Sangiovese | Chianti Classico, Montalcino & Tignanello – The Fulham Wine Company
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Sangiovese

Chianti Classico, Montalcino and Tignanello

Sangiovese is Italy's most planted grape and Tuscany is where it counts. Antinori's Pèppoli is the Chianti Classico here, bright and cherry-fruited. Ciacci Piccolomini covers Montalcino, where the same grape goes firmer and longer-lived. Tignanello is the wine that broke the appellation rules in the 1970s by adding Cabernet to a Sangiovese base, and it is still led by the local grape. Tracked UK delivery, next-day available.

Pèppoli Chianti Classico red wine bottle.
Pèppoli Chianti Classico, Antinori, Tuscany (2024)
£22.00
Ciacci Piccolomini Rosso di Montalcino red wine bottle.
Ciacci Piccolomini Rosso di Montalcino (2024)
£22.00
Tignanello Antinori red wine bottle.
Tignanello, Antinori, Tuscany
From £135.00
Ciacci Piccolomini IGT Toscana Rosso red wine bottle.
Ciacci Piccolomini IGT Toscana Rosso (2024)
£15.00
Ornellaia Le Serre Nuove dell’Ornellaia red wine bottle.
Ornellaia Le Serre Nuove dell’Ornellaia, Bolgheri Rosso, (2022)
£60.00
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Chianti Classico and Montalcino

Sangiovese is Italy's most planted grape and Tuscany is where it matters. Chianti Classico is the traditional heart of it, and Antinori's Pèppoli is the example here - bright, cherry-fruited and built to be drunk rather than kept. Montalcino sits further south and warmer, where the same grape is grown for a firmer and longer-lived style; Ciacci Piccolomini's Rosso di Montalcino is the earlier-drinking version of that, with its IGT Toscana Rosso a step below. All of it sits within Italian wine.

Tignanello and the Super Tuscan break

In the 1970s Tuscan appellation rules required white grapes in a Chianti blend and barred international varieties. Antinori ignored both, put Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc into a Sangiovese base, and had to sell the result as basic table wine. That wine was Tignanello, and within a decade it had forced the rules to change. It is still Sangiovese-led, which is why it sits on this page. More in the smooth and refined reds.

Serving Sangiovese, and tracked UK delivery

Sangiovese carries high acidity and firm but not heavy tannin, which makes it one of the more versatile reds to have open. Serve it slightly below room temperature. The Chianti Classico and the Rosso di Montalcino are ready now; Tignanello will reward half an hour of air in a young vintage and keeps for years. Where a producer or critic states a drinking window it appears on the product page. Tracked UK delivery, next-day available.

The Fulham Wine Co. Take

Sangiovese is the grape that argued with its own rulebook and won. Tignanello broke the appellation to prove a point and the appellation eventually moved; Pèppoli and the Montalcino bottles show what the traditional route does just as well. Everything here is a bottle we open at home.

FAQs About Sangiovese

What is Sangiovese?

Italy's most widely planted red grape and the backbone of Tuscan wine. It gives medium-bodied reds with high acidity, firm tannin and a distinctive sour-cherry character. Chianti Classico, Rosso di Montalcino and Brunello are all made from it.

Is Chianti always Sangiovese?

Sangiovese has to lead the blend, but it is not always the only grape. Chianti Classico rules require a high minimum proportion of Sangiovese and allow a limited amount of other varieties alongside it. Some producers bottle it alone.

What is the difference between Rosso di Montalcino and Brunello?

Same grape, same place, different ageing requirements. Brunello must spend considerably longer in barrel and bottle before release, so it costs more and arrives more developed. Rosso di Montalcino is the earlier-drinking bottling from the same estates and often from younger vines.

Is Tignanello a Chianti?

No, and that was the point. It is made in the Chianti Classico zone but breaks the appellation rules by including Cabernet, so it cannot carry the name. It is labelled Toscana IGT instead - a designation that now covers some of the most expensive wine in Italy.

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