Chianti Classico Vintages from 1995 to 2010
1995
Evaluation: 5 stars
Total production: 276.000 hl (7.26 million gallons)
Wines with excellent structures, rich in colors and aromas and blessed with long lives.
Late spring and a summer with low temperatures but a good supply of rain. The excellent meteorological conditions during September permitted winemakers to obtain high sugar levels and big concentrations of principal components.
1996
Evaluation: 4 stars
Total production: 281.000 hl (7.39 million gallons)
Wines with interesting structures, great harmony and roundness that are also fine and elegant.
A summer with low temperatures in respect to average levels. The weather in September was extremely variable with alternation of sun and rain.
1997
Evaluation: 5 stars
Total production: 268.000 hl (7.05 million gallons)
Potent wines with exceptional structures and finesse, extremely elegant and above all long-lived. Extraordinarily favorable climatic conditions, hot and dry. A precocious harvest and a summer with unusually high temperatures and an almost total absence of rainfall. The mercury registered levels of 30° C. (86° F.) even in September and October.
1998
Evaluation: 4 stars
Total production: 296.000 hl (7.79 million gallons)
Wines derived from musts with good or in many cases excellent sugar content with good levels of acidity, a substantial content of coloring substances and sweet tannins. During the winter months temperatures hovered constantly at levels above average for the season. The end of the winter was mild, while the spring was hot and relatively rainy. Summer was long, hot and droughty until mid-September when there was a lowering of the nocturnal minimums. Substantial rain fell at the beginning of October. Harvesting occurred ahead of the usual time in many zones around September 20.
1999
Evaluation: 5 stars
Total production: 300.000 hl (7.9 million gallons)
Wines with great structures, full-bodied, concentrated and rich in noble and evolved tannins, great equilibrium, roundness, softness, complexity and sapidity.
An unremarkable winter without major frosts and spring began on a mild note. April and May were rainy with temperatures below average. However, the mercury rose in June, July and August, while the summer was hot and relatively dry with brief showers that proved to be highly favorable for the development of vegetation and uniform ripening. Harvesting occurred around September 20.
2000
Evaluation: 4 stars
Total production: 291.000 hl (7.6 million gallons)
Qualitatively the results of the harvest were good with extremely concentrated grapes, high sugar levels and good phenolic maturation. The wines possessed characteristics ideal for moderate to extended maturation. The flavor is intense and odorous.
A mild winter followed by a spring that was hot and relatively humid. High temperatures in June were succeeded by abnormally low readings in July.
In the second half of August, several days of extremely high temperatures caused conditions of stress in some vineyards. Fortunately, some thunderstorms at the beginning of September resolved the situation.
The ripening of the grapes ended slightly in advance of the usual time and, consequently, the harvesting of the more precocious red varieties began in early September, while the harvest of Sangiovese began around September 20.
2001
Evaluation: 5 stars
Total production: 263.000 hl (6.9 million gallons)
The wines show qualitative parameters superior to those registered in the most recent vintages insofar as the medium values of alcohol content, color intensity and net dry extract are concerned. That encouraged speculation that maturation would result in a positive evolution. Budding occurred far ahead of the usual time because of an extremely mild winter. In mid-April, cold weather unexpectedly returned and damaged the buds that had just opened. This did not have any negative consequences for the quality of the grapes. However, it did affect quantity, which was down by 10% in comparison with the preceding vintage.
Afterward, the season developed in the usual way, boosted by high temperatures and a good level of rainfall. The summer was extremely dry with little rain in July and August but with temperatures in the average range. In September some rainstorms favored the ripening of the grapes, a process completed at the end of the month. Harvesting was carried out at the traditional time, beginning in the early days of September.
2002
Evaluation: 2 stars
Total production: 269.000 hl (7 million gallons)
Wines with solid bodies and moderately intense colors, agreeable flavors but capable only of brief aging.
A vintage characterized by weather conditions that were not particularly favorable, beginning with a harsh winter with only a few rainy days. The first substantial rainfall was registered in April when the vines were budding. At that time the temperatures were still somewhat low. However, they rose in an unusual way in the last 15 days of June, which tended to suggest that veraison would occur precociously. However, that did not happen and the summer season continued with a July characterized by temperatures inferior in respect to the average and frequent rainfall. Conditions of extreme variability persisted in August, causing delays in the ripening of the grapes. Harvesting began toward the end of September and was carried out in bursts with the aim of vinifying only ripe and wholesome grapes.
2003
Evaluation: 4 stars
Total production: 242.000 hl (6.4 million gallons)
Despite anomalous climatic conditions and the ferocious summer heat wave, the wines of this vintage showed excellent qualitative characteristics, including intense colors and aromas, good structures, extremely high alcohol levels and a predisposition to medium-long maturation.
The vintage was characterized by a long, hot and dry summer, in which rainfall was sporadic, especially in the final phase of the ripening of the grapes. Analyzing the transformation process from a technical standpoint, we can report that vinification was somewhat difficult, especially insofar as the fermentation of highly sugary musts was concerned, since in certain cases the process was slowed or even halted. Such setbacks were easily corrected through interventions that stimulated development of yeasts and controlled fermentation temperatures. The aim was to guarantee optimal metabolic conditions for fermentation. Afterward, when alcoholic fermentation ended, there were no problems with the launching and carrying out of malolactic fermentation, which was favored by limited content of malic acid in the grapes at the time of harvest.
