It was our wine club’s first time tasting a wine produced solely outside the US. We tasted a nice variety of Chiantis – three from Chianti Classico, reputed to be the best Chianti, and one each from Rufina, and Chianti (the grapes were sourced from various subzones within the Chianti DOCG). There was also a variety of vintages. Additionally, there were three “Riserva” level wines, which were aged a minimum of 24 months. All wines were between$10 – $20.
We tasted the following five wines:
- 2005 Incanto Chianti Classico Riserva – $10/100% Sangiovese /13% ABV
- 2006 Frescobaldi Nipozzano Rufina Chianti Riserva – $17/ Blend of Sangiovese, Malavasia, Canaiolo, Merlot, and Cab/ 13.5% ABV
- 2007 Banfi Chianti Classico Riserva – $17/Almost exclusively Sangiovese/13% ABV
- 2007 Ruffino Aziano Chianti Classico – $13; At least 80% Sangiovese plus Canaiolo, and Merlot/13% ABV
- 2008 Malenchini Chianti – $11/100% Sangiovese/14% ABV
And the winner was…
2005 Malenchini Chianti (purchased at Whole Foods). Click here for Cellartracker reviews.
As always seems to be the case…”The last shall be first”. While the winner wasn’t the least expensive (It was the second least expensive), it was the least in that it was neither produced in the most prestigious Chianti Classic0 DOCG, nor was it a “Riserva” aged for at least 24 months in oak barrels. In fact, it wasn’t even aged in oak. It was aged in stainless steel!
So if you’re looking for a good Chianti, at a good price….try a bottle!
Related Articles
- Chianti Wine Basics
- Sangiovese Profilec
- Chianti (winebookclub.org)
We did a chianti tasting about a year ago, did some of the same wines too. Curious, do you try to pair food with the wine or just drink the wine on it’s own? I am always on the hunt to new wine and food pairing, hence my blog. In ours the second cheapest also won Cecchi Chianti 2006. Great Post
Our club is fairly informal, so while most of the eating is done prior to wine tasting, some may taste and eat the foods (which are paired to the wines). I just encourage folks who do so to be consistent. Taste all with food, or none with food. I too, love the wine and food pairing thing, so I do occasional posts regarding pairing that work well. I did one re: Italian Sunday Gravy paired with various wines that was fun. Looking forward to checking out your blog later. Thanks for the comments!
This post could not be more right on