Poggerino Chianti Classico Riserva Bugialla 2021
These new releases from Poggerino are terrific. Piero Lanza makes wines of notable character that capture all the finesse of Radda. Over the last decade or so, quality has grown in dramatic fashion, driven by much gentler winemaking than in the past. The Chianti Classicos are vinified in cement and aged in either cask or cement. I find a purity in these wines that is incredibly distinctive. ANTONIO GALLONI
It’s a fabulous time for readers who love Chianti Classico. The wines have never been better, as evidenced by both the growing number of estates making gorgeous Chianti Classicos and the stylistic breadth those wines encompass. The 2021s in particular are some of the most exciting young wines I have tasted in more than 25 years of visiting the region
In a world in which so many wines have become either hard to find or very expensive, Chianti Classico remains one of the very best values in the world. Readers looking for wines to buy by the case that can be opened with minimal fanfare but that also deliver exceptional complexity and pedigree will find so much to admire in the 2021s ANTONIO GALLONI
Poggerino and Prince Wine Store go way back. Before Prince was even a thing 30+ years ago, we asked a local wine importer to bring the wines in on our behalf for a business we then all worked at. Meeting Pierro Lanza then as a young, passionate and deeply thoughtful winemaker left an indelible impression and you could see even then that we had stumbled across a rare talent. Shy and wine-geeky, Lanza’s wines do the talking; they’re demonstratively of their Radda locality in the heart of Chianti Classico, deeply pitched red and black sangiovese fruits, robust textures all tied together with a thread of Tuscan savouriness.
Through the years, Lanza has never rested on his laurels, constantly changing things up in the vineyards and the winery. Tweaking here, tightening the screws there to find the best expression of his site. If there was ever a vintage to see the culmination of his life’s work then quite possibly it’s 2021. A Tuscan vintage with few peers and in Pierro’s Riserva Bugialla bottling you have a one of the best wines made in the region.
I often rail against the Riserva classification as not always representing anything better or different BUT here you have what a Riserva should be – its 100% Sangiovese sourced from the highest elevation vineyard on the property. Mean stoney soils and south west aspect create a unique environment. Then of course there’s the fact it’s 2021!
As many of you would know the Poggeirno Chianti Classico normale 2021 was brilliant so the Riserva is something we’ve been waiting to see for a while now. It doesn’t disappoint. It’s a tour de force of sangiovese; dark cherry, liquorice, turned earth and cut hay frame a palate of deeply pitched dark and red fruits and rocky minerality. It’s sangiovese to its dark hearted core; robust and swashbuckling in its way, but the tannins are so beautifully managed so to create harmony amongst the wild of the competing elements.
It's a ripper which still needs a few years but it’s a wow wine and cements Lanza as one his generations most gifted vignerons.
Cheers
Michael McNamara
It’s a fabulous time for readers who love Chianti Classico. The wines have never been better, as evidenced by both the growing number of estates making gorgeous Chianti Classicos and the stylistic breadth those wines encompass. The 2021s in particular are some of the most exciting young wines I have tasted in more than 25 years of visiting the region
In a world in which so many wines have become either hard to find or very expensive, Chianti Classico remains one of the very best values in the world. Readers looking for wines to buy by the case that can be opened with minimal fanfare but that also deliver exceptional complexity and pedigree will find so much to admire in the 2021s ANTONIO GALLONI
Poggerino and Prince Wine Store go way back. Before Prince was even a thing 30+ years ago, we asked a local wine importer to bring the wines in on our behalf for a business we then all worked at. Meeting Pierro Lanza then as a young, passionate and deeply thoughtful winemaker left an indelible impression and you could see even then that we had stumbled across a rare talent. Shy and wine-geeky, Lanza’s wines do the talking; they’re demonstratively of their Radda locality in the heart of Chianti Classico, deeply pitched red and black sangiovese fruits, robust textures all tied together with a thread of Tuscan savouriness.
Through the years, Lanza has never rested on his laurels, constantly changing things up in the vineyards and the winery. Tweaking here, tightening the screws there to find the best expression of his site. If there was ever a vintage to see the culmination of his life’s work then quite possibly it’s 2021. A Tuscan vintage with few peers and in Pierro’s Riserva Bugialla bottling you have a one of the best wines made in the region.
I often rail against the Riserva classification as not always representing anything better or different BUT here you have what a Riserva should be – its 100% Sangiovese sourced from the highest elevation vineyard on the property. Mean stoney soils and south west aspect create a unique environment. Then of course there’s the fact it’s 2021!
As many of you would know the Poggeirno Chianti Classico normale 2021 was brilliant so the Riserva is something we’ve been waiting to see for a while now. It doesn’t disappoint. It’s a tour de force of sangiovese; dark cherry, liquorice, turned earth and cut hay frame a palate of deeply pitched dark and red fruits and rocky minerality. It’s sangiovese to its dark hearted core; robust and swashbuckling in its way, but the tannins are so beautifully managed so to create harmony amongst the wild of the competing elements.
It's a ripper which still needs a few years but it’s a wow wine and cements Lanza as one his generations most gifted vignerons.
Cheers
Michael McNamara