A Night With Montagliari

A few months ago, my wife and I were presented with an opportunity that rarely comes along. Through a friend in the wine business we received notice that there was a vertical of chiantis from Fattoria di Montagliari available for purchase. After tasting the 1971 Chianti at a small wine dinner, we immediately decided that we simply had to have one!

The vertical consisted of '62, '71, '77, '81, '82, and the '83 vintages. It was a steal at the price we paid for it.

A few weeks after we received the vertical, we invited some couples over to have dinner and to taste some of the wine. Over a wonderful home-made lasagna, we opened the '62 and the '71.

The color on the '62 was a deep garnet red-brown and you could see the sediment clinging to the bottle where it had been laid down for all these years. The wine, amazingly enough, still had some fruit to it with a bit of bright cherry on the first sip. Sitting behind the cherry, though, was some freshly tilled soil and a hint of leather on the finish. Amazing that the wine held up so well. We didn't expect to find any fruit left at all. Overall, this wine was nearing the corner and we're glad that we drank it when we did. No telling how long it had before it rounded said corner.

Shortly thereafter we opened the '71 and found the color not unlike the '62, albeit a bit brighter in tone. Much more fruit on the start which shows you how much there was to lose for the '62. I was impressed by the structure in this wine. I think it could have easily been laid down for another 5 years and still been fine for drinking then. It had a slight hint of sweet tobacco on the nose with underlying spice.

We still have the last four of the vertical and will be opening them up, hopefully, soon. I'll report back on those as soon as that happens. Try not to pass up opportunities that you come across, such as this, when you can. Well worth it!