Barone Ricasoli Brolio Chianti Classico Riserva

Tasting notes & discussion 25

Worried the Summer heat will get to your wine before it gets to you? Try our new Summer Hold option here!

91 Points, James Suckling
Typically $60/bottle from Barone Ricasoli
Vintage 2014 from Chianti Classico DOCG, Italy
Available for AL; AZ; AR; CA; CO; CT; DC; FL; GA; ID; IL; IN; IA; KS; KY; LA; ME; MD; MA; MI; MN; MO; MT; NE; NV; NH; NJ; NM; NY; NC; ND; OH; OK; OR; PA; RI; SC; SD; TN; TX; VT; VA; WA; WV; WI; WY
Sold by participating winery or licensee, fulfilled by Wine Country Connect

About Barone Ricasoli: “Ricasoli is the most representative wine producer in the Chianti Classico wine area. With its gentle hills, velvety valleys and thick woodlands of oaks and chestnuts, the 1,200 hectares of property include almost 240 hectares of vineyards and 26 of olive groves.”

Held Back, No Vibes

TASTING NOTES: “Intense ruby red color. Clear notes of strawberries, raspberries, spice and vanilla stand out on the nose. The wine is soft and enfolding on the palate; the right balance between acidity and tannins leaves a pleasant and persistent aftertaste in the mouth.” (AbV 13.5%)

VARIETALS: Minimum 80% Sangiovese, approx. 15% Merlot, approx. 5% Cabernet Sauvignon

BARRELS: In stainless steel at controlled temperature of 24°C-27°C with 12/16 days of skins contact.

PAIRS WITH: N/A

THAT REMINDS ME OF: Riserva.

That’s Italian for “reserve,” and “reserve” is one of those words doing about six unrelated jobs across English depending on where you bump into it. A wildlife reserve is land held back from development. A reserve player is a guy held back from playing. The Federal Reserve is money held back from circulating, in theory, to keep the whole system from combusting. Reserved seating is a chair held back so a stranger can’t have it. All of it traces to the same Latin root, reservare — “to keep back” — and every single meaning is just a variation on “not yet, but available later.”

What’s funny is how differently countries police that idea once it lands on a wine label. In Italy, Riserva is a legally defined term — you have to hit specific minimum aging requirements before you’re allowed to print the word, full stop, no vibes-based exceptions. In the U.S., “Reserve” on a wine label means whatever the winery decided it meant that morning. No law, no minimum, no oversight body checking your work. Same six letters, wildly different level of accountability — which feels like it should be a bigger scandal than it is.

ICYMI, you have two choices:

Worried Summer heat might get to your wine before your wine gets to you? Order from the sale linked here, and we’ll get it to you at a cooler time of year!
Want it shipped now? Every package during the summer will have protected temp control ground shipping for much of the country that takes longer but will ensure safe delivery. Expect up to two weeks for delivery. Now through the September 12th offer.

Who's buying this?

How are you buying your bottles?

"Reserve" means different things depending who's holding it back. Which kind of reserved are you?

I'm the quiet one at parties, holding back until I know you

I'm the quiet one at parties, holding back until I know you
I hold onto things longer than I need to, just in case

I hold onto things longer than I need to, just in case
I say what I mean right away, no holding back

I say what I mean right away, no holding back
I'm reserved on paper but a mess underneath

I'm reserved on paper but a mess underneath
Comments

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21 votes