Fontodi Flaccianello delle Pieve Colli della Toscana Centrale 2011

Giovanni Manetti took over his family's Fontodi estate in the Conca d'Oro south of Panzano in 1979 and produced the first vintage of Flaccianello the following year, a 100% Sangiovese aged outside the Chianti Classico DOCG regulations that became one of the defining Super Tuscans of the modern era. He and Flaccianello grew up together, as Manetti himself has said, and through decades of refinement, the wine has become one of the most consistent and reliable expressions of Sangiovese on earth. The 2011 vintage was warm and ripe, and Manetti's team removed dried berries by hand on the sorting table to protect freshness, producing a wine that is overtly rich but also carries the inner brightness and menthol-tinged freshness that defines great Flaccianello. Wine Spectator awarded 95, James Suckling 95, Wine Advocate 94, Vinous 94. Violets, crushed flowers, licorice, cloves, and menthol wrap around a soft, seamless palate of gorgeous freshness. Now well into its drinking window, this is a beautifully evolved expression of one of Tuscany's finest wines at an incredibly good price.