Fonterutoli 2004 Chianti Classico

That's Missy in the background. She is one of Natalie's cats, and she generally wants to be part of whatever is going on. Tonight Caitlin pulled this Chianti Classico off the shelf to bring to dinner. Natalie made us gnocchi from scratch, and I cooked up a little red chard for color (chard is my current vegetable of choice, if you hadn't noticed). We cooked, drank, and girl-talked til we realized it was 10 pm and we are old.

I'm not sure this wine falls under the "humble" category at $25, but it is definitely worth a review. It came from the Mazzei estate, which makes six other labels, all either Chianti Classico or Tuscany appellations. I actually never realized this, but Chianti is just the name of a region of Tuscany; Chianti Classico is a 100-square-mile sub-region of Chianti. Even within the Chianti Classico region, however, climates and soil can vary greatly, so one wine might be quite distinct from the next. To be classified as Chianti, a wine must contain at least 80% Sangiovese grapes and Chianti Classico must be aged more than 7 months in oak. Other sub-regions of Chianti have various respective regulations under Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG), the Italian export quality control regulations.

The Fonterutoli is 90% Sangiovese, 5% Malvasia Nera, and 5% Merlot. It is aged for 12 months in French oak barrels, half of which are new (infusing stronger oak into the wine). All of the grapes at the Mazzei wineries are hand-picked, and only 200,000 bottles of this particular vintage were released. The Mazzei estate also produces grappa (grape brandy), olive oil, and lavender-based cosmetics.

I loved this Chianti Classico. It was wonderfully delicate and almost invisible on first impression. It left no traces of fruit, or anything really, on the front of my tongue. At the end of each sip, there was a small kick on the back of my tongue, but not much. This Chianti had no bitter bite or rough tannins. It was easy to drink, but definitely not boring. I felt a little like I was chasing it around my mouth, trying to figure out its story to no avail. Eventually, I stopped trying to define it and and just enjoyed. A little more punch emerged when paired with the food, but the little gnocchi were so yummy, I didn't care to analyze the wine anymore.