Wine Advisor
Fontodi, Vigna del Sorbo Chianti Classico Gran Selezione 2014
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Monica Larner
I tasted this wine as a preview about eight months ago, and it has fleshed out considerably since then. The 2014 Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Vigna del Sorbo impresses for the depth and the intensity of the fruit. The bouquet is shapely and round with dark cherry nuances, blackberry, grilled herb and sweet spice. You also get a lingering moment of strong firmness and power on the close. This wine does the vintage proud.
Reviewed by: Monica Larner
I tasted the 2014 Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Vigna del Sorbo the day before it was to be bottled. The time the wine spent in barrique was shortened slightly to compensate for the delicate quality of fruit produced in this cool vintage. This 2014 edition is aged in barrel for 20 months, compared to 24 months for a warmer vintage such as 2012. The wine’s time in botte grande was extended to four months (instead of the usual one month usually employed) to afford more time for complete integration. The age of the Vigna del Sorbo vines is old enough to protect the plants from extreme temperatures. The vines are comfortably in their production prime. The fruit is balanced and bright with lively cherry and raspberry flavors followed by ethereal tones of crushed mineral, blue flower and balsam herb. Although the wine sports less overall volume, the finish is extremely polished and fine. It should flesh out further over the next year.
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
A powerful, structured wine, the 2014 Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Vigna del Sorbo won't be ready to drink for a number of years, much less be at its best. In recent years, the Sorbo has been much more forward, but the 2014 is decidedly austere and ungiving. Graphite, smoke, black cherry, plum and licorice notes infuse the dark, mysterious finish.
About the Producer
Fontodi is located in the heart of Chianti Classico precisely in the valley which lies south of the town of Panzano and is called the “Conca d’Oro” (the golden shell) because of its amphitheatre shape. A genuine and characteristc “Terroir”, famous for centuries for its tradition of quality wine cultivation, thanks to a unique combination of high altitude, calcar clayschist soil, lots of light, and a fantastic micro-climate – warm and dry with a marked difference in day and night-time temperatures. All Fontodi wines are produced from grapes coming from their own vineyards, picked by hand, chosen with care and vinified in a way that exalts the character of the vines and the territory. The Fontodi Oil “Bio” is produced from its own olives which are delicately pressed the same day as the harvest in order to preserve all the freshness and the fragrance of the fruit.
