Producer

Vecchie Terre di Montefili

I have reviewed two wines from Vecchie Terre di Montefili, from the 2019 to 2021 vintages, all from Chianti Classico. All are Sangiovese. Scores range from 95 to 95, averaging 95; the highest is the 2021 Vecchie Terre di Montefili Chianti Classico (95 points).

Perched high above Panzano, in Greve in Chianti, Vecchie Terre di Montefili is a historic estate with vineyards at around 500 metres on rocky galestro and alberese. The altitude gives Sangiovese nervous acidity and long life. Montefili made one of the very first Super Tuscans, the 100% Sangiovese “Anfiteatro”, named after its natural amphitheatre vineyard, and the estate has been revitalised under new ownership while keeping its organic philosophy, with spontaneous fermentations and low sulfites.

Its Chianti Classico ignores the temptation to soften or fatten the wine: no Merlot, no heavy oak. The 2021 skips sweet cherry for crushed iron, wild rosemary and blood orange peel, with an electric line of acidity, a saline snap and traditionally gritty tannins, a tense, intellectual wine for charred meat. The 2019 is silkier, with dark cherry, wild strawberry, cranberry and dried violets, medium-bodied and balanced. Montefili wines are tense, mineral and cerebral, embodying the cool, forest-edged character of the high Chianti hills.