Description
Chiara Condello, Romagna Sangiovese Predappio “Le Lucciole” Riserva
Although her first commercial vintage was 2015, Chiara Condello grew up in a wine family, so it’s not as if she came completely out of nowhere—but her meteoric rise to fame in the Italian wine world is astounding nonetheless. Today’s wine, a riserva called “Le Lucciole,” has not only netted a huge response from critics, but has also gotten Italian wine experts of all stripes talking about Sangiovese from the eastern half of the Emilia-Romagna region.
Condello’s hometown of Predappio is one of a dozen officially classified subzones of the “Romagna Sangiovese” appellation, which, while not as widely known as the Chianti-Montepulciano-Montalcino triumvirate in neighboring Tuscany, is just as important. Predappio is a “Grand Cru” village for Sangiovese and Condello has fast become one of its greatest interpreters and ambassadors. She cites the late Tuscan Sangiovese guru Giulio Gambelli as an inspiration and channels his spirit in wines that are nuanced, perfumed, and uncommonly silky. Her 2018 edition of “Le Lucciole” belongs in the conversation with established Tuscan greats like “Le Pergole Torte” as an example of Sangiovese’s capacity for “Burgundian” refinement—it’s a stunning “wine of the moment” from a winemaker everyone’s watching. In an ideal world, you’d grab this new-generation benchmark now and supplement it with the old-school Sangiovese classic coming your way later this afternoon. But first things first: It’s time to get to know Predappio!
Emilia-Romagna—and, more specifically, Romagna—is considered by some viticultural historians to be the original home of the Sangiovese grape. More broadly, the birthplace of the variety was likely the stretch of Apennine Mountains that separate Emilia-Romagna from Tuscany. Predappio is a hill town about an hour southeast of Bologna, in the province of Forlì; Condello’s family produces wine here under the Condé label, but Chiara maintains her own cellar and farms her own vineyards. She has seven hectares of land in total, of which 4.8 are planted to Sangiovese, which she farms organically. The soils are marl/sandstone mixtures that resemble those found in Chianti, while the landscape is similarly hilly and dramatic, with vineyard elevations often climbing past 300 meters. Chiara highlights another soil type unique to the region: spungone, a porous, sedimentary of limestone marl and sandstone.
As noted above, Predappio is one of 12 officially recognized “subzones” of the Romagna DOC appellation; others include Bertinoro, Cesena, and Modigliana, the latter home to an old favorite of mine, Ronchi di Castelluccio. We’ve also offered terrific Sangiovese wines from one of Condello’s neighbors in Predappio, Noelia Ricci. I mention all this because I’ve seen this region with my own eyes and we’ve all been sleeping on it for too long. A lot of producers in the area opted for richer, more oak-slathered reds in the search for international recognition and critical acclaim, but the trend seems to be shifting toward wines of finesse and energy—a much better choice for Sangiovese, in my humble opinion.
The 2018 “Le Lucciole” is 100% Sangiovese sourced from a 0.8-hectare parcel at about 250 meters of elevation. Vine age averages 20 years. The hand-harvested grapes are partially de-stemmed, but the portion that is de-stemmed is not crushed; Chiara instead employs a
“whole berry” style of fermentation, which brightens the primary fruit character and keeps harsh tannins at bay. The fermentation, on ambient yeasts only, was carried out in a mix of large wooden vats and tonneaux-sized barrels, without temperature control. The wine then aged for two years in 3500L Slavonian oak botti and a year in bottle before release.
To quote critic Eric Guido of Vinous Media, the 2018 is “spellbinding.” Its combination of lively energy and sappy concentration is one of its many noteworthy qualities (given how edgy Sangiovese can often be), and then there’s the perfectly calibrated mix of woodsy savor and juicy black cherry fruit. In the glass, it’s a saturated garnet-red moving to pink/magenta at the rim, with aromas of blackberry, black and red cherry, wild strawberry, dried orange peel, violets, tomato leaf, black pepper, and underbrush. It is medium-plus in body, with extremely fine-grained tannins and a very plush, refined texture. Decant it 30 minutes before serving at 60-65 degrees in Burgundy stems and pair it with the classic regional recipe attached (okay, it’s Modenese, not Bolognese, but close enough). This is a showstopper! Don’t miss it!
