2011 Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Vigneto Bellavista

Unfortunately, vintage 2012 will be remembered with a great deal of sadness at Ama. The late season rains could not have come at a worse time given where the vines were in their development. As a result, proprietor Marco Pallanti made the difficult decision to skip the entire vintage. That's right, Ama will not bottle a single drop of red wine in 2012. Ama's struggle with 2012 is a perfect example of how irregular this vintage has turned out to be. Some estates were given the conditions to make great wines; others were not. Pallanti describes 2013 as a year with a cool, rainy spring, very hot summer and then cool temperatures at the end of the season that brought harvest times back within normal timeframes.

Castello di Ama is one of Tuscany's most heralded properties. Even though the Ama has been at the top for many years, the estate appears to prefer keeping a low profile, as don't see too much discussion of the estate among consumers, which is a shame. Over the years, owners Lorenza and Marco Pallanti have crafted some of the most riveting wines in Tuscany. As always, the Ama house style melds together a deep, textured expression of fruit and the bright acidity that is typical of these high altitude, hillside vineyards. The wines need time in bottle to blossom, but when they do, they are often magnificent. Ama is among the growers using the Gran Selezione designation for their top wines, but that is not surprising given Lorenza and Marco Pallanti's tireless dedication to the appellation.