Chianti Classico Gran Selezione… should we or should we not?

This was the main question of 2014 for many producers of Chianti Classico, and in my modest opinion this is a great idea for a small producer like ourselves. When you think about the fact that there are 600 members in Consorzio Chianti Classico making Chianti Classico wine, it makes you wonder why only 36 producers chose to do Chianti Classico Gran Selezione?

In reality this wine is a next step in selection within the Chianti Classico group. It is superior to Chianti Classico Riserva and it will only allow to use grapes of your own production. In addition it involves a different blend of grapes, a longer maturation and a panel of judges to decide whether your wine could be really called Chianti Classico Gran Selezione. I am simplifiying the process a lot certainly, but in a nutshell those are the main points to keep in mind.

Whether this idea and this new wine will lead to invigoration of the brand of Chianti Classico in general, remains to be seen in the future. However at least it give us, small produces, a nice way to be able finally to differentiate ourselves from the big cooperatives producing million of bottles of Chianti Classico from sourced grapes.