A Tuscan screamer

Forget overpriced Super Tuscans and oaky, says Matthew Jukes. The 2012 Chianti Rufina Riserva is all you need.

Matthew Jukes
By Matthew Jukes
published

857-wine-634

2012 Chianti Rufina Riserva, Vigneto Bucerchiale, Fattoria Selvapiana, Tuscany, Italy (£26.99, TheWineReserve.co.uk; £29, OldBridgeWine.co.uk).

As I get older and, inevitably, taste ever more wines, I find my palate drifting away from Tuscany. Granted, there are some superb wines made in this historic region and I am lucky to have a fairly decent selection in my cellar, but the average quality of 20- to 30-quid wine, which ought to be a sweet spot, is pretty uninspiring.

To redress this balance, I have selected an absolute screamer this week the imperious Bucerchiale from Selvapiana, my favourite estate in the Rufina sub-region of Chianti. First a tip. You pronounce the vineyard name Boosher-kee-ah-lay, effectively reversing the "ch" and "c" sounds in its name. This is elite knowledge use it wisely. As for the wine, this 2012 and the 2013 which follows it in September are both sensational sangioveses. Rufina is a high and relatively cool region and this often brings elegance and class into the grapes.

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In 2012 Bucerchiale is the epitome of restraint and breeding, while the 2013 is expressive and succulent. Federico Giuntini Masseti, who runs his family estate, is a man of impeccable breeding and this is evident in his masterful wines. Forget overpriced Super Tuscans and oaky, extracted Brunellos for a moment and bathe your palate in these two effortlessly epic wines.

Matthew Jukes is a winner of the International Wine & Spirit Competition's Communicator of the Year (MatthewJukes.com).

Matthew Jukes
Matthew Jukes

Matthew Jukes has worked in the UK wine business for well over three decades and during this time has written 14 wine books.  

Matthew regularly lectures, judges, speaks at wine conferences and runs masterclass tastings for both corporate and private clients all over the world. Matthew is also the creator of his ground-breaking initiative, the One Day Wine School, an indulgent day of tasting and learning first performed in 2006.

He has been the MoneyWeek wine correspondent since 2006 and has written a weekly column for the Daily Mail’s Weekend Magazine since 1999. His four highly-acclaimed, annual wine reports – the Burgundy En Primeur Report, the Bordeaux En Primeur Report, the Piemonte Report and the 100 Best Australian Wines – are published on his website, www.matthewjukes.com.

Matthew is one of the world’s leading experts on Australian wine and, with Brisbane-based wine writer Tyson Stelzer, runs an annual competition in Australia to find ‘The Great Australian Red’.  He was made Honorary Australian of the Year in the UK at the 2012 Australia Day Foundation Gala dinner. 

Matthew is a winner of the International Wine and Spirit Competition's Communicator of the Year Trophy.  His thoughts, recommendations and tastings notes are followed very closely by the wine world at large.

 

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