Tenuta Fizzano Chianti Classico Gran Selezione 2020 - Tuscany, Italy

93/100 Wine Ethusiast
93/100 Decanter
93/100 Raffaele Vecchione, Wine Critics

Silver - London Wine Competition

Organic - currently undergoing certification

Wine Ethusiast "The nose offers first cherries and cranberries, then pencil shavings and crushed rocks and finally grilled meat and soy sauce, while the palate is bright with fresh, lightly astringent notes of more cranberry, deepening with cherry and strawberry and a last hint of bitter cocoa."

Decanter "Purchased in 1984, the Fizzano estate is comprised of 35 hectares of vines with an expansive southwestern exposure on gentle slopes. The 2020 is already showing its charms with strawberry, plum and pepper making way for hints of hyacinth and anise. Well-weighted, it's ample and generous though not heavy, packed with youthful fruit and a real juiciness. The tannins are chalky and restrained, and there's lovely balance. This is refined predominantly in 35hl oak barrels with just a small percentage in barriques."

Raffaele Vecchione, Wine Critics "Rich and spicy on the nose showing notes of black prunes, blackberries, coriander, white pepper and quinine. Full bodied, soft tannins and a finale which shows fullness and a sunny disposition."

Rocca delle Macìe was established in 1973, when film producer Italo Zingarelli – of Ettore Scola’s “We All Loved Each Other So Much” fame, and also the wildly popular series of films featuring comedy duo Bud Spencer and Terence Hill (including “They Call Me Trinity” and “Trinity Is Still My Name”) – decided to realize his lifelong dream by acquiring the “Le Macìe” estate – extending across 93 hectares (230 acres) in all, of which only two were under vine – in order to create a winery in the heart of the Chianti Classico zone.

The Chianti DOCG designation covers wines from six Chianti sub-zones (Colli Pisane, Colli Fiorentini, Colli Senesi, Colli Aretini, Montalbano and Rufina) as well as all other Chianti wines. The Chianti Classico DOCG is located in the very center of Tuscany, between Florence and Sienna.

Tuscany is Italy's third most planted region (behind Sicily and Apulia) but it is eighth in terms of output, reflecting both the poor soil of Tuscany and deliberate efforts to limit yields and increase the quality in the wine. After Piedmont and the Veneto, Tuscany produces the third-highest volume of DOC/DOCG wines. More than 80% of the regions' production is in red wine, with the Sangiovese grape being Tuscany's' most prominent grape. Trebbiano is the leading white variety of the region.

Sangiovese (or Nielluccio in Corsica), a dark-berried vine, is the most widely planted grape variety in Italy. Virtually synonymous with the red wines of Tuscany, and all the romanticism that goes with the territory, Sangiovese is the core constituent in some of the great names in Italian wine. Italy's love affair with Sangiovese – and indeed the world's – is generations old, though recent grapevine research suggests the variety is not as ancient as once thought.