Fontodi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Vigna del Sorbo Reviews
Learn More About Fontodi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Vigna del Sorbo Through its Reviews.
2019 Fontodi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione
Vigna del Sorbo Reviews
95 Pointz Vinous
"The 2019 Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Vigna del Sorbo is a potent, virile wine endowed with tremendous depth and equally imposing tannins. A blast of dark fruit, herbs, chocolate, menthol, and spice races out of the glass. Large-scaled tannins and hints of rusticity suggest the 2019 won’t be one of the most finessed Sorbos, but it is a fine effort for the year. Drink: 2025-2044.”
95 Pointz James Suckling
"Complex aromas of dried flowers, orange peel, and white pepper, together with lots of cherries. Full-bodied, but linear and very fine in the center-palate, with a linear flow of citrusy acidity. From organically grown grapes. This will age beautifully, but it’s already impressive to taste.”
94 Pointz Wine Spectator
"This is elegant, delivering floral, cherry, raspberry, and mineral flavors. A touch of earth peeks through as this plays out gracefully on the finish. Drink now through 2030.”
Bonus Reviews
United Kingdom
97 Pointz Decanter
"At an elevation of 400 metres, Vigna del Sorbo boasts Chianti Classico’s classic Galestro soil. The warm southwest-facing vineyard typically yields a powerful, intense wine in need of ageing. The 2019 demonstrates all the wild, penetrating characteristics of this site but it comes into harmony quickly, revealing its balance and precision. Wood-driven top notes of smoke and vanilla meld into pressed violets, rosemary, and liquorice. Luscious red cherry and dark plum flesh are wrapped in long, layered chalky tannins. Across the palate there's an energetic beam of unwavering acidity, giving the wine a linear feel. The finish reverberates with fennel and crushed stone. Drinking Window: 2026-2042.”
2018 Fontodi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione
Vigna del Sorbo Reviews
98 Pointz Vinous
“The 2018 Fontodi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Vigna del Sorbo is quite possibly the most elegant, refined version of this wine I have ever tasted. It does not offer the immediacy or impact of either the 2015 or 2016, but, instead, impresses with its elegance, persistence, and total class. Bright floral and spice notes add perfume to a core of red-toned fruit. The 2018 represents another move towards greater finesse at Fontodi. It spent a year in French oak barrel and a second year in cask.”
96 Pointz James Suckling
“Beautiful blue fruit with mahogany and violets. Full-bodied with creamy, polished tannins that show a beautiful polished and texture. So drinkable already. From organically grown grapes.”
96 Pointz Wine Advocate
“The v Fontodi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Vigna del Sorbo is simply gorgeous now and we should expect better things to come as the wine continues its bottle evolution. This organic, single-vineyard expression (with 29,000 bottles made) delivers impeccable balance and beautiful intensity throughout. The wine sports a developed fruit side that contrasts nicely against the spice and tobacco-like tones that come thanks to 18 months in French barrique and six months in botte. The 2018 vintage can sometimes be hard to read. For example, this wine offers sharp acidity but it also sees a 15% alcohol content plus lots of enduring sweetness and ripeness. The tannins are especially supple and sweet. I can't wait to try this wine in 10 or 15 years from now.”
Bonus Reviews
United Kingdom
93 Pointz Decanter
“Earthy scents on the nose, with notes of smoke, toast, biscuit, and creamy blueberry fruit. It is robust on the palate, with smooth ripe tannins still showing up, very fresh with well-integrated alcohol.”
17/20 Pointz Jancis Robinson,
Master of Wine
“Deep, lustrous garnet. Lifted nose with considerable tang. Oyster shells and iodine note on the interesting nose. Very tight and concentrated with quite a bit of tannin. But this is very serious wine by any measure. It's just not ready… Super-tang! Super-tannin! It's even a little inky on the end.”
2017 Fontodi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione
Vigna del Sorbo Reviews
96 Pointz Vinous
“The 2017 Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Vigna del Sorbo is a dense, packed wine. It is also surprisingly, almost shockingly backward. That is probably a good thing for its long-term aging prospects. Readers hoping to get an early glimpse into the 2017 before it shuts down may have a hard time doing that, as today acids and tannin dominate. Proprietor Giovanni Manetti gave the 2017 18 months in barrique followed by 6 months in cask.”
95 Pointz James Suckling
“Powerful, tight red with currant and plum character. Hints of new wood and bark. Full-bodied with dark berries and hints of dark chocolate, as well as other dark fruit. Flavorful finish. Solid. Needs time to open.”