2004
Evaluation: 4 stars
Total production: 251.000 hl (6.6 million gallons)
Wines with good structures and notable alcohol levels, idea for medium-long maturation. Different from the two preceding years, the weather pattern was normal. In April and May temperatures were inferior to the seasonal average, which led to a delay in the budding of the vines. Thanks to abundant precipitation in May, the terrains were able to store a substantial reserve of water, which was released gradually during the summer and assured perfect ripening of the grapes. In September, favorable variations in temperatures continued throughout the month (with days that were still hot and cool nights), That assured the safeguarding and maintenance of the aromatic components found in the grapes. The climatic alternations in October (with sunny days and periods of rainfall) resulted in further slowing of the launching of harvesting. However, delays were already forecast in August. The most precocious varieties were picked no earlier than September 25, while the harvesting of the vines that ripen later began around October 10
2005
Evaluation: 3 stars
Total production: 258.000 hl (6.8 million gallons)
The winter was characterized by harsh cold and abundant snowfall and those conditions lingered until the end of February, beginning of March. Budding occurred regularly in April and it was accompanied by the rain characteristic of the early spring period. Temperatures were well above the average level in June. Beginning at the end of July and continuing throughout August, temperatures were below the average for the period and rain fell at regular intervals. All this caused a delay in the ripening of the grapes and the startup of harvesting. Throughout September, thermal variations were favorable (with days that were still hot and cool nights) and assured the safeguarding and maintenance of the aromatic components found in the grapes. Climatic conditions were also variable throughout October with effects on the harvesting of the Sangiovese, which began at the end of September in the most precocious zones and ended on October 20.
2007
Total production: 280.000 hl (7.396 million gallons)
The 2007 harvest was on average about one week early in comparison with the 2006. That did not represent a substantial shift in the harvest date, despite the considerable advance in the revival of vegetation, which was favored by temperatures that were above average. That left the field open for a variety of predictions.
If, in fact, there was no real winter, which made growers fear an excessively dry growing season, rainfall in June and August revived the vines. Conditions in the spring-summer period permitted viticulturists to obtain at harvest grapes of excellent quality with various points of excellence. Grape clusters were perfectly formed from the standpoint of wholesomeness and the balance of all their components. They had high sugar levels, which form the bases of wines with excellent structures.
During vinification, the musts developed along regular lines even for those who fermented their wines with a natural process using native yeasts, especially in cases of elevated sugar content. It is precisely the regularity of the kinetic fermenting elements and the subsequent rising temperatures that permitted exaltation of the extraction of the aromatic component from the skins and that made the young wines extremely fruity at racking.
Secondary (malolactic) fermentation, the carrying out of which is essential for wines that require medium-prolonged maturation, like Chianti Classico, is particularly important in a vintage like the 2004 with its extreme regularity. It is launched in most cases at the end of the alcoholic fermentation and usually without any problems, since it is favored by a moderate content of malic acid in the musts.
After the racking, the young wines of the 2007 vintage, entered the next phase, maturation in the various types of wood, presenting from the analytical standpoint on the average an excellent content of alcohol and a good level of total acidity, two characteristics that along with a notable content of total polyphenols supports conclusions that the 2007 will be a great vintage for Chianti Classico, whether in the case of the young regular wine or the Riserva.
2008
Total production: 268.100 hl (7 million gallons)
The weather in 2008 was sometimes conflicting in trends but in the end they offset one another: the rain and cool temperatures in May and June permitted fewer flowers to set and in some cases made it impossible to give necessary mold-prevention treatments. But in the period most important to grape growth nature did not fail to do its work.
In fact, a dry, hot summer was perfectly counterbalanced by mid-August rains when a number of storms enabled the vines to breathe again and restored their energy.
Excellent day/night temperature differences between late August and early September were ideal for the final stage of grape ripening, and this year the grapes were picked a bit later (about 10 days further along) than in recent years. Harvesting therefore occurred during a period more traditional for Chianti Classico, between the end of September and beginning of October, when the grapes grown in the highest parts of the territory had completed their ripening in an optimal way.
Despite the difficulties encountered in late spring, by harvest time the grapes were perfectly healthy and in the cellar alcoholic fermentation was rather quick in the initial phase, thanks precisely to grape ripeness.
Likewise, malolactic fermentation swiftly followed primary fermentation without posing any problems.
2008 wines are revealing elegance and excellent aromas, with an alcohol content and a structure that give them the rotundity and mellowness typical of the finest wines.
2009
Total production: 295.000 hl (7.793 million gallons)
Strictly from the weather standpoint, seasonal averages were at times exceeded but balanced each other out, making for an optimal year overall.
The mild winter temperatures that have become the norm were followed by an exceptionally rainy spring, whose effect was premature vine reawakening and rather speedy growth.
The summer was hot but coped with well by a terroir that from late August on was able to enjoy big changes in temperature that brought cool nights. In September, with rainy and sunny days alternating, the grapes were able to complete maturation with excellent results.
Ripe fruit came to the cellar, with good aromatic complexity.
The results shown by testing the first wines of 2009 are, in fact, more than good: the 2009 Black Rooster has average alcohol content, deep color and net dry extract above average for the past few years, promising fine evolution with aging.
Total acidity was generally low, due in particular to an almost total absence of malic acid and volatile acidity, confirming the excellent fermentation techniques used by Chianti Classico wineries.
