1990 Villa La Selva ‘Riserva’ [Chianti] This has an appealing label with bright colors and scroll work – a true pleasure to look at. The color is a rusty red brown, with fading edges, and light body/legs. Unfortunately, the 12% abv wine inside is thin, lean, and tart - with a tertiary nose of forest and leaves. I wonder if this is truly a commercially available wine; cursory googling suggests Villa La Selva is a Tuscan wedding venue, so maybe this bottling was really just a trinket/souvenir for guests. There was no US import strip on this, the vintage dated back label is all in Italian, and I obtained it decades later. A disappointment, as 1990 has such a good reputation in region, and I was hoping this might have some life left. I’d give this a C in my ledger. On the bright side, current release modern Chianti is riper and more to my tastes.
Never heard of this producer, but generally not all Chiantis, not even most, are made to improve for 20+ years, despite a top vintage.