"I don't make the wine, the wine is made in the vineyards. Without good grapes you have nothing." - Marco Galeazzo
To meet Marco Galeazzo is to be in the presence of a man who is living his destiny. Born in Piedmont to a family of winemakers, Marco's first wine memory takes him back to the tender age of 5 when his grandfather produced a small bottle of wine just for him. In deference to his age, the vino was blended with a good amount of water, but it did have a custom label! His grandfather definitely set Marco on the right path because today he is the Technical Director of Fattorie Melini - a historic estate dating back to 1705 and producers of the award-winning La Selvanella Chianti Classico Riserva (DOCG). Debuting in 1969, La Selvanella was the first wine made from a single vineyard in Chianti. Reflecting Marco's commitment to producing modern wines with authentic character, La Selvanella remains an honest and elegant expression of the region's Sangiovese Grosso grape and unique terroir.
I recently had the pleasure of meeting Marco and tasting a selection of La Selvanella vintages from 1993-2011. Of course, each bottle reflected the unique qualities of the respective vintage and aging but there was a definite La Selvanella style - elegant, fresh, harmonious, and nuanced.
La Selvanella 2011 ($28) was just released and I encourage you to give it a try. Silky with a pleasantly long finish, I tasted beautiful flavors of sour cherry, orange blossom, sage, and earth in this ruby-red wine. Give the wine a bit of time to open up in your glass and the flavors will really blossom. A very food-friendly wine, La Selvanella will pair perfectly with a variety of dishes; including steak, fish, and fowl. Buy a bottle to drink now and save one to sip a year, or more, later - like its predecessors, La Selvanella 2011 will age with dignity.
