2022 Mazzei Castello di Fonterutoli Siepi Toscana 750 ml

Castello di Fonterutoli's Siepi is one of the most quietly dominant wines in all of Tuscany. In 2022, both James Suckling and Vinous scored it higher than Tignanello—96 to 95 from Vinous, 97 to 96 from Suckling. Two of the most respected voices in Italian wine, scoring independently, arriving at the same conclusion. For those keeping score at home, that's not a fluke. That's a pattern.

This is also a landmark vintage. First produced in 1992, the 2022 Siepi marks the wine's 30th anniversary. The Mazzei family used the occasion to push the winemaking forward, selecting Sangiovese parcels specifically for their brightness and energy. The 2022 growing season in Castellina in Chianti was fantastic and warm, delivering abundant primary fruit and excellent ripeness. The Merlot came in on September 5th, the Sangiovese nearly two weeks later—both harvested by hand at peak condition.

The wine is the perfect combination of brains and brawn, structure and plushness. Aromas of fresh elderberry, dark plums, sandalwood, tobacco, roasted game, blueberry, and sweet vanilla race from the glass. On the palate, it's bold and full-bodied, balanced and beautifully tense—with a finish that lingers long after the glass is empty.

Siepi is the Mazzei family's flagship, sourced from a single hilltop vineyard in the southernmost reaches of the Chianti Classico region. The family has been farming this land since 1435, and the vineyard itself is the reason this wine exists—a south-southwest-facing plateau at 850 feet, ringed by dense oak woods that moderate the heat and keep the growing season long and even. Two small parcels within the larger farm lend the wine its particular energy and weight: the lush Merlot brings frank ripeness and softness, while the lively Sangiovese—hanging longer on the vine, undergoing a longer maceration—provides the acidity, backbone, and unmistakably Tuscan soul.

Aged 18 months in mostly new French oak, this is drinking beautifully now—and has well over two decades of life ahead of it.