94 Pointz Wine Advocate
“The 2017 Fontodi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Vigna del Sorbo is expressive, dark, and thickly concentrated. I received my samples early and found that this wine was a little shy or slow to open in this early phase. If given extra time, the bouquet warms up to dark fruit, plum, rum cake, and dried violet. I came back to the wine about two hours later and discovered a pretty note of crushed aspirin or carbon, with more crushed flower. The oak adds sweet spice and scorched earth, but these too will integrate with time.”
93 Pointz Wine Enthusiast
“Made entirely with organically cultivated Sangiovese, this bold red has aromas of baked plum, pipe tobacco, new leather, and French oak. The full-bodied palate is concentrated yet weightless, delivering black cherry extract, blackberry, licorice, and espresso. Close-grained, velvety tannins provide the tight framework.”
92 Pointz Wine Spectator
“Ripe black cherry, plum, and oak spice aromas and flavors are the hallmarks of this intense, polished red, which picks up iron and savory, balsamic elements on the lingering finish. This is balanced in a youthful way, needing time to absorb the oak.”
2016 Fontodi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione
Vigna del Sorbo Reviews
98 Pointz James Suckling
“This is always an entrancing Gran Selezione and the 2016 shows dried raspberries, boysenberries, vanilla, and brambleberries. Full-bodied and tightly wound with eye-catching minerality. The acidity sharpens out the exuberant red fruit perfectly. Incredible length and drinkability. Is this better even than the great 2015? I think so.”
98 Pointz Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
The 2016 Fontodi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Vigna del Sorbo is another benchmark wine from Tuscany that shows the incredible potential of this iconic vintage. This beautiful single-vineyard Sangiovese reveals a graceful side with dark fruit intensity, cherry, plum, fresh violets, and tilled earth. Tar, tobacco, and licorice appear as delicate background tones, giving more volume and texture to the wine's sensorial impact. Vigna del Sorbo shows its own precise identity that is fiercely faithful to Sangiovese, but that also pushes the boundaries to go beyond our highest expectations of the grape in terms of color, concentration, aromatic complexity, and staying power. That's the Panzano magic in a nutshell.”
97 Pointz Vinous
“The 2016 Fontodi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Vigna del Sorbo is a wine of tremendous aromatic intensity, freshness, and nuance. Sweet floral and spice notes meld into a core of blue/purplish fruit, lavender, licorice, and leather, with veins of bright acids that perk things up nicely. Readers need to be patient with the 2016, as it is going to need at least a few years to come into its own. But I have seen this before with Vigna del Sorbo. Sometimes the more reticent vintages turn out the be the most complete and thrilling wines with cellaring. I imagine that will be the case here as well.”
2015 Fontodi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione
Vigna del Sorbo Reviews
98 Pointz Vinous
“The 2015 Fontodi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Vigna del Sorbo is flat-out stunning. Rich, ample, and seductive, with tremendous intensity, the 2015 will go down as one of the truly epic wines of the year. All the elements come together in a deep, sensual Chianti Classico loaded with class and personality. I would give the 2015 at least a few years in the cellar to shed some baby fat, but it is very clearly a tremendous wine in the making, and even more impressive than it was last year. Wow!”
97 Pointz James Suckling
“What a nose of clay, earth, crushed stones, rose petals, red licorice, baking spices, tar, and Chinese spices. The level of sophistication to the red-fruited core, laser-sharp acidity, and polished tannins, which grip and caress the palate, make this the greatest Chianti Classico ever made by Fontodi. From organically grown grapes. A long, long finish.”
96 Pointz Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
“The 2015 Fontodi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Vigna del Sorbo (100% Sangiovese) is a wine that inspires a deep, deep breath into your glass. There's so much to take in and admire. So where to start? First, the wine shows a beautiful appearance that is thick and dark but allows for just enough ambient light to make it shine with ruby rays from deep inside. Then you have the bouquet that presents a solid wall of interwoven and ultimately beautifully balanced aromas. There is dark fruit, tobacco, leather, spice, and polished river stone. Lastly, the mouthfeel reveals a similar level of extreme flavor equilibrium with very fine but still very young tannins. That mid-weight structure, matched to the wine's natural acidity, is a major guarantee of longevity.”
95 Pointz Wine Spectator
Top 100 Wines of 2018
Collectibles
“Very tightly wound, with a dense bed of tannins providing support for the black currant, black cherry, wild herb, mineral, and earth flavors. Ripe yet lively, showing fine intensity on the fruit, mineral, and tar-filled aftertaste.
