Wednesday afternoon pre-pasta TNs: Three 2009 Chianti

My better half is making pappardelle with a bolognese, so I decided to pair that up with some fresh bread and a trio of Chiantis from 2009. This has been a vintage that in my experience (along with 2008 for different reasons) is one of the weaker ones from the past decade, and I have been slowly drinking down my stock to get the wines before they start their downward trek. That said, and with the caveat that you do have to make some effort to track it down due to their spotty US distribution, once again in a head-to-head showing with peers, the Castell’in Villa really shows it’s class. One of those rare wines that is both reasonably priced (at least with respect to the CC) and reliably consistent across both good & bad vintages.

The other point to make here - there are still over 1100 bottles of the Bucerchiale in inventory on CT. I know it’s got the rep for being a long ager - I still have 2004’s in the cellar. But if you haven’t tried a bottle recently, do yourself a favor and pull a cork, because given how it’s showing today, I don’t see a lot of upside to holding this wine.

  • 2009 Castell’in Villa Chianti Classico - Italy, Tuscany, Chianti, Chianti Classico DOCG (6/3/2020)
    The nose here is very similar to the Il Poggiale, but it also possesses an earthy note that is pretty intriguing. Best nose of the trio so far.

This wine is also pretty focused on the palate, with good acidity and nice persistence. To be honest, this wine doesn’t even feel like it comes from a hotter vintage. For the vintage, very good.

Nicely expansive on the palate, with adequate acidity. A pretty good showing given the vintage.

Better balanced on the palate, but still a lot of in your face ripeness - you can tell this wine came from a hot vintage. But no real heat on the finish, so the wine does retain a sense of balance.

At least IMO, best to think about consuming this over the next 1-3 years.

Posted from CellarTracker

I would think there are very few (if any) 2009 Chiantis for which are is significant upside to holding them. I had the 2009 Fontalloro the other day, and it was actually quite good, and may “last” another 10-15 years even. But I see no real reason to hold it, and suspect that for MY taste, it’s best consumed now and over the next 3-4 years. In better years I would expect more upside on the top wines, though even for top performers in good years, it can be “hit or miss” with respect to CC and CCR aged beyond 10 years. (A lot of the 2010s, a VERY strong vintage, are drinking quite well right now…so much so that while I’m certainly retaining some to age, I’m also hedging my bets by sampling them and then consuming those that don’t show promise for further age).

Thanks for the notes and insights, both of you.

We had the 2009 Bucherchiale tonight. Just spectacular. I’m very glad we have three more bottles.

I had one of the 2009 a couple of years ago and loved it too.