
~ Looking at the range of colors from above ~
Magical.
You can apply the word to the Conca d’Oro, to Panzano, to Fontodi or to this wine and you’d be right every time. There’s just nothing not to like here, albeit with one small nit that I’ll get to at the end.
With a vintage as good as 2015, you would expect a wine like Fontodi’s Chianti Classico to be excellent. Sometimes, as a taster and a writer, those expectations can build to a point where you’re let down so I try to stay “guarded” in that sense and temper my enthusiasm when trying new releases. Yet after saying all that, this Chianti Classico delivered.

~ The aging room, complete with new Amphora, at Fontodi. The Manetti family are partners in one of the largest terra cotta companies in Tuscany and they are experimenting with Amphora matured wines ~
The 2015 Fontodi Chianti Classico is 100% Sangiovese produced from organic grapes. We did not decant the wine; we simply popped, poured and enjoyed it alongside a Fiorentina. In the glass, the wine is a deep ruby color with pretty violet reflections. After a few minutes of opening, swirling brought forth plenty of aromas including crushed cherry, bright fresh flowers, tobacco and road dust notes. The floral tones – or better yet – the “air” tones of this wine remind me of standing on the Fontodi estate. There’s a mix of roses, geranium, cypress, lemon and lavender that become a seamless singular aroma.
On the palate the wine is fresh and lively with concentrated flavors of crushed berry, cherry, tobacco, spices and minerals. Vibrant and juicy with mouthwatering sapidity this medium to full bodied Sangiovese has a long, fresh finish that glides across the palate and sits nimbly. It’s one of the best Chianti Classico I’ve ever tasted and I will say it delivers more than what one would expect from wines with that “label”. That being said, the price is creeping up relative to its contemporaries. Other than Castello di Ama, I can’t really recall another at this price point. However, the quality is certainly there and I’ve no regrets for the bottles I’ve bought. 93 points. About $32. Find this wine.

~ I included two images of this wine so the reader could get an excellent glimpse of the color of the wine ~
Salute!
Glad to have 3 of those in the cellar!
Price-wise I agree: Fontodi is, also to my knowledge, today the priciest “normal” chianti classico around – a close second here is the “Ama” of Castello di Ama.
Before the introduction of the GS-category, the most expensive classico was to my knowledge Castello di Ama’s “San Lorenzo”, which was then simply called Castello di Ama (I’m talking pre-2009 here). And almost on par was Fonterutoli’s “Castello di Fonterutoli”, which was then also labeled as a mere chianti classico, where it is now a GS as well.
But I believe Fontodi’s CC is today also the best “normal” chianti classico one can find.
Those wines weren’t Riservas at the time? You may be right, I’m not sure. Let’s face it, Classicos are going up in price. This may be $34, but Isole, Monteraponi and others are around $25. That’s not a huge premium and I think the Fontodi is better. One reason here in the US is the importer. I always peg Fontodi to Felsina here. The latter has remained lower comparably across the board. Same winemaker. Very similar wines. But much lower pricing.
Hi John,
Pretty sure they were regular classico’s:
– With Fonterutoli, you can even see it on their own website: everything before 2008 is classico normale https://www.mazzei.it/en/Wines/Castello-di-Fonterutoli/Castello-Fonterutoli-Chianti-Classico-Gran-Selezione-DOCG/annata:2007/#nav_prodotti
– Castello di Ama does not have a website that allows historical digging… but I found a link of the 2006 that says it all: https://www.pierosini.com/videos-wines/chianti-classico-2006-castello-di-ama-italy-tuscany-0211/ – 2006 was a vintage that predates the creation of their “Ama” wine and the GS classification, as you of course know. I think in vintage 2009 they swithed to riserva and then a year later to GS (San Lorenzo)…
Yes, Felsina comes to mind. But I think the line up at Felsina is a little different. At Felsina you have a base CC and a CC riserva, followed by the single vineyard wines Rancia, Fontalloro and recently Colonia. At Fontodi, you only have your base CC, no riserva, and then the Vigna del Sorbo and Flaccianello (and the latter is no longer a single vineyard, but I can’t remember as of which vintage).
So one could argue that the base Fontodi is in fact a mix of fruit that is at Felsina divided between normale and riserva (of course, I don’t know how Felsina and/or Fontodi do their grape management, so I could be completely wrong here 🙂 ). That does not fully explain the price difference, but maybe a little (I don’t know what the Felsina riserva retails in the US, but here in Europe it’s somewhat the same price as the Fontodi).
Felsina has remained relatively stable in pricing I think, for which I applaud them!
Steve,
I had forgotten about a few wines when I made that comment so thanks for the reminder. I was thinking in terms of the comparison:
Felsina = CC, Rancia, Fontalloro
Fontodi – CC, Vigna del Sorbo, Flaccianello
Those are pretty comparable wines. I had forgotten about Colonia which in the US is GROSSLY overpriced. The CCR at Felsina offers little more enjoyment than their CC in my opinion. I typically don’t buy it as a result but it’s about $26 or so where the CC is around $21.
These are all good wines, we are picking nits for sure. But I *think* at one point they were both brought here by the same importer. Fontodi moved on – their prices skyrocketed. For example, Flaccianello used to be $50. Fontalloro was about $40. Now Flaccianello is what? $150. And Fontalloro is $55. Rancia is still $45 ish. Still a big variance.
J
There are so many excellent Chianti Classico around…you just need to spend some time and search…no just spend ????
The 2016 CC Riecine and Cinciole are just fabulous ..
The 2015 CC Riserva Riecine is just stunning…and the CC Riserva Villa de Cigliano has an extraordinary QPR
CCGSelezione….2015 Vigne Del Capannino from Bibbiano is better than Vigna Del Sorbo …and you can buy 3bt.versus 1
Love CC…❤️
Mont,
I have to say, I tasted the 2013 Cinciole recently and swore it was made of dirt, not fruit. Tried everything to bring out some fruit. Nothing. Dumped it down the drain. Not my cup of tea at all. Riecine is nice but also nit from my favorite commune.
I stick to Castellina, Panzano, Castelnuovo and Radda. These are my favorites with few exception.
Hi John,
Rest assured (although it is not reassuring) that Flaccianello also had a steep price increase here as well the past years – Sorbo too for that matter (as well as Tignanello, Cepparello and many others…).
And Colonia is grossly overpriced here as well. Fontalloro and Rancia are more stable. So it may not solely be the US importer’s fault.
Cheers,