Our wines have very little added and nothing taken away.
Winemaking pared down to a minimum.
V - Vermentino
The Montecalvi V is a white wine introduced in 2018. Not having our own white grapes, we carefully selected both the variety, Vermentino, and the local grower so as to ensure quality and character. For this wine, we ferment one third on the skins for around one week, gently submerging the cap to ensure that the skin-contact character of the wine remains subtle and balanced. Once pressed, we blend this portion back in with the remaining wine and leave it to complete both alcoholic and malolactic fermentations. After fermentation, the wine is left on heavy lees with occasional batonnage until bottling. Fresh, vibrant, citrus tones and aromatics, but with unique character and depth.
Click here for the technical sheet.
Chianti Classico
Chianti Classico is Sangiovese's viticultural epicentre and Montecalvi's Chianti Classico is the beating heart of our estate. This wine is made from Sangiovese from our Montecalvi vineyard, complemented by a touch of Canaiolo and Canina Nera (with a good percentage of whole bunches in the ferment). This wine sees around 30 days in stainless steel tank, 18 months in French oak tonneaux and six months in bottle prior to release. The wine is elegant, poised, and eminently drinkable now but with real cellaring potential.
Our current offering is the Chianti Classico 2019. Here’s what the critics have been saying:
- Emily O’Hare, Decanter: “Very light intensity of colour yet the impact on the nose and palate of this Sangiovese is dramatic: a plot twist that, from sight, one would not expect. The nose is salty, sweetly spiced and faintly herbal, with star anise, peppered tartare and fresh mint, but the palate is really where the drinker can get lost down rabbit holes. The tannins are so resolved that they sit back and do not occupy centre stage as Sangiovese wines so often do; thus the acidity and fruit interplay is flamboyant and theatrical, with a long finish. More acts to follow, it would say. 94 points.”
- Marquis Williams, Prix Wine: “This Chianti is insane” -- “This Sangiovese ... explodes with bright fruit flavors, freshness, and finesse. It’s just the right type of gift for the Italian wine lover in the family or the pal who is just beginning their Italian wine journey … Silky smooth texture, perfectly balanced acidity with rustic red ripe fruits – this is sure a wine that will knock the socks off any level of a wine drinker for sure.”
- Michaela Morris, Decanter: “Montecalvi changed hands in 2017 and now boasts Brit expat Tim Manning at the winemaking helm. He does a long post-fermentation maceration for a portion of the blend and there’s also a dash of co-fermented whole-bunch Canaiolo Nero and Canina Nera. Fragile garnet in hue but still very much alive and kicking, its citrus scents of blood orange and grapefruit counter sweet earth nuances. The palate is midweight and fluid, with an explosion of forest berries and hints of pleasant bitter peel. Soft, sandy tannins and sour cherry acidity provide understated backbone to this umami-laden mouthful.” -- 90 points
- Walter Speller, Jancis Robinson: “Barely mid ruby. Subtly perfumed sweet red-fruit nose with savoury saline notes and hardly perceptible oak. A fullness of elegant fruit on the palate that comes almost unexpectedly followed by cracking tannins. This marches to a different beat. Very long, but still a little embryonic.” -- 17++
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Chianti Classico Riserva
This is our second Chianti Classico Riserva. The fruit is from our Montecalvi Alto vineyard and is picked, vinified and aged separately. Fermented in small batches, 25% whole clusters, aged in (third use) barrique for 24 months. The wine is poised, elegant, understated – the shape of Montecalvi Chianti Classico Riserva to come. The label was painted by renowned local artist, Sandro Granucci. It is called ‘Equilibrio Ecologico', the sculpture of which is at Montecalvi.
Walter Speller said this about the Chianti Classico Riserva 2019: “Glowing mid ruby. Subtle, yet concentrated balsamic nose with ripe raspberry top notes and still a little closed. Ripe pure fruit with increasingly vibrant acidity and fantastic chewy tannins. Long and focused but closes up. Patience needed but will undoubtedly pay off.” – 17.5
Jamie Goode on the 2018 Riserva: “It has an intoxicating aroma of spice, red cherries, herbs and liqueur-like berry fruits, with a bit of acid lift. The palate is concentrated and intense with keen acidity, raspberry, plum, cherry and damson fruit, and a lovely tension between the ripe fruit, the keen acidity and grippy structure, and the savoury spicy notes. It’s a really beautiful wine, showing a bit of tension, some slight volatility (but it really works in context), and lovely fruit concentration. A wonderful expression of Chianti Classico. 94/100.”
