A very young winemaker and producer has signed the CHIANTI CLASSICO RISERVA among the 100 most exciting wines in the world by Wine Spectator

With the 25th place in Wine Spectator's list of the 100 Most Exciting Wines in the World for Chianti Classico Riserva, signed by Caterina Sacchet , second generation of Carpineto , the dream of the two young people, just over twenty years old, who in 1967 wanted to make the best Chianti Classico , has come true.

"I'm speechless. This wonderful achievement is deeply gratifying. At such a strategic and complex time, we couldn't have received better international recognition. The most exciting thing for me is that the 2020 Chianti Classico Riserva is in the TOP 100, a wine from the region where this wonderful adventure began. The passion passed down from our ancestors allows us to experience these wonderful joys and emotions."

These are the hot words of Caterina Sacchet , producer and second-generation winemaker with Antonio Michael Zaccheo, of CARPINETO , founded in 1967 in Chianti Classico by her father, Giovanni Carlo Sacchet and Antonio Mario Zaccheo, just after learning of its 25th place with 93 points in the Wine Spectator Top 100.

Caterina is young, enthusiastic, passionate, but above all, very talented . After working alongside her father in the vineyard and cellar since she was 18, she graduated in oenology in Florence and gradually took over the reins. Today, she signs all of Carpineto 's wines, producing a string of successes.

Deep wines, with great personality, caliber, and extreme technical precision, consistent quality. The stylistic hallmark that sets her apart from the inherited talent that has shaped her is her winemaking creativity, that contemporary vision that gives naturally powerful wines balance, elegance, and memorable complexity.

Caterina has technique but she also knows how to enrich it every time with a strong oenological sensitivity, an uncommon foresight.

In the case of the 2020 Chianti Classico Riserva , she herself defines it: " one of the most beautiful vintages of recent years, especially for wines suitable for long aging. From a sensory point of view, the vintage is characterized by excellent varietal expression, elegance, a vintage destined for wines suitable for very long aging .

A vintage in which a fairly cool spring was followed by a long, hot summer, but with good temperature variations between day and night, allowing for optimal completion of the grape ripening process. Thanks to the sporadic rains in June and September, the vines allowed for excellent grape ripening to complete.”

In Wine Spectator's review , it is a powerful, rich-bodied red, in which black cherry and blackberry are combined with notes of wild herbs, iron and earth that add depth, while the finish is long and spicy.

Almost 60 years ago, Giovanni Carlo Sacchet and Antonio Mario Zaccheo founded Carpineto with the aim of producing the best Chianti Classico the terroir could offer, and Chianti Classico was their first wine, going against the production standards of the time.

“This is also why today's results in Chianti Classico represent the outcome of a far-sighted vision, the fulfillment of the dream of our fathers, who founded the company in 1967,” underlines Antonio Michael Zaccheo, also second generation.

Today, in fact, the young generation of Carpineto , pursuing that dream in this denomination, produces three labels, the Chianti Classico annata, the Chianti Classico Riserva and the Chianti Classico Gran Selezione , the "flower" of Chianti Classico from the best fruit of the most suitable estate vineyards.

A curiosity: even the label of the Chianti Classico Riserva has remained almost the same over the years as the first Carpineto label, with Rubens' self-portrait.

"My father found at home, just as he and Sacchet, in his early twenties, started the business, an engraving by Marchi Incisori of Rubens's self-portrait. The engraving, which was in the family collection, was chosen as the symbol of the then-new winery in Greve in Chianti and of the first wine produced, Chianti Classico , as Rubens boasted a long history of love for Tuscany and wine. This image is still the symbol of our Chianti Classico , in its three different versions: the Annata, the Riserva, and the Gran Selezione," says Antonio Michael Zaccheo.

The Dudda estate, or Appodiato, in Greve in Chianti, the company's original location, known for centuries as "Carpineto," is located on the hills at an altitude of 300 meters in the Chianti Classico area, in one of the coolest microclimates in the appellation. It is the historic heart of the company, which also has four other estates in Tuscany's most prestigious terroirs. The estate's history is also emblematically represented by its extensive wine archive, featuring a large number of historic vintages.

Approximately 150,000 bottles of the 2020 Chianti Classico Riserva were produced.

Shelf price €23