2021 Cantina del Farnio Chianti Montalbano Riserva 750 ml

Chianti Montalbano’s obscurity is a gift. One of Chianti’s seven original subzones—a chain of hills west of Florence that has been growing Sangiovese for centuries—it carries on in the shadow of Chianti Classico, without the scores, the reputation, or the prices that come with that address. For a producer who has spent generations building something here, that obscurity means freedom to do things on their own terms.

Cantina del Farnio has been doing exactly that since 1903, when Bartolomeo Baldi—great-great-uncle of the brothers Guido and Gherardo Betti, who run the estate today—founded the winery as the family’s Florentine country house. For most of the intervening century, it remained a secondary pursuit. In 2003, a hundred years after Bartolomeo planted his flag, Guido and Gherardo committed fully to viticulture and built the modern winery that exists today.

The Riserva is their benchmark wine, produced only in vintages they consider worthy of it. The 2021 qualifies. Across Tuscany, spring frosts cut yields sharply and a long, dry summer tested vines. What saved the year were the wide temperature swings of September—warm days giving way to cool nights—preserving the acidity and aromatic lift that make great Sangiovese so compelling. The result was a small crop of concentrated, beautifully balanced fruit.

Montalbano contributed its own advantages. The subzone sits on the western slopes of the range bearing its name, where sandstone-based soils and well-drained hillside positions allow vines to put down deep roots. The estate farms sustainably, harvests by hand, and ferments in concrete and steel before aging the Riserva 12 months in large oak casks—keeping the wine’s character in the foreground and the oak firmly in the background.

The blend is 90% Sangiovese with Canaiolo and Colorino—the classic Chianti formula, handled with restraint. The tannins are firm and integrated, the fruit bright and precise, and the whole comes together with a polish that makes it as easy at the table as it is interesting in the glass. Sangiovese that rewards food and good company rather than years in the cellar.