Chianti Classico DOCG 2021

A Sangiovese built on acidity and spice rather than power. Dark fruit and spice define the picture, the structure stays lean and lithe, and the origin is legible in every sip.

Le Masse is located in Barberino Val d'Elsa in Chianti Classico. Robin Mugnaini runs the family estate that his grandfather Paolo Mugnaini acquired in the 1950s; the 20 hectares include Sangiovese plantings from 1974 and 1986. The estate has worked biodynamically since 2015, pragmatically rather than dogmatically: preparation 500 in the vineyard, lunar calendar in the cellar. Mugnaini deliberately chose not to pursue Demeter certification. Annual production runs to 18,000 to 25,000 bottles.

100% Sangiovese, hand-picked in early to mid-October. After destemming, the wine ferments with indigenous yeasts; maceration lasts 35 to 45 days, carried out parcel by parcel in small steel tanks, without temperature control, without sulphur and without pump-overs, with the cap punched down by hand. This is followed by a year in French oak barrels of 2.25 and 5 hectolitres, where malolactic fermentation takes place spontaneously. The wine stays on its lees, stirred repeatedly over the first five months, receives a light dose of sulphur, and after bottling ages for at least a further eight months at the winery.

Silky and balanced. Acidity quietly takes the lead, with tannin sitting a level beneath it and knitting together with fruit and acidity. Aromatically, sour cherry and redcurrant lead the way, joined by cinnamon, clove, cardamom and juniper, then warm cinnamon-spiced plums and dried rosemary and oregano. The finish retains the spice, balsamic and ethereal.

Robin Mugnaini worked as an actor in front of the camera before committing fully to the vineyard in 2018. The labels are designed by his mother Christiane, a painter based in Berlin. 14.0% vol., dry.