Tuscany

Fiorini Chianti is a tasty, medium bodied Italian wine with refreshing red fruit flavours, bright acidity which adds to its structure and makes it taste great with tomato based food.

It's a traditional style of Chianti made from 90% Sangiovese with the balance being the Tuscan grapes, Canaiolo and Ciliegiolo, and a touch of French Cabernet Sauvignon, which adds to the structure. All of the grapes come from the Chianti DOCG and the wine is aged in a combination of new and old barriques and large older oak.

This dry Italian red classic is a Super Tuscan is a superb collector's wine from the Tuscan coast. It is a non traditional blend of French grapes grown in central Italy;  Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot translate here to a dry, full bodied wine with balancing tart cherry fruit with darker tones of blackberry and plum. This vintage delivers especially chiselled and focused fruit characteristics that are elegantly framed by light spice, cola and earth. This vintage shows a heightened sense of intensity and territorial identity that is the hallmark of this storied estate.

Lots of mint with sage and fresh rosemary to the currant and orange character on the nose, as well as some ripe raspberries. The palate is very refined with creamy and crunchy tannins that run the length of the wine. It shows a crunchy and energetic personality. Give it a year or two to come together, but it’s showing brightness for the vintage. Drink after 2027.
94pts – James Suckling


Made with Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, the Tenuta San Guido 2022 Guidalberto gives you a good taste of the same DNA that brings us one of Italy's greatest wines, Sassicaia, but it's offered in a more immediate style here (thanks to the addition of the Merlot). This warm vintage opens to medium-dark concentration and very plump aromas that take you immediately to blackberry and blackcurrant sitting out in the sun at your local farmers market. The wine shows a soft and gentle side with a pretty level of elegance transmitted through the fruit freshness and the light oak spice that is discernible here but delivered with grace.

94pts – Wine Advocate

This complex and affordable Chianti Classico is a full bodied, ripe and powerful wine made from a blend of 90% Sangiovese, 5% Colorino and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon, each grape contributing depth, body and balance to the wine. 

This brand was traditionally produced by a well known cooperative with over 60 different grape growers contributing to the blend but the brand has now been acquired by Tenute Piccini, which employs the highly respected consultant oenologist, Riccardo Cotarella.

THE CHIANTI CLASSICO APPELLATION

Chianti Classico is the heart of the wider Chianti production zone and its wines are distinguished by a trademarked black rooster on their labels. The wines of Chianti Classico are higher in quality and noticeably so in taste than wines labelled Chianti, which come from a broader area in Tuscany. The wines taste better because the vines are planted on hillsides with a higher degree of  iron rich soils and a greater diurnal temperature range, which provides more powerful, riper fruit flavours, which are balanced by higher acidity thanks to the cooler night time temperatures. 

The Sangiovese grape must make up 80% of all wines labelled Chianti Classico compared to 70% Sangiovese for wines labelled Chianti. 

Chianti was first defined as a wine producing sub region within Tuscany in 1716 by the Grand Duke of Tuscany Cosimo III, whose wanted to protect the integrity of the wines and prevent fraud. The Chianti Classico Wine Consortium was formed in 1924 with the distinctive Black Rooster trademark chosen to feature on the labels. 

Earthy red made from the Sangiovese grape and a wine that represents Central Italy at its best, expressing this elegant grape's great structure thanks to being made from 20 to 30 year old vines, hand picked grapes and a wild ferment in concrete and stainless steel for 12 to 15 days. The wine was aged for six months in concrete and three months in bottle, pre release. 

It's a wow red, both for drinking now and for aging. The beautiful firm smooth tannin structure, high but balanced acidity and the purity of red fruit all make it an exceptional red wine. 

If you're looking for Italy in a glass, here it is - a complex Chianti Classico (90% Sangiovese and 10% Merlot) from  a hillside vineyard in Tuscany called Poggio Teo. This 10 hectare site is situated about 400 metres above sea level where its vines gain maximum sunshine and benefit from cool nights, both of which enhance this wine's deep velvet smooth mouthfeel and complex, dry savoury aromas. Fleshy black plum flavours and a soft textured mid palate are followed by a lingering flavoursome finish. 

A great wine for drinking now (must be decanted to show at its best) and to save for another five to six years. 

Here's a great little red blend from Antinori, which is a gorgeous expression of the insanely beautiful Tuscany region, but which is made from an interesting mix of Italian and French grapes. Sangiovese leads the way here with small quantities of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Syrah, all grown in Tuscany. 

Antinori's winemakers describe this wine as firm bodied on the palate, supple with  velvety tannins and a long, savoury aftertaste.

The 2021 Le Difese is redolent of crushed red berry fruit, rose petal, lavender, spice and sweet pipe tobacco. Medium in body yet nicely layered, the 2021 is impeccably balanced. It is also a sheer delight to taste at this early stage. In many vintages, Le Difese is a fruity, forward wine, but the 2021 has a nervy feeling of classicism that is hugely appealing. It's one of my favorite recent vintages. As it has been for some time, Le Difese is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon from the estate and Sangiovese purchased from several properties in Chianti Classico, with the energy of Sangiovese very much driving the feel in this vintage. 

