Ruffino – Riserva Ducale Oro – Chianti Classico – Grand Selection – D.O.C.G. – Classic Red – Avvenice

Ruffino – Since 1877 – Award Winning Wines from the Heart of Tuscany

Ruffino was born in 1877 in Pontassieve from the intuition of two cousins, Ilario and Leopoldo. Their ambition is that the wine appreciated in their lands can also please those who do not have the good fortune to be able to taste it every day, and live, perhaps, very far.

It was an immediate and swirling success, built on the goodness of the wines and on an entrepreneurial foresight in the uncommon times. In fact, the Ruffino cousins’ wine was immediately liked so much, so that in 1895 in Bordeaux the gold medal was awarded at the Chianti Ruffino.

Successes follow each other and already at the beginning of the twentieth century these successes lead to identify Ruffino as a synonym of Italian wine in the world through Chianti. These are the years of the birth of a true icon of Italian enology, Riserva Ducale, which in 1927 celebrates one of the most illustrious admirers of Ruffino, the Duke of Aosta who had chosen this wine to lay the tables of the court of the Italy King.

Riserva Ducale is just one of the imprints left by Ruffino in the history of Italian enology, also marked by the iconic fiasco, the bottle symbol of the entire category of Chianti, known in the world thanks to Chianti Ruffino.

Riserva Ducale Oro – Chianti Classico – Grand Selection

Since 1947, the Riserva Ducale Oro represents a reference point for any Chianti Classico thought to be fully enjoyed after decades. Another pioneering vision of Ruffino, today a great classic.

Behind The Wine

When, at the end of the 19th century, wine in Italy represented only a complement to the meal, Ruffino already produced a wine destined to evolve over time, the Chianti Stravecchio. In 1890 the Duke of Aosta, an important institutional figure of the kingdom of Italy and a great wine connoisseur, personally selected Ruffino, with his Chianti Stravecchio, as the official supplier of his court.

The first vintage of the Ducale Reserve is dated 1947 and immediately represents a maximum selection and further refined in wood of the already extraordinary Riserva Ducale. If then already Riserva Ducale could turn out to be something pioneering, its Gold version had to be something incredible.

Riserva Ducale Oro represents the highest expression in the Chianti Classico of “territorial” wine. It is a production philosophy opposed to that which leads to the creation of “vineyard” wines but no less oriented towards quality. For 60 years Ruffino carefully selects the best grapes from its estates in the Chianti Classico, refines the wine in oak for a long time and gives life to what every year represents the interpretation that Ruffino offers of the Chianti Classico as a whole. It is thanks to this philosophy that the famous journalist Eleonora Guerini has been able to define Riserva Ducale Oro as the “Champagne of the Chianti Classico”.

Riserva Ducale Oro is a wine created to be opened on special occasions, conserved and almost forgotten in the cellar to be then enjoyed fully many years later. Riserva Ducale Oro is in fact the wine that often Ruffino chooses for vertical tastings. On such occasions it is not uncommon to find vintages from the 1950s and are now perfect vintages such as ’77 or ’85.

The Great Ruffino Signature Selection

The grapes for Riserva Ducale Oro are: Sangiovese 80% – Cabernet Sauvignon 10% – Merlot 10% and come from vineyards between 250 and 400 meters s.l.m. located mainly in the central-south western part of the Chianti Classico, in the hilly strip to the west and south-west of the municipality of Castellina in Chianti (Siena) and south-east of Barberino Val d’Elsa (Florence). These vineyards belong to the estate of Gretole and to that of Santedame. Well-exposed soils, rich in skeleton. (Galestro) and from the texture of argillaceous-silty to argillosabbiosa give Riserva Ducale Oro unique characteristics: structure and softness, elegance and intense aromas. The vinification of the grapes takes place in the Gretole estate. Riserva Ducale Oro is then refined for about 36 months, including a period of maturation in large oak barrels of 35, 75 and 112 hectoliters and barriques for about a year, in the Pontassieve barracks (Florence), the historical site of Ruffino. p>

The Disciplinary

1. The Gran Selezione is a wine produced from grapes of exclusive business relevance and grown in the most suitable vineyards.

2. The Gran Selezione can only be marketed after a minimum aging of 30 months and an obligatory period of aging in bottle.

3. The Gran Selezione is a wine with an important structure, which thanks to the selection of the grapes and the long aging results in superior balance and harmony, gustatory depth and aromatic complexity. On the palate it combines immediacy of fruit together with the fascinating nuances typical of wines capable of a long evolution.

Source

Chianti Classico D.O.C.G.

Grapes

85 % Sangiovese, 10 % Merlot and 5 % Cabernet Sauvignon

Aging

36 months, including a 12 month period in large oak barrels and 12 months in barrique and tonneau

Perfume

Powerful and elegant, ample notes of cherry and plum, then tobacco, chocolate, cinnamon and black pepper

Taste

Full-bodied, with elegant tannins and a pleasant acid vein. Finish of sweet tobacco and persistent plum aftertaste

Alcohol

alc. 14.5 % vol

Year

2 0 1 4

Available Formats

0.75 Lt – 1.5 Lt

Awards

Wine Spectator: 90 + pt

Wine Enthusiast: 90 + pt

Robert Parker: 90 + pt

Gambero Rosso: 3 glasses

Decanter: Highly recommended