Querciabella Chianti Classico Gran Selezione 2020
£130.75
The wine
A refined Sangiovese revealing layered aromas of red cherry, plum and lavender, lifted by crushed herbs, orange peel and white pepper. Taut and elegant, with vibrant acidity, fine-grained tannins and a distinct mineral tension that carries the finish.
Gran Selezione is the top tier of Chianti Classico, introduced in 2014 for estate-grown wines given thirty months of ageing and approved by a tasting panel. Made from Sangiovese alone, biodynamically farmed and vegan, this is the estate's fullest statement of what the appellation can do without outside help.
The producer
Querciabella
View all Querciabella winesQuerciabella was founded at Greve in Chianti in 1974 by Giuseppe Castiglioni and is now run by his son Sebastiano. It is among the most rigorous estates in Tuscany, and its distinction is as much philosophical as viticultural.
The vineyards have been farmed organically since 1988 and biodynamically since 2000, which put the estate decades ahead of most of the region. More unusually, Querciabella is entirely vegan: no animal products are used in the vineyard or the cellar, so the biodynamic preparations that normally rely on animal materials are replaced with plant-based alternatives, and no fining agents of animal origin are used. Very few serious estates anywhere have committed to that.
Holdings run to around 100 hectares across Chianti Classico and the Maremma. Batar, the white, was among the first Tuscan wines to take Chardonnay and Pinot Bianco seriously; Camartina was one of the original Supertuscans; and the Chianti Classico wines are made from Sangiovese alone, without the softening partners the appellation permits.
