Chianti Classico is one of Tuscany’s classic expressions of Sangiovese—and one of the most affordable. This week’s Tasting Highlights features three excellent duos for exploring the category, which remains a compelling source of both quality and value. As these wines show, the region offers approachability for those seeking immediate drinking pleasure, but many of the wines will also reward patient cellaring.
The two wines from Bindi Sergardi showcase 100 percent Sangiovese from two different estates, both within the Vagliagli UGA in the southwest of the region. Both wines are from the warm 2022 vintage, which produced fresh, balanced reds with ample fruit and dense tannins. The Ser Gardo bottling comes from the I Colli estate, which was established by the Bindi Sergardi family in the 1400s. La Ghirlanda is sourced from Mocenni, a south-facing plot surrounded by woods at an altitude of 1,600 feet, which contributes to a notable diurnal shift. Bindi Sergardi also sources its Mocenni 89 gran selezione bottling from this area.
The Calì family owns both Capraia and Rocca di Castagnoli; the wines are made at the Rocca di Castagnoli winery in Gaiole. Capraia’s wines come from vineyards in Castellina, where gentle, west-facing slopes open to the sea tend to produce accessible, elegant wines. The 2023 annata is a great value and boasts friendly, succulent fruit flavors. For a slight splurge, the 2021 riserva, sourced from a single vineyard at around 1,500 feet near the village of Pietrafitta, offers more complexity and ageworthiness.
The 2021 riservas from Rocca di Castagnoli showcase the intensity of that vintage, the best in a generation in Tuscany, and the notable structure of wines from rocky Gaiole. At under $40, they’d make a fascinating (and affordable) side-by-side tasting comparing the same winery’s single-vineyard and blended riserva bottlings.
Read on to get our expert scores and full tasting notes!
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