I’m having a hard time understanding why this wine is priced the way it is. The only logical explanation is that Ripanuda is a relatively new label in Tuscany’s historic Chianti Classico, and therefore may be looking for some market traction via an artificially low price.
Otherwise, it makes no sense: This wine carries the
riserva designation, meaning it was aged for at least two years before release, and it hails from an organically farmed, old-vine vineyard of ‘grand cru’ stature. It is a profound, pedigreed Sangiovese that knocked me sideways even before I found out what it costs, but let’s not dwell on price: Let’s herald the arrival of a new superstar-in-the-making on the Tuscan wine scene. One of the four young winemakers who partnered up to form Ripanuda acquired a 3.5-hectare gem of a vineyard from his grandfather, and from the start, this idealistic team embraced organic farming as the way to extract the best from it. Some of them studied in Bordeaux and at UC Davis in California, and their winemaking travels have taken them all over the world, but Ripanuda is a chance to bring it all home—and, to their credit, they’ve made the most of the opportunity. Today’s 2013 is 100% Sangiovese and 100% faithful to its place of origin—the latest exhibit in my ongoing case for Chianti Classico as Tuscany’s greatest terroir. Whether you agree with me on that or not, there’s no disputing the impeccable quality and evocative character of this wine. You won’t find a more pitch-perfect Sangiovese at this price, and furthermore, it’s just getting started: What a find!
The Ripanuda vineyards sit at about 400 meters’ elevation in Gaiole in Chianti, one of Chianti Classico’s most acclaimed villages and a ‘subzone’ I associated with some of the most structured wines in the appellation. The soils are the classic, extremely rocky mix of galestro (a friable marl with clay and limestone) and alberese (a clay/sandstone mix), and the vineyard, which the Ripanuda foursome took control of in 2007, contains vines averaging more than 25 years of age. Since 2010, they have farmed their plots organically and have taken a minimal-intervention approach in the cellar as well, utilizing only ambient yeasts for fermentation and used oak barrels for aging.
The two keywords for today’s 2013 are power and purity: The wine underwent a spontaneous fermentation in large (53-hectoliter) wooden vats, during which the grapes macerated on their skins for more than 20 days. The wine was then aged 18 months in a 50%-50% combination of Slavonian oak ‘botti’ and second- and third-passage French oak barriques, followed by 6 months in bottle before release. To feel the wine on the palate leaves no doubt that it is a riserva, but one that is all about the woodsy, deeply mineral character of Sangiovese. Whereas some riservas skew towards Bordeaux in style (thanks to the addition of grapes such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot), this one remains firmly rooted in the thickly forested hills of Central Tuscany.
In the glass, Ripanuda’s ’13 is a deep garnet-red with hints of pink and orange at the rim, with aromas of black woodland berries, Morello cherries, bay leaf, leather, underbrush, and a graphite/crushed rock mineral element. Medium-plus in body and still firmly tannic, it blossoms beautifully after 45 minutes or so in a decanter, revealing more cherry kirsch fruit and warm spice on the lip-smacking palate. What an archetypal ‘steak wine’ this is, perfectly constructed for a well-marbled ribeye served medium-rare with some wilted greens and potatoes. Serve it at a cool-ish 60 degrees in big Burgundy stems and you’ll be transported right to the heart of Tuscany—not a bad place to be, if you ask me. Cheers!
