Monteraponi's '22 Chianti Classico Strikes a Perfect Balance
There's gorgeous brilliance and energy here.
—Vinous' Antonio Galloni, on Monteraponi’s '22 Chianti Classico
2022 was a challenging year in much of Chianti Classico: heat and drought were followed by rain and even hail.
But you wouldn’t know it tasting Monteraponi’s “fresh” and “bright” beauty of a ‘22. It has, in the words of Wine Advocate's Monica Larner, a bouquet of “tart berry flavors and pronounced floral aromas” and delivers lots of “bright primary fruit.” Those aren’t the flavors we associate with an overly hot vintage!
Way up in the hills of Radda, Monteraponi enjoys a cooler climate where the worst of the year's excesses were avoided. But even airy Radda saw some serious heat. As Galloni notes in his rave review, the wine “is a powerful, rich wine that offers a striking reflection of the intensity of the year.”
How did it manage that balance, capturing both the warmth of the vintage and the freshness of the terroir? That, no doubt, comes down to Michele Braganti, Monteraponi’s brilliant winemaker. Michele is fanatically devoted to his vines and his wines. Once, we shared a steak dinner with him in Tuscany, though the night was cut short after he had to rush back to his winery to rack the wine from barrel to barrel. You see, the moon was in juuust the right spot.
Was that choice based on peer reviewed science? LOL, no. But the dozens upon dozens of choices he makes each vintage, whether based on science or tradition, on intuition or common sense, work together to coax out of his vines and fruit some of the purest, most terroir-specific wines we see each year.
And the fact that they are otherworldly good with a steak? Well that’s just a bonus.
Monteraponi, Chianti Classico, 2022 $33.99
“The 2022 Chianti Classico is a powerful, rich wine that offers a striking reflection of the intensity of the year, slightly tempered by the elevation of Radda. Crushed flowers, red berry fruit, cinnamon and orange peel are all nicely lifted. There's gorgeous brilliance and energy here.” (Galloni, 91 points; Monica Larner also gave it 91)
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