Chianti

A tremendous value for a tasty, food friendly wine that has some "stuffing" to it.  Deep garnet in color, mostly opaque and bright.  The nose is open with cherries, pomegranates, forest floor, slight earthiness and sandalwood.  Medium to full bodied.  Light to medium tannins.  Good acidity.  On the palate, this is open and drinks easily.  Flavors of cherries, dark cherries with some underlying earthiness.  Good finish.  This is nice on its own but better with food.  It would be perfect with a plate of pasta or a pizza with tomato sauce.  Drink over the next five years.  

Arguably, as good as Chianti gets, the Vigna del Sorbo is classified as a Gran Selezione.  At age 11, this is still quite young and needs a bit of air.  Deep purple in color, ruby at the rim, opaque and bright.  The nose has cherries, black cherries, tea leaves, sandalwood and spice.  Full bodied.  Firm tannins.  Great acidity.  On the palate, this is tight but delicious.  It takes a few hours to open and then drinks quite well.  It is great on its own but even better with some food.  It would be great with a big plate of Spaghetti and Meatballs.  Drink over the next twenty years.

This winery  makes a variety of Chianti Classico wines with this being the basic offering.  That said, it is consistently an excellent wine and a great value.  Ruby in color, mostly clear and bright.  The nose is nice with cherries, cranberries, nutmeg, slight dried leaves and char.  Medium bodied.  Strong acidity.  Medium tannins.  On the palate, this has cherry flavors with some spice and forest floor.  Good finish.  This would be better with food.  A nice wine for pizza night or a plate of pasta.  Drink over the next five to eight years. 

Garnet in color, mostly clear and bright.  The nose is initially tight but with air opens to show cherries, black cherries, and slight cough drop.  very clean.  Plush texture, full bodied with firm tannins.  Greatt mough puckering acidity.  On the palate cherries and tart cherries with a hint of mint on the finish.  Long, clean finish.  This is young but drinking well.  The acidity/grape makes it better with food.  After all, it is Italian.  This would be great with Spaghetti and meatballs.  Drink over the next ten years.

This is a great value in Chianti and in fact red wine in general.  Garnet in color, mostly clear and bright.  The nose is nice with black cherries, cherries, spices, hay, slight mocha and mint.  Medium bodied.  Medium tannins.  Good acidity.  On the palate, flavors of cherries, earth and forest floor.  An interesting menthol note on the long finish.  This is made for food.  A great choice to pasta with a tomato based sauce.  Or a mid-week pizza.  Drink over the next five to eight years.