The 2016 Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Vigna del Sorbo is a wine of tremendous aromatic intensity, freshness and nuance. Sweet floral and spice notes meld into a core of blue/purplish fruit, lavender, licorice and leather, with veins of bright acids that perk things up nicely. Readers need to be patient with the 2016, as it is going to need at least a few years to come into its own. But I have seen this before with Vigna del Sorbo. Sometimes the more reticent vintages turn out the be the most complete and thrilling wines with cellaring. I imagine that will be the case here as well.

This is always an entrancing Gran Selezione and the 2016 shows dried raspberries, boysenberries, vanilla and brambleberries. Full-bodied and tightly wound with eye-catching minerality. The acidity sharpens out the exuberant red fruit perfectly. Incredible length and drinkability. Is this better even than the great 2015? I think so. From organically grown grapes.

The 2016 Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Vigna del Sorbo is another benchmark wine from Tuscany that shows the incredible potential of this iconic vintage. This beautiful single-vineyard Sangiovese reveals a graceful side with dark fruit intensity, cherry, plum, fresh violets and tilled earth. Tar, tobacco and licorice appear as delicate background tones, giving more volume and texture to the wine's sensorial impact. Vigna del Sorbo shows its own precise identity that is fiercely faithful to Sangiovese, but that also pushes the boundaries to go beyond our highest expectations of the grape in terms of color, concentration, aromatic complexity and staying power. That's the Panzano magic in a nutshell. ML

Light oak notes wrap around a core of black cherry, black currant, iron and earth flavors in this intense red. Firm and balanced, with a fresh, mineral- and tobacco-tinged finish.