Bonacchi Chianti Riserva 2021
£10.95
The wine
A traditional Chianti showing aromas of cherry, blackberry and wild red fruits with delicate earthy and leather overtones. The palate is full and velvety, harmoniously balanced through to a long finish. Remarkable value for a Riserva.
Riserva requires two years of ageing before release. Bonacchi work in the traditional Tuscan manner, using large Slavonian oak casks rather than French barrique, which adds structure and slow oxidation rather than vanilla and spice, and lets Sangiovese's acidity and cherry fruit stay in the foreground.
The producer
Bonacchi
View all Bonacchi winesThe Bonacchi family have made wine in Tuscany since 1902, when they began at Casalguidi near Pistoia, and now farm around Castellina in Chianti in the heart of Chianti Classico as well as holding land in Montalcino and Montepulciano.
The family are traditionalists in a region that has seen a great deal of change. The wines are built on Sangiovese, aged in the large Slavonian oak casks that Tuscany used before French barrique arrived in the 1980s, and made in a style that puts acidity and structure ahead of immediate softness. Vin Santo is still made in the old manner, with grapes hung to dry through the winter and the wine aged for years in small sealed caratelli in the roof space.
Three generations on, the estate remains family-run and modest in scale, and the wines are consistently among the better value in Chianti, which is a category with a good deal of competition.
