Tasting note
Colour - Mid-depth scarlet hue.

Aroma - Tangy cherry, plum and redcurrant aromas.

Taste - Silky cherry and plum fruit over rounded tannins with a hint of marzipan and a nice bite of acidity.

	Type:Still Red Wine		Country:Italy		Appellation:Chianti DOCG
	Grape Type:Sangiovese		Drink Before:End of 2011		Body:Medium Bodied
	Alcohol:13%		Bottle Size:75cl		Bottle Code:60508

Description
Along with Barolo, Chianti is Italy's best-known red wine. Although 30 years back it was synonymous with the wickered-covered flasks of cheap red found ubiquitously in every Italian restaurant, today Chianti, with its Riservas and Classicos, provides some of the world's greatest bottles.

Key to the wines is the Sangiovese grape, which is grown throughout much of central Italy, but its finest clones tend to be found in Tuscany. It is the grape behind other famous wines such as Brunello di Montalcino, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano (which has nothing to do with the Montepulciano grape, only the town of the same name) and many Super Tuscans. Meaning 'blood of Jove' in Latin, its name gives away its ancient origins.

This superb Riserva comes from the Barbanera family's estate, on the slopes surrounding the town of Montepulciano, close to historic Siena in Tuscany. Marco and his sister Simona, the winemaker, run the family estate and our buyer was delighted to be offered their small parcel of Riserva.

It's a traditional mix of mostly Sangiovese with a little Colorino, Canaiolo and Malvasia, carefully vinified, then put into the traditional casks of the region, known as botti, for six months. This has lent a considerable layer of mellow complexity and mature red fruits to this classy Riserva.