A Certified Sommelier's Wine Picks from the Chianti Hills
When guests ask me what wines I like to pour, I almost always come back to the same three bottles.
Not because they are the rarest or the most expensive. Because they are honest. They come from the hills I know best — the stretch of Chianti that runs from Greve up through Ruffoli and across toward Castellina — and they each tell a different part of the same story. This is the land I grew up in. This is the wine it makes.
What is interesting about these three is that two of them helped change Italian wine entirely. In the 1980s, a group of producers in Tuscany decided to stop following the old rules and make wine the way they believed it should be made. The results became known as Super Tuscans — wines that sat outside the traditional classifications but ended up being some of the most celebrated bottles Italy has ever produced. Two of the wines below came from that moment. The third is a pure Sangiovese that shows what these hills can do when nothing gets in the way.
Together they make a very natural tasting. Not a competition, but a conversation.
Il Carbonaione - Podere Poggio Scalette
Il Carbonaione is the bottle I reach for when I want to explain Sangiovese with depth.
Podere Poggio Scalette sits in Ruffoli, above Greve in Chianti, which means it is practically in our backyard. The vineyards climb in terraces and the air feels a little cooler up there. The wine comes from old Sangiovese di Lamole vines in the Carbonaione vineyard — not just "a Tuscan red" but Sangiovese from a very specific place, where altitude, stone, and old-vine character all speak through the glass.
I find dark cherry, dried rose, warm earth, a little spice, and that clean Tuscan line of acidity that makes you hungry. It has power, but the best part is the elegance. It does not shout. It stands upright.
With food, this wine loves the table. Bistecca alla fiorentina, pappardelle al cinghiale, grilled lamb, aged pecorino with good bread. During a private dinner it is beautiful with the main course because the tannins have something to hold onto and the Sangiovese freshness keeps the meal alive. During a tasting, it is often where the real questions begin — guests want to understand what old vines mean, what altitude does, why this hill tastes different from the next one.
Brancaia - Il Blu
Il Blu is the bottle that often makes people lean in before I even open it.
Brancaia has a great family story: Bruno and Brigitte Widmer, from Switzerland, fell in love with a hill in Castellina in Chianti and bought the property in 1981. Il Blu arrived in 1988, built around Merlot with Sangiovese and Cabernet Sauvignon alongside it. It sat outside the old Chianti Classico rules, which is exactly what made it part of the Super Tuscan movement — wines that rewrote what Tuscan wine could be.
What I like about it is the contrast. It feels polished, almost velvet — black fruit, violet, cocoa, sweet spice — but it still carries the energy of Chianti behind it. It is generous without becoming heavy.
This is a wine for richer dishes: beef, lamb, wild boar ragu, roasted game, slow-braised meat with herbs. During a tasting, I like to pour it after Il Carbonaione because guests feel the texture change immediately. The conversation becomes very natural: same hills, different idea of beauty. That is when people start to understand what the Super Tuscan moment was really about.
Querciabella 'Camartina' Toscana IGT
Camartina is a wine I pour when I want to show finesse.
Querciabella is based in Greve in Chianti — right here — with Camartina coming from vineyards around Ruffoli. The wine has been the estate's signature since 1981, another Super Tuscan that helped define what this movement could look like at its most elegant. It brings together Cabernet Sauvignon and Sangiovese in a way that feels very Tuscan to me: structured, graceful, and never only about power.
Where Il Blu is round and seductive, Camartina feels more lifted. Black cherry, cassis, tobacco leaf, cedar, and a fine mineral note. The tannins are serious but beautifully shaped. It rewards attention, especially when guests have already tasted the other two and can feel the difference in rhythm.
For food, I like it with tagliata, porcini risotto, roast guinea fowl, lamb with rosemary, or anything with a little earthiness. It has enough freshness to keep the pairing alive without the wine ever feeling heavy.
How I Like to Pour Them Together
Il Carbonaione begins with Sangiovese and place — what these hills taste like in their most honest form. Brancaia Il Blu shows how Tuscany became richer and more modern without losing its soul. Camartina brings the room back to elegance, balance, and patience.
Three wines, three chapters. All of them from the hills outside our door.
That is why they work so well for a private wine pairing dinner or an in-villa tasting. They give the table something to taste and something to talk about. A guest can say, "I like this one because it feels softer," or "This one tastes more like the hills," or "Now I understand why these producers broke the rules." That is the real experience — not a list, but a conversation that keeps going long after the glasses are empty.
Planning a Tasting or Private Dinner in Chianti?
If you are staying in a villa in Tuscany and want an evening shaped around wines like these, get in touch with us at Intimate.Wine. Tell us where you are staying, how many people will be around the table, and the kind of evening you want to remember. Our Sommelier will take it from there.