2022 Poggio Scalette - Chianti Classico

Podere Poggio Scalette was founded in 1991 by Vittorio Fiore, a widely respected consulting winemaker known across Italy, and his wife Adriana, who acquired an abandoned property on the Ruffoli hill in Greve after years of neglect following the previous owner's death. Among the parcels they took on was a plot the locals called Il Carbonaione, first replanted just after the First World War and found to carry a rare surviving clone of Sangiovese di Lamole, now the source of the estate's signature wine. Fiore's son Jurij, trained in Burgundy, now runs the cellar alongside his father.

This Chianti Classico is made entirely from Sangiovese grown on the estate's terraced, stone-walled vineyards in Ruffoli, which sit at altitudes between roughly 450 and 600 meters, conditions that echo the prized high-elevation sites of nearby Lamole. The grapes are picked at full ripeness in October and fermented in concrete tanks, a choice that favors clarity of fruit over overt oak influence.

The wine shows a bright ruby red color, with a lively bouquet of cherry, plum, and blackberry layered with orange peel, sun-dried tomato, tobacco, and a touch of spice. On the palate it is fresh and fruit-forward, medium-bodied, with silky tannins and a savory, acid-driven finish that makes it genuinely food-friendly. It pairs especially well with rosemary-roasted lamb, tomato-based pasta, or a hearty chicken stew.