Wine & Spirits - Winter 2019 - 68

Top 100 Wineries

O LD WO R LD

Rocca di Montegrossi Petrolo
ITALY | TUSCANY
No one sweats the details of each growing season more than
Marco Ricasoli-Firidolfi, and it shows in the quality of his wines
across styles and vintages.

MARCO
RICASOLI-FIRIDOLFI

1994
Marco
Ricasoli-Firidolfi

FOUNDED:

READING MARCO RICASOLI'S ANNUAL summary of
the vintage at his Gaiole estate can be as anxietyinducing as watching Jordan Peele's Us. You can
feel the sleepless nights as he battles frost and
drought, fending off mildew and vine pests without resorting to chemicals. He has been fully
committed to organic farming since 2006 (certified in 2010), for the health of his workers and
the people who drink his wines; this requires
manual labor in the vineyards to tend the
bunches and manage the canopy. He produces
just five wines, and all of them scored 90 points
or more this year. Both of Ricasoli's Chianti Classico bottlings were highlights: His 2013 San Marcellino Gran Selezione soared despite the difficult vintage, and he backed that up with a stellar
Chianti Classico from 2016. His Vin Santo poses
entirely different challenges, requiring a decade
of painstaking labor; his 2008 drinks like liquid
velvet. Ricasoli's consistency extends to pulling
a vibrant rosato out of the hot 2017 season and
an earthy merlot-cabernet sauvignon blend from
the rainy 2014 vintage. It's an impressive performance across the board, earning Rocca di Montegrossi its third Top 100 award. -S.J.

ITALY | TUSCANY
The fresh 2016 vintage rewarded Luca Sanjust's organic farming
methods and famously low yields with stunning results for both
merlot and sangiovese.

VALDARNO DI SOPRA GAINED DOC status less than
a decade ago, but Cosimo Medici III recognized
the region as one of Tuscany's best for winegrowing back in the early 18th century. After World
War II, Gastone Bazzocchi bought land on the
cheap here, and began making a simple Chianti with help from his friend, Giulio Gambelli,
considered the godfather of sangiovese. When
Bazzocchi passed away, his daughter Lucia Sanjust continued working with Gambelli and began
replanting many of the vineyards, including
Galatrona, a clay-rich parcel that seemed better suited to merlot than sangiovese. After she
persuaded her son, Luca, to leave his art career
and join her at the winery, he began bottling that
merlot in 1994; it's now one of the world's best,
with a taut structure, fresh acidity and herbinflected aromas that speak clearly of its roots in
Valdarno di Sopra. In addition to a superb Galatrona, the 2016 vintage produced two delicious
wines from Bòggina, an 11-acre plot first planted
to sangiovese in 1952. Lucia Sanjust passed away
this year, in February; Luca says that although
his mother wasn't actively involved in Petrolo for
the last decade, he considered her his boss until
the end. -S.J.

LUCA
SANJUST

2013 Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Vigneto
San Marcellino ($56, 96 points) San Marcellino is
Ricasoli's oldest vineyard, some of its vines planted
more than 50 years ago. The 2013 combines finesse
and excitement in a compelling expression of sangiovese. Racy acidity weaves flavors of juicy black
cherry, Tuscan herbs and subtle spice into a supple
frame. Notes of graphite and menthol emerge with
air, building on the complexity and structure.

2016 Valdarno di Sopra Galatrona ($130, 96
points) Galatrona unfolds with beautiful scents of
dewy violets and thyme that lead into flavors as precise as the aromas. Taut and herb inflected, with
fresh acidity highlighting the ripe fruit, it's a distinctly
Tuscan take on merlot.

OWNER:

WINEMAKER:

Attilio Pagli
VITICULTURISTS:

Stefano Dini,
Dario Ceccatelli
ACRES OWNED: 49
CASES PRODUCED:

8,333
ESTATE GROWN:

2008 Vin Santo del Chianti Classico ($115, 95
points) Aged for eight years in small wooden casks,
this has the look and feel of maple syrup, yet the flavors are delicate and precise, with notes of baked
apricot and green plum swirled with cardamom,
anise and toffee. A stream of slatey minerality cuts
through the richness, leading to a surprisingly clean
finish for a wine with 370 grams of residual sugar.
Don't bother trying to pair it with dessert; this velvety
and voluptuous wine stands alone.

100%
North
Berkeley Imports,
Berkeley, CA/
Skurnik Wines &
Spirits, NY

IMPORTERS:

2016 Chianti Classico ($30, 91 points) The 2016
growing season was long and even, producing a
refined and graceful wine that unfolds with scents of
lavender and dried herbs. The bright cherry flavors
take on dark mineral tones. Pure and energetic.

WINE & SPIRITS

BUYING GUIDE 2020

1834
The
Bazzocchi family
FOUNDED:
OWNERS:

WINEMAKER:

Luca Sanjust
ACRES OWNED:

(62 planted)
CASES PRODUCED:

N/A
ESTATE GROWN:

N/A
IMPORTER:

Vintus,
Pleasantville, NY

2016 Valdarno di Sopra Bòggina A ($75, 94
points) Ten years ago, Sanjust began producing a
pure sangiovese from Bòggina, Petrolo's oldest vineyard. After five vintages, he began vinifying a small
portion of the grapes in amphorae, vessels that reach
back to Petrolo's Etruscan origins. The 2016 Bòggina
A (for "amphora") showcases the joy of pure sangiovese in its exuberant scents of crushed rose petals
and flavors of fresh red cherries focused by brisk
acidity. The tannins give a fine rasp to the flavors,
and notes of sun-ripened tomatoes develop as the
wine opens in the glass.
2016 Valdarno di Sopra Bòggina C ($75, 92
points) Sanjust labels this sangiovese Bòggina C (for
"classico") to distinguish it from Bòggina A. This ages
in French oak barrels for 18 months and is darker in
tone than A, with warm spice and polished tannins.

Wine & Spirits - Winter 2019

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