Bargain Price for Blue-Chip Chianti Classico

Castello di Ama “San Lorenzo” (Chianti Classico Gran Selezione 2011) Red
Special 6-pack Price: $195 (~$32/bottle)

While we’re always doing our best to offer great wine at prices that are competitive with the rest of the country, every once in a while we will find a ridiculously good deal that can’t be passed up. We are stocked with Castello di Ama “San Lorenzo” — a benchmark Chianti Classico Gran Selezione that will thrill anyone that loves flawlessly produced wines that speak of place. With our special 6-pack discount we’re offering this wine at close to $13 less per bottle than the average national price.

Aged for approximately 12 months in barrel and 18 months in bottle before release, Gran Selezione was created as a new designation of Chianti Classico with requirements that go beyond those of Chianti Classico Riserva. 2011 Castello di Ama “San Lorenzo” is produced from 80% Sangiovese with the remainder of the blend Malvasia Nera and Merlot from vines planted in 1974, 1978, and 1996. The wine was aged in barriques, of which 20% were new and the remainder second pass. The result is a luscious expression of Chianti Classico loaded with a perfectly ripe berry medley of spiced fruit alongside a silky body of polished tannins and a spirited finish.

The 2011 vintage in the Chianti Classico zone began cold and troubled, only to see a heatwave in August before lower autumn temperatures settled in to delay the harvest somewhat. This was a relatively early-ripening vintage and a wine like “San Lorenzo” is truly drinking in its prime right now.

Managed by the husband and wife team of Marco Pallanti and Lorenza Sebasti, the 220 acre estate of Castello di Ama sits 12 miles northeast of Siena in the hills of Gaiole. This is the heart of Chianti Classico, a bucolic rolling landscape of woods, vineyards and olive groves. Over the last quarter century the couple has replanted all of the vineyards and upgraded all of the winemaking capabilities to make themselves one of Tuscany’s showcase producers. Almost since they began production in the early 1990s the Castello di Ama team has garnered accolades from both consumers and critics alike.

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Posted on 2016.11.29 in Saturday Sips Wines, Italy, Tuscany