Fontodi Flaccianello Della Pieve 2016
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Winery: Fontodi
Vintage: 2016
Grape: Sangiovese
Drinking window: 2022 - 2050
Region: Tuscany
Production: 60.000 bottles
Milano Points: 280 Points
THE ITALIAN GRAPE (98)
This is without a doubt the best 100% Sangiovese Super Tuscan I have had so far. What a sensation this wine is! The Flaccianello, together with the Cepparello and the Pergole Torte, has been the best 100% Sangiovese wine on the market for years. But the 2016 now shows itself to be in a different class. Tasted at a tasting in the summer of 2023. It is particularly impressive how complex this wine is but how accessible it already was considering its age. Of course this will certainly need some more years, but with an hour of decanting this became a wine that developed and showed itself. Medium to full bodied with a long finish where the tannins have already integrated nicely into the wine. A wine for the cellar but also to be enjoyed now for a beautiful moment. This is literally a SUPER Tuscan!!
ROBERT PARKER (100)
Fontodi's 2016 Flaccianello della Pieve is a masterpiece. This review represents a composite of notes from two separate tasting sessions, one at the winery and a second bottle tasted repeatedly over the course of 24 hours at my own pace. In the case of the second sample, it ended up in a blind flight next to the 2016 Masseto, and as beautiful as that Merlot-based wine is, this wine paints an even more beautiful portrait of a perfect Tuscan landscape, thanks to that tangy Sangiovese typicity. This vintage shows amazing depth and poise, with a sheer sense of elegance that comes from the undisputed quality of fruit achieved in this balanced vintage. The bouquet opens to dark cherry, blue flower and tilled earth. The tannins are taut, almost crunchy, and the wine offers profound pedigree and persistence that is driven by the evident acidity. That depth is what stands out most. Until the 2013 vintage, Flaccianello was aged in barrique for 24 months. After that vintage, six months of the total aging time is spent in botte instead. This 2016 vintage includes a small part from clay amphorae for the first time. This slight change in the relationship of wine to barrel size has resulted in a more elegant and finessed wine. That point is especially underlined in this vintage. Because of cool spring temperatures during the flowering, yields were reduced by 20% in 2016 compared to 2015. Some 65,000 bottles were made.
JAMES SUCKLING (95)
Dark cherries, blackcurrants, brambleberries, eucalyptus, vanilla, tar, sandalwood and dried violets are the calling cards on the nose. This is certainly a very refined and delicate Flaccianello, that weaves its way through fresh dark fruit and layers of intricately wrought tannins. Delicious now!
About the wine
Since 1968, the Manetti family has owned Fontodi. They get advice from a famous wine expert named Franco Bernabei. Fontodi now has a certificate for farming without chemicals and covers about 130 hectares of land, with around 70 hectares used for growing grapes. At the heart of the farm, they grow Sangiovese grapes, which Giovanni and Marco Manetti have perfected almost unbelievably well.
Fontodi's flagship wine the ‘Flaccianello della Pieve’, is made solely from 100% Sangiovese grapes, undergoes fermentation in stainless steel tanks and malolactic fermentation in oak barrels. Crafted since 1981, showcases the essence of San Leolino village in Flacciano. This pure Sangiovese undergoes rigorous selection from premium vines, spontaneous fermentation, and gentle maceration before aging for 24 months in Allier and Troncais barrels. With intense dark berry aromas, remarkable structure, and dense, persistent tannins, it's a true Tuscan icon, producing approximately 60,000 bottles annually.
The 2016 harvest will lead to a five-star vintage for Chianti Classico wines, according to Giovanni Manetti. The growing season was ‘very regular’, with no extreme weather events, and normal picking times, he said. Harvest was well underway on Monday 24 September at Fontodi, Manetti’s winery in Panzano. It had not rained for 22 days, and the ground was dusty. However, Manetti explained that in Panzano, while hot, temperatures had not risen above 36˚C, and that nights had been cool.
