Why Gran Selezione Is the Chianti Classico You Need to Know

Chianti Classico has long been the dependable red we reach for on pasta nights; a vibrant, cherry-driven wine that brings Tuscany to the table. But lately, a new wave of wines from this historic region is offering something more nuanced: a deeper sense of place.

Enter Gran Selezione, a designation introduced in 2014 and recently redefined to better highlight the extraordinary diversity within the Chianti Classico region. These wines must be estate-grown and aged longer. Most importantly, they now come with new tools for understanding terroir, including village-level names (Unità Geografiche Aggiuntive, or UGAs), and a tighter focus on Sangiovese grapes.

Chianti Classico is a region of winding roads, shifting soils, and dramatic elevation changes, and no grape reflects that complexity more transparently than Sangiovese. Gran Selezione isn’t as much about prestige as it is about precision. It’s a window into the soul of the region, one hillside and harvest at a time.

A region of contrasts

Stretching between Florence and Siena, Chianti Classico covers a surprisingly rugged landscape. Vineyards here can sit anywhere from 250 to over 600 meters above sea level, tucked between forests, olive groves, and medieval hamlets.

The terrain is marked by steep slopes and winding valleys that funnel cold air, shifting temperatures between day and night. These changes affect how Sangiovese ripens, from sugar accumulation to acidity retention, resulting in wines that can be powerful and muscular or light and aromatic, sometimes just a few kilometers apart.

The soils are just as varied: galestro (a crumbly marl) and alberese (limestone-rich clay) dominate, but you’ll also find schist, sandstone, and marine sediment, each lending its own fingerprint to the final wine. In other words, Chianti Classico is not one place, but many, and Gran Selezione is beginning to show that to the world.

What makes Gran Selezione different?

Created to bring more clarity to the region’s top wines, Gran Selezione sits above Riserva and Annata tiers in terms of technical requirements, but its real evolution is philosophical. As of 2023, the rules now require at least 90% Sangiovese (up from 80%) and allow producers to label their wines by UGA, adding a Burgundian sense of geography to the label.

Unlike Riserva, Gran Selezione wines must come exclusively from estate-owned vineyards. This means the producer has full control over farming practices and grape selection. They also require a minimum of 30 months of aging before release, ensuring the wines are more developed, structured, and ready for the table or cellar.

But the most exciting shift isn’t about stricter rules, it’s about identity. With the UGA system, consumers now have a way to connect what’s in the glass to where it’s from.

Sangiovese, interpreted by landscape

Few grapes are as sensitive to site as Sangiovese. It’s famously transparent for picking up on subtle changes in soil, elevation, and climate. In Chianti Classico, that means a vast range of styles.

In Panzano, where vineyards form a sunny amphitheater, the wines tend to be rich and structured, with notes of dark cherry, tobacco, and iron. In nearby Lamole, perched high above the region on steep terraces, you get something entirely different: delicate, floral, and almost ethereal, with lifted acidity and fine tannins.

Head east to Radda, where altitude and rocky soils produce tight, linear wines with high tension and minerality. Further south in Castelnuovo Berardenga, the influence of warmer temperatures and clay soils leads to broader, deeper wines with savory depth and dusty tannins.

Producers are increasingly leaning into these distinctions, farming with more intention, vinifying by parcel, and crafting wines that reflect where they’re grown, not just how they’re made.

The new wines are already here

Though the first vintages fully aligned with the new regulations won’t arrive until 2026, many producers have already shifted their practices. That means the 2020 and 2021 Gran Selezione wines available now are already showing what the future holds.

Wineries like Castello di Ama, Fontodi, Istine, and Volpaia have long treated their Gran Selezione bottlings as flagship expressions. Others, like Bindi Sergardi, Fèlsina, and Villa a Sesta, are embracing the UGA framework to highlight their vineyard sites more transparently. Some wines are muscular and brooding; others are floral and graceful. There’s no single style, only a growing chorus of distinct voices.

What unites them is clarity. These aren’t wines chasing international polish. They’re wines with roots.

Bottles to try now

Ready to explore? These standout bottles show off the diversity and delectability of Gran Selezione.

Fontodi Vigna del Sorbo Gran Selezione 2021 (Panzano)

Rich, layered, and age-worthy.

Castello di Ama San Lorenzo Gran Selezione 2021 (Gaiole)

Silky texture, dark cherry, and incense.

Istine Gran Selezione 2021 (Radda)

Bright, tense, and aromatic; high-altitude elegance.

Volpaia Coltassala Gran Selezione 2021 (Radda)

Red berries, flowers, and a long mineral finish.

Bindi Sergardi Mocenni 89 Gran Selezione 2021 (Vagliagli) 

Polished and savory, with spice, plum, and a touch of earth.

Fèlsina Colonia Gran Selezione 2021 (Castelnuovo Berardenga)

Deep, concentrated, and structured.

Villa a Sesta Gran Selezione 2022 (Castelnuovo Berardenga)

Elegant and lifted, with vibrant cherry fruit and herbal nuance.