30 years of Siepi: tasting the 2007-2022 vintages of this famed Merlot/Sangiovese from Chianti Classico
Website: https://uk.mazzei.it/
Giovanni Mazzei was in town to celebrate the 30 th anniversary of the launch of Siepi, a special super-Tuscan wine from the Chianti Classico area, and one of the leading wines in the portfolio of the Mazzei family. It’s based on a single vineyard in Castellina in Chianti, part of the Castello di Fonterutoli estate.
First made in 1992, the 6 hectare vineyard is a 50/50 blend of Sangiovese and Merlot. Soils are mainly albarese (a form of limestone, with some clay in the mix), and the site is at 240-330, facing S/SW.
The Sangiovese is in two plots, Vallone and Poggione, together totalling 3.1 hectares. Both are planted with massal selections from the clonal selections growing on the estate, and in the more recent planting (2011) a massal selection of the earlier massal selection (1997).
The Merlot is planted in the central 2.9 hectare parcel called Il Piano, and was planted in 1986 and 1987, again with a massal selection of earlier plantings on the estate.
Farming has been organic since 2006.
After fermentation in 10 000 litre vessels, the wine ages 18 months in French oak. One interesting fact. While in much of the wine world there has been a move towards using less new oak, at Siepi, the proportion has increased. The percentage of new oak has increased more recently, from 70% up to around 90% on the 2022. ‘The new oak of today is not the new oak of yesterday,’ Giovanni says, because there is better selection of oak.
THE WINES
Siepi 2007 IGT Toscana, Italy
13.9% alcohol. A warm, early vintage, with Merlot being picked beginning at the end of August. Taut, fresh still, some black cherry and plum, some fine earthy hints, has developed beautifully. There’s a touch of menthol here and some plum, too. Has earth, minerals, spice and some herbiness. Very fine. 94/100
Siepi 2010 IGT Toscana, Italy
14.4% alcohol. Warm start to the season, then a slow, gradual ripening, resulting in a lovely wine. Bright and vivid with lovely blackcurrant and cherry fruit, with nice freshness and structure. This has evolved beautifully and still has some structure with nice firmness on the finish. Very fine, with just a slight balsamic hint and some nice structure. 95/100
Siepi 2012 IGT Toscana, Italy (magnum)
Sweetly aromatic and brooding with sweet black cherry and blackberry fruit. Good concentration here: it’s bold and ripe with nice depth, showing hints of olive and minty freshness. There’s a twist of tar, too. Lovely depth and focus. 95/100
Siepi 2013 IGT Toscana, Italy
14.3% alcohol. Quite a tricky vintage in the vineyard with high spring and early summer rainfall, but the results are fantastic. There’s some lushness here with a sweet core of blackcurrant fruit and some earthiness. Very fresh and fine with bright fruit but also some lushness of texture and sweetness on the mid-palate, finishing with nice tannins. This is in a sweet spot right now: it still has some youth but also a bit of development. 95/100
Siepi 2015 IGT Toscana, Italy
14.4% alcohol. Mild spring, hot summer, then some welcome rain and lower temperatures coming into harvest. Some nice leafy green hints on the nose with sweet blackcurrant fruit. There’s freshness and firmness on the palate with firm structure under the vivid raspberry and blackcurrant fruit, with a compact nature and some lovely brightness. This is still quite youthful with a long future ahead of it. So fine. 96/100
Siepi 2016 IGT Toscana, Italy
14.6% alcohol. A warm, sunny year. This is pure pleasure with lovely with bright cherry and blackberry fruit. There’s a sweet core to the fruit, as well as good structure. Has a chalky edge to the palate, showing nice brightness and intensity. Very fresh and detailed, and offering a lot of pleasure now even though this will age well. 95/100
Siepi 2017 IGT Toscana, Italy (magnum)
Expressive and fine with lovely blackcurrant and blackberry fruit with a touch of raspberry. Nice acidity here, with a hint of earthiness in the background. A textural wine with nice tannic depth. 94/100
Siepi 2018 IGT Toscana, Italy
14.5% alcohol. A solid, abundant harvest aided by good winter rainfall. Fresh and vital on the nose with nice definition to the black cherry and raspberry notes. Nice juicy detail on the palate with lovely brightness and some warm spicy notes. Shows a good combination of richness and brightness. 94/100
Siepi 2019 IGT Toscana, Italy
14.7% alcohol. A warm but not hot vintage resulting in classic wines. Bright and fresh with lovely floral detail to the berry fruits on the nose. This is ripe and expressive with nice texture and depth, showing very ripe fruit but finishing fresh. This has amazing texture and mouthfeel, with good structure on the finish. Very fine and expressive, and quite delicious even at this young stage in its life. 95/100
2020 IGT Toscana, Italy
14.5% alcohol. Average conditions and well-spaced rainfall made this an ideal season. This is beautifully proportioned with a bold core of taut, finely wrought blackcurrant and raspberry fruit, with nice intensity. There’s a lovely grippy structure under the sweet fruit. Very fine and expressive with a core of sweet fruit and the structure running through it in fine threads. This should age beautifully: very fine. 96/100
2021 IGT Toscana, Italy
14.7% alcohol. Cool spring, hot summer, and wide diurnal temperature swings towards harvest. Fantastic wine, with nice brightness and good, firm structure under the sleek blackberry and raspberry fruit, with some lushness but also some fine spicy detail. There’s a silky quality to the fruit, but also firm structure. Very fine and expressive, with well integrated oak adding some spicy interest. Lots of potential here. 95/100
2022 IGT Toscana, Italy
14.5% alcohol. A hot, dry season. Lovely aromatics here: there’s some raspberry and black cherry, as well as blackcurrant, supporting by fairly assertive spicy oak. In the mouth this is still very primary: a wall of vivid, sweet berry and black fruits with some grippy tannins, some sweet oak, and then some balsamic notes in the background. Really firm, primary and intense, and potentially great with time, when the score should increase. 94/100
