Riecine Vigna Gittori Gran Selezione 2020

Such purity and beauty to this with sliced rose, peach, citrus and cherry aromas and flavors. Medium body, with ultra fine tannins that run the length of the wine. Crunchy and refined. It goes on for minutes. So drinkable and beautiful now but will improve nicely. Drink or hold.

The second vintage released as a Gran Selezione, this hails from a one-hectare parcel at the top of the estate’s Gittori vineyard in Gaiole. Picked on 3 October, the 2020 is evocatively scented, offering a captivating array of cherry, dusty earth, alpine flowers and pine. The palate is tangy, with concentrated, zesty acidity emphasising orange and cranberry. The tannins have a fine, powdered quality and become quite dense on the finish. While it needs a bit more time to come together, this just-bottled wine shows plenty of promise.

In a pretty, redesigned bottle with a black wax capsule, the Riecine 2020 Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Vigna Gittori takes a different approach to the hot vintage. It offers aromas that feel anything but overripe and, in fact, recall cooler elements of forest berry, peat moss, perfumed violet, flint, campfire ash and crushed white pepper. With that more contained ripeness comes more spice and texture from oak aging. This wine shows nice elegance. Production is limited to 4,833 bottles.

The nose is clean and floral, but also savory and pungent, with aromas of rubber, petrol and oregano against gentler notes of rose water and cherry blossom. On the palate, a cherry sparkle illuminates that floral nose, while acid bends around chalky tannins.