2011 Percarlo

When I stopped by San Giusto in the spring of 2012, Chianti Classico was already going through a pretty severe drought. Rain arrived a few weeks later, but the season was not without its challenges. Proprietor Luca Martini di Cigala describes 2012 as a year in which ripening took place in fits and starts. Even so, the straight Chianti Classico is quite pretty. Vintage 2011 is another story altogether. Here the weather was warm the entire year. A final burst of heat at the end of the season accelerated ripening but also created problems, including the loss of 25-30% of the crop through dehydration on the vine and sunburn. Over the last few years, Martini di Cigala has progressively pruned late and kept as much leaf cover as possible to encourage later ripening and protect the fruit against heat spikes.