Our Wine Choice: Vallepicciola Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Lapina 2019

The Chianti Classico region of Tuscany is steeped in winemaking history stretching back to the Middle Ages, but the Vallepicciola Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Lapina comes from one of the region’s youngest offspring, the Vallepicciola estate, founded in 1999.

The estate may be young, but this is a 100 percent sangiovese single-vineyard wine with a genuine Chianti feel, not only exhibiting true varietal character, from the cherry and berry fruit to the acidity that keeps everything on the right side of freshness, but also embracing the character of the Gran Selezione category, which was created in 2014 as the tip of the quality pyramid for Chianti Classico.

The estate, just 10 minutes outside Siena, was the brainchild of industrialist Bruno Bolfo and his wife, Giuseppina. It now has a total of 275 hectares, 107 of which are under vine, producing not only excellent Chianti Classico, Chianti Classico Riserva and Chianti Classico Gran Selezione from the estate’s sangiovese vines, but also wines from international varieties such as cabernet sauvignon, merlot and chardonnay.

I tasted Gran Selezione Lapina in the same flight with the estate’s outstanding Chianti Classico Riserva, and it was interesting to note that you feel less oak influence and a smoother texture when tasting the Gran Selezione than you do with the Riserva, which is aged for six months less than the Gran Selezione before release.

The estate’s general manager, Alessandro Cellai, who is hands-on in the winemaking process, offered an explanation. “The Gran Selezione,” he said, “undergoes primary fermentation and malolactic fermentation in cement tanks before passing to 30 percent new French oak barriques for 30 months of aging. After that, we put the wine back into cement for three months before bottling. Cement is ideal for phenolic polymerization.” The Riserva, on the other hand, is fermented in stainless steel, undergoes malolactic fermentation in barriques and then is then aged18-20 months in large oak casks.

Furthermore, 2019 was a very good vintage overall for Chianti Classico. Following a cold winter there were plenty of spring rains and a not-so-hot summer, allowing for slow and even ripening and culminating in a later-than-usual harvest in October.

“The wine comes from the warmer, southern region of Chianti Classico south of Siena,” Cellai said. “But with vineyards at 480 meters above sea level, we can maintain good acidity, which gives the wine freshness and drinkability.”

In fact, this is a wine with lots of vitality to it, which makes it a pleasure to drink right now. But you also have the option of laying it down for a few more years, when the wine will reach super-smoothness.

– Jo Cooke, Tastings Editor