When asked to name my best-value premium, estate-grown Tuscan reds, my choices are Rosso di Montalcino DOC and Chianti Rùfina DOCG. Both are based on Tuscany’s signature Sangiovese grape. However, whereas Rosso di Montalcino is often made from Sangiovese offcuts deemed not up to the standard required for Brunello di Montalcino, Chianti Rùfina is made only from the prime cuts, making it stylistically more consistent.
Chianti Rùfina is the smallest of the seven denominations within the wider, sprawling Chianti DOCG. Only 750ha of vineyards are registered to produce Chianti Rùfina, although there is officially room for 300ha more. Of its 20-plus producers, the largest by far is Marchesi Frescobaldi’s Castello Nipozzano.
Chianti Rùfina’s average annual production of 3.5 million bottles accounts for about 4% of the total output of the wider Chianti DOCG, which makes Rùfina the third most productive region with the word Chianti in its name, following Chianti Classico DOCG and Chianti Colli Senesi DOCG respectively.
Chianti Rùfina: vintages to seek out
2019 Like 1985, a textbook vintage with each stage of the growing season near perfect. Drink from now to 2035.
2016 Started cool and damp but the gloom soon gave way to a drier, brighter season. This produced smooth, moreish Rùfina reds with sparkling fruit and silky, symmetrical tannins adding a delicious, umami-like salinity. They are incredibly hard to resist, but if you can delay gratification these Rùfinas will pay bountiful dividends. Drink to 2035.
Denne historien er fra November 2021-utgaven av Decanter.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra November 2021-utgaven av Decanter.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
A Resource for the World? - Argentina is unique in the genetic diversity preserved in much of its vine material. With climate change and disease posing increasing threats worldwide, Catena Zapata winery is asking what lessons can be learned to protect vineyards within and beyond the nation's borders
Argentina is unique in the genetic diversity preserved in much of its vine material. With climate change and disease posing increasing threats worldwide, Catena Zapata winery is asking what lessons can be learned to protect vineyards within and beyond the nation’s borders
Great Cabernets of South America
Other varieties may hog the limelight across South America, but the world’s most popular grape for red wines has played a critical role in the continent's wine heritage. We trace Cabernet Sauvignon’s story here, and recommend 16 benchmark wines to try
PROVENCE by train and bike
With rail links to Paris, Nice, Marseilles and beyond, a vast network of cycle paths and quiet roads, and a plethora of historic wine estates, Provence is an ideal destination for an eco-friendly, car-free and carefree) holiday
IN THE MIX
These days most of the world’s vineyards are planted to just a single variety, but what happens when multiple varieties are planted, harvested and blended together?
Malvasia A BUYER'S GUIDE
If ever a grape was hard to pin down, it'd be Malvasia. Indeed it’s not even a single grape variety. In all of its many varied, and often completely unrelated guises, it has been the mainstay of popular wine styles across the centuries. Our expert takes a closer look...
RIBERA ADOPTS THE NEW OLD WAYS
It’s not so much a new direction for winemakers in Ribera del Duero, but a growing recognition that traditional methods and wine styles set aside by the previous generation can now provide a way ahead to revitalise the region
Roussanne around the world
Up for a challenge? For winemakers as much as wine drinkers, getting a handle on a mercurial grape such as Roussanne isn't easy. But wherever it's grown, when the balance is right, it truly repays the effort
Napa Cabernet 2021
There's a lot of excitement about this vintage, in which conditions were relatively calm and temperatures stable through summer. Ongoing drought reduced yields but intensified flavours, but it means quantities are down and you may need to act fast to secure top wines. Our Napa correspondent selects 60 great wines from more than 500 that he tasted, with many very high scores
10 reason to discover Uruguay
Squeezed between Brazil and Argentina on the Atlantic coast, Uruguay has mostly flown under the tourist radar - until now. Once dubbed 'the Switzerland of the Americas', it's a welcoming country that has much to offer the travelling wine lover
Leo Erazo
The old vines and special terroir of Itata, southern Chile, have beena source of inspiration for this intrepid winemaker. The 2023 fires were a setback, but his commitment to this ancient wine land is undiminished
