“Gloriously suave and silky,” says Decanter. “Compelling,” says Vinous. A “velvety texture,” says Jeb Dunnuck. Pure Sangiovese from Greve, Radda and Gaiole in Tuscany’s landmark 2021, a 98-point vintage on Wine Spectator’s chart, from the biodynamic estate that has been one of Chianti’s benchmarks for fifty years, with a Wine Spectator drinking window that runs to 2045. Behind it, the last three bottles of Batàr and four vintages of Camartina.

• Last 3 Batàr · Four Camartina Vintages Left

A Personal Note

Dear Artisans,

Five critics tasted Querciabella’s 2021 Chianti Classico, and five of them landed on the same number. Vinous 93. Decanter 93. Wine Spectator 93. Jeb Dunnuck 93. James Suckling 93. These are people who disagree for a living. They do not disagree about this wine.

It is 100% Sangiovese from high-altitude vines, 350 to 700 metres up, in Greve, Radda and Gaiole, the three Chianti Classico villages we trust most, and it is $32.99. Querciabella has been one of the benchmark artisan estates of Chianti since 1974; DoctorWine named it Winery of the Year in its 2025 guide. Wine Spectator, for its part, flagged this 2021 as a Smart Buy and put it on its list of ten outstanding Chianti Classico values.

Suave, Silky, Compelling

The words on the graphic above are the critics’ own. Decanter called it “a gloriously suave and silky 100% Sangiovese” with “a burst of classic pure Chianti sour cherry” and “super-supple tannins.” Antonio Galloni at Vinous: “Bright and punchy, with terrific resonance, this wine shows just how compelling the vintage is.” Jeb Dunnuck’s team found “a velvety texture with a long finish” and called it “polished but not oaky.”

Five reviews, five 93s, and not one of them mentions the price.

The Greatest Young Vintage

2021 gave Tuscany what it rarely gets in the same year: ripeness and freshness together. The estate’s own harvest report describes a hot, dry summer without the heat spikes of the previous year, then just the right amount of rain at the end of August and mid-September, and a prolonged but harmonious ripening that let them wait for the perfect moment to pick.

A spring frost cut the crop, so there is less of this wine than usual, and what there is has real concentration. The critics have gone further than we would dare. Wine Spectator rates 2021 Chianti Classico 98 on its vintage chart, above the celebrated 2016, and Antonio Galloni calls it “the single greatest young vintage I have ever tasted in Chianti Classico. Period. Full stop.” This wine, he says, “shows just how compelling the vintage is.”

How It Is Made

Querciabella has farmed organically since 1988 and biodynamically since 2000, and no animal products or byproducts are used anywhere in the process, which makes every wine here vegan. The Sangiovese is picked by hand into 9-kilo crates, destemmed, never crushed, and macerated for about twelve days in temperature-controlled steel.

The 2021 then spent 14 months in oak, and Galloni notes it was aged in 500-liter barrels (5-6% new). That is the whole trick. Big barrels and almost no new oak mean what you taste is Sangiovese and hillside, not carpentry.

The Runway

You can open it tonight; Galloni’s window opened in 2023. But Wine Spectator’s Bruce Sanderson calls it “best from 2026 through 2045,” and Jeb Dunnuck’s window runs to 2040. Nineteen years of runway on a $32.99 bottle is not something we get to write very often. Buy some to drink and some to forget about.

The Rest Of The Cellar

While we were placing the order, we counted what is left of the rest of the estate. Three bottles of the 2020 Batàr, the Chardonnay and Pinot Bianco that Decanter scored 95 and called “one of the most sought after white wines of Italy.” And a small vertical of Camartina, the Cabernet-and-Sangiovese flagship the family releases only in the best vintages: one bottle of the 2000, five of the 2003, six of the 2008 and two of the 2018. All of it is below.

James Tran

Artisan Wine & Spirits

Why This Matters

The Wine

2021 Querciabella Chianti Classico.

Five critics at 93. 100% Sangiovese from Greve, Radda and Gaiole.

Querciabella Chianti Classico 2021

Chianti Classico DOCG · Greve, Radda & Gaiole

Sangiovese from the estate’s three Chianti Classico villages, hand-harvested, destemmed and fermented in temperature-controlled steel, then 14 months in 500-litre barrels with only 5 to 6% new oak. All five reviews are below, in full.

The White · Last 3 Bottles

2020 Querciabella Batàr.

Decanter 95. Owen Bargreen 95. One of Italy’s most sought-after whites, from vines up to 600 metres.

Querciabella “Batàr” 2020

Toscana IGT · Greve in Chianti

Half Chardonnay, half Pinot Bianco. The Chardonnay comes from two south-facing galestro sites, Casaocci Sud at 350 metres and Il Pallonaio at 600, the estate’s highest vines; the Pinot Bianco from cooler north-facing plots around 400 metres. Fermented and aged nine months in French oak, first made in 1988. Decanter calls it “a very classic white SuperTuscan” with “a stylish Corton-Charlemagne attitude.” Three bottles left.

The Vertical · Four Vintages Left

Camartina, 2000 To 2018.

The estate’s Cabernet and Sangiovese flagship, released only in the best vintages. One bottle of the 2000, five of the 2003, six of the 2008, two of the 2018.

Querciabella “Camartina”

Toscana IGT · Greve in Chianti · Four Vintages

Camartina has been Querciabella’s flagship since 1981: 70% Cabernet Sauvignon and 30% Sangiovese from organically farmed vines, fermented in five-ton French oak vats, aged in French barriques and released no sooner than 30 months after harvest, and only in the vintages the family judges good enough. Average production is about 12,000 bottles, and James Suckling put the 2019 at #84 in his Top 100 Wines of the World for 2023. The estate says it reaches maturity four to seven years after harvest and holds a plateau that lasts at least 18 years. Here is what we have left, oldest first.

The Bottom Line

Five 93s for $32.99, with a runway to 2045.

The 2021 Chianti Classico is the one to buy by the case: five critics at 93, a vintage Galloni calls compelling, a biodynamic estate that has been a Chianti benchmark for fifty years, and a Wine Spectator window that runs from 2026 through 2045. At $32.99 it is the best pure Sangiovese we can put in front of you at the price.

Behind it, the last three bottles of Batàr at $124.97, and four vintages of Camartina from the 2018 at $129.97 to the 2000, 2003 and 2008 at $179.97. When those are gone they are gone; the Chianti, happily, we can keep pouring.

Cheers,

— James Tran

Artisan Wine & Spirits

Last 3 Batàr · Four Camartina Vintages Left

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