Chianti Classico 2019 plus late releases

Chianti Classico’s annual ‘Collection’ tasting at Florence’s Stazione Leopolda is typically a two-day, surround-sound immersion complete with 200 producers and hundreds of wines.

Not to be defeated by Covid 19, this year’s event was postponed, rolling out in several locations this month – albeit without wineries attending.

Unable to travel, I climbed Chianti Classico’s ladder in the silence of my home in Vancouver, Canada, tasting over 120 new releases.

Scroll down for Michaela Morris’ top-scoring Chianti Classico 2019 and 2018 wines

The denomination’s three-tier classification – annata (vintage), Riserva and Gran Selezione – makes for a multi-vintage panorama.

On the first rung, annata wines require twelve months of ageing before release. As numerous estates choose to age theirs longer, I sized up 2019 while revisiting 2018.

The 2019 vintage

For context, the 2019 growing season was off to a good start in early spring. Budbreak occurred at the regular time and abundant rainfall built up reserves. However, cool wet conditions in May delayed the vegetative cycle. Temperatures fell as low as 2°C at night. ‘At the end of May, I wouldn’t have bet one Euro on the quality of the year given that the vines had barely grown at all,’ says Poggerino’s Piero Lanza.

Summer weather arrived suddenly at the beginning of June and it remained warm and dry all the way through to September. Sporadic rain showers were just enough to refresh the vines and fresh nighttime temperature countered the balmy days. ‘It was a very regular summer – warm but not excessively so,’ says Tommaso Francione at Rocca della Macìe.

Despite the clement weather, the vines did not completely catch up after the delayed start. As such, harvest was late for many estates. ‘Normally we finish between the 5 and 7 October,’ states Laura Bianchi at Castello di Monsanto. ‘In 2019, we finished on 17 October.’ Favourable conditions made for a relatively stress-free, ‘leisurely’ harvest. It was also a plentiful crop, especially coming after the severely short 2017 vintage and the lower than average 2018.

Enthusiasm for the 2019 vintage is palpable among Chianti Classico’s growers. However, not everyone describes it as picture perfect.

In the warm zone of San Casciano Val di Pesa, Castello di Gabbiano’s winemaker Federico Cerelli noted significant heat spikes. ‘The summer was warmer than 2018 with less marked diurnal temperature differences,’ he says.

At Isole e Olena in Barberino Tavarnelle, Paolo de Marchi adds, ‘it was the first year with warm nights.’ He suggests that this may have contributed to lower acidity and higher alcohol.

Of the 20 or so 2019 annatas I sampled, the first sips were very promising. The wines are focused, well-defined and mouthwatering. Besides freshness and intensity of flavours, the structure is more assertive than the early 2018 annata releases last year. Nevertheless, most are already approachable and will drink beautifully over the next five to eight years.

Some, like Castello di Ama, Poggerino and Rocca di Montegrossi punch well above their weight. In all honesty, I would not turn down a glass of any of the wines I tried.

The 2018 vintage

I fleshed out my tasting of 2019 with a couple of dozen late-release annatas. An atypical vintage, 2018 was humid with frequent downpours in August – a month that often does not see a drop of rain. However, the frequency and quantity of rain varied from one pocket to another. ‘We had record rainfall in August,’ says Roberto Stucchi at Badia a Coltibuono, ‘however, our neighbours literally just a few miles down the road struggled with severe drought.’

The weather turned in September, bringing warm, drying winds. Timing of the harvest had a considerable impact on the style of wine produced. ‘Those who were able to wait made quite muscular wines with solid structure,’ says Giovanni Manetti, president of the Chianti Classico consorzio and owner of Fontodi. But this wasn’t possible for everyone – ‘We had to harvest mid-September because the rain compromised the quality of the grapes a bit,’ says Matteo Vaccari at Cigliano di Sopra. He describes the resulting wine as less concentrated.

There were also implications in the cellar. ‘Due to the rain, the grape skins were thinner,’ explains Monica Raspi at Pomona. She responded by making less frequent punch downs and giving a shorter maceration of two weeks rather than three or four.

These differences are manifest in the wines and there are successes on both sides of the spectrum. I appreciated the slender, lightly structured Badia a Coltubuono as much as the more robust Fontodi, though the latter will have more ageing potential.

Also among my top wines were classy mid-weights Isole e Olena, Tenuta di Carleone and Istine’s Vigna Cavarchione, which captured the beautiful aromas of the vintage.

Are Chianti Classico annata wines worth buying?

Most patently obvious in tasting both the 2018 and 2019 vintages is the overall quality of the annata category.

It is a treasure trove of incredible value for money, but the wines should not simply be considered as ‘entry level’. These are arguably Chianti Classico’s most transparent wines, with an immediate ability to demonstrate the intricate differences of altitude, latitude, exposure and soil of the region’s diverse terroir.

It would be a mistake to scale Chianti Classico’s hierarchy too quickly and overlook this category.

Top Chianti Classico 2019 and 2018 releases:

View all 48 Chianti Classico 2019 and late releases tasted

View all 48 Chianti Classico 2019 and late releases tasted

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