My earliest experiences with Gran Selezione wines from vintage 2010 and even earlier, which were allowed to bear the designation if they fulfilled the requirements, suggested that they hadn’t quite found their footing. Too many producers, possibly burdened with similar prejudices about ‘fine wine’ to those I outlined above, released heavily extracted, murky wines collapsing under the weight of their new oak. However, from tasting some great early-2010s wines now – Fèlsina Colonia 2011, Castello di Ama Bellavista 2011 and Isole e Olena Gran Selezione 2010 – I’ve found the best examples blend darkness and flesh with exotic ethereality.

The truth is that the new wine quality would have been impossible were it not for a 1987 consorzio project called Chianti Classico 2000, which sought to improve the quality of vine material and cultivation methods. The resultant Sangiovese clones had smaller, thick-skinned berries, leading naturally to these darker wines. While many producers have since moved on, working on their own to improve vine material and vineyard management, there is no denying the critical role this project played.

It would also be ignoring a critical narrative strand not to mention the dissatisfaction among some producers (and media) with the decision to base the new quality designation on maturation time rather than site. On its face, this does seem rather odd in a place as various as Chianti Classico, where vineyards are tucked in among forested hills, criss-crossed by streams and rivers, that gradually open to the south. This is to say nothing of the complex geology and famous alberese (calcareous marl), macigno (sandstone) and galestro soils (flaky shales).

In response, in 2021 the Consorzio announced a list of subzones called UGAs (Unità Geografiche Aggiuntive, pronounced ‘oo-ga’ by locals). As of 1 July, they may appear on the front labels of Gran Selezione wines.

The UGAs are substantially larger than the Langhe’s MGAs, more communes than single vineyards. They are largely based on municipal divisions, with a few differences: the two wings of the Castelnuovo Berardenga ‘butterfly’ at the southern end of the zone are split into the western Vagliagli UGA and the eastern Castelnuovo Berardenga UGA; Montefioralle, Lamole and Panzano UGAs, defined by geology, altitude or stream and river flows, are carved out of Greve in Chianti. The wines of high-altitude Lamole especially (see Castellinuzza Proprietà Cinuzzi, Lamole di Lamole and the delightful Filetta di Lamole from Fontodi) have a unique delicacy and perfume that justifies this distinction. However, the largeness and internal diversity of the UGAs makes it impractical to identify UGA-wide traits in many cases.

Still, because using UGA names typically gives more specific location information than commune names, I have identified UGAs even when discussing non-Gran Selezione wines – though technically these are not allowed to bear UGA names. I acknowledge this may lead to confusion but hope that with time some regularisation will resolve the issue.

Another imminent shift in the Gran Selezione is a tightening of the blending rules to require 90% Sangiovese and exclude international grapes. Most traditionalists seem pleased, and I largely agree that Bordeaux varieties (still quite ubiquitous among the wines in this tasting) tend to have an outsized impact, bringing dark tones and thiol-driven notes that feel alien to Sangiovese. However, others resent the restrictiveness.

Arguably, the diversity of traditional grapes provides ample material to work with, and the quality of their clones has improved dramatically. Among our samples were around 50 wines with Canaiolo (Paolo de Marchi of Isole e Olena has a masterful touch with the variety), another 40 with Colorino, 15 with Malvasia Nera, 10 with Ciliegiolo, and a handful each with Mammolo and Pugnitello (check out Rocche di Montegrossi’s Gran Selezione Vigneto San Marcellino). Other than Colorino, a loose substitute for Bordeaux grapes with its dark, full, structured wines, these natives are variations on the Sangiovese theme. Some are more fragrant (Canaiolo, Malvasia Nera and especially Mammolo); some daintier (Ciliegiolo), others chubbier (Pugnitello), but all keep the blend within Sangiovese’s natural stylistic spectrum.

A lingering thorn in the side of the Gran Selezione has been the local Supertuscans, a very different group from the Bolgheri Bordeaux blends. Pure Sangiovese wines like Fontodi’s Flaccianello, Fèlsina’s Fontalloro, Isole e Olena’s Cepparello and above all Montevertine’s Le Pergole Torte were instrumental in showing the world what pure Sangiovese could achieve in this extraordinary territory at a time when Chianti Classico’s regulations forbade varietal wines. Now this hindrance no longer exists, the strong brand identity of these wines, which have mostly eschewed reincorporation into the DOCG, could steal oxygen from Chianti Classico.

However, a decade in, the Gran Selezione is visibly gaining traction, helped along by the release of new projects like the exquisitely polished and elegant IPSUS from the historical Mazzei family and the ascension to superstar status of Gran Selezione wines from Castello di Ama, Fontodi, Barone Ricasoli, Querciabella, Isole e Olena and more. As Italy’s star has risen in the fine wine sphere, it feels apt that its most historical region should shine too; it only took 300 years for the Medici Grand Dukes’ vision to play out.

Tasting notes and scores from Club Oenologique’s Chianti Classico Report 2023 (featuring only those wines scoring 90 points and above) are available to all registered users of The Collection, the online home of our premium wine and spirits content. To register for free, click here.