2016 Castello di Monsanto Il Poggio Gran Selezione Chianti Classico DOCG

JS97 Sweet berries with sliced cherries and mushrooms. Pungent flowers and fresh mushrooms, too. Full-bodied with layers of round, succulent tannins that are enveloped in ripe fruit. It’s rich and lively at the finish. A rather plush and exciting Monsanto. Really excellent now, but even better in 2024.
WS96 Ripe cherry, strawberry and currant flavors are shaded by juniper, eucalyptus, black tea and mineral notes in this intense, balanced red, which is vibrant, firm and well-defined, with its fruit and mineral notes extending on the long aftertaste. Best from 2024 through 2045. 1,500 cases made, 200 cases imported.
Estate Notes: Ruby red tending towards garnet. Intensely aromatic and complex with aromas of black cherry and apricot fruit. Full bodied with riche blackberry fruit flavors, an elegant mouthfeel and a strong backbone of tannins . Aged 18 months in 500-liter French oak tonneaux and part in 225 – liter French oak – 2 years in bottle before releasing 

Tuscany’s first single cru vineyard, “Il Poggio” created in 1962. The vintage 2016, along with 2015, will be remembered as one of the best vintages of the last decade. The winter was mild, very few days of cold between December and January but with abundant rainfall. First days of April were unusually warm, advancing the budbreak of at least 10 days. The summer months were quite warm, with temperatures above the average. A September with fresher but sunny days and amazing temperature difference between day and night. The optimal weather resulted in a vintage characterized by good quantity and very high quality. 

The Chianti Classico Gran Selezione “Il Poggio” is undoubtedly the most representative wine of Castello di Monsanto, the most sought after and best known in the world. A Chianti Classico Riserva able to tell the story of this fascinating cellar of the Val d’Elsa that took shape from the intuition and passion of Aldo Bianchi with his son Fabrizio, between the years 60 and 80 gave birth to one of the cellars, to date, the most important and recognized in the Chianti region.
A winery located in a magic land, in the heart of an imaginary circle which connects Livorno to West, Florence to North, Arezzo to East and Siena to the South, a short walk from Volpaia, Radda and Castellina in Chianti, from Fonterutoli and Monteriggioni, with behind the fascinating view of the towers of San Gimignano. Emotions and passions that the Wilsons have generated the desire to leave a mark that soon became absolutely indelible in the history of the wine.
The Chianti Classico “Il Poggio” it is the perfect example comes from the vineyard, planted for the first time in 1962 with cuttings of Sangiovese, Canaiolo and Colorino. Aged for at least 20 months in French oak barrels and is produced only in the best years. And ‘the soul of the Castello di Monsanto, the pride of this Tuscan wine cellar, a crescendo of sensations that give large and complex black cherry and violet, with a final just mentioned noble wood and spices. Intense, full of character, from the long and warm, is the emblem of this area…