Chianti Classico DOCG Riserva “Cortevecchia” 2010 – Tenuta Villa Le Corti, Principe Corsini (1,5L)

To produce the Chianti Classico DOCG Riserva “Cortevecchia” Tenuta Villa Le Corti, Principe Corsini the fermentation takes place in stainless steel tanks for a period of 14 days. The wine spends 20 months in French oak cask and partly tonneaux also and then left to further mature once bottled for 6 months before reslease.

The family behind Villa Le Corti, the Corsini Family, have amazing history with wine making roots that date back to the 14th century making it one of the oldest Estates in Tuscany. Current custodian of the Corsini legacy, Duccio Corsini, is 32nd generation. Duccio took over the Estate in 1992 and one of his early achievements was to implement the use of isolated indigenous yeast within the winemaking process to help the wines speak of the Estate and its terroir. As the years progressed, all activities from farming to wine making and ageing are firmly oriented to the preserving the integrity of the fruit through their wines. Villa Le Corti is located in the most northern section in the village of San Casciano, a 10 minute drive south of Florence. The estate comprises of over 600 acres of land, 121 acres of Sangiovese vineyards to produce Chianti Classico and IGT Principe Corsini. Here, both the climate and soil are different than down south and in turn play a different role. Generally, the temperature is slightly milder around this commune, so Duccio also picks marginally earlier than most of the 8 other communes. The soil generally shows more river stones and sand resulting in lighter wines with more elegance and finesse, rather than fuller bodied wines like in the more southerly communes. The Chianti Classico is generous and open, featuring vibrant, almost crunchy red berry fruit. The “Don Tommaso” (the namesake of Duccio’s grandfather), is the Gran Selezione Chianti Classico; a wine made from a selection of the best Sangiovese grapes from the estate’s Chianti Classico vineyards. The wine is altogether more muscular, as it combine Sangiovese with roughly 15% Merlot and spends fifteen months in tonneaux. It ages gracefully, but can be enjoyed in its youth with style, as it comes across as very deep and complex, yet accessible. In contrast, Cortevecchia, the Chianti Classico Riserva is produced from the oldest Sangiovese grapes on the estate, and ages 24 months in large and small French oak casks. From time to time the estates releases some older, library-wines at very competitive prices that clearly demonstrate the great potential of the local Sangiovese to age gracefully for many years.