Poggerino Chianti Classico “Nuovo” 21

Poggerino, in Radda in Chianti, is one of the reference-point estates for pure, terroir-driven Sangiovese. Under Piero Lanza, the domaine has built a decades-long reputation for meticulous vineyard work and restrained, traditional winemaking, producing wines that emphasize clarity, balance, and site expression. Antonio Galloni has called them “some of the purest expressions of the Sangiovese grape in Italy.”

For a number of years now, Piero has made a new cuvée raised in cement eggs – hence the wordplay in the name Nuovo. Cement eggs have the virtue of self-stirring, as ambient temperature changes affect the wine in the eggs at different rates, promoting a natural circulation without the need for physical stirring. With no oak flavor mixed in, this wine has particularly pure fruit. The less porous cement makes a wine that evolves more slowly, and as Galloni awarded the 2021 vintage 93+ points, he opined that the wine would need a number of years to show its best. He found dark red fruit with a touch of mint, spice, and licorice.