2001 Montevertine

Young Martino Manetti is following in the very big footsteps of his father, not an easy undertaking as Sergio Manetti was a larger-than-life Tuscan winemaking icon and one of the most important names in Italy's winemaking history. Montevertine was one of the first estates to eschew the Chianti name, opting to make Super-Tuscan wines instead: Sergio was fiercely opposed to using white grapes in his wine and basically never did, even when they were still labelled Chianti. The estate's Montevertine Rosso is as good as any Chianti and their Le Pergole Torte Super-Tuscan is an ode to rustic, traditionally made sangiovese at its best. All those who insist that temperature control is an absolute necessity to make world-class wines ought to come and take a look here.

This small estate is located in Radda, one of the cooler micro-zones in Chianti Classico owing to the relatively high altitude of its vineyards. The late Sergio Manetti was a pioneer in Chianti Classico. He pushed for the elimination of white grapes that had been traditionally used to make Chianti Classico with the goal of elevating the wines to a higher level. Manetti's vision led him to make a 100% Sangiovese, but that wine was rejected by the Chianti Classico Consortium as it did not adhere to the definition of the wine that was required at the time. Frustrated by his efforts, and already experiencing considerable success with his wines, Manetti left the Chianti Consortium in 1981. Today Manetti's son Martino continues his father's work with the same dedication and passion. Ironically, today all of the estate's wines would qualify for the Chianti Classico designation but Manetti prefers to stay the more individualistic course his father first charted decades ago. From his tiny cellar Manetti crafts delicate, understated wines that are among the finest in the region. Like all of the top Sangiovese-based wines, Montevertine and Le Pergole Torte can be enjoyable relatively young, but will only reveal their full potential after a minimum of several years of bottle age. Le Pergole Torte in particular has proven to be especially ageworthy. This is a beautiful set of releases from Montevertine.