Varietals: 95% Sangiovese, 5% Colorino and Canaiolo
96 Points Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The Castello di Monsanto 2019 Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Vigneto Il Poggio (with the San Donato in Poggio location listed on the front label) offers a twofold approach with plenty of fresh cherry fruit and blueberry on the one hand, countered by light age and spice from balanced winemaking on the other. There are subtle hints of clove and toasted spice on the mid-weight close.
96 Points Decanter
Il Poggio has grown beyond its original two hectares planted in 1962 and now extends over 5.2ha – but its DNA remains the same. A smidgin of Canaiolo Nero is interplanted with 40-year-old Sangiovese, and the two are co-fermented, while the Colorino is picked and vinified separately. A beautiful showing in 2019, this emerges steadily from the glass with flinty minerals and white pepper first, then arbutus bush and cherry followed by orange and hyacinth. It is elegantly weighted with a generosity of tangy cranberry and ripe strawberry seeping across the palate in a steady textural flow. Stony tannins and steely acidity lend tension. Tarragon lingers.
96 Points Vinous
The 2019 Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Vigna il Poggio is a powerful, tight-knit wine that will need a few more years to show its best side. I wouldn't dream of touching a bottle any time soon. Crushed flowers, herbs, mint, orange peel and spices hint at a flavoursome, vibrant Il Poggio made for the cellar. Today, the 2019 is deceptive, but there is a lot of potential in it. It's a super-classic expression.
96 Points Wine Spectator
Earth and wild herb aromas segue to cherry, strawberry and pomegranate flavors in this muscular version. Tar, earth, iron and sanguine elements chime in, adding depth as well as a toughness that will require some years to refine. The core of ripe fruit reveals this red's future promise. Sangiovese, Canaiolo and Colorino. Best from 2027 through 2045.
96 Point James Suckling
A very succulent wine with raspberry, cherry, cranberry, orange peel and floral aromas and flavors. It’s medium-bodied with firm, velvety tannins that run the length of the wine and a clean finish. Drinkable now, but will improve with age.
96 Points Jeb Dunnuck
Saturated red with a tinge of orange, the 2019 Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Vigneto Il Poggio is stunning. Layered and complex, it unfolds to notes of high-quality leather, kirsch, fresh sage, rosewater, and sweet cedar. Medium to full-bodied, it’s highly refined in its texture, with supple, velvety tannins, seamless, fresh acidity, and a such a graceful finish that’s hard to decipher an ending as it slowly floats away. A stunning wine that reveals its more noble structure underneath, this wine is going to continue to improve if appropriately cellared over the coming 20 years or more. Drink 2026-2050.
Vineyard Notes:
It was Il Poggio vineyard, way back in 1962, that heralded the start of Castello di Monsanto’s journey in wine production, with the first harvest presided over by founding father Fabrizio Bianchi. Still to this day the company’s most iconic bottle, Il Poggio is the first Chianti Classico to feature the name of the specific vineyard that produces it. White grapes were removed from the recipe in 1968. Il Poggio is the source – thanks to massal selection – of all the Sangiovese, Colorino and Canaiolo plants in the company’s other vineyards. Over 100,00 bottles have been produced, all of them spending time aging in the castle’s historic cellar, illustrating the wine’s stunning aging capacity.
