SELVAPIANA Bucerchiale Chianti Rufina Riserva 2018

(Tuscany, Italy) $42

Besides its delicious red berry, violets, tar, spice, and mineral aromas and flavors, a great Sangiovese has the inexplicable ability to seem both taut and muscular, lean and rich, at the same time. That’s certainly true here. But what makes Selvapiania’s “Bucerchiale” extra delicious is its faint hint of saline. Salty flavors amplify the flavors around them (think about tomatoes sprinkled with sea salt), so when you have this Chianti Riserva with a great pasta, it’s heavenly. Under the Giuntini family, Selvapiana has been making wine for almost two hundred years in Chianti Rufina (Rufina is the smallest subzone in the Chianti area). The estate is owned and run by the brother-and-sister team of Federico and Silvia Giuntini A. Masseti, children of the late Franco Masseti, Selvapiana’s longtime manager. They were formally adopted by Selvapiana’s owner, Francesco Giuntini (who was childless), to carry on both the estate and the Giuntini name. (14% abv)

97 points KM

Available at SaratogaWine.com