2019 Salcheto Biskero Chianti Tuscany Italy 750 ml

If you want to experience Montepulciano’s sun-blanketed hills, this is one of your best bets short of booking a flight. With purity and precision born of member-favorite Salcheto’s extensive biodynamic practices, the 2019 Biskero Chianti is remarkably fresh and intricate—a standout bottle from a boutique estate that we never miss on our trips to Tuscany.

Salcheto’s 2019 Biskero is a fresh expression of Chianti with plenty of depth to keep the glass to your lips. It’s got the gratifying duality of Billy Joel’s “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant”—staccato chords of fruit-forward energy alternating with rich, savory complexity akin to sultry saxophone interludes. 

That’s the purity and nuance that makes Salcheto a regular on the annual list of Tre Bicchieri winners, Italy’s most prestigious wine award. And what’s inspired Vinous’ Antonio Galloni to call Salcheto wines “absolutely terrific,” saying: “Readers who haven't yet discovered Salcheto are missing out on some of the most delicious wines being made in Tuscany today.” 

That’s huge when you consider the amount of incredible wines that come out of Tuscany. For this 2019, “delicious” is a start, but we’d add complex, captivating, and lively. It boasts the earthy depth we love in Chianti, balanced with a red-fruit and floral vibrance that has led to more than a few bottles clattering around the bottoms of our recycling bins. 

Salcheto has been dazzling Wine Access members with their Sangioveses for years, racking up four- and five-star ratings and member reviews like: “wish I could get more.” We’ve got more, the first Salcheto Chianti we’ve had, and we are thrilled to share it with Wine Access members.

When it comes to sustainability and terroir transparency, Salcheto actually walks the walk. Every tiny detail of their wine growing and production is in relentless pursuit of it. In the vineyard, they plant wildflowers and rigorously measure soil microorganisms to create an entire ecosystem, imbuing their grapes with intricate flavors. In their energy-independent cellar, they use native yeasts and have specially designed fermenters that move grapes more gently, using CO2 pressure rather than machinery, resulting in nearly unmatched freshness and precision.

All that work won them the “Sustainable Viticulture” award from Gambero Rosso in 2014, and they haven’t stopped improving since. When Michele Manelli took over the sleepy Montepulciano farm in 1997, he set about overhauling the winery, gutting the cellar and rebuilding it in 2011, and using the most innovative and sustainable technology available.

That innovation and hard work is why Salcheto continues turning out stellar wines, and why we’re thrilled to share this Chianti.