My love for Felsina!

Fèlsina. A name reaching back to Etruscan times. A feeling that infuses the air, in harmony with the quality of the light, with the earth’s scent and the fragrance of the breezes, with the march of the seasons and night time silences. Through the endless vine rows one can still today glimpse at the faraway shapes of medieval towers and noble palaces that is Siena. This is the heart of Chianti!
The Grancia at Fattoria di Felsina (from which the toponym Rancia derives) was a complex of buildings and properties usually controlled by the Benedictine monks. Its own agricultural activities were thus brought within the ambit of one of the great hospital complexes of medieval Europe, and certainly one of the most ancient and imitated, known as Santa Maria della Scala.

 My family and I stayed at this wonderful property and we were completely enchanted by it and the medieval village of Castelnuovo Berardenga, the home of Felsina.  Sitting down to dinner with owner Giuseppe Mazzocolin, we could sense his commitment to the tradition and culture that you can taste in his wines.
  There is not too much more I can say about the wines of Felsina and proprietor Giuseppe Mazzocolin, except that they are reference point wines for anyone who wants to discover the essence of contemporary Sangiovese from Chianti Classico.  After spending three days at the estate, I just fell in love.  I fell in love with the philosophy, the respct for the land and of coarse,  the wines.  In particular, the Fontalloro, which represents the estate’s best Sangiovese, from a vineyard which is partly inside Chianti Classico and partly outside the appellation limits in Chianti Colli Senesi. 

  The 2004 is a compelling release from Mazzocolin and long-time consulting oenologist Franco Bernabei, one of the giants of modern Tuscan oenology. Even better, the wine remains very fairly priced. I was amused by a story about  another producer complaining about Felsina’s prices being too low.  Imagine that!

 

2004 Felsina Fontalloro- $49.95btlor $540.00cs    94pts RP 

The 2004 Fontalloro (100% Sangiovese) comes across as fresher and brighter than the Chianti Classico Riserva Rancia, which scored 95pts. Light on its feet, this graceful, delicate wine opens with sweet, perfumed aromatics that meld into raspberries, flowers, spices and a touch of sweet oak that lingers on the finish. It offers remarkable clarity and precision in a pure, focused style, with superb balance and finessed tannins.

 

Mark Lasky / Italian Wine Specialist