Two Great Vintages for Tuscany: 2015 and 2016
This year, JamesSuckling.com completed its largest tasting ever of Tuscan wines with almost 2,000 samples reviewed, making it the biggest report on the region in James’ nearly 37 years as a professional wine critic. Most of the wines were reviewed over the summer at our new, upgraded tasting room in Tuscany. With so many classic wines released from the superb vintages of 2015 and 2016, as well 2013 and 2012 Brunello di Montalcino, we felt a need to provide the world’s most comprehensive coverage of the region and its wine production.
“The 2015 vintage is the greatest vintage of my career,” says Carlo Ferrini, the veteran consulting enologist who has made some of the most exciting wines in the region over the last three decades. “The weather was near perfect the entire growing season, yet it was our knowledge of viticulture and winemaking that really enabled us to capitalize on this.”
“The best wines of 2015 have an incredible richness yet maintain freshness and fantastic energy and intensity,” adds Renzo Cotarella, the general manager of the vast wine holdings of the Antinori family.
Indeed, that’s how we found his 2015 Solaia when we tasted it earlier this year and awarded the wine a perfect 100 points. It is the greatest Antinori wine ever. The purity and focus on offer perfectly complement the polished and intense tannins as well as the ripe and characterful fruit. We found the same energy and precision in our other perfect Tuscan wine this year: Le Macchiole Bolgheri Scrio 2015, a lavish yet succulent pure syrah.
Le Macchiole Bolgheri Scrio 2015 is one of two wines rated 100 points in this report (the other being Marchesi Antinori Toscana Solaia 2015, not pictured), while Argentiera Bolgheri Superiore 2015 garnered a 99-point score. Both are mesmerizing bottles.
We found so many superb wines during this year’s tastings in Tuscany. We scored nine wines 99 points: Argentiera Bolgheri Superiore 2015, Castello di Ama Chianti Classico Vigneto Bellavista Gran Selezione 2015, Duemani Syrah Costa Toscana Suisassi 2016, Fattoria Le Pupille Maremma Toscana Saffredi 2016, Masseto Toscana 2015, Ornellaia Toscana Bianco 2016, Podere Poggio Scalette Alta Valle della Greve Il Carbonaione 2015, Sette Ponti Toscana Oreno 2016 and Tua Rita Toscana Redigaffi 2016.
The wines above not only highlight how great 2015 and 2016 are as vintages for the region but also the diversity of these great wines. Producers made fantastic wines in almost every winegrowing district — from traditional appellations such as Chianti Classico and of course Brunello di Montalcino to Toscana IGT or even Costa Toscana IGT or Valdarno di Sopra. And don’t forget that many of the whites are also rockin’ quality!
It’s interesting to think back to a recent pair of great vintages such as 2007 and 2006 in Tuscany and begin to compare them with 2015 and 2016. In general, we think the wines from 2015 and 2016 that we tasted so far seem more precise and better made than those from the last great duo years.
Perhaps winemakers are looking more to bring out the uniqueness of where their wines come from than seek the slightly manipulated, fruit-forward styles that were favored in the past? I don’t think most ever went as far as Napa Valley or Spain for blockbuster fruit bombs, but there was definitely a trend a decade ago for those wines in Tuscany. Today’s releases are much more about drinkability and balance.
“We understand how to deal with hot years in the vineyard and even more so in the winery,” says Luca d’Attoma, the well-known Tuscan consulting enologist who also makes his own wine Duemani. “We can take it to the limits now!”
Fattoria Le Pupille Maremma Toscana Saffredi 2016, rated 99 points, is the perfect follow-up to the equally stunning 2015. Their amphora-made syrah is a new, exciting label.
Adds Franco Bernabei, another veteran winemaker in the region who consults at various wineries: “I hate jammy wines. You can’t work against your vineyards. You have to follow your vineyards. You can’t change the style of your wines to suit yourself as a winemaker. You want a sense of the vineyard in the wine. This is so important.”
Do remember though that 2015 and 2016 are different vintages and did not make identical wines. The 2015 grape growing season was clearly hotter with less difference between the heat of the day and the coolness of the night. So, the wines tend to be very fruity, sometimes even exotic. In 2016, there was greater diurnal temperature variation, and this suggests why the acidities are a little higher in the wines and the characters slightly less opulent. But don’t get us wrong, there’s a subtleness to the top 2015s that make them irresistible.
We highly recommend buying 2015 and 2016 Tuscan wines, particularly after the relatively meager 2014s. These are wines to marvel at in their frankness and true character. They reflect a maturity in the vineyard and winemaking that translates into real Tuscan wines. Another compelling reason to buy both years is that we already know 2017 will not be at the same level of quality as 2015 and 2016. The growing season was too parched and quantities are down between 20 percent and 40 percent — although the quality seems surprisingly good considering a recent tasting of about 80 barrel samples.
