2016 Villa Cerna Primocolle Chianti Classico 750 ml

Every wine tells a story, but some speak entire volumes. The 2016 Villa Cerna Primocolle is one of those encyclopedic bottles—born of a picture-perfect vintage and diligent research, it recounts a millenium of Tuscan history through its elegance and silky tannins. 

Perched on the first hill you’ll see driving from Siena to Chianti Classico, Villa Cerna is quite literally a gateway to the region. The villa itself was originally a monastery, dating back to the 11th century CE. For years, devoted monks tended the surrounding vineyards. Ancient olive trees planted in 1001 still dot the landscape, a testament to the years of monastic attention the land has received. 

That’s the type of extended, patient trial and error cultivation that has helped develop some of the world’s best wine regions. So it’s not a stretch to think of this structured and suave 2016 Chianti Classico as the result of centuries of accumulated attention and expertise. 

And in 2016—Chianti’s best-ever vintage according to Wine Spectator and Wine Advocate’s vintage charts—Villa Cerna leveraged ample sunshine and well-timed rains to convert that history into a classic. It’s the type of wine that welcomes you to a seat by the hearth, swathed by dark fruit, rose, and spice aromas, as cherry, tobacco, and herbs flourish on the palate. That complexity and welcoming charm prompted Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate to applaud it as “very nicely put together” while James Suckling called it “polished” and “focused.”

Of the Chiantis that the 2016 vintage produced Vinous’ Antonio Galloni said, “I can’t remember the last time I was this excited about Chianti Classico and its wines.” And this Primacolle is a definitive example, one that spurred our bottle-emptying excitement regardless of the year it was grown. Rarely available in the States, we feel lucky to be sharing a few cases with our members.

The Cecchi family, a regional winemaking pillar, bought Villa Cerna in the 1960s and made it their mission to enrich this ancient land with modern winemaking innovation. Through meticulous clonal research, they’ve matched each of the property’s soil types and microclimates with its ideal Sangiovese clone—as well as other native varieties like Colorino—while revamping and expanding the estate’s facilities. Every tiny step of the process has been thought-out and optimized, delivering wines that have won multiple Tre Bicchieri awards.  

Drive north out of Siena and Villa Cerna’s hillside vineyards will be your welcome to Chianti, hence the name Primocolle (“first hill”). The slope heading up toward Castellina provides their Sangiovese and Colorino grapes with excellent exposure to sunlight, ensuring consistent, well-balanced ripeness. The soils date back to the Pliocene Era, and are streaked with clay, limestone, sand, and marine fossils, evoking floral aromatics and elegant lines of acidity that come to fruition during nine months in oak casks and barriques and a minimum of three months in bottle. 

Just like the hill it was wrought from, this age-worthy 2016 Primocolle is a welcome to Chianti, one that will make even experienced Chianti drinkers fall in love with the region again.