Last Wednesday I went to the technical press tasting of the Chianti Colli Fiorentini and for me it was a wonderful opportunity to re-embrace part of my family who live in Florence. I slept at the B&B da Olga which is conveniently located at Via Calimaruzza 4, a side street of Piazza della Signoria. Very nice room, clean and warm. Too bad only that there was no water bottle in the room and there was no way to get it or buy it in the common areas. I have to say that I sleep outside practically every week in facilities of all kinds and this is the first time this has happened to me... and the three floors without a lift really put me off. As soon as I woke up, I went for breakfast in Piazza della Signoria and discovered a wonderful place, Caffè Rivoire... gosh, if I lived in Florence I'd be there working all day! Beautiful, beautifully decorated with a mix of styles that never clash and the pistachio croissant is the best I've ever had. Lots of butter, fragrance and a very good quality cream.
Chianti Colli Fiorentini: blind tasting of historic vintages - Palazzo Vecchio, Sala d'Arme
The tasting was in the Sala d'Arme of the Palazzo Vecchio, a truly enchanting place. Everything was perfectly organised, apart from a bit of confusion in the wine list and bottle numbering. The President of the Consorzio Chianti Colli Fiorentini Marco Ferretti is an exquisite and very passionate person and gave a beautiful opening speech, introducing us to the wine of Florence.
1) Chianti Colli Fiorentini Riserva 2012 Castello di +
It has an intense and deep garnet red colour, barely transparent. The nose is intense and complex with notes of roasting and black mulberry jam. In the mouth it is consistent, soft, structured, pleasant and balanced with a long finish of bitter herbs. Great drinkability.
2) Chianti Colli Fiorentini Riserva 2009 'Ugo Bing' Fattoria di Fiano ❤️+
It has an intense, semi-transparent garnet red colour. The nose is intense, broad, with notes of cocoa, coffee, ink, pipe tobacco. In the mouth it is consistent, enveloping, very balanced, structured and harmonious. Long finish of sweet spices. It still has many years ahead of it.
Chianti Colli Fiorentini Riserva 'Vigna La Quercia' 2007, Castelvecchio ❤️
It is deep garnet red, almost impenetrable. Swirling the goblet forms fairly close bows where the wine goes down relatively quickly. The nose is intense, broad, with notes of coffee, underbrush, dried porcini mushroom, fermented tobacco, truffle and Seichuan pepper. In the mouth it is consistent, balanced, tannic and structured. Very salivating. Long finish.
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Chianti Colli Fiorentini 'La Torretta' 2005, Le Querce
It presents an impenetrable garnet red colour, with a background. The nose is very delicate and I struggle to distinguish the various aromas. In the mouth I found it a little seated, but I reserve the right to taste it again as I had very little wine in my glass and it was probably the bottom of the bottle.
Chianti Colli Fiorentini 'La Torretta' 2001, Le Querce
It is impenetrable ruby red with garnet hues at the edges. Presence of background. Delicate nose with notes of coffee, nuts and cocoa. In the mouth it is fairly consistent and structured, but acquires an animal finish and texture that does not excite me. Very persistent.
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Chianti Colli Fiorentini Riserva Lanciola 1994
I will be honest: tasting blind in certain cases is important. Before tasting this reserve of Lanciola, I tasted a Chianti Colli Fiorentini 2020 that I did not like at all, and I tried three different bottles because I could not understand that one could present such a bottle at a press tasting. I found every possible animal stench in it, a brett that was more or less intense depending on the bottle. Instead, this Chianti Colli Fiorentini Riserva 1994 was a real treat!
It is garnet red with orange highlights at the edges, impenetrable and consistent. The nose is elegant and broad, with notes of spice, roasting, leather, rhubarb. In the mouth it is coherent, balanced, pleasant and with excellent drinkability. Certainly a mature wine, but still in splendid shape. I would finish a bottle with great pleasure.
After finishing the tasting I really only had five minutes to eat... and I remembered a display case with a wonderful porchetta I had seen the afternoon before! From Antica Porchetteria Granieri 1916 I had a good, well-filled sandwich with lots of porchetta and truffle sauce (8 €).
This tasting was very nice and beautifully organised, except for the totally meaningless timing. You can't do an in-depth technical tasting of 42 wines in less than 2 hours... that's less than 3 minutes per wine (and including technical time when they serve them to you, so actually much less... I didn't even have time to take photos of all the labels). I'm sorry I didn't get to taste all the wines, but 30 I did with relative ease and pleasure. I discovered some truly excellent Chianti wine, particularly in the 2019 vintage for the 'normal' and 2020 for the reserves. But I will tell you about these younger Chianti Colli Fiorentini in the near future! 😄
Cheers 🍷
Chiara
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