2020 Barone Ricasoli Brolio Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG, Tuscany

In the bottle with the black label, this is a very pretty, relatable and well-priced wine from Tuscany. Made with 100% Sangiovese, the 2020 Chianti Classico Riserva Brolio offers blueberry, plum and sweet spice thanks to 18 months of tonneaux aging. I especially appreciate the wine's pronounced mineral signature that gives the wine a salty or savory side, which is perfect for food pairing. Some 75,000 bottles were made.

These are exciting years at Castello di Brolio and the Barone Ricasoli estate headed by the charming Francesco Ricasoli. There is an exciting new addition to the portfolio, the 2020 Castello di Brolio Sanbarnaba, that Francesco describes as "the realization of a dream to make a great white wine." The focus is on Trebbiano, and indeed, there are elements of this wine that remind me of the regional benchmark for this thick-skinned variety made over in Radda in Chianti by Monteraponi. The styles are different, with the Sanbarnaba showing more primary intensity, but I think its cellar aging potential is comparable.

93 points ML robertparker.com

Ricasoli is the most representative wine producer in the Chianti Classico area. With its gentle hills, velvety valleys and thick woodlands of oaks and chestnuts, the 1,200 hectares of property include almost 240 hectares of vineyards and 26 of olive groves.

This creates a continuous succession of colors and hues around the Brolio Castle, which is located within the town limits of Gaiole in Chianti. Since 1993, Baron Francesco Ricasoli has been guiding this central Tuscan company in innovative challenges. This has been done with the deepest respect for his renowned ancestors who have made this territory great, Bettino Ricasoli first and foremost.

Francesco Ricasoli, current owner and President of the company, has generated new ideas and concepts to render the vineyards sustainable. The ongoing study of soil types and the clonal selection of the Brolio Sangiovese are among his greatest passions, and he has totally renovated the vineyards and completely mapped them.

The new wines are therefore the expression of research carried out with the same scientific rigor of his illustrious ancestor but with a contemporary spirit, like a runner receiving the baton and carrying it forward with renewed energy.

Complex aromas of iris and violets, red fruit and balsamic scents. Soft, elegant and well-smoothed tannins in the mouth. A true expression of the territory with well-balanced acidity and mineral tannins