2016 Chianti Classico Berardenga
$30 (2021)
Italy
Castelnuovo Berardenga (Chianti Classico, Siena)
Tuscany
Red
Sangiovese (2022 vintage)
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2016
2020 - 2036
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My visit to Fèlsina was one of the many highlights of my most recent trip to Chianti Classico. I tasted a wide range of wines with Giuseppe Mazzocolin and Giovanni Poggiali. Even after a long day, it was frankly hard to leave the tasting room. The wines were every bit that compelling. The estate's 2016s and 2015s are simply magnificent. Readers will get a very good sense of the elegance of 2016 and the power of the 2015s with this range. While it is certainly tempting to focus on the flagships, both the Chianti Classico and Chianti Classico Riserva are fabulous choices for readers looking for ageworthy wines that are affordable, something that has always been a strong suit at Fèlsina, where prices remain exceedingly fair. More than anything else, though, Fèlsina represents all the best values of Chianti Classico and its wines.
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2022
2024 - 2037
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My recent visit to Fèlsina was one of the highlights of the two weeks I spent in Chianti Classico in June 2024. The 2021s are fabulous wines that capture all the best the vintage has to offer. The wines are incredibly distinctive, archetypes of Castelnuovo Berardenga, the sort of wines that will delight readers who enjoy Chianti Classico in all its guises. The 2022s are very good wines for the year and quite illustrative of the positives and negatives of the vintage. More than anything else, though, I was delighted to see the Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Rancia, the estate’s flagship, back to its customary level of excellence after two years in which the wine suffered because of the inclusion of a parcel that added a slight vegetal character and ultimately did not work in the blend. The new Occhio di Pernice – as a matter of speaking, as it is a 2007 – is superb.
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2021
2024 - 2038
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This is an uneven set of wines from Fèlsina. The young 2021s will give readers a very good idea of what makes this vintage so compelling. The Chianti Classico and Chianti Colli Senesi both possess a level of fruit purity and overall harmony that is compelling. But not all the wines are equally impressive. For the second year, the flagship Rancia is marked by unusually severe tannins and vegetal notes that are not typical. Fèlsina remains a reference point, but there has been some variability over the last two sets of releases.
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2020
2022 - 2035
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This is an interesting set of wines from Fèlsina. The two 2020s make me really excited to taste the rest of the range. "Most of the year was marked by consistently warm weather, but with no shock events," Giuseppe Mazzocolin explained. "We were fortunate to have good ventilation throughout the most critical periods."
The 2019s are more mixed. Less even ripening and higher yields are evident in wines that are lighter than usual and also at times a bit rustic. That is most evident in Rancia. I can't remember a young Rancia that was underwhelming, and I have tasted them all. The 2019 is certainly a mystery at this stage.
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2019
2024 - 2029
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These new releases from Fèlsina will give readers a very good idea of the style of current vintages. The Fèlsina Chianti Classicos have generally been wines of power. What impresses me most about the flagship Rancia and Colonia in 2018 is their finesse. Readers on a budget will want to check out the straight Chianti Classico, a wine that offers superb quality and value, yet also has the potential to age. In short, this is another stellar set of wines from the team led by Giuseppe Mazzocolin and Giovanni Poggiali. Fèlsina fans will also want to check out the wines of sister estates Castello di Farnetella and Pagliarese.
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2018
2023 - 2033
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This is a gorgeous set of wines from Fèlsina. The range is full of highlights, starting with the 2018 Chianti Colli Senesi, which is especially refined and a fabulous value. Fèlsina fans will find much to like in the 2017s as well. As always, the wines are deep and rich, with that distinct element of wildness that is so characteristic of the Sangioveses of Castelnuovo Berardenga. Even after all these years, Giovanni Poggiali and Giuseppe Mazzocolin, with their team, craft wines of distinction and elegance. Lastly, readers should also check out the wines of sister estate Pagliarese, which are made in a slightly more classic style.
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2017
2019 - 2037
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I have had many memorable tastings at Fèlsina over the years, but my most recent visit was especially of note, as I tasted an extensive vertical of Fontalloro for an upcoming article. As for the current releases, they are terrific. Fèlsina excels with bold Sangioveses that show the wilder side of the variety typical of Castelnuovo Berardenga, which lies at the southern end of the Chianti Classico apellation, just a few kilometers from Siena, which can be seen from the vineyards on a clear day. Fèlsina is of course best know for their flagship Chianti Classico Rancia, which is one of the world's most distinctive wines. For my money, though, the real standout in this range when it comes to quality and for the price is the Chianti Classico Riserva, which is a mini-Rancia of sorts that opens a bit earlier in bottle but that can also age. Readers should also take a look at the wines of Fèlsina's sister properties, Castello di Farnetella and Pagliarese, which are reviewed here separately.
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2015
2020 - 2035
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The biggest news at Fèlsina is that the estate did not bottle their top wines in 2014, instead all of that fruit was used to bolster the quality of the straight Chianti Classico. Readers on a budget will want to seek out the 2015 Chianti Classico Berardenga, a wine that captures all the best qualities of that vintage. Lastly, readers should be on the lookout for the new wine from Fèlsina’s Pagliarese property (reviewed here separately). Fèlsina has long been a reference-point for pure Sangiovese wines in Chianti Classico. The Pagliarese is a throwback Chianti Classico made in a super-traditional style that incorporates Canaiolo, Mammolo and Colorino in the blend.
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2014
2018 - 2034
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This is a phenomenal set of wines that confirms Fèlsina's standing as one of the great estates in the world. It's as simple as that. The 2014 Chianti Classico is a huge overachiever as it has quite a bit of fruit that normally goes into the top selections - Fontalloro, Rancia and Colonia. Now in bottle, the 2013s capture all the potential I sensed when I tasted the wines last year.
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2013
2017 - 2028
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This is a superb set of wines from Fèlsina. What else is new? The move towards the new generation continues as Giovanni Poggiali takes on a greater role at the estate, while Giuseppe Mazzocolin enjoys the fruits of his labor in a gradual transition into retirement. Fèlsina fans will note an addition to the range, a Chianti Colli Senesi from estate vineyards. Mazzocolin and long-time winemaker Franco Bernabei describe 2012 as a year with a warm winter and very little rain all the way through to August, when some precipitation arrived. September was hot but with good temperature shifts between day and night. Of course, Fèlsina is in the south of the Chianti Classico appellation, where weather tends to be warm and dry in most vintages. Harvest started on September 14 and wrapped up on October 5. The 2012s present a combination of radiant fruit from the warm vintage, but with medium-bodied frames that are also typical of the year. The 2013s, from a cooler year, are shaping to be truly epic. Fèlsina was less fortunate in 2014, a year in which none of the top wines are likely to be bottled. Instead, it is looking like Fèlsina will release a single Chianti Classico. Tasted from barrel, that wine is exquisite today. It will be interesting to see what time brings. Lastly, readers might also enjoy this short video with Giuseppe Mazzocolin. I am down to my last bottles of the 1994 and 1995 Rancias, but both were magnificent when I last had them a few months ago and I was compelled to pry Mazzocolin for a little more background on those wines. May I make a suggestion? Readers would do well to buy a case of Rancia upon release every year and put it away. Few wines deliver so much pleasure and pedigree at maturity for what remains a very fair price.
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2011
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2010
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2008
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