2019 Tenuta Pierazzuoli Chianti Montalbano 750 ml

When we attended the 2021 Vinitaly Special Edition, one of Europe’s most important wine expos, we expected to hobnob with the world’s top buyers and get an exclusive glimpse at some of Italy’s most talked-about wines.

We didn’t expect to fly home with one of the year’s true breakout bargains—a Tuscan red as hauntingly beautiful as it is affordable. Floral, elegant, and invested with superb complexity, the 2019 Tenuta Pierazzuoli Chianti Montalbano boasts the kind of virtues we expect in bottles twice the price.

As a lead-up to the main Vinitaly event this spring, the Special Edition is a less glitzy, pared-down industry affair. We had nearly finalized the list of producers we wanted to check out, but a friend from Napa urged us to pay a visit to Dario Pierazzuoli, who runs Tenuta Pierazzuoli with his brother Enrico.

The Chianti Dario poured us had a combination of zesty acidity and intense fruit that we picked up the moment we lifted a glass. When we asked him how he managed to infuse his Sangiovese with so much freshness and red-fruit concentration, we got a lesson in geography.

Tenuta Pierazzuoli covers approximately 500 acres in Montalbano, which lies to the west of Florence. Of those acres, just 60 are dedicated to growing vines. The vineyards begin at the edge of a great forest of oak and chestnut trees—a rich, natural ecosystem that, in concert with the area’s cool climate and comparatively high elevation, keeps vines healthy and vibrant.

It was our easiest, quickest trip to a Vinitaly event yet—and grabbing some of the 2019 Pierazzuoli Chianti Montalbano for our members was an easy call.