Clemente VII Chianti Classico 2018

Tart Cherry, Black Raspberry, Dried Orange Peel, Dried Lilies

The 1960s were a turning point in the history of Chianti Classico, with many older producers retiring, and younger producers debating the merits of vineyard technology and questioning the region’s traditional wine laws. Amidst the chaos, winemaker Armando Nunzi founded the Castelli dei Grevepesa co-op with 17 neighboring winegrowers, pooling their resources to improve the marketing and winemaking techniques of their region. Today, the co-op numbers over 100 growers, most of whom bottle their wines under the Chianti Classico and Chianti Colli Senesi designations.

“Clemente VII” is one of the winery’s higher-end bottlings. Produced in the historic winemaking town of Greve in Chianti, this wine is sourced from plots of 100% Sangiovese, a departure from the “traditional” blending of other native varieties. In the winery, the finished wine is racked to neutral Slavonian oak barrels for 12 months (with small amounts of French barrique used as well). After filtration and bottling, the wine spends 3 months maturing in bottle before release. When you open this wine, I strongly suggest decanting for at least half an hour.