Top wines from Tuscany

Ok so I've been gathering together my Top 100 red wines and top 100 white wines for some time now. If you want to make a suggestion you can do that through the poll online, and then send a comment with the wine and its vintage. I'm open to suggestion but I'm not revealing it yet.
It's a closely guarded secret. I'm giving you another month to take up my offer of adding your favourites to the list and then it will be published! I get a lot of satisfaction sharing my experience with a good wine so others can enjoy it too. So don't delay! use your voice or forever languish in silence. Comments on your favourites please! The last wine I reviewed may be on this list (that's a clue).

Today I'm going to talk about some Tuscan wines for a summer lunch under the grapevine pergola. Everyone has heard about Chianti in Italy. It was famous for its straw-covered flasks of wine-sadly not viable to produce anymore. But where exactly is Chianti, and what's so special about it?
The wine events calender in Tuscany-on the right, will give you events to go to.
And if you are interested in the "Super Tuscans" in particular, then click on the image of the gallo nero-the black cockrel with the wine bucket, further down.
A virtual wine tour of Tuscany can be taken by going to the Italian wine link.
Wine review
But today were going to talk about one of my favorites from the area near Castellina in Chianti, a small village so typically Tuscan, that's really worth visiting.
The wines are from the vineyard of Castello di Fonterutoli near Castellina in Chianti (province of Siena)
Owned by the Mazzei family since 1435, Fonterutoli today still preserves its original, peaceful country character. The family Mazzei are famous for "Chianti Classico Riserva Castello di Fonterutoli", which was first produced in 1995. This is true Gallo Nero country. The company manages a total area of 470 hectares, of which 69 are specialist vineyards in four zones: Fonterutoli, Siepi, Badiola and Belvedere, at 230 to 500 meters above sea level, facing South and South-West. Average production is less than 40 hl per hectare.
The optimal exposure of the vineyards, hillside and micro-climatic conditions and vine density - progressively expanded to more than 6 thousand plants per hectare - ensure wines boasting complexity, elegance and power. In particular, Sangiovese developed through local breeding and clones finds in these four production areas the ideal environment for expressing its potential: major bouquet and elegance in the higher zones (Fonterutoli and Badiola), structure and power in the lower areas (Siepi and Belvedere).
All the main vineyard operations are performed manually, including the harvest, at different times specific to each site, to ensure that grapes of optimal ripening are delivered to the cellars.

So lets talk about two of these wines,

First: Siepi Igt Toscana 1999
The Grapes used: Sangiovese 50%, Merlot 50% the harvest is carried out by hand.
Maturation was carried out in small French oak barrels for 18 months. The wine was bottled in May 2001. This is a full-bodied wine with intense velvety tanins, that will be a perfect accompaniment to pappardelle con ragu, roast meats and game. I enjoyed it with a roast chicken and it was just right.
The attention to detail and careful maturation is evident in this wine with its long finish.

Second: A great "chianti classico" (The Reserva if you can get it, costs about 50Euro) but the Fonterutoli Chianti Classico DOCG 2001 is a wine I don't hestitate to suggest you taste, at between 12 to 14 Euro a bottle.
This Chianti made typically with the Sangiovese grape, has oak on the nose, warm, with ripe fruit. On the palate there is less fruit and more oak and cocoa. The dominant but smooth velvety tannins will improve even more with time. The finish has hints of ripe fruit.

visit Fonterutoli http://www.mazzei.it/eng_154/

Watch a video of the area in Castellina in Chianti click on the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njLFB12oAbw&feature=related

You may find these Fonterutoli wines hard to find, this is not mass-produced wine. Contact them here or on the website above if you have a problem :Castello di Fonterutoli
Loc. Fonterutoli, 53011 Castellina in Chianti (Si)
Tel: 39 0577.73571 . Fax: 39 0577.735757
Email: fonterutoli@fonterutoli.it