TN: 2016 Felsina Gran Selezione Colonia

Really herbal, floral - even some citrus. Well balanced, and I’m really loving the tension, structure, and finish. My favorite Colonia to date? Probably. Easily highly recommended, drink 2022-2044. Excellent.

Posted from CellarTracker

Tim, is this really worth the cost over the Rancia or the Fontalloro?

Thanks for taking one for the team with your early drinking of this one! Look forward to trying it down the line . . .

Thanks for the note.

The question here has got to be, do you want your Chianti with 100% new French oak.

I am a huge fan of Felsina. Rancia and Fontalloro are two of the greatest wine values (and wines generally) in the world IMO. I buy both in volume most years.

Personally, I’m not trading 2 or 3 bottles of those wines for a bottle of Colonia. Even though I am sure the Colonia 16 is excellent and I would assume Tim is correct that it’s the best ever, given the vintage quality. I see this wine as a modern-leaning producer going full modern. I prefer retro. YMMV.

I feel the same way about its other upper-end cuvee, 2016 Fattoria di Fèlsina Berardenga Maestro Raro Toscana IGT. Way too much new wood, very new world. More than happy to just keep drinking the killer QPRs that are the Chianti Classicos. I bought, but have not yet tried, the 2016 Fontollaro bottling. The 2013 is excellent.

I haven’t opened a 2016 Fontalloro yet either. But, like the sun will rise tomorrow, that will be superb at age 10-15+. Galloni is rushing at 2022. Be cool, no hurry. 2026+. The sort of wine to start a collection around.

I stopped buying even the Rancia some years ago. The regular CCR hits that perfect balancing point for me.

I tasted and toured Felsina this summer and left with half a case of the '16 Rancia. The Colonia gets a bit more oak time in the barrel and is a bit more limited but I thought the Rancia was wonderful. Both are 100% new French oak. It was one of my favorite wineries in Chianti from the visits. I’d put it above most Brunello.

Ron, if you haven’t tried it, the '16 CCR (or black label) is really nice.

I have a half case of both the 15 and the 16, and thinking I should have doubled that. The problem is that the years 2015 and 2016 were good almost anywhere in the world and you can’t buy them all. I’m really liking the 2010 CCR right now.

honestly, I didn’t know what this sells for, just posted a note because it’s solid. Now that I know the price, absolutely not worth that kind of premium. That said, and to those that don’t know me, I’m card carrying AFWE/oakphobe, this wine is something I would drink - as long as someone else is buying :sunglasses:

Have come across some nice wines this past week in Barolo and Tuscany, I’ll try and post a few.

That said, and knowing quite a few palates on this board, hoard 2016 Fontodi Vigna del Sorbo. Hoard is a strong word, and yet it applies.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that the 2017 Fontodi CC is firmly in my wheelhouse. It will be the first vintage since 2010 that I’ll buy, and I taste every vintage - for past 20+ years. Some will pshaw a less than critic-wet-dream vintage/score, which works great for me. It’s terrific.

Do people really still listen to critic scores? I thought those went out after people bought big-score Australian wines?

I am hoarding all the 2016 Sorbo I can (a 3L bottle is now among my most prized possessions). Would love to be hoarding Flaccianello too but jeebus, hard to find and costly (almost 3X the 2015). Universal 100-point scores will do that.

Josh – you are right that Rancia is also all new French oak. I should not have distinguished Colonia on that basis. I am a certified oakophobe and I do regard Rancia as treading close to the no-go line, but in my experience it does not show the creamy vanillin sweetness that I so dislike, at least after a decade or so. Possibly Colonia would behave in the same way. But I still would not trade 3 bottles of Rancia for 1 Colonia, which is what it costs.