My trip to Gaiole: 25 wineries in one go!
My trip to Gaiole: 25 wineries in one go!
Gaiole in Chianti is a municipality with just under 3,000 inhabitants that belongs to the province of Siena. And although this town is only 23 kilometers away from "my" Panzano, a good half hour's drive, it opens up completely new worlds of wine.
I was recently able to experience this for myself at a tasting of wines from 25 Gaiole wineries, organized for the first time by the Associazione Viticoltori di Gaiole.
Gaiole in Chianti
The first wine tasting of the Assoziazione Viticoltori di Gaiole
25 wineries, 100 labels - this was the motto under which the Assoziazione Viticoltori di Gaiole (Gaiole Winegrowers' Association), in collaboration with the municipality and with the support of the Chianti Classico Wine Consortium, hosted a joint tasting of wines from the municipal area for the first time on October 27.
This was the first time, as the association was only founded in 2017. Nevertheless, 27 wineries with a total vineyard area of 865.86 hectares already belong to the Gaiole Winegrowers' Association. Of course, it is important to remember that the size of the individual winegrowers varies from some very large to many smaller productions with only a few hectares under cultivation.
And as luck would have it, I was also able to attend this very exciting event for me. Exciting because the Rocca di Montegrossi winery, which is represented in my online store with its excellent wines, belongs to the municipality of Gaiole. Just this much in advance: I tasted my way through all 25 wineries: Chianti Classico, Riserva and - when it was available - the Gran Selezione. And I experienced one or two "red" wonders...
Monia Piccini
I tasted the wines of Gaiole together with Monia Piccini from Panzano
The subtle differences make the taste...
This time, as an exception, I will start with the conclusion of my tasting: Basically, it can be said that even in the municipality of Gaiole, the trend is clearly towards pure Sangiovese wine and towards bringing out the typicality of Sangiovese. However, it is also a fact that the wines I tasted were very different.
But let's start from the beginning: The wines presented were mainly Chianti Classico from the 2016 and 2015 vintages and the Riserva from the 2015 and 2014 vintages. The Chianti Classico 2016, which were made from 100 percent Sangiovese, were a surprise for me - or to put it another way: surprisingly difficult. And that's because they were very acidic. It is quite possible that the 2016s are currently in a difficult phase of development, which will be over in just a few months.
What's more, Gaiole is a wine-growing region that unites extremely diverse sites. There are higher but also very low sites, very wooded but also very open sites, very dense but also very generously planted sites. There is a bit of everything here. And, of course, the taste and quality of the grapes vary depending on the location. As always, the soil and climate also play a decisive role in what ends up in the bottle. And last but not least, the (sometimes perhaps still lacking) experience of the winemakers...
Gaiole in Chianti
The wineries of the Associazione Viticoltori di Gaiole
Wineries to remember...
Despite everything, a few wineries caught my eye very positively: For example, some of the well-known, big names in this region such as San Giusto a Rentennano, Castello di Ama or, of course, "my" Rocca di Montegrossi. These producers simply create wines that are a pleasure to drink and get the best out of every vintage. And
Then, of course, there are the wineries that are simply big per se: Like Castello di Brolio, for example. Here, owner Francesco Ricasoli produces around 500,000 bottles of the 2016 Chianti Classico alone - just to illustrate the "big" dimension. This wine is sold and drunk all over the world and is therefore also an important ambassador for Chianti Classico.
I also tasted and enjoyed wines from the Capannelle, Badia a Coltibuono, I Sodi, Castello di Cacchiano and Riecine wineries. A colorful mixture of high-quality, but very different wines. A big positive surprise for me were the wines from the Cantalici winery - a very small, family-run business with wines that have a very nice line in themselves. I can say this much: I will certainly visit this winery again in the very near future and keep an eye on it in the longer term... Because it definitely has the potential to become a "Nina in Chianti" winery.
I also had a very positive impression of the small but fine Fietri winery. To summarize, I can say that it was very exciting for me to once again look beyond the "Panzanese horizon" and be reminded that there are many interesting - especially smaller - winegrowers in the Gaiole area.