Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Villa Cigliano Antinori 2021 (750ML)

97 Points, Kerin O'Keefe, KerinOkeefe.com: "The full-bodied 2021 Villa Cigliano Gran Selezione is a beautiful, brooding wine with aromas of new leather, underbrush, lavender and eucalyptus that mingle with whiffs of tobacco. Structured and enveloping, the palate features a great depth of flavors including raspberry compote, black cherry, licorice and dark exotic spice. It’s still quite young but balanced, with fresh acidity. Drink 2031–2041..." 08/25

94 Points, James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com: "A big and juicy wine with lots of vanilla and light caramel, as well as ripe berries and orange peel. Full-bodied and very layered and rich. Flamboyant character. A new single-vineyard Chianti Classico from Antinori. Drink or hold." 08/24

96 Points, Susan Hulme MW, Decanter: "The Cigliano vineyard faces east-west at an elevation of 280m and has a continental climate cooled by coastal breezes and a good diurnal temperature difference. Once a riverbed, the soil is mainly alluvial clay with some limestone and pockets of gravel, galestro and alberese. It produces a richer, rounder, fuller style wine with ripe black fruit. The vineyard is typically harvested 20 days earlier than San Sano and the wine is aged in barrique for 14 months. Opaque ruby in colour, it is warm, friendly and immediate on the nose with ripe blackberry and a touch of prune, fig and lightly fragrant flowers. On the palate it is round, medium-full and gentle with quite a luxurious texture and lovely fine, salty tannins. This is a wine with intensity and character but also great drinkability." 09/24

94 Points, Monica Larner, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate: "The Marchesi Antinori 2021 Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Villa Cigliano (with fruit from the San Casciano UGA in the far northwest corner of the appellation) is a charming expression of Sangiovese and certainly the most accessible of the wines presented in this new series. Villa Cigliano happily drinks beautifully now, thanks to its ripe cherry profile and dusty tannins. Along with dark berry marmalade and some over-ripeness, you get a distinct mineral vein in this wine that recalls the rounded river stones often found in San Casciano's soils." 10/24

94 Points, Antonio Galloni, Vinous: "The 2021 Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Cigliano is packed with inky dark fruit, espresso, sweet spice and licorice. This warm, early-ripening site yields an especially lush Chianti Classico with exuberant, almost exotic fruit. The 2021 spent 14 months in French oak barrels. (Drink between 2026-2041)" 07/24