2015 Dievole La Due Arbie Chianti Classico Riserva Tuscany 750 ml

When the 2015 Chianti vintage hit the market, it prompted a buying frenzy.

Wine Advocate’s Monica Larner, who lives in Italy, was emphatic about its quality: “Fruit has never been more beautiful than it was in the picture-perfect 2015 vintage,” she said. 

Antonio Galloni of Vinous hailed it as “stellar” with “great depth and intensity” and urged readers to take advantage of the “tremendous opportunity.” 

And they did. Until they were gone.

So when we were presented the opportunity to offer Dievole’s 93-point 2015 La Due Arbie Riserva—years after most ‘15s have vanished from the market, and at the beginning of its drinking peak—we couldn’t say yes fast enough.

This isn’t a riserva from some no-name estate, either: Dievole was bought by Alejandro Bulgheroni in 2012—yes, the same Bulgheroni that makes $300 Napa Cabernet—and they’ve been pouring resources into elevating the producer into one of Tuscany’s elite. 

When James Suckling dropped a 93-point score on this La Due Arbie Riserva, he recommended patience: “Drink from 2021,” he declared. That waiting has paid off with a wine that’s gloriously open and complex today.

In July 2015, a wine like this was far from assured: The year had been warm and dry, with growers across Tuscany worried about the stress that heat and lack of water would place on their vines. But cleansing rains in August provided relief for the grapes, allowing them to coast to the finish in style.

Those perfect bunches were fermented in cement tanks then aged in large botti for 18 months. Since then? A slumber in the winery’s cellars as this gets ready for a date with a bistecca alla Fiorentina or some fagioli all'uccelletto.