Ricasoli Castello Di Brolio Gran Selezione Gaiole Chianti Classico 2021 Wine Review

Natalie's Score: 98/100

Ricasoli Castello di Brolio Gran Selezione Gaiole Chianti Classico D.O.C.G. from Tuscany is a dry, medium-bodied 100% Sangiovese of extraordinary elegance and precision, opening with a hauntingly beautiful nose of dried rose, macerated fig, cedar, incense, and a lifted thread of iron-rich minerality and dried thyme that draws you deeper with every breath. On the palate it is almost weightless yet deeply concentrated, with silky, fine-boned tannins, a spine of vivid acidity, and a finish of extraordinary length that leaves behind whispers of black tea, tobacco, and bitter orange peel long after the glass is empty. Serve at room temperature and enjoy from 2026 onward, as this wine will continue to reward through the mid-2030s and well beyond. Technical director Massimiliano Biagi works under the vision of Baron Francesco Ricasoli, the 32nd generation of the family at Castello di Brolio, crafting this Gran Selezione from a meticulous selection of estate Sangiovese vineyards in the Gaiole sub-zone of Chianti Classico, aged in a combination of large oak casks and French oak barriques to build layered complexity without ever overshadowing the fruit. The Ricasoli family has held land in Chianti since 1141, making this one of the oldest wine estates in the world still in family hands, and it was a Ricasoli ancestor, Baron Bettino, who as twice Prime Minister of unified Italy also spent decades perfecting the original Sangiovese-led formula that became the blueprint for all Chianti. Pair it with a slow-braised pot roast with root vegetables and red wine jus, where the wine's mineral depth and dried herb complexity will weave into every rich, yielding bite, or serve it alongside a roast goose with caramelized chestnuts, letting the wine's fine tannins and cedar notes rise to meet the earthy richness of the bird.

Chianti Classico food pairings: roast goose, black bean soup, pork with soy, pot roast.

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This Ricasoli Castello Di Brolio Gran Selezione Gaiole Chianti Classico 2021 was reviewed on April 28, 2026 by Natalie MacLean

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Please note that our reviews are based on a variety of sources: samples sent to our team, those we purchase in store, tasting events, those tasted in restaurants and while traveling domestically and internationally.

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