2016 Chianti Classico, Colonia, Gran Selezione, Fèlsina, Tuscany, Italy
Critics reviews
The 2016 Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Colonia possesses off the charts richness and intensity in a bold, racy style that captures all the best this site has to offer. Striking inner perfume, bright red Sangiovese fruit and soft contours add to the wine's compelling balance. Much more open today than Rancia, Colonia is positively stunning in 2016. In fact, it is the finest Colonia yet. The 2016 spent 26 months in French oak, 100% new, all of which it handles with aplomb.
Drink 2024 - 2046
Antonio Galloni, vinous.com (Jul 2019)
The Fèlsina 2016 Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Colonia is true, elegant and bright. This wine is teaming with inner energy and beautiful fruit resonance that comes forward with forest berry, tilled earth, cassis and pressed violet. These aromas are held in tension, creating a crest or halo that radiates from deep inside. It remains mid-weight in approach, but don't underestimate the length and polished mouthfeel that drives a long and very elegant finish. I came back to my sample 24 hours later and appreciated the perfectly aligned and integrated character of the tannins. Give this wine plenty of time to evolve and flesh out in your cellar.
Drink 2022-2045
Monica Larner, Wine Advocate (Aug 2020)
Mid ruby with orange tinges. Spicy, earthy cherry nose with hidden depths. This needs lots of aeration. Mouth-filling fruit with perfectly ripe, muscular tannins. Nervy acidity turns up at the very end.
Drink 2022 - 2032
Walter Speller, jancisrobinson.com (Apr 2020)
Notes of dried berries, cedar, meat and truffles with some mushrooms. Full body. Chewy and very rich. A lot of wood now, but shows wonderful intensity and power. Give it two or three years to soften. Better after 2021.
James Suckling, jamessuckling.com (Nov 2019)
The Colonia parcel sits at the top of Fèlsina's Poggio a Rancia vineyard on an extremely rocky outcrop. South facing and reaching upwards of 400 metres above sea level, it is enclosed by forest. Aged exclusively in new fine-grain, medium toast French oak barriques, this has the power and depth to effortlessly absorb the wood. It exudes the untamed generosity of Tuscany's countryside with baked earth, dried thyme plum, and succulent dark cherry punctuated by savoury spice and incense. While immediately seductive in its charms, structurally this could use some more time in the bottle as those vigorous chalky tannins build artfully across the palate.
Drink 2022 - 2034
Michaela Morris, decanter.com (Feb 2020)
About this WINE
Felsina
An important estate located in the commune of Castelnuvo Berardenga in the southernmost tip of the Chianti Classico zone. The estate extends to over 350 hectares of which 75 hectares of vineyards are planted with Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon, Malvasia, and Chardonnay.
In was bought by Domenico Poggiali, a haulier from Ravenna, in 1964. At the beginning of the 1980s he transferred it to his son-in-law Giuseppe Mazzocolin, a former schoolteacher. In collaboration with cult oenologist Franco Bernabei, he replanted much of the vineyards and completely renovated the winemaking facilities. Today it is one of the leading estates in Chianti Classico.
Chianti Classico
Chianti Classico is a leading Tuscan DOCG zone which covers approximately 7,000 hectares between Florence and Siena. Its vineyards stretch into the Apennine foothills at altitudes of between 150m and 500m, and encompass two distinct terroirs and styles. The sandy, alluvial soils of the lower sites yield fuller, meatier wines while the limestone and galestro rocks of the higher vineyards deliver finer, more ethereal examples.
The origins of Chianti date back to the Middle Ages, although Chianti Classico was really born in 1716 when Grand Duke Cosimo III of Tuscany classified the zone, identifying the villages of Radda, Greve, Panzano, Gaiole and Castellina as the leading sites; these same villages still represent the nucleus of the Chianti Classico DOCG today. The regulations have been revised, however, to insist that the wine is made from a minimum 80 percent Sangiovese and a maximum 20 percent Canaiolo and ameliorative grapes (ie Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon); from the 2006 vintage, no white grapes are allowed.
Chianti Classico cannot be released until 1st October in the year following the harvest, while Chianti Classico Riserva must undergo 24 months of ageing before release, including at least three months in bottle. At the region’s top addresses, French barriques are gradually being adopted in the place of the traditional, larger slavonian botte.
Recommended Producers: Monte Bernardi, Tenuta Fontodi, Castelo di Ama, Bibbiano
Sangiovese
A black grape widely grown in Central Italy and the main component of Chianti and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano as well as being the sole permitted grape for the famed Brunello di Montalcino.
It is a high yielding, late ripening grape that performs best on well-drained calcareous soils on south-facing hillsides. For years it was blighted by poor clonal selection and massive overcropping - however since the 1980s the quality of Sangiovese-based wines has rocketed upwards and they are now some of the most sought after in the world.
It produces wines with pronounced tannins and acidity, though not always with great depth of colour, and its character can vary from farmyard/leather nuances through to essence of red cherries and plums. In the 1960s the advent of Super Tuscans saw bottlings of 100% Sangiovese wines, as well as the introduction of Sangiovese/Cabernet Sauvignon blends, the most famous being Tignanello.
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Description
The 2016 Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Colonia possesses off the charts richness and intensity in a bold, racy style that captures all the best this site has to offer. Striking inner perfume, bright red Sangiovese fruit and soft contours add to the wine's compelling balance. Much more open today than Rancia, Colonia is positively stunning in 2016. In fact, it is the finest Colonia yet. The 2016 spent 26 months in French oak, 100% new, all of which it handles with aplomb.
Drink 2024 - 2046
Antonio Galloni, vinous.com (Jul 2019)
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