Why it matters
The producer
Granducato has been making Chianti Classico for more than half a century from vineyards around Radda in Chianti, one of the nine communes that form the Chianti Classico zone between Florence and Siena. The core bottle is a Sangiovese-led red aged twelve months in large oak barrels, carrying 13.5% alcohol and a profile of ripe plum, red cherry, and black fruit with a lift of Tuscan herbs.
Two blend formulas appear across the range. One follows the traditional Chianti school: Sangiovese anchored by Canaiolo and Colorino Toscano, the Tuscan supporting grapes that soften tannin and deepen the wine's colour. The other replaces those with 10% Merlot alongside 90% Sangiovese, adding roundness and plum weight without departing from the DOCG rules. Both formulas point back to Sangiovese as the frame. Everything else is adjustment.
Place and vineyards
Where the wines begin
Radda in Chianti sits at altitude. Granducato's vineyards grow at 530 metres, which places them among the higher plots in a zone already defined by elevation and the drainage it creates. At that height, the growing season runs cooler and longer than in the lower reaches of the zone, and grapes reach ripeness more slowly, retaining more natural acidity. That acidity shows in the bottle: the Chianti Classico has the kind of lifted fruit and herbal sharpness that only comes from grapes that did not rush.
The Controspalliera Guyot training system governs the vine rows. Guyot is a single-cane method: one main cane is trained along a wire each season, limiting the number of buds and therefore the number of grape clusters per vine. Fewer clusters means more concentrated fruit. It is the standard choice on quality-focused estates in this zone and reflects the kind of yield control that keeps Sangiovese from producing watery, over-cropped wine.
In the cellar
Vineyards and cellar
Manual harvest runs through September and into October. The spread reflects plot-by-plot ripeness decisions rather than a single cut date. At 530 metres, different parcels on different aspects reach the same level of maturity at different moments, and harvesting by hand allows pickers to select at the right time for each plot rather than running a machine through the whole vineyard at once.
After harvest, the wine ages twelve months in Botte Rovere, the large oak barrels of Italian or Slavonian oak that have been central to Tuscany's cellar tradition for generations. Large-format oak works differently from small barriques: the ratio of wine volume to wood surface is much higher, so the oak contribution is slower and gentler. The wine integrates and rounds without picking up the vanilla and spice notes that smaller barrels would introduce. Sangiovese retains its fruit character, its tannins softened but not smoothed away, and a finish that stays with the grape rather than the wood.
Wines to know
The range in view
The documented range centres on Chianti Classico DOCG. The core wine comes in at 13.5% alcohol, a moderate level that suggests ripe fruit without the density that pushes a wine above the zone's traditional weight. Two blend configurations appear across the range. The traditional version uses Sangiovese alongside Canaiolo and Colorino Toscano: Canaiolo brings softer tannin and a brighter red-fruit character, while Colorino deepens colour and adds body. The more contemporary blend drops to 90% Sangiovese and 10% Merlot, which fills out the mid-palate with plum weight and smooths the wine's frame. Both versions spend twelve months in large oak before release.
The Chianti Classico shows black fruit, ripe plum, and red cherry with a herbal undertone. The altitude at Radda keeps the fruit from going heavy or overripe, and the herbal note is characteristic of Sangiovese grown with natural acidity intact at elevation. The tannins from twelve months in Botte Rovere are present but not abrasive, and the finish carries the grape's characteristic dry, slightly bitter cherry skin edge.