Chianti Classico Collection at Stazione Leopolda in Florence

Florence and the Chianti Classico Consor held a lovely event that was a Chianti lover's dream last week on February 17th at the Stazione Leopolda event center. It was the preview for press and wine industry professionals to taste the 2008, 2009 and Riserva 2006 Chiantis, before they go on the market. There were 148 producers presenting 358 different Chianti Classico labels and 70 barrel samples on hand for tasting.



These events are always overwhelming - there is so much wine to taste and only so much time and your palate can only go so far. I can only taste about 12-15 wines before my palate gets pretty dead. It would be great if you could go over more than one day.


The decor was chic and they did not cover the bare stone walls of the old train station, Stazione Leopolda. The lighting was really hot though, which is always annoying because you get hot from tasting plus the wine gets warmer than it should as well. Overall though, it was quite organized (for an Italian event) and they gave each attendee a nice weighty book that had one page per producer with the wines they brought and space for tasting notes. This was a BIG plus for me, as large wine tastings rarely give you something where you can write nice notes on each wine.


This tasting was not very publicized, and the buzz in the Florentine wine world was that these upcoming years were nothing great, especially 2009's previews. But I found a few great wines:

The highlight was definitely from Isole e Olena, their Chianti Classico 2008 preview, which was a barrel sample. The wine was harvested on October 15th, which I mistakenly thought was a late harvest. Especially since the nose was very raisin-y, it seemed like a late harvest, with amarone-like notes. The nose was extremely complex, with licorice, cherry and floral notes combined with the raisiny aroma. Obviously it's hard to judge when the wine is so young, but the fresh acidity balanced well with the young tannins. This wine is one to watch for the future.

Other standouts were the Badia a Coltibuono Chianti Classico Riserva 2007, which had a beautiful nose of pepper, macerated fresh red fruit, and sweet spices such as cinnamon. The tannins were pretty mellow considering how young it was though. This may be one of those wines made to show young and not for long term aging.

The Castellare di Castellina Chianti Classico 2008 was also lovely with cherry, red licorice and herbt notes with a lively acidity on the palate.

And at the very back end of the room, there was an Enomatic machine, which you may have seen at a local wine store. These machines help preserve already open wine bottles so that they can be dispensed by the glass without going bad quickly as the outside air, filled with oxygen, breaks them down.

Except this Enomatic was a bit different - it was filled with bottles of oil!



Of course, oil does not need to be preserved this way, but it was a cute presentation and there were lots of olive oils available to taste.