2016 Pagliarese Chianti Classico 750 ml

The $25 Chianti Classico That’s Worth a 20-Year Wait

Here is a Chianti Classico that stole the show in the judging panel: the 2016 Pagliarese Chianti Classico. We’re calling it “Best in Class” and that’s not hyperbole—this is a serious wine, from the Felsina clan whose vineyards boast over 1,000 years of history.

Master of Wine Clive Coates has said that the three greatest producers of Chianti Classico all begin with an F: Fontodi, Fonterutoli, and Fèlsina. Of the three, Fèlsina is famed as the most consistent, releasing wines that, year after year, are quite simply the reference point for Sangiovese wines in the region. That’s why after Fèlsina’s owners, the Poggiali family, purchased Pagliarese in 1995, we kept our eye on the little estate in Castelnuovo Berardenga.

In 2015, exactly 20 years after that purchase, the Poggialis finally released an estate-bottled Chianti Classico. Did they really wait 20 years to release a wine? We know there are always upgrades involved after an acquisition—tweaks to perfect a cuvée, but two decades? Last summer we decided to pay Pagliarese a visit to see what the estate held in store (and what was waiting for Wine Access members in the cellar).

After picking up our rental car at Peretola, we made a beeline for Pagliarese. Waiting for us in the old Sant’Emilia farmhouse, which holds Pagliarese’s cellars, was none other than Giovanni Poggiali. He’d prepared plates of charcuterie, fresh Focaccia and offered unlimited pours of Chianti Classico DOP olive oil—made from the 1,100 olive trees dotting the estate.

After some small talk, we toured the property, walking over 125,000-year-old quartzite sandstone and alluvial pebbles. Then we visited the cellar—the original old Slavonian oak casks and concrete vats are still used today. We came all this way to see an old cellar, old dirt, and were more than a bit confused—what had they done for the last 20 years?  

“At Fèlsina, we are known for our 100% Sangiovese wines,” said Poggiali, “but at Pagliarese estate, we resurrected it with massal selections from old estate vineyards. The vines needed time to mature.” It was that simple—while they could have made wine after the first three or four years, they waited until the vines were mature enough to produce a wine they would be proud to stand behind (even at $25!). That’s why the Poggialis are among the greatest producers of Chianti Classico, plain and simple.

We tasted a number of other Chiantis that day in judging panel, and this was by far the most impressive—a riper, more opulent style, it will appeal to lovers of rich, sexy, New World reds. There is a purity to this Chianti that is focused and notable—all for just $25 a bottle.