Brunello lovers must also get ready for what should be two fabulous years: 2015 and 2016. “I am almost speechless when I try to talk about these two vintages,” says Roberto Guerrini, the wizard winemaker of the small estate of Fuligni.
But until those wines are released in 2020 and 2021 respectively, Italian wine lovers can be content in the knowledge that the 2013s and 2012s are good buys. We particularly like a number of the 2012 riservas. Admittedly, expectations for the wet and unexciting 2014s are not high, although JamesSuckling.com won’t taste them until January.
Anyone who loves Brunello should now also focus on what is happening in Chianti Classico. There were some literally jaw-dropping moments such as when we tasted the single-vineyard selections from Castello di Ama. The three wines were all awe-inspiring and the furthest cry imaginable from the red-fruited, rather mundane stereotypes of lesser Chiantis.
Castello di Ama has reached new heights for Tuscany with its 2015 single vineyards, such that we contend the Bellavista 2015 may be the greatest Chianti Classico ever made.
Most of all though, they were distinctive in their own way. San Lorenzo beguiled with its punctuated savoriness, La Casuccia carefully revealed its complexity and feathery finesse while Bellavista so far surpassed all in its unrivalled power and mastery of tannins and texture. In our note for the last, rated 99 points, we penned an ambitious question: “Will this prove to be the greatest Chianti Classico ever made?” Now it’s up to the reader to decide.
The number of winemakers focusing on expressing the terroir of the great villages and vineyards of the top and historic subregion of Chianti is certainly on the rise. And the conditions and situation in 2015 and 2016 could hardly have been more conducive to making some of the best wines ever for Chianti Classico.
“These two vintages of Chianti Classico are the greatest ever for us not only due to nature but because our vineyards are older and our know-how in winemaking more attuned,” says Giovanni Manetti, the respected owner of Chianti Classico’s Fontodi who was recently elected president of the Chianti Classico growers association.
“For the 2015 harvest, though we had a sorting table, we just watched the grapes go by,” he adds. “Everything was beautiful. It was perfection. In 2016, things were the same but cooler. I prefer the 2016.”
My only wish is for the relatively new Gran Selezione designation to be better thought out for the region. Some of our highest ratings did go to wines carrying what is supposed to be Chianti Classico’s top category of quality, but not requiring wines to come from single vineyards or even be pure sangiovese is surely a mistake, at least as far as we’re concerned.
Moreover, a number of the Gran Selezione we tasted were slightly overoaked, suggesting wineries are often feeling the need to adhere to this stylistic preference instead of allowing a true reflection of uniqueness and quality to flourish. Many winemakers themselves in the region have spoken negatively to us about Gran Selezione despite the designation being an attempt to raise the image of the best wines of Chianti Classico. This is a shame and we hope that some carefully reasoned improvements are in the pipeline.
On a more positive note, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano seems to be finally making some headway in quality. This is primarily being led by the winery Avignonesi, which is bottling some fantastic single-vineyard reds. Other producers making headway include Boscarelli, Poggio Stella and, of course, Fattoria del Cerro. Don’t miss them.
We continue to be enthusiastic about the white wine revolution happening in Tuscany and urge you to take a look at some. You probably already know some of the most exciting such as Ornellaia Bianco (not to be confused with Poggio alle Gazze, the more affordable but less spectacular label), which vies with the great white of Bordeaux’s Haut-Brion. Boggina B from Petrolo in the Valdarno, a pure trebbiano barrel fermented under the keen eye of the owner of Burgundy’s Lucien Le Moine, is also now consistently brilliant.
James Suckling, Jack Suckling and Stuart Pigott tasted through almost 2,000 wines to prepare this detailed and comprehensive report on Tuscany.
Or you may have had the chance to taste the soulful whites from the islands of Gorgona and Giglio — Frescobaldi Gorgona and Testamatta Bianco, respectively. Naturally, not all the whites in Tuscany attain such stellar heights, and many are still the product of overripe grapes from overly hot areas. But there are many others seriously worth considering among this year’s releases.
We are concerned with the continued increase in prices for the region and think it is becoming harder and harder to find exciting Tuscan wines for less than $20 a bottle. Few, other than the bigger names such as Ruffino, Antinori and Frescobaldi have continued to produce a reliable array of mainstay quality wines for reasonable prices.
Given that parts of Southern Italy such as Campania and Basilicata have really upped their game, as our tastings this summer confirmed (stay tuned!), Tuscany needs to be careful lest they lose future market share as consumers and trade alike look for better value.
That said, Tuscany is Tuscany. It remains the strongest beacon for the great wines of Italy around the world, and as a symbol for outstanding quality wines, it is only going to get stronger with the 2015 and 2016 vintages. Buy some and see for yourself. — James Suckling, CEO/Editor and Jack Suckling, Executive Editor