Chianti Classico deep dive (9) Castello di Querceto
Website: https://www.castellodiquerceto.it/?lang=en
I visited Querceto back in October 2008, and here I was back again, some 15 years later, and Alessandro François, who hosted me then, is hosting me again, and he hasn’t aged at all. Now in his 80s and responsible for running his family’s estate since 1978, I conclude that drinking Chianti Classico is the secret of youth. We also visited with sales manager Marco Fizialetti (who is also Alessandro’s son in law).
Querceto are a long-established producer in Greve in Chianti, located in the Dudda Valley. The property has been in the hands of the François family for 100 years: Alessandra’s grandfather Carlo bought it in 1897.
Querceto have 26 different vineyards, with around 60 hectares in all. From these they make five different single vineyard wines. The bottom of the valley is at 400 m, while the top is at 600 m. The speciality of the Dudda Valley is the polychrome soils, which change colour depending on the minerals. Most of these are very stony, and the roots go down deep. All the vines are 25-30 years old, and the soils are free-draining. Ideal for Sangiovese.
Il Picchio is surrounded by forest, and is mainly clay soils with some limestone. It’s 4.5 hectares facing southwest at 420-450 m. High magnesium content.
La Corte is sandy soils with very little limestone and lots of manganese and iron in the soils. It’s a sunny terrace open to the wind. Ite was replanted in the 1970s using the genetic material from the old vines that were replaced, which had originally been planted by Alessandro’s grandfather Carlo François in 1899. It’s a 3.4 hectare vineyard facing southwest at 440-470 m.
Total production is around 450 000 bottles, all from estate fruit. The crus are made at the 15 000 bottle level.
Marco says that now they have less risk at harvest because they are now more consistent and earlier, coming from October into mid-September.
They work a lot with cover crops in the row. No herbicides are used here and weed control is manual.
THE WINES
Castillo di Querceto Chianti Classico 2021
Bright, juicy, vivid and lively with high acidity and juicy cherry and blackberry fruit. Lovely acid line here: this is intense and focused with a classic structure and nice purity of fruit. So linear and direct with a lot of energy. Gastronomic and very tart. 92/100
Castillo di Querceto Chianti Classico Riserva 2020
This is realy nice. It’s fresh and juicy with some tart cherry fruit but also some nice texture and volume. There’s a lovely core of black cherry fruit with nice fruit depth and fine spices. This is very fine and expressive with some elegance but also freshness, showing good structure. 94/100
Castillo di Querceto La Corte Chianti Classico Gran Selezione 2018
This was an IGT for a while because it was 100% Sangiovese. Very expressive and bright with elegant fine, sappy red fruits with notes of iron and minerals. Fruity and expressive with nice firm tannins and good acidity, but also a sense of delicacy, finishes with fine spices and a hint of dried herbs. 95/100
Castillo di Querceto La Corte Chianti Classico Gran Selezione 2019
Lovely concentration here but great freshness with linear black cherry and raspberry fruit. It has good structure here and quite dense fruit, but there are notes of iron and minerals and a sense of freshness, despite the weight. This will age nicely, I suspect, and open up a bit. 95/100
Castillo di Querceto La Corte Chianti Classico Gran Selezione 2020
Youthful, lively and intense with fresh red cherries, minerals, iron and spice, showing high acidity and a remarkable purity of red fruits. Lovely purity to the fruit, but also underneath it there’s quite a bit of structure and nice intensity. Has a beautiful freshness with some liqueur-like sweetness to the red fruits countered by tangy sour cherry notes and lemony acid. Could be quite wonderful in time. 96/100
Castillo di Querceto Il Picchio Chianti Classico Gran Selezione 2018
This has lovely fresh, sweet black cherry and blackberry fruit, with good weight and also some nice texture. It’s bold but still has elegance, showing some gravelly character and a touch of chalkiness, but also open fruit. Very fine in a richer style than La Corte, but still with a lovely mineral tension. 95/100
Castillo di Querceto Il Picchio Chianti Classico Gran Selezione 2019
Lively and intense with a lovely acid line, showing taut black cherry and blackberry fruit with nice structure. It’s a powerful wine: linear and youthful with nice intensity. Massive potential here. It combines fruit with mineral framing and good structure so effectively. Finishes grainy and alert. A long ager. 95/100
Castillo di Querceto Il Picchio Chianti Classico Gran Selezione 2020
Youthful, fresh and quite primary with nice black cherry and blackberry fruit with some floral hints and a touch of sappiness. There’s nice freshness, there’s purity but also a nice dark fruit core. Lovely weight and freshness, with potential for development. 94/100
