Montesecondo Chianti Classico '21

A former New Yorker, Silvio Messana had developed a passion for wine in the US and returned in the 1990s to his family’s farm in Tuscany outside Florence, where his mother had lived and where his father had planted vineyards in the early 1970s. Silvio soon began working on the vineyards himself, estate-bottling his first vintage in 2000, and studying biodynamic practices and natural farming.
 
In the vineyards, Silvio has old and younger vines of Sangiovese and Canaiolo, with plantings of Colorino and Cabernet Sauvignon. The vineyard comprises 11.5 hectares surrounding the farm. The 2021 Chianti Classico is a blend of 90% Sangiovese and 10% Colorino-Canaiuolo. The fruit is from certified biodynamic estate vines in San Casciano, in Val di Pesa, at the northern edge of the Chianti Classico zone. The fruit comes from two sites: one is lower lying, warmer, with heavier clay soils with alluvial stones; the other, facing north and rich in limestone, is much higher and cooler.
 
The bunches are harvested by hand and mainly destemmed, with the whole berries left uncrushed. The berries and clusters are layered in concrete tanks and fermented spontaneously with natural yeasts, and without sulfur or temperature control. The grapes macerate for 10 days with no extractive techniques, only a submerged cap, or cappello sommerso. The wine is aged mainly in concrete for up to a year and a half, then bottled without fining or filtering.

The 2021 vintage of Montesecondo is brilliant. Beautiful aromas of dark cherry, blackberry, lavender and spice. This has nice weight and richness, yet is perfectly framed by its acidity and structure.