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Alta Valle della Greve
Montecalvi produced an AVG in the past (the last vintage year was 1996) and we decided that it was only right to reintroduce this denomination now in celebration of our specific terroir. Our new interpretation of the AVG is a blend in equal measures of Sangiovese and Cabernet Sauvignon.
Tony Wood (Italian Wine) had this to say about our AVG 2016: "Medium ruby red in colour. Aromatics of old red rose and violet. Bing cherry on a bed of alcohol, raspberry, cassis, eucalyptus. Dried Mediterranean herb nuances. Juicy and inviting. Broadens on the mid palate. Silky tannins encircle fresh fruit with baking spice dusting. Full of character." -- 93 Points.
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San Piero
Since the late 1950s, Cabernet Sauvignon has formed an integral part of the viticultural landscape of Tuscany. San Piero is a single vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon that shows perfectly why this variety has made its home not only in Tuscany but also here, on our estate. The darker fruit and grainy tannins are unmistakably Cabernet Sauvignon but the character of this wine is unquestionably Montecalvi. Our San Piero spends around 30 days in stainless steel tank, 24 months in French oak (barrique and tonneaux), and at least 12 months in bottle prior to release. This is a single-vineyard Super Tuscan with character and elegance, ready to drink now but will improve with time in bottle and cellar.
Tony Wood (Italian Wine) said this of the San Piero 2016: "Pale purple in colour. Dark floral canopy. Red and black berries, wild cherry, blood orange. Green tea and ginger nuances. Superb intensity. Terrific persistence. Savoury and earthy. A triumph." 96 Points.
Michael Godel (Wine Align) said this about the San Piero 2014: “A varietal cabernet sauvignon, “a slow burner” as winemaker Tim Manning calls it and so a wine that stays in bottle for a good long time. Yet it scents directly of cabernet sauvignon but just as much Toscana and I’d go so far as to say Greve in Chianti. Youthful is the understatement, complexity the operative over and actually quite the traditional wine. Surely some volatility and Brett but with this much going on there can be many hats worn and hung up to rest. Such a rich and chalky wine that tastes like nothing else but still just seems to be from here.”
Winescritic says: “Bright and graceful in the glass, offering notes of currants, raspberries and lemon blossom. Medium-bodied, soft tannins with good distension and maturity.”
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VV
Vigna Vecchia is the wine we make from our Le Terrazze vineyard, one of the oldest vineyards in Tuscany planted on dry stone wall terraces in 1932. Not just a single vineyard wine, but wine made from ancient Sangiovese, Canaiolo and Ciliegiolo vines. Fewer grapes per vine, and especially vines of this antiquity, means more concentration, more complexity, and more character. Our VV spends 30 days in stainless steel tanks, 24 months in French oak tonneaux (second and third use), and at least 12 months in bottle prior to release. Because each of the old vines yields only a handful of grapes, we produce only a limited number of bottles of VV each vintage. We promise you that you will be taken by the sheer elegance and depth of character of this wine.
Tony Wood (Italian Wine) had this to say about the VV 2019: "Deep salmon with pale garnet undertones. Delicate floral aromas, pink rose petal to the fore. Wild strawberry, loganberry, dried Mediterranean herbs. Faint liquorice notes. Long grain black pepper. Silky smooth entry. Showing class immediately, completely seduces the palate. A charming and pretty wine." -- 94 Points.
Michael Godel (Wine Align) said this about the VV 2016: “Just bottled a few weeks ago and from the 1932 planted vineyard. Essentially sangiovese though having been planted then it’s surely a field blend with a few plants of canaiolo, trebbiano, etc., The aromas are so different, lifted aromatics that sing while the volatility remains really low. Won’t be released for years with 2016 being the current vintage available. Talk about the texture and the passion. Incredulous wine from a very specific old vineyard.”
Ernesto Gentili has included the VV 2014 in his top ten Sangiovese IGTs available on the market today. He said this about the wine: “Light and transparent in colour, characterised by a graceful floral bouquet, it is very fresh, a thin green thread but elegant and slender in development. Excellent interpretation of the 2014 vintage. 92/100.”
Click here for the technical sheet.