91pts ? Vinous Media

Smooth, fruity Italian red blend of Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah grapes. This Tuscan wine is a lovely introduction to the great world of Italian reds in the Antinori stable; a family company that has been continuously producing wine back to the 1300s.

What the critics say...

"It's delightfully fruited and fragrant on the nose with dark plum."

Sam Kim, Wine Orbit

Tasty Tuscan rosso with ripe lush red berry flavours in a soft, smooth and succulent, blend, made mostly of Tuscany's great Sangiovese with a touch of Cabernet Sauvignon to add structure and a commanding presence. Affordably delicious wine for drinking now and over the next two years. 

It's named after the Villa di Remole in Tuscany, which has been owned by the Fresobaldi family for over 700 years. 

The wine is aged four months in stainless steel and two months in bottle, prior to release.

This is one of Marchese Antinori's top Tuscan wines and is made from the Peppoli Vineyard in the Chianti Classico DOCG. This wine was first made in 1985 and is a full bodied Chianti Classico with firm smooth tannins and high acidity, which is balanced by the ripe dark fruit characters and silky finish. 

It was aged in large Slovenian oak barrels with a small portion aged in stainless steel to retain fresh fruit flavours and balance. 

THE CHIANTI CLASSICO APPELLATION

Chianti Classico is the heart of the wider Chianti production zone and its wines are distinguished by a trademarked black rooster on their labels. The wines of Chianti Classico are higher in quality and noticeably so in taste than wines labelled Chianti, which come from a broader area in Tuscany. The wines taste better because the vines are planted on hillsides with a higher degree of  iron rich soils and a greater diurnal temperature range, which provides more powerful, riper fruit flavours, which are balanced by higher acidity thanks to the cooler night time temperatures. 

The Sangiovese grape must make up 80% of all wines labelled Chianti Classico compared to 70% Sangiovese for wines labelled Chianti. 

Chianti was first defined as a wine producing sub region within Tuscany in 1716 by the Grand Duke of Tuscany Cosimo III, whose wanted to protect the integrity of the wines and prevent fraud. The Chianti Classico Wine Consortium was formed in 1924 with the distinctive Black Rooster trademark chosen to feature on the labels. 

Brunello di Montalcino DOCG is one of Italy's great reds and comes from Montalcino, a hillside town that's about 42 kilometres from the city of Siena, 150 kilometres from Florence and is 567 metres above sea level. 

Brunello di Montalcino must legally be aged for five years prior to its release in bottle, so when looking at the great wines from this small township, it's important to take that into consideration. 

The name Brunello comes from the Italian word Bruno, which means brown. It was given to the grape variety that Brunello di Montalcino is made from; it's a 100% varietal wine, meaning it is made entirely from only one grape variety. And until 1879, that grape was thought to be a distinctively different variety than the main grape in Tuscany, namely Sangiovese. 

In 1879, it was discovered that the Brunello grape is, in fact, a clone of Sangiovese which happens to produce particularly powerful, velvety smooth reds in this little highly prized hillside appellation. So, Brunello is one of Tuscany's few red wines that is made 100% from the Sangiovese grape and it is one of Italy's great red wines. 

Altitude adds character to this beautiful savoury Chianti Classico from a hillside vineyard in Gaiole; 500 metres above sea level where cool nights preserve freshness. Hand picked grapes were fermented in stainless steel and the wine was aged for 12 months in barriques and stainless steel. 

Flavours run a broad spectrum of flavours from ripe black berries, cherry, wood and spice into a beautifully complex wine with lovely length and excellent potential for further aging in your cellar or dark, cool corner. 

Vino Novello News comes from Montepulciano and Sangiovese grapes grown in the municipalities of Ortona and San Salvo, on the Adriatic coast of Abruzzo.

It is vinified through the carbonic maceration technique in whole clusters at a temperature of 30 ° C for 10 days. The grapes are pressed and spontaneously ferment for 4 days after which the wine is bottled and ready for consumption.

Ruby red in colour, it expresses itself on the nose with hints of red fruits. On the palate it is fresh and harmonious, very pleasant, ready to drink.

It goes perfectly with cured meats, recipes based on mushrooms and grilled chestnuts.

"A solidly built red introduced by aromas of mint, lavender and wild rosemary. Shows cherry, raspberry, earth, iron, sanguine and tobacco flavors allied to an almost viscous texture as this cruises to the long finish. Impressive now, yet will be better in three to f ive years. Best from 2026 through 2045."

 94/100 Wine Spectactor, Bruce Sanderson 

"A juicy and pretty wine with berries, chocolate, and bark. Subtle. Medium-bodied with fine tannins that are slightly chewy and austere now but will soften nicely with age. Better after 2025."

94/100 James Suckling 

"The 2020 Chianti Classico Riserva is another super-classic wine in this range from F?lsina. Dried herbs, game, scorched earth, tobacco, incense and dark fruit infuse the Riserva with tons of nuance. The Riserva conveys tons of village character as well as the house style. Drink 2024-2040"

93/100 Vinous, Antonio Galloni