Lot 878 2019 Tuscany Chianti Classico
Ah, Tuscany—home to the Chianti Classico DOCG where towering cypress trees and olive-grove-lined roads wind through vine-covered hillsides, and where today’s release Lot 878 2019 Chianti Classico was sourced.
Chianti borders the Maremma, the Italian “Wild West,” which is home to cowboys herding longhorn cattle through vast stretches of undeveloped wilderness. It’s the place where Tuscan winemakers catch waves along the Tyrrhenian coastline between Livorno and San Vincenzo. They stop for Primi Piatti di Mare at quaint seaside restaurants before venturing an hour and a half back to their wine caves in those Tuscan hills—where DOCG red wines are made in tiny amounts by generational talents.
This region is where iconic triple-digit-priced Super Tuscans like Tignanello and Ornellaia have been created. It’s where Sangiovese grapes are harvested and transformed into gorgeous Chianti reds—just like Lot 878, which comes to us from a pioneering Tuscan family—vintners who over the years have supplied some of our best Italian reds for our Lot program. This is a Chianti Classico we’d put up against any $80+ bottle, and at only $16, it’s nothing short of a steal…
Medium ruby-garnet on the pour, this is a benchmark expression of Italian Chianti Classico. Lot 878 leads with a bowl of ripe cherries, hints of caramel and toffee, toasty oak, and earth. Impressively broad and juicy, with loads of ripe black cherry, then a host of savory black olive, cured meats, and fire-roasted Mediterranean herbs. The finish is long and punctuated by a crushed red granite rock minerality. We call this your everything wine because it’s one to enjoy alongside your best Sunday sauce, weeknight pasta, or brick oven pizza.
Watch as Zach Long, winemaker for Cameron Hughes walks us through a tasting.
UNDERSTANDING ITALY: DOC, DOCG, IGT & VdT