I've always enjoyed well-made Chianti Classico, but it's one of those wines where I stumbled more or less by accident into a handful of widely distributed producers that I liked well enough to keep buying (Castellare, Volpaia, Badia a Coltibuono*) and then mostly stopped exploring. Somehow, that meant that I'd never bought a bottle of Fèlsina, though I think I've probably had it BTG. My local shop happened to have one remaining bottle of the 2013 along with a bunch of 2014. I got one of each, and last night we opened the '13. And, well, what can I say? I should have been drinking this for years. It's juicier, more concentrated, deeper, more vibrant, and more complex than even my preferred basic CC's -- not a lot, but enough that it immediately leapfrogs to the front of the line.
Why didn't you tell me? Oh, wait, you did.
*I do remember the first Chianti I bought: it was a Gabbiano, probably about a 1988 or so, with the stripey knight on the label, which, freshly legal, I bought when I was looking for a Sophisticated European Alternative to Ravenswood Vintner's Blend Zin. At least it wasn't a fiasco.
