Vertical tasting of Chianti Classico Riserva Il Poggio - Castello di Monsanto

April 15th, 2011

Being a huge Castello di Monsanto-lover, I wanted my first post to be one about a recent vertical tasting I had with some fellow wine friends.

All wines were decanted at least four hours before tasting.

First flight: Chianti Classico 2004 vs. 2007

The basic Chianti already shows the house style of Monsanto. Pure, elegant, delicate and full of fruit; this is a great expression of the terroir. It is good to see this little Chianti also illustrates fine maturation after a year or three. The tasting group was in doubt. Half of them preferred the fruitiness of the 2007; the other half were pleased by the 3 extra years of rest in the cellar.

Second flight: Chianti Classico Riserva 2004 vs. 2006

Immediately, everybody agreed on the fact these Riserva-wines offer more complexity and structure compared to the normal Chianti Classico. Especially, the 2004-vintage already gave us an idea what we could expect from the next flights. Unanimously, we believed the Riserva needs a few years to settle in the bottle. At this moment, everyone was in favor of the 2004-vintage. Still on its fruit, but already the first signs of fine maturation with some hints of plums, earthiness and some spices.

Third flight: Il Poggio CC Riserva 2003 vs. 2004

Finally, we reach the level everybody was waiting for, without prejudicing the other Chianti. 2004 really is a fine vintage, already offering a great bouquet in its youth. Concentrated and complex, yet elegant with fine tannins. As for the 2003, we all were amazed by its quality. 2003 was a warm vintage, overall offering wines with (too) ripe fruit and sweetness. Not the vintage to be kept for decades in the cellar. However, the Il Poggio 2003 we tasted was without a doubt one of the best Tuscan wines we tasted in this vintage. Really an enjoyable glass of wine at this moment. Our compliments!

Fourth flight: Il Poggio Riserva CC 2001 vs. Fabrizio Bianchi 2001

What a great vintage! Everybody was of the same opinion: this two wines can live for decades. It was nice to compare the two terroirs. The pure Sangiovese from the Scanni-vineyard offers delicate fruit as cherries, red berries and also some hints of cedar wood well-integrated. Maybe a Fabrizio Bianchi Sangiovese-vertical tasting would be a nice sequel :o)
Il Poggio 2001 was believed to be one of the greatest from the last decade and one that can become as great as a 1977. Superb concentration, fine acidity and good tannins.

Fifth flight: Il Poggio CC Riserva 1997 vs. 1999

In a whole, we can say the majority was preferring the 1997-vintage at this moment. Very classic Chianti, with firm tannins but well-structured. Also 1997 is considered a warm vintage, but everybody was astonished with its capacity to elder. We all tasted several top-Tuscan wines from 1997 that already passed their best drinking moment, but we have to say a wine like Il Poggio 1997 still has the ability to age. 1999 was considered to be difficult to taste at this moment. We all had a toasty nose with rich and ripe fruit, but we felt the wine was struggling and probably in a period were its was evolving to a different stage. Everybody agreed we had to re-taste this wine in two to three years.

Sixth flight: Il Poggio CC Riserva 1982 vs. 1983

With small disappointment since 1982 is my year of birth, I have to say in this flight we considered 1983 to be more complete. Especially, the volume of fruit in the nose was amazing for a wine of more than a quarter century. Both of them were judged to be great vintages with some fine leather hints, balanced wood and amazing length. 1983, though, still has some years to grow in complexity; where 1982 probably is at its top.

Seventh flight: Il Poggio CC Riserva 1977 vs. 1979

Two words: oh wow!
In the beginning, the 1979 was offering great concentration and complexity, where 1977 was a bit closed. Immediately, the majority of the group gave their preference to this vintage. However, after 15 minutes of being in the glass, the 1977 opened up. Mature scents of prunes and plums, leather and even tea were present. Also the concentration and the aftertaste were pretty remarkable. Everyone even agreed on the fact that this wine has some years to go.

Eighth flight: Il Poggio CC Riserva 1968

Marvelous orange color. Rich fruit, with again the pruney and plummy hints. Very soft tannins and still a fine acidity. More evolved than a 1977 or 1979 but still an enjoyable glass of wine. This 1968 really charmed us but overall 1977 has blown us away and was considered the best of the older vintages. As for the young vintages, our favorite was the 2001.

Ninth flight: Nemo Toscana 2004

We gave this Nemo 2004 at the end of the tasting; blind-folded. This wine already was in carafe for more than 10 hours. The reason for this was that I tasted the Nemo some weeks before the vertical tasting, also blind, and I was amazed by its greatness. I judged it to be a superb and top-Bordeaux blend, amongst the greatest Cabernet Sauvignon-wines in the world from a top-vintage. It came out to be Nemo 2004! The scents of graphite in the nose and the rich, ripe fruit from the Cabernet Sauvignon make this Nemo one of the best pirates in a blind tasting of topcru Bordeaux-wines.

To end this tasting notes, I would advice everyone to get his hands on some bottles of the recently released 2006-vintage of Il Poggio CCR. This is a classic in the making.

Cheers!

Jeroen Vandensande

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