On February 6, I attended a talk given by Alessandro Masnaghetti who wrote a newly published book on Chianti Classico.

The lecture was held at the offices of Baneville Wine Merchants located at 126 East 38th Street in midtown Manhattan.

It’s a big book with a lot of detail for that district of Chianti. I did learn what a UGA (Unita Geografiche Aggiuntive) is which are officially delimited subzones within a Chianti subzone.

As part of the lecture, we tasted five Chianti from five of those UGA subzones. They were from the 2020 vintage and were drinking nicely.

2020 Cigliano Di Sopra (San Casciano): Clear medium purple, dusty tar. graphite and earth on the nose, concentrated dusty bright red fruit with crushed rock notes on the finish.

2020 I Fabbri “La Mole” (Lamole): Clear medium brick, dusty nose of green stems and rocks, juicy red fruit and black licorice ending with a mouthful of tannins.

2020 Fattoria Le Masse (San Donato in Poggio): Clear medium red, big perfume of sweet crushed red fruit and some earth, concentrated silky black fruit with dusty leather notes on the long and balanced finish. My favorite of the flight.

2020 Tolaini “Mello” (Gaiole): Clear red with a perfume of violets and roast meat, tight red fruit with firm tannins and a long finish.

2020 Tolaini “Vallenuova” (Castelnuova Beradenga): Opaque dark red, perfume of tar, red leather and sweet fruit with dusty, silky red fruit with a good grip and a nice balance. Another favorite of the tasting.