https://www.ilgolosario.it/it/morellino-e-chianti-lovers-due-punti-di-vista-distanti
Gli assaggi di domenica 15 febbraio: Chianti e Morellino di Scansano
If we had to judge the 2019 vintage from the Chianti tasted on Sunday 16 February, we would go towards a negative judgment. The problem is that, net of the classic Chianti and some excellent performances of the Chianti Rufina doc, the rest of the Chianti area seems to have stood still, without a common thread and consistency on the product. This we recorded at the first Previews 15, 20 years ago, this we record today. So here are the tastings of Sunday 15 February: Chianti and Morellino di Scansano. The 86 tastings of Chianti 2019Let’s start with CHIANTI 2019 and our 86 tastings. It starts well with the Tamburini farm from Gambassi Terme which presents itself with a very typical and fruity Chianti. Even better with the Chianti 2019 of Buccia Nera di Arezzo a red of substance and roundness where the fruit speaks of cherry and apple: pleasant. The Chianti 2019 of Castello di Oliveto di Castelfiorentino is well balanced with a fruitiness that covers the animal notes, while the Fattoria Uccelliera di Crespina Lorenzana expresses purity. The Chianti that gets a more than flattering judgment is then the 2019 of the Il Corniale di Montaione company, where you finally feel those notes of animal fur in an interesting olfactory complexity and a round sip with silky tannins. Instead, the excellent Chianti 2019 of Il Sosso di Lucignano is balsamic and has an electric character. We must then go, after numerous tastings, always blind, to the sample of Poggio Bonelli di Castelnuovo Berardenga, which has a truly convincing balance. The Chianti 2019 fabric of Tenuta Moriano di Montespertoli is also notable, while the Sienese Aretini winemakers give us a good surprise especially with their organic Chianti 2019. From other areas we point out the undisputed leadership of Mannucci Droandi of Montevarchi with his Chianti Colli Aretini Docg 2019. It has an inviting violet and a special pleasantness. In the Chianti Montespertoli Docg 2018 area, high marks go to Castello Sonnino di Montespertoli where a certain finesse is found, within a sip full of substance and balance. Among the Chianti Superiore 2018 we liked the Castello del Trebbio of Pontassieve: and in the notebook I wrote: “Chianti as it should be”, with its bitter finish very expressive of the area. Try the Chianti Montalbano reserve 2017 of Cantagallo, with an intense and persistent temper. Satisfaction for Morellino di ScansanoAnd now we come to MORELLINO DI SCANSANO, whose 2019 samples instead brought us to a vintage that can give increasing satisfaction. A total of 38 samples tasted including 11 reserves from 2017. The first name that returns and that at this point we would like to get to know better (we looked for him among the producers yesterday after the tasting but he was not in his station) is Alberto Motta from Grosseto. His Morellino di Scansano 2019 immediately presents itself with complex animal and spicy notes. In the mouth there is substance with an important shoulder that closes with a pleasant tannin and a finish that turns bitter. He knows how to do it. The Morellino by Antonio Camillo di Manciano, already our Top Hundred, is also good: here you can perceive a more fruity note. The Morellino 2019 of the Cantina LaSelva di Magliano in Toscana is very good, which instead has notes of pineapple and flowers and then in the mouth it manifests its complexity and typicality. We were also pleased to record the affirmation of a leading company such as Le Pupille di Grosseto with its full Morellino which had notes of undergrowth. The same notes that we felt in the sample of another leading company which is Mantellassi di Magliano in Toscana. A broad and balanced Morellino. The typical cherry is found alive and clean in the sample of Massi di Mandorlaia Conte Guicciardini di Montespertoli. Here there is elegance in an enveloping sip that reveals fine tannins. The sample of Moris Farm from Massa Marittima also did well, one of our first companies that turned the light on this wine. There is freshness in his Morellino 2019 and intriguing undergrowth notes. The Morellino 2019 from Podere Casina di Istia d’Ombrone is decidedly captivating where the tannins are well smoothed and the acidity a harbinger of freshness. And now a Morellino 2019 that really impressed us: a rather concentrated ruby color, an intense aroma of a particular fruit that opens slowly to show all its substance in one sip where acidity and tannins are well balanced. It is the Morellino “Spiaggiole” of Poggio Maestrino (of Tenute Calì) of Magliano in Toscana. Well done!