QRW | Spring 2011 | Tuscan Treats

Tuscan Treats

Tenute Piccini produces delicious Chiantis at sensible prices.

Richard L. Elia

Martina and Mario Piccini

Italian wines — Tuscan wines generally and Chianti Classico specifically — are challenging. The wines can be world class and incredibly expensive in the manner of Super Tuscans, the cost of which can prompt heart palpitations, or they often can be mundane and eminently forgettable at any price. Our experience is that most forgettable Chianti Classico is found at Italian restaurants eager to balance their expensive wine lists, or which use them as house wines, which can be a hair raising experience, furthering the stereotype of older style Chianti, the kind that came in amphora bottles, and were later used for candle stick holders. Today, Bordeaux bottles are used, and there is more classy Chianti Classico than ever.

Discovering sensibly priced Chianti Classico — wines between $20 and $30 — is a challenge. The "Super" bottles cost twice as much. Further, the Sangiovese is a problem grape. Consumers forget that Sangiovese is like Pinot Noir: it's a difficult, fickle grape to grow, and it's site sensitive. (California has tried planting it without much success.) So, expecting to easily find good Chianti Classico (Sangiovese that is elegant with ripe raspberry and black cherry flavors, a whiff of something floral, amidst gentle spice and tannins) at sensible prices is often wishful thinking.

The experience for buying good Chianti Classico is enhanced by buying a good producer. One we've been following for several years is Piccini. The wines are still a relatively well kept secret — they've been in the U.S. for only a handful of years. Mario Piccini, managing director, brought the 2004 Al Poggio to our attention in 2007. We admired it then and more so after a few more years of aging — it's still available for $25. The wines are catching the attention of Italian aficionados interested in taste and value.

Piccini's history is long — since 1882 — and they were one of the first to create a branded wine in Chianti. "We created the branding in 1925 because we wanted to connect with the consumer," says Mario. Today, their bright orange Chianti label stands out, connecting further with consumers. The winery is now in its fourth generation, possessing 790 acres of prime land from Siena to Florence (the heart of the Chianti Classico zones), and presently produces about 10 to 12 percent of the total Chianti in the region. Piccini also owns other Chianti zone properties — the excellent Valiano Estate (170 acres), along with Villa al Cortile and Tenuta Moraia. Piccini is serious. All its wines are DOC or DOCG. Their winemaker since 2006 is Antonella Conti (a graduate of Bordeaux University), one of the leading women winemakers of the region, with a specialty in Tasting and Sensorial analysis. Mario Piccini is passionate about advancing and protecting Chianti Classico's image, and, to that end, he's an active member on the Board of Directors for the Consorzio Vino Chianti, which is responsible for making wine laws, marketing, and strategy, and upgrading Chianti Classico.

When we last spoke with Mario, he mentioned that he "cut Piccini's production by a half million cases." His father, Pierangiolo, a product of the older, larger volume Chianti world, "would never have believed it," he said. Today, he's cut even more. This, and ruthless pruning, make for quality, and enabled Piccini to become one of the leading producers in Chianti Classico. There's a growing global Italian wine market that is more demanding of Chianti Classico, which wants a more approachable and elegant wine. This is not lost on Mario Piccini or on his sister Martina who handles sales and marketing, and who has furthered the image and availability of the wines globally. She mentions that "nearly 90 percent of the Piccini Wines are sold outside of Italy."

The Wines

Gone are the days of Baron Ricasoli who popularized in the late 19th century the formula for Chianti (Sangiovese with Canaiolo, Trebbiano, and Malvasia). Today appellation rules allow up to 100 percent Sangiovese. Use of any white wine is nearly banished. Small barriques are being used in the maturation process. New oak has become nearly the norm, and the quality is immensely improved. Find the right vintages, which isn't hard because Tuscany has been blessed with six fine vintages since 2000 (2004, 2006, 2007, and 2008 leading the way), get a trustworthy producer (we respect Piccini's pricing — from $15 to $30), and you're sensibly approaching "value" Chianti Classico.

Piccini wines

Tasting Notes: Piccini and Valiano

2006 Piccini Chianti Classico, $15. An everyday wine; ideal with bistro food. Easy and approachable from a good vintage.

2005 Piccini Chianti Classico Riserva, $22. One of Piccini's best wines. Lovely quality for the price. Balance is the key word: oak, spice, black cherry are well rounded and all of a piece. Buy lots!

2004 Piccini Sasso al Poggio, $25. Well textured, soft and smooth, raspberry, cherry, violets, vanilla spice. A great buy. A great vintage.

2007 Valiano Chianti Classico DOCG, $21. Piccini's other Tuscan wine in Sienna. First class winery: ideal terroir, grapes picked by hand; the wine is generous, concentrated, rich with luscious plum, raspberry/strawberry and floral, spice notes. From an outstanding Tuscan vintage.

2005 Valiano Chianti Classico Riserva, $25. One of the best value Chianti Classico Riservas tasted in a long while. Rich, firm structure, strawberry and cherry in the aroma and flavor, with a generous finish.

2006 Valiano Poggio Teo, $30. Well made. Impressive for the price. Violet aroma. Black cherry and raspberry commingle nicely. Lace of anise, spice, soft oak, and long finish. Lots of quality. Fine vintage. Sangiovese focused — balanced, elegant, utterly characteristic of the region.

Piccini photos

More Spring 2011 feature articles:

Best of The Best: California Chardonnay / QRW Tasting Panel
Money In The Bank at St. Supéry / Gerald D. Boyd
J. Lohr’s Small Lots: Petite is Neat / Richard Paul Hinkle
Wines of the Quarter / QRW Staff
Mixing It Up at Ghost Pines / QRW Staff
175 Years: Gonzalez Byass Story / Eleanor and Ray Heald
Black Stallion Estate Wines: A Dream Come True / Richard L. Elia
Wining and Dining: More Best Bites / Edward and Mireille Guiliano
All Things Grape and Small / Randy Sheahan
QRW Crossword: A Scary Celebrity-Themed Restaurant / Patrick Berry