| Chianti Classico has changed out of all recognition in the last few years – certainly in terms of self-perception and in reality too. While Chianti Classico of the early and mid-1990s was very much work in progress, the best 1998s and 1999s show a renewed confidence in Sangiovese (on which there has been so much clonal research) at the expense of imports from Bordeaux, allowed since 1996 up to 15 per cent of the blend. (Merlot, incidentally, seemed a less awkward blending partner than Cabernet in many cases.) Each vintage brings greater mastery of French barriques but there is still... |