Woods, dirt roads and the navigator who does not take. It is not easy to reach Riecine, a company of Gaiole, in heart of the Chianti Classico, but once reached, one would no longer want to leave. Compared to many other wineries in the area, its history is very recent; in fact, it was born "alone" in 1971, but the wine was probably already produced here before the 12th century, when Riecine was a farm of the nearby monastery of Badia a Coltibuono. Originally, it was owned by John Dunkley, one of the many Englishmen who fell in love with Chianti and Sangiovese and started a quality production, without compromise and without concessions to shortcuts offered by the use of international vines: his is the joke"When Baron Philippe de Rothschild sang the Sangiovese, I will convert to cabernet sauvignon!"

Today, Riecine belongs to the family of Lana Frank and leads her as general manager and oenologist Alessandro Campatelli, who accompanied me on the tastings of the new vintages and on a tour of the winery, where the eggs and vats stand out cement for the refinement of the wines, according to Alessandro the best material to transfer the essence of the particular Sangiovese of Riecine into the bottle. The cellar is also worth seeing for the colorful murals, work of the Florentine street artist Marco Burresi, aka Zed1: along the walls, the story of two berries that grow and become human is told, to the point of falling in love.

The vineyards, grown organically, are between 25 and 50 years of age and are planted on clayey soils, with limestone and marl, between 480 and 600 meters of altitude.

With an intense and brilliant ruby ​​color, Riecine di Riecine is the most representative wine of the company style, made of respect for the terroir and of obsessive attention to every aspect of production. Its aromas range from flowers to fruit jam, with hints of balsamic freshness, reminiscent of mint and wood. On the palate it is a persuasive wine, powerful and elegant at the same time, deep and full of grace, even in a year that is not easy as it was 2014.

Why now: it is a fresh and elegant red that can also be drunk with summer meat dishes.

As did: fermentation takes place in wooden tanks, with a maceration of 20-30 days; the wine is then refined into cementless eggs for 3 years and then 6 months in the bottle, before being put on the market.

To combine with: roast beef, roasts, veal with tuna sauce.

Serve it at: 16 ° C

Price: 58 euros.

riecine.it

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