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Monica Larner - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Here is yet another surprise from Fontodi born during the pandemic. A second new addition to the portfolio, the 2019 Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Terrazze San Leonlino is made with organic fruit from a parcel near the little chapel of the same name in the Conca d'Oro of Panzano. The winey team had noticed a difference in quality from this 4.5-hectare site with limestone alberese soils at a cool 450 to 500 meters in elevation. The best fruit from 15-year-old vines was put aside to make this 5,000-bottle inaugural release. The celebrated Vigna del Sorbo is not too far away, but compared to the wine made from that site, Terrazze San Leonlino is sharper, more focused and offers streamlined fruit weight. The bouquet veers toward wild roses and Mediterranean herb, giving more vertical push to the aromas. The tannins are silky and polished. This new brand will grow slowly over the coming years.
93 Wine Spectator
A pretty red, evoking cherry, blackberry, black currant, violet and iron aromas and flavors backed by lively tannins and vivid acidity, which keep this focused and long. The balance tips slightly to the dusty tannins in the end. Best from 2026 through 2045. 400 cases made, 100 cases imported.
91 Antonio Galloni - Vinous
The 2019 Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Terrazze San Leolino is a new wine in the Fontodi range. Dark and imposing, the 2019 packs a serious punch in its dark fruit, earth, mineral flavors. There is plenty of impact, but less in the way of finesse. Black cherry, cloves, lavender, licorice and mocha. The 2019 spent 22 months in oak and then 4 months in cask. The San Leolino is clearly a work in progress. I find the French oak overpowering.
Proprietor Giovanni Manetti continues to push his estate into new directions. Readers will note the addition of a new wine, the 2019 Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Terrazze San Leolino, which emerges from vineyards in Panzano near the San Leolino church. It will be followed next year by the Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Pastrolo, Manetti’s first estate wine from terraced vineyard in Lamole at 640 meters in elevation. Naturally, those wines are works in progress, so it will be a few years before they reach the level of the other wines in the range. The dual flagships Vigna del Sorbo and Flaccianello are quite good in 2019, although they don’t reach the level of the finest years. The Chianti Classico, always a super-Chianti Classico here, is a standout. A reduction of time in small oak, along with a final phase of aging in cask and a greater emphasis in freshness overall are the key drives to the Fontodi style these days. - Vinous Media
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