San Felice Il Grigio Chianti Classico DOCG Riserva 2018, Italy

Made only from the finest Sangiovese grapes carefully selected from the estate Chianti Classico vineyards, this Reserva represents the perfect blend of the traditional and the modern. It spends some 24 months in oak, with about 20% in small barriques, and one year in the bottle. The front label bears Titian’s famous portrait of a medieval knight in armour. 2018 vintage: 2018 has began with an early sprouting due to high temperatures in March and April, followed by a fairly rainy May. Temperatures have started to rise again since June; summer temperatures in the norm with scattered rains. The month of September in particular saw a succession of sunny days but with a great thermal excursion between day and night, which allowed the grapes a proper phenolic and aromatic maturation. Fermentation on the skins at 28–30° C for 18–20 days followed by malolactic fermentation in steel. 80% of the wine then matures for 24 months in 60 or 90 hl in Slavonian oak casks, and 20% in 225-litre French barriques, followed by a further 6 months or so in the bottle.