youthful on the nose, it exudes wild berries, black plum, and hints of wood spice. Tangy dark red cherry fills the mouth, buoyed by rambunctious acidity and framed by suede-textured tannins. Winter mint and liquorice root linger on the finish. With admirable complexity, this outperforms its category. 93 points

Jeb Dunnuck: The 2021 Chianti Classico is ripe with youthful primary red fruit, revealing cooling and lifted aromas of menthol, pine, and pure cherry. It has wonderful concentration on the palate, with generous and ripe wild raspberry, dried earth, herbes de Provence, and refreshing salinity. Although ripe, it has a spine of fresh acidity that seams it all together. Drink 2024-2034. 91 points