Bonus Reviews
United Kingdom
97 Pointz Decanter
“Fontodi's Vigna del Sorbo sits in front of the estate. Southwest facing on galestro soil, the vineyard totals 8ha at an altitude of 450 metres. First produced in 1985, it has been designated as a Gran Selezione since the 2010 vintage. Initially closed, this expands slowly with nuances of red cherry, currants, earth, sage, and liquorice coming into clear focus. The palate is well-endowed with compact fruit that has effortlessly absorbed the oak and maintained its integrity. The tannins are vigorous yet harmonious, making for a powerful wine that manages to remain elegantly poised.”
17.5/20 Pointz Jancis Robinson,
Master of Wine
“Lustrous deep ruby. Very closed and brooding. Bags of ripe fruit on the palate, but spectacularly balanced. Huge focus as well as concentration. One for the cellar.”
2014 Fontodi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione
Vigna del Sorbo Reviews
95 Pointz Vinous
“A powerful, structured wine, the 2014 Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Vigna del Sorbo won't be ready to drink for a number of years, much less be at its best. In recent years, the Sorbo has been much more forward, but the 2014 is decidedly austere and ungiving. Graphite, smoke, black cherry, plum, and licorice notes infuse the dark, mysterious finish.”
95 Pointz Wine Enthusiast
Cellar Selection
“Exotic spice, pipe tobacco, dark-skinned berry, forest floor, and a whiff of French oak all come together on this structured red. The elegant, full-bodied palate evokes Marasca cherry, black raspberry, licorice, and white pepper while vibrant acidity and firm, fine-grained tannins provide balance. It’s still young, with great energy, and will benefit from more time in the bottle.”
94 Pointz Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
“I tasted this wine as a preview about eight months ago, and it has fleshed out considerably since then. The 2014 Fontodi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Vigna del Sorbo impresses for the depth and the intensity of the fruit. The bouquet is shapely and round with dark cherry nuances, blackberry, grilled herb, and sweet spice. You also get a lingering moment of strong firmness and power on the close. This wine does the vintage proud.”
92 Pointz Wine Spectator
“An elegant version, with a keen edge of tannins underlining the pure cherry, blackberry, leather, and earth flavors. Turns more polished with air, finishing up with a hint of bitter almond.”
91 Pointz James Suckling
“A slightly lean Gran Selezione with cherry and chocolate character. Some cedar. Medium to full body, chewy tannins, and a fresh finish.”
2013 Fontodi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione
Vigna del Sorbo Reviews
97 Pointz Vinous
“The 2013 Fontodi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Vigna del Sorbo possesses off-the-charts richness and textural intensity. Beams of tannin give the wine its shape, but they are nearly buried by the sheer depth of the fruit. Readers should expect a dark, virile Vigna del Sorbo that is likely to develop at a glacial pace. The 2013 was reticent last year and is even more so this year.”
96 Pointz James Suckling
“A juicy Chianti Classico with dried fruit and cedar character. Full and chewy. Very long. Juicy finish. So structured. Pure Sangiovese from Fontodi's best vineyard and aged 24 months in wood. Serious. Better in 2020. One of the best ever wines from Vigna del Sorbo.”
96 Pointz Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
“A wine like this gives you a visceral rush of excitement. The 2013 Fontodi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Vigna del Sorbo speaks to your most profound instincts and awakens a sudden and tangible taste of Tuscany. If you've ever visited Panzano in Chianti, you will be immediately transported there thanks to this fabulous wine. Vigna del Sorbo (100% Sangiovese aged in new and neutral barrique for two years) is authentic and focused with tart berry flavors surrounded by spice, truffle, and rose petal. It offers a deep and lasting sense of richness.”
94 Pointz Wine Enthusiast
Top 100 Cellar Selections of 2017
“Initially closed, this elegant vibrant red slowly reveals alluring aromas of mature black-skinned fruit, French oak, violet, and a whiff of new leather. The full-bodied polished palate delivers ripe black cherry, chopped mint, star anise, and pipe tobacco alongside a backbone of fresh acidity and velvety tannins. It's still young and will be even better after a few more years in the cellar. Drink 2020–2033.”
90 Pointz Wine Spectator
“A mix of leather, earth, and black cherry flavors segue into an aftertaste of tobacco, iron, and tea notes in this complex, beefy red. The tannins are rustic. Best from 2018 through 2029.”
Bonus Reviews
United Kingdom
94 Pointz Decanter
“Giovanni Manetti used to add 10% Cabernet Sauvignon to this. He grubbed those vines up, leaving his flagship a pure, richly scented 100% Sangiovese with moreish, crackling depth.”