2015 Barone Ricasoli Castello Di Brolio Chianti Classico

The 2015 Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Roncicone is ample, creamy and expansive. Spice, dried flowers and crushed rocks add aromatic nuance. The potential for the Roncicone to be a wine of distinction is evident, but in this vintage, it just feels imprisoned by an overly technical approach.

The 2015 Castello di Brolio Gran Selezione is soft, pliant and inviting. There is plenty to like in the wine's soft curves and racy personality. Oddly, the Gran Selezione is the least interesting of the estates' three Riservas. Dark, ripe fruit and copious new oak stand out. There is good depth to the 2015, but I don't see the character that the best wines in this range offer.

The 2015 Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Castello di Brolio takes a few minutes to open and settle in the glass. The bouquet here is redolent of pressed cherry and dried blackberry with underbrush, dark spice, forest floor and even a touch of wild porcino mushroom. The mouthfeel is smooth and loosely textured, which gives the wine an accessible and immediate personality. These vineyard sites in Gaiole in Chianti are characterized by crushed alberese rock soils. These unique growing conditions always add to the focus and the sharpness of the aromas. This wine is a blend of 90% Sangiovese with 5% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Petit Verdot. Some 40,000 bottles were made.