Grape blend: Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon, Canaiolo
Aged: 24 months; partly in large oak casks, partly in barriques
Alcohol content: 14.5% vol
Acidity: 5.7 g/l
Residual sugars: 0.37 g/l
Chianti Riserva is a traditional Tuscan wine, and the tradition continues here at La Vialla with an excellent “Riserva” that’s already pampered with meticulous care in the vineyard. And it “thanks” those who cultivate it so lovingly, with generous, elegant aromas, soft, almost silky tannins, and noteworthy body. The 2021 season, which was hot and dry, yielded small but juicy bunches of Sangiovese and firm Cabernet grapes with thick skins. After soft pressing, the musts macerated slowly on the skins. The Sangiovese and Canaiolo aged in Slavonian oak casks containing 25 hl, the Cabernet in barriques, which are smaller and give the wine softness and elegance. After 12 months the base wines were blended, followed by another 12 of ageing together in large wooden casks, and three months in which the Riserva was “perfected” in the bottle.
Tasting – Colour: intense ruby-red; it leaves elegant, bright red legs in the glass. The nose: first of all the characteristic Sangiovese aroma of violets, followed by plum and pomegranate, and more evolved notes of leather and clove. In the mouth: ample, with assertive tannin that the period of ageing in wood has made silky smooth; good freshness, the aftertaste is broad and harmonious.
Wine and Food Pairing – It makes great company on its own as a “meditation wine”, but it also goes well with robust traditional Tuscan dishes: pappardelle with porcini mushrooms or wild boar sauce, “strozzapreti” pasta with chestnuts and mushrooms, lasagne with Sugo Finto... it’s also excellent with steak (the famous “Fiorentina”), cold cuts and mature cheeses.
Awards – 90.8/100 points at the AWC Spring Tasting 2025, Vienna, Austria – 90/100 points at the Wine System Organic Wine Award International 2025, Frasdorf, Germany