1999 Fattoria di Fèlsina Berardenga Fontalloro- Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT (3/6/2021)
Opaque dark garnet. Nose of airy floral notes, fine earth, searing cherry pits, berry, leather. Ringing tart cherry, strawberry, dried tomato, grippy soil, tobacco, and leather melding nicely on the settled but elegantly rich palate. Firm tannin balanced by excellent acidity, with a long finish of burnished red fruit, anchoring earth, and velvety texture. A fine-boned, elegant classic beauty. (93 pts.)
I have more Rancia than Fontalloro in the cellar but could not tell you why (we did tour the Rancia vineyard long ago with Giuseppe Mazzocolin and it made an impression to be sure). Recently I have a sampled a 1994 Fontalloro and this 1999, and both showed very well. More research is certainly in order.
I’m always happen to open either. The Fontalloro always struck me as a slightly easier, more accessible wine, but both are of fantastic quality and honestly it depends on mood. There aren’t many wines as classy for the price, even as the price creeps up.
I had both 1997s side by side about 5 years ago. Both were lovely, and the Rancia more youthful, but I definitely preferred the Fontalloro. It was nice to see my consistent preference when they’re young hold up with age.
Good to hear. I admire your patience! Can only imagine how terrific that bottle tasted.
Doug,
My 1997’s unfortunately are long gone; I enjoyed the vast majority of them when they were 10-15 years old. Just couldn’t keep my hands off. It would be very intriguing to taste them now.
Charles,
You got that right. Sadly this was my only bottle.
Doug - Based on your encouraging note, we opened a bottle of 1999 Fontalloro last night, and it showed similarly well. Our previous experience with Felsina '99s (Rancia and Fontalloro) was that they were a bit four-square. This one had really opened up and was quite generous with perfect texture as you describe.
Marshall - glad your 1990 Fontalloro showed as well for you as it did for us a couple of years ago. Delish!
Don’t know what to add about the Fontalloro vs. Rancia debate. We’ve had great experiences with both, especially with sufficient aging. We opened an excellent 2004 Rancia a few weeks ago. Not as good as a 2006 Rancia that we had earlier in the year, but still reminded us of why top chianti classico is a real treat. Cherry, earth, leather, herbs, yum.
A very interesting discussion, to say the least - and I am clearly not in agreement with most of you. I almost never prefer the Fontalloro - in fact, I’m sure in past TNs I have referred to it as a Chianti for California Cab lovers.
To me, it always comes across as the more sculpted wine. Rancia is the more rustic wine, but that is generally what I am looking for in a Chianti.
But I guess at the end of the day, that’s what makes this hobby so fascinating - the fact that we can have folks equally enthusiastic about Felsina, but doing so liking totally different wines .
FWIW, I often think that in terms of ultimate bang for the buck, the CCR is the wine one should buy by the case in most vintages.
Bob,
Agree that Rancia is more rustic, maybe even more “serious”. Sculpted is a good term for the Fontalloro… but it really is fun. Preference is personal.
Thanks for reminding everyone about CCR. What a value! I can’t believe I DIDN’T buy a case when the 2015 was offered at $17/bottle. (Discount because everyone wanted to talk only about the 2017s.) I bought a 6-pack and immediately regretted not buying more.
Regards,
Peter
Lots of good thoughts here. CC and CCR from this house are certainly age-worthy wines well worth stocking up on (I’m doing that now regarding the 2016’s). Regarding the present thread, I have usually preferred the Rancia bottling, but after sampling the 1994 and 1999 Fontalloro, now I’m not so sure. The great thing of course is that we don’t have to choose! Both wines seem to blossom after extensive ageing.
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