WTN: 2003 Aia Vecchia Lagone Toscana

If anyone out there is a Chianti specialist I would love some feedback.

Aia Vecchia Lagone Toscana 2003

Color: Dark Garnet

Nose: Jammy red fruit with dark cherries up front

Palate: I get some definite dark fruit right up front (plums, prunes, maybe some raisins). On the midpalate I'm getting some leather, wood (oak, cedar) and some hints of black pepper. The finish is long with good, firm tannins. The body is medium to heavy with long. slow legs.

I had this with Chicken Cacciatore and rapinin with garlic. It worked surprisingly well with the rapini. All in all it was a good dinner and a good wine.

Sounds like a quite nice one. I like the leather and earthy notes in some Chiantis. Was this an IGT/Supertuscan. a Chianti Classico or a C.C. Riserva?

I know that this was not a Super Tuscan or a Classico. I'm not too familiar with Italian designation but this was labeled simply 'Toscano'. I assume that this means it was a sangiovese. What has to be in play for a wine from Tuscany to be labeled 'chianti'?

I know that this was not a Super Tuscan or a Classico. I'm not too familiar with Italian designation but this was labeled simply 'Toscano'. I assume that this means it was a sangiovese. What has to be in play for a wine from Tuscany to be labeled 'chianti'?

It's an appellation (area) description (As is Chianti Classico, which refers to a specific part of Chianti). There are also, I understand, pretty strict rules as to how the wines are made-especially as to which blending grapes can be added. Many "Supertuscans" were introduced by those winemakers eager to try something else (or to ruin the heritage of Chianti, depending on your opinions ) They also have unclassified "table wines" like the French.

Here's what I found on the net.

"A Super Tuscan for a bargain! This is a blend of 60% Merlot, 30%,
Cabernet Franc and 10% Sangiovese which is aged in barriques for
12 months."

I think generally - I'm sure there are many exceptions - if a wine is from Tuscany and does not say chianti, it is probab;y not fully sangiovese but is probably a blend which contains some grapes that may not go into "chianti", like this one.

[Jenise]

Robert, it's not our habit to go around changing how people name their threads, but we do ask that you use the WTN: protocol so that notes can be found by people using the Search mechanism. Since WTN: Chianti Tasting Notes was somewhat redundant, I just inserted the wine's name.

Jenise, so what happems when the title is vague and no WTN? Does WTN work when in the general discussion/posting?

[Jenise]

Bob, vague's fine. We presume a person has a reason for naming their posts as they do, be it vague, specific, fanciful or what have you, and we respect that. Just about the only changes we'll ever make are to add WTN to any TN posted without that prefix, or to correct the spelling of a winery name. Again, all in aid of future searches, and the changes we'd presume you'd make yourself if you could edit a post title, which you can't. But I can so I do, usually without saying a word. This was a little different because Robert's relatively new to the forum and probably unaware of why the WTN protocol is helpful.

Again, all in aid of future searches, and the changes we'd presume you'd make yourself if you could edit a post title, which you can't. But I can so I do, usually without saying a word.

Hmmm. I just edited my post title on another thread (to add WTN and to name the wines.)

Ok got it. I like to use titles like..."Wow, check out these tasting notes". Sure draws attention, like a 2nd hand blind tasting. One coming up this evening around Chat time, I will be there as no tasting tonite.

[Jenise]

Again, all in aid of future searches, and the changes we'd presume you'd make yourself if you could edit a post title, which you can't. But I can so I do, usually without saying a word.

Hmmm. I just edited my post title on another thread (to add WTN and to name the wines.)

Well, see what I know? I thought that wasn't possible. I get email requests from regulars asking me to fix their titles, so I just presumed it was so.

I guess I was able to do that because I didn't know it wasn't possible.

Thanks Jenise. Point taken and mental note made (although I may blow it again sometime).

Back to the post. I am more familiar with French wine and their designations and why they have those designations. While I have loved Italian wine for some time, decades, I have studied it less. So this wine of mine could not be called a Chianti because it probably contained more than sangiovese? Is a Chianti 100% sangiovese?

I think the requirements have changed over time. Prior to about the mid 90's, chianti was required to have some small portion of other identified grapes, including, I believe, a white grape. Starting in the mid 90's, the regulations were changed and now it MAY contain 100% Sangiovese, or may contain a small portion of these other grapes. If it has different grapes than those identified, or a higher percentage of them, it cannot be labelled Chianti. That's my recollection, but there are many more knowledgeable people here who are really up on it.
So if you buy something from Tuscany, even from a wellknown Chianti area, and it is not labelled Chianti, you can presume that it contains some non-approved grape.

...including, I believe, a white grape.

Wow. That's interesting. I wonder what white grape it was, if it was?

Wow. That's interesting. I wonder what white grape it was, if it was?

Google says it was Malvasia bianca, an aromatic white grape with Greek origins.

Wow. That's interesting. I wonder what white grape it was, if it was?

Google says it was Malvasia bianca, an aromatic white grape with Greek origins.

Malvasia and/or Trebbiano, according to http://www.italianmade.com

Still permitted, 'smatter of fact.

Whats the percentage of red to white?

Since, as Clinton says, its "permitted" - not required - many have no white wine content. I don't know what the maximum is now, but I think at one time the max was 15%.

Whats the percentage of red to white?

Max. allowed in standard-issue Chianti is now 10%, but as OW suggests, it's a practice that's largely fallen out of favor with Tuscan producers.

Worth noting that Chianti isn't the only wine that permits blending of red and white grapes. Some high-end N. Rhones--I think Hermitage is one, but I could be wrong--permit small percentages of Viognier, which is said to add aromatic complexity. I know some California-based "Rhone Rangers" follow suit.

Well, damn. You learn something new everyday. If anyone knows of a specific wine that has one of these blendings I would love to hear of it. I'm very interested to try this (if I haven't already, unknowingly).