2019 Tuscany Vintage

In Chianti Classico, spring rains built important water reserves, ready for a moderately warm summer with reduced rainfall. A cooler and wetter first half of the year slightly delayed the vine cycle compared with recent years, with a timing the Consorzio compares to the great vintages of the 1980s. The warm but regular summer had no particular heat peaks or heavy rain, and it was followed by a September of fine weather and large day-night temperature swings that allowed perfect phenolic ripening. In Montepulciano, rainfall was abundant in April and May, then June was dry with above-average temperatures. Very warm, dry conditions continued through July and August, though temperatures rarely exceeded 35 to 36C, and both months had short but intense rain over a couple of days that helped curb water stress. Unstable weather during flowering left bunches less compact than usual, but there were plenty of them. September temperatures were in line with seasonal norms. Rain between 22 and 24 September prompted picking, but most of the Vino Nobile harvest took place in the first two weeks of October. Giovanni Capuano of the Bindella estate said, "We did a very severe thinning but still harvested more than usual."

WineNews gathered harvest reports from producers across Italy at the Merano Wine Festival in November 2019, several of them in Tuscany. Andrea Lonardi, operations director of Bertani Domains, called the harvest excellent in both volume and quality in all of Tuscany's zones, naming Chianti Classico, Montalcino and Montepulciano. Giovanni Folonari described very balanced, healthy, perfectly ripe grapes in Chianti Classico, Montalcino and Bolgheri, and said that this year the results were uniform everywhere, where often one zone does better than another. In the Brunello di Montalcino vineyards, Alessandro Mori of Il Marroneto said the 570 quintals of grapes he brought in were above every expectation, with slow fermentations that fixed a great deal of color. At Montevertine in Radda in Chianti, which does not produce wines under the Chianti Classico DOCG, a November-like May delayed ripening a little, September was very hot, and picking began on 30 September, fairly early for the estate. At Cecchi, the structure of the grapes allowed very long macerations, with Sangiovese giving great results. In Montepulciano, Iacopo Felici, winemaker at Cantine Dei, spoke of good quantity and excellent quality, with late-ripened grapes.

Decanter's Michaela Morris tasted the bottled 2019 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano for a report published on 12 June 2022. She wrote that 2019 "presents as positively plump" on the surface, but shows the differences between the zones to their advantage. Warmer pockets gave fleshy, chewy wines that were rarely heavy or overripe, while cooler corners gave midweight wines with ripe flavors and tannins, with tangy acidity under both. Morris expects most to offer loads of enjoyment over the next seven to ten years, notes a tendency to over-extract in certain wines, and says that 2019, with its stuffing and structure, bodes well for Riserva. Luca De Ferrari of Boscarelli called 2019 a balanced year, and Michele Manelli of Salcheto described it as riper than 2016 but dialled down from 2017.

Among the newly released Vino Nobile, Michaela Morris's favorites were Boscarelli, Dei and Il Molinaccio's La Spinosa, the last from a cool pocket of Montepulciano. Salcheto, Le Bertille and Bindella are Vino Nobile producers to know, and her 2019 tasting notes also cover Poliziano and Tenuta Gracciano della Seta.

• Favorites: Boscarelli, Dei, Il Molinaccio La Spinosa
• Producers to know: Salcheto, Le Bertille, Bindella
• Il Molinaccio's vineyard sits at 340 meters in a cool pocket of Cervognano