For those of you who’ve received our emails for a while, think about the many transcendent, “over-achieving” Bourgogne Rouge bottlings we’ve offered here. Today, I have the Italian equivalent—a different grape and place but the same intrinsic value, stylistic proportions, terroir expression, and historical significance.
Bindi Sergardi’s Chianti Classico “Ser Gardo” is 100% Sangiovese and, like the best Bourgogne Pinot Noirs, gives you everything you could possibly ask for at a reasonable price: you could spend more money, but you don’t need to. There is also something to be said for a $36 bottle of wine that draws on 22 generations—you read that right, 22 generations—of family experience in one special place. It’s powerful, and it’s a necessary reminder of Chianti Classico’s place among the greatest red-wine terroirs in the world. Montalcino is a much, much more recent wine phenomenon, but it has leapfrogged Chianti in terms of pricing and recognition among Sangiovese lovers. This is a mistake, folks. I’m a died-in-the-wool Chianti Classico partisan, and “Ser Gardo” rewards my faith. One sip and you’ll see what I mean!
There’s a noble lineage behind this wine that dates to 1349, the most fascinating aspect being that this is not unusual in Chianti Classico. But it doesn’t make it any less epic: The Bindi and Sergardi families first came together in the mid-1500s, when Gerolamo Bindi married Calidonia Sergardi and the couple adopted her brother’s son—marking the beginning of the compound surname. Direct descendants still control the family’s properties, which extend over 1,000 hectares in the Tuscan province of Siena (about 100 of which are planted to vineyards). There are three separate estates at which the Bindi Sergardis produce wine: Tenuta I Colli and Tenuta Mocenni, two high-altitude perches outside of Castelnuovo Berardenga, at the southern end of the Chianti Classico DOCG; and Tenuta Marcianella, located further south near Montepulciano.
“Ser Gardo,” named for Niccolò Sergardi, Governor of the city of Siena (1530), is produced at the Tenuta I Colli; vineyards climb to altitudes of 350 meters in soils rich in yellow limestone known locally as Giallo di Siena, from which a famous type of marble for building is derived. Like many historic estates in Chianti Classico, I Colli was effectively a town unto itself at one time, and is where the family home, which dates to the 14th century, is located. Current proprietor Alessandra Casini Bindi Sergardi works with a winemaking team that includes veteran Tuscan enologists Federico Cerelli and Stefano Di Blasi, both of whom did stints with Antinori.
The 2016 “Ser Gardo” is 100% Sangiovese and 100% spot-on Chianti Classico. The wine was fermented with ambient yeasts and aged in larger-sized used oak barrels for about eight months before bottling. It spent a good while aging in bottle before release, and it’s at a moment right now where all its elements have knit together beautifully: fruit, earth, and oak are precision-balanced and the wine shows some satisfying heft buoyed by abundant freshness. In the glass, it’s a deep ruby-garnet moving to a pink rim, with textbook aromas of black cherry, woodland berries, violets, orange peel, leather, char, tobacco, and underbrush. It is medium-plus in body, boasting fine-grained tannins and mouth-watering acidity. There’s some real power here but the overall impression is more about refreshment and lift. Decant it 30 minutes before serving in Burgundy stems at 60-65 and see if you can think of a more perfect red from grilling after tasting this. Its smoky, savory qualities are ideal for a nicely charred slab or beef, lamb, pork, or chicken. I went with a vegetarian grill option this time for the sake of variety, but don’t rule out skirt steaks drizzled with balsamic. You’ve got options! Enjoy!
