Montesecondo Chianti Classico

The Messana Family... in a previous life, Silvio & Catalina Messana were New Yorkers. Silvio's father started this beautiful farm in Tuscany in the 1960s, and in the '70s planted the vines that Silvio now tends. In the mid-'90s Silvio's mother fell ill, and he moved his family to Tuscany to be near her. This period also inspired Silvio to take over the vineyards his father had planted, and make great wines that would honor their potential, and in 2000 he produced his first vintage. He, his wife Catalina and their three sons live on this land in a lovely restored farmhouse, with the cellar and bottling room in the basement, just down a gravel drive from the small outbuilding that formerly housed farm animals but has been renovated to contain the winemaking facility.

The Farm and Winemaking... Montesecondo is located in the northwestern corner of Chianti Classico, near the town of Cerbaia. It's a small place with 28 acres of vines. Adjacent to the vineyards are are groves of olive trees, forests, hillsides of brambles and prolific fig trees. Also dotting the land are walnut trees, which are ultimately beneficial to the wines because the ever-present and pesky wild boars will fill up on the nuts before they start eating the grapes. Silvio practices biodynamic farming and natural, non-interventionist winemaking. His style is hands-off and traditional, never using additives, and allowing fermentation to naturally occur at its own pace by only indigenous yeast. He does use modern stainless steel tanks for fermentation, but only the basic model which does not provide automatic temperature control. If it gets too hot, he runs cool water from a hose over the top of the tank to keep the wine from sprinting to its finish line.

The Wine... Montesecondo's Chianti Classico is a blend of 80% Sangiovese, and the rest Canaiolo and Colorino. The wine ages for about 14 months in used oak barrels, which offer the benefit of oak's breathability without all the added aroma, flavor and tannin. The wine has richness and complexity, and the classic tart cherry flavors balanced by an earthy warmth, with enough acidity to cause you to take another sip.