Querciabella Chianti Classico Riserva
Tuscany, Italy
Vintage:2019 (Current)
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Reviews
The Wine Advocate 93 Points
“The organic Querciabella 2019 Chianti Classico Riserva Querciabella shows richly concentrated fruit with blackberry and cherry layered with light spice and mineral. This wine represents a selection of fruit from Greve, Radda and Gaiole in Chianti, and each parcel is vinified separately before the final blend is made. Production is 19,000 bottles.”
View From the Cellar 93+ Points
“The 2019 Chianti Classico “Riserva” from Querciabella is a simply outstanding young wine. The Riserva bottling is made from a vineyard selection across the prime parcels the winery owns in the townships of Greve, Radda and Gaiole, with all of these parcels in the highest altitudes in the villages. The wine is raised in twenty percent new oak for fourteen to sixteen months prior to bottling and the 2019 version comes in at fourteen percent octane. It offers up a beautifully complex bouquet of red and black cherries, cigar smoke, black tea, lavender, fresh oregano, a touch of smoked meats, lovely minerality and cedar. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, complex and nicely structured, with superb depth at the core, lovely soil undertow, fine-grained tannins and 31 excellent balance on the long, focused and extremely promising finish. This needs some time in the cellar to blossom, but it is going to be outstanding wine once it starts to emerge. 2029-2075.”
Wine Spectator 94 Points
“Supple and intense, this red is saturated with black cherry, blackberry, floral, wild herb and mineral aromas and flavors. As this plays out on the long finish, the solid structure is well-covered by flesh. Offers fine harmony and expression. Best from 2024 through 2040.”
Wine & Spirits 93 Points
“This buoyant wine opens with fresh floral scents that lead into crunchy berry and cherry flavors. Lively acidity drives the flavors as the wine picks up notes of graphite and subtle hints of spice. The flavors remain tautly woven and energetic over several days, indicating good aging potential.”
JancisRobinson.com 18/20 Points
“Deep, lustrous ruby. Captivating, deep sour-cherry and raspberry nose that is still quite youthful. Beautiful intensity of fruit and with a whisper of oak. Suave, tangy, deep raspberry fruit with gorgeous, chewy tannins that stick to the fruit. In for the long haul. Stunning balance between gripping, ripe tannins and deep, tangy fruit.”
Jeb Dunnuck 95+ Points
“Readers looking for a serious, yet polished style will love the 2019 Chianti Classico Riserva. Dark layers of menthol, licorice, black cherry, and incense intertwine and unfold in the glass. Full and generous with red and black fruit, it has a remarkable weightlessness while simultaneously delivering beautiful concentration. With ripe tannins, notes of blood orange zest, red plum, and salty earth, and a refreshing snap of acidity on the finish, it is approachable in its youth and will continue to improve over the coming 10-15 years. This is an outstanding wine to snap up.”
JamesSuckling.com 95 Points
“A fragrant and vivid red with sour cherries, lemons, cloves, cracked pepper and dried flowers on the nose. Medium-bodied with silky tannins and bright acidity. Juicy and delicious with plenty of energy. From organically grown grapes. Vegan. Drink or hold.”
Overview
Querciabella Chianti Classico Riserva is the perfect blend of the estate’s best parcels of Sangiovese from vineyards in Greve, Radda and Gaiole in Chianti. Through meticulous site selection and a rigorous micro-vinification regime, winemaker Manfred Ing is keen to explore and exalt their minute details to bring our varietal expression of Sangiovese to a superior level.
A new take on a past tradition, which culminated with the 1999 vintage, Querciabella's Chianti Classico Riserva returned to the Querciabella range with limited bottlings of the 2011 vintage.
Winemaking
The Riserva, a blend of exceptional lots of grapes from the communes of Greve, Radda and Gaiole, is one of the fruits of an unprecedented effort led by Querciabella to identify the finest sub-zones for the cultivation of Sangiovese across the region.
The grapes are picked by hand using 9kg crates. Élevage is carried out in 225-liter French oak barrels and 500-liter tonneaux for 16 months, of which 20% are new.
No animal products or byproducts are used in the production of this wine, making it suitable for vegans and vegetarians.
Harvest Notes
After a mild and dry winter, a cool, wet spring triggered a relatively slow growing season. However, the flowering and fruit set went well, anticipating a phenomenal harvest in quality and quantity. The first week of May saw the temperatures soar, and this heat continued through the Summer. It may have been torrid at times, but there were no problems with drought stress thanks to the abundant water reserves after the spring rains. September brought the desired day/night temperature differences, and excellent phenolic ripeness was achieved with beautiful skin-to-pulp ratios. Balmy conditions persisted well into the harvest that ended in Mid October with the last pickings of Sangiovese.
Food Pairing
Enjoyable now. Will reach maturity five to six years after harvest and will continue to evolve for at least another fifteen years. The ideal serving temperature is 57° to 64°F.
Technical Information
Varietals: 100% Sangiovese
Wine Alcohol: 14%
Titratable Acidity: 5.64 g/L
pH: 3.38
Harvest Start Date: September 19, 2019
Harvest End Date: October 17, 2019
Aging: 16 months in fine to extra fine-grained French oak barrels and tonneaux of which 20% new