Girl Power: The Outstanding 2015 Villa Sant’Anna Chianti Colli Senesi
Posted on: 11/6/18 7:33 PM
There are few wines I would rather have on my table for a hearty mid-week dinner than the outstanding 2015 Villa Sant’Anna Chianti Colli Senesi. Cherry jam, plum, flowers and sweet spices held by a persistent velvety tannin, this is a terrific, earnest, exquisitely rendered Chianti all of us can enjoy.
2015 Villa Sant’Anna Chianti Colli Senesi
From Importer Neal Rosenthal: “From vineyards with a southwestern exposure situated at about 1,000 feet above sea level. Composed of 80% Sangiovese with 10% Canaiolo and 10% other indigenous varietals, the average age of these vines is now (as of 2012) approximately 30 years. The grapes for the Chianti Colli Senesi are macerated for 15 days in cement cuves at temperatures reaching 30 degrees Celsius. After the malolactic fermentation, the wine is then aged in mid-sized barrels for 8 months to a year prior to bottling. The wine is then released after an additional 3 to 6 months of bottle age. Production levels are approximately 1,800 cases per year.”
More About the Wine
While many of you are familiar with Villa Sant’Anna through their remarkable and insanely valued Rosso di Montepulciano (an excellent wine that we sell out of every year) few are aware that Villa Sant’Anna is run and managed completely by women. This all-female team – a rarity in this industry–is nicknamed “the woman’s winery” in the tiny village of Abbadia di Montepulciano in the hills of southern Tuscany. The sizable talent of this team is made immediately clear with their “entry” bottling of Colli Senesi. Lead by the beautiful Simona Ruggeri and her two daughters, Ms. Ruggeri sticks to her family’s two hundred year script of making wine. This means no mechanical harvest – everything is done by hand– using only natural native yeast and aging in old large barrels, just like her grandparents have done so. To be fair Ms. Ruggeri has injected some modernity into her practice, choosing to completely destem and incorporating huge 70,000 liter stainless steel vats for fermentation. She also has help controlling pests and disease in the vineyard through integrated pest management system (IPM) making her fruit not able to be certified 100% organic. But you know what. Who cares? We have to remind ourselves in wine that modernity is not the devil. Ms. Ruggeri and her fearsomely talented team have produced an outstanding Chianti and a sublime value for the asking price.
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