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| ~ Cantina at Rocca di Castagnoli ~ |
I don’t know why, or maybe I do and I’m still trying to convince myself, but I think I prefer the 2009 vintage to the 2010 in Tuscany. At least as it concerns Chianti Classico. As I look back over my notes, this seems to be the trend – despite many winemakers telling me that 2010 is the next “vintage of the century”. That is clearly the sentiment coming from Montalcino and I guess that remains to be seen. I’ll get my first taste of 2009 Brunello at Benvenuto this winter – stay tuned for that!
For now, this is Part 2 of the aforementioned mini series. I’ve liked Rocca di Castagnoli for a while. They craft typical Tuscan wine at a good price point and generally have broad availability. We opened their 2010 Chianti Classico yesterday afternoon with some antipasto and football as a prelude to the Bolognese I’d made for dinner.
The 2010 is a medium ruby color with a slight fade at the rim. The aromatics are nice, with berry, tobacco and flowers. They fall short of rich complexity, but they’re expressive enough. On the palate, the wine is medium bodied and juicy with finely grained tannins that are unobtrusive. There’s a pretty core of cherry fruit accented with vanilla spice and a touch of cedar. It was somewhat lean on it’s own, but with the antipasto it clearly plumped up. Not a bad value at $15, but given that a much better experience can be had for a few dollars more, I’m inclined to look for other producers. And as I mentioned at the outset, I enjoyed this producer’s 2009 version more during my Blind Chianti Report from earlier this year. 87 points.
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| ~ With Salume, Crackers, Cacio di Roma and Olives ~ |
A presto…
November 25, 2013
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