97pts James Suckling

Perfumed and beautiful with flowers, cherries and raspberries. Forest fruits, too. Full-bodied with extremely fine tannins that run the length of the wine and are wonderfully integrated, spreading across the palate. Lasts for minutes. Better after 2025, but already fantastic.

95pts Wine Spectator

Sleek and racy, featuring cherry, blackberry, violet and iron aromas and flavors. This red is more about fruit and finesse, though there's an element of wild Mediterranean scrub. Firm, with dense, resonant tannins and a long finish. Best from 2026 through 2045.

95pts Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

The 2019 Chianti Classico Gran Selezione San Lorenzo draws its fruit from various sites selected throughout the estate, and for that reason, it is often the most representative wine from Castello di Ama (despite its more approachable price). This vintage is especially interesting, showing a more formal quality of tannins for longer aging potential and softly extracted dark fruit that sets it apart. Vintner Marco Pallanti likens 2019 to 2004 or 2016, some of the best vintages in recent memory. The wine is partially aged in new oak, and the percentage of new barrels used depends on the vintage conditions. This edition sees 20% new oak, medium toast and fine grains. The team is working with lower temperatures during fermentation with more numerous pump-overs for the first couple of weeks, then the wine is left alone. Fresh cherry fruit, blackberry, spice and grilled herb emerge.

94pts Decanter

A blend of the estate’s four historic vineyards – Bellavista, Casuccia, San Lorenzo and Montebuoni – from plantings that are at least 25 years old, this bottling is, for now, Castello di Ama’s flagship Gran Selezione. There's plenty to unpack here. A top note of vanilla complements red cherry, tobacco and thyme. Diving into the palate, the juicy red plum core is nuanced by freshly turned earth and rose. Assertive in personality but equally gracious, it's hard to resist at the moment. Those well-formed tannins of polished wood, and charming grapey scratchiness should keep this in nick for the next eight to 10 years.

94pts Vinous

The 2019 Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Castello di Ama San Lorenzo is a wild, beautifully layered wine. Touches of Merlot and Malvasia Nera lend striking complexity and dimension to a mid-weight yet fleshy Gran Selezione. Iron, cured meats, spice, leather and dried leaves all take shape in this deceptively mid-weight yet deep, highly expressive Gran Selezione.

94pts Falstaff

Bright, shimmering ruby ​​red. Initially somewhat restrained on the nose, then roasted hazelnut, wild berries, undergrowth, as well as fine resin and wax. Polished on the palate, with fine-meshed tannins and beautiful sweet fruit, constantly returning, lingering long and juicy.

Winemaker Notes

Castello di Ama San Lorenzo is named after the picturesque San Lorenzo valley viewed from the estate’s eighteenth-century Villa Pianigiani and Villa Ricucci.

This wine is produced from the finest grapes grown in the historic vineyards Bellavista, Casuccia, San Lorenzo and Montebuoni.

An expression of Sangiovese blended with the smallest quantities of Merlot and Malvasia Nera, the hallmarks of this complex wine are finesse, elegance, intensity, length and freshness.

Castello di Ama San Lorenzo has a remarkable ability to evolve, developing aromatic complexity and exemplary intensity over time.

Blend: 80% Sangiovese, 13% Merlot, 7% Malvasia Nera