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Chianti Classico Gran Selezione: panel tasting results

A ‘very pleasing’ tasting that showed encouraging progress in this still-recent Tuscan category, with a good proportion of high quality, enjoyable wines.

Susan Hulme MW, Federico Moccia and Michaela Morris tasted 111 wines, with one Outstanding and 90 Highly Recommended.


Chianti Classico Gran Selezione panel tasting scores

111 wines tasted

Exceptional 0

Outstanding 1

Highly recommended 90

Recommended 18

Commended 1

Fair 1

Poor 0

Faulty 0

Entry criteria: producers and UK agents were invited to submit reds from the Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG only, with a maximum of two vintages per label


Gran Selezione is the highest Chianti Classico classification, sitting above Chianti Classico Riserva and annata (fresh style, suited to easy daily consumption). Introduced in 2014, the Gran Selezione category stipulates a minimum of 30 months’ ageing, so some wines from the 2010 vintage were already eligible to be released under the new classification from its inception.


Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for the top-scoring Chianti Classico Gran Selezione


This panel tasting – the first to be held in Decanter’s brand new tasting suite – comprised 111 Gran Selezione wines from across nine different vintages, ranging from 2010 to 2018. There was just one example each from 2010, 2011 and 2014, three from 2012 and five from 2013. The 11 wines from 2015 were pretty consistent, but the 33 from 2016 were perhaps going through a shy, adolescent period, given the exceptional quality of the vintage.


The top scoring Chianti Classico Gran Selezione wines: 


The judges

Susan Hulme MW is a wine writer, educator and presenter specialising in Italy. A DWWA judge across Italian regions, she runs her own consultancy company Vintuition and travels regularly to Italian wine regions

Federico Moccia is deputy head sommelier at London private member’s club 67 Pall Mall. An advocate for Italian wine, he is a DWWA judge and has recently written for decanter.com

Michaela Morris is a wine writer, judge, educator and speaker. Based in Vancouver, she teaches about Italian wine across Canada and abroad, and is a VIA Italian Wine Expert


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