Your cellar, your trips, and the wines you've been tracking are right where you left them.
New here?
Free, always. Education first, we'll never sell you anything you didn't ask to see.
Already have an account?
Enter the email you signed up with and we'll send a link to choose a new password.
The everyday red from the Gaiole estate where Bettino Ricasoli wrote the first Chianti recipe in 1872. Sangiovese rested nine months in used oak, so the fruit leads. Sour cherry, violet and liquorice, firm but polite. Around £20 to £23.
Black FridayNo checked saving on this wine today. See 53 checked deals on Chianti Classico
We track 7 UK retailers across all vintages and formats, including out-of-stock offers. Prices read several times a week. We earn a commission on some links; it never changes the order.
Stock is shown where the retailer publishes it, offers are sorted by price, and unavailable offers can’t be clicked.
No current retailer offer matches that combination.
Stock status is read from each retailer’s page several times a week and may lag. Case and magnum listings show a per-bottle or per-litre equivalent and sit outside the best-price figure.
Cherry and red fruit first, as Ricasoli's own note has it, then tobacco, leather and a light toasted edge from nine months in used oak barrels.
Cherry and red fruit come first, the two notes Ricasoli's own sheet puts first. Behind the fruit sit liquorice and a touch of anise. The wine spends nine months in used 500 litre oak barrels, so the wood shows as toast more than as sweet vanilla.
Violet
Cherry
Plum
Tobacco
Leather
Oak
Liquorice
VanillaMedium bodied, with the sour cherry bite that marks Sangiovese from these hills. The tannins grip lightly and then let go. The 2024 carries 13.5% alcohol, so it stays easy at the table. Oak, tobacco and vanilla show as clearly as the cherry and red fruit.
It closes long and dry, with a toasted wood note and a return of liquorice: pleasant and persistent.
A benchmark everyday Chianti Classico from the family that wrote the first Chianti recipe in 1872. James Suckling gave the 2024 91 points, and it is a well-liked everyday red.
Five merchants sell it here. Most price the standard bottle between £19.90 and £23, and Hedonism also sells a half bottle at £13.50. Check the label before you buy, because Ricasoli make a dearer Brolio Riserva as well.
Half bottle 37.5cl · 2024: £13.50, 1 UK retailer
75cl · 1931: £429.97, 1 UK retailer
75cl · 2024: £19.90 - £22.50, 4 UK retailers
A benchmark Chianti Classico at about £22. It scores highest for food and for a first taste of Sangiovese. It scores lower for cellaring, because this is the estate's yearly release rather than its Riserva.
Sour cherry acidity and medium tannins put it at ease with tomato sauces, grilled beef and hard cheese, which is most of an Italian table.
Sangiovese in its friendliest form: familiar cherry fruit, light oak and no odd edges, so it is a safe first Chianti Classico.
At about £20 to £23 in the UK it undercuts most named estate Chianti Classico, and it punches above its price.
Easy enough to open on a weeknight, though at £20 or more most people will save it for a proper dinner.
A DOCG red from one of Tuscany's oldest estates carries weight at the table, but the Riserva and the Castello di Brolio bottlings are the special occasion wines here.
Chianti Classico asks for twelve months of ageing, and this is the yearly Brolio, not the Riserva, so drink it inside six or seven years.
Scoring is rule-based and deterministic. The model and weightings are documented in our Wine Fit Score methodology.
A compact view of what the Chianti Classico denomination actually requires, and how this bottle sits inside it. Pulled from the official Italian disciplinare.
Two years are on sale. The 2023 is the riper one at 14%, and Wine Spectator gave it 92 points. The 2024 comes in at 13.5% and took 91 points. Both years rate three stars out of five on the Italian vintage charts.
A mild wet winter left water in the ground, then June to September stayed above 30 degrees with little rain. Ricasoli say those winter reserves carried the vines through, and the wine came in at 13.5% with fresh acidity. James Suckling scored it 91 and Wine Spectator 90. Drink it now and over the next six years.
Rain in May and June built up reserves that saved the vines from a hot dry summer, and cool autumn nights finished the ripening. Ricasoli picked by hand between 29 September and 12 October. The result is the riper of the two years on sale at 14%, and Wine Spectator gave it 92 points.
A mild wet winter left water in the ground, then June to September stayed above 30 degrees with little rain. Ricasoli say those winter reserves carried the vines through, and the wine came in at 13.5% with fresh acidity. James Suckling scored it 91 and Wine Spectator 90. Drink it now and over the next six years.
Drink-now / hold guidance reflects general style cues for this wine, not a forecast for a specific bottle. Where vintage-level editorial notes exist, they appear above.
The Ricasoli family has held Brolio Castle since 1141. Francesco Ricasoli took over in 1993, mapped the estate soils and replanted the vines. The grapes are picked by hand on the family's own hills above Gaiole, at 280 to 480 metres.
Italian wine law sorts bottles into a pyramid. DOCG sits at the top: tightly drawn boundaries, prescribed grapes, mandatory ageing, government tasting before release. DOC is the same idea with looser thresholds. IGT (Indicazione Geografica Tipica) is broader still, requiring only that 85% of the grapes come from the named territory.
Chianti Classico is in the DOCG tier. That is not a quality verdict, it is a description of how much freedom the producer has at vinification and ageing.
Chianti Classico falls within Tuscany, covering Firenze · Siena. The denomination is further divided into 11 sub-zones.
Wine route
Full day, longer with tastings · 5 stops
Open the drive
Winery
Gaiole in Chianti
Producer: Barone Ricasoli, Gaiole in Chianti. Directions
Wine route in the zone: Strada Chiantigiana SR 222.
Ricasoli pick by hand on their own vineyards at 280 to 480 metres around Brolio Castle. Francesco Ricasoli replanted and mapped every plot after 1993. Hand picking your own fruit costs more than buying grapes in.
The wine rests nine months in 500 litre French oak barrels on their second and third fill. Used wood costs a fraction of new barrels, and it lets the fruit show rather than the oak.
The rules for Chianti Classico ask for twelve months of ageing before release, and every bottle must pass a tasting panel first. That is a year of cellar space and stock the estate pays for.
Duty on a 13.5% bottle is £3.10 at the February 2026 rate. Add 20% VAT and close to £6.80 of a £22 bottle is tax, before shipping or the shop's margin.
Millesima sell the 2024 at £19.90 and Hedonism the 2023 at £23, for the same size of bottle. That gap of about £3 between shops is competition, and it stops any one of them charging more.
Dishes that go with this wine
Sour cherry acidity and medium tannins make this a tomato and meat wine. Beef, veal, pasta and cured meat are its natural matches.
Tomato sauce is sharp, and a soft red tastes flat next to it. The sour cherry acidity in this Chianti Classico meets that sharpness head on and resets your mouth between forkfuls. Sangiovese, the grape behind every Chianti Classico, is built for this job.
Try with: Ragu alla bolognese · Lasagna · Pizza Margherita · Pappa al Pomodoro · More pairings →
Fat from a rare steak coats the tongue and dulls the next bite. The tannins here, firm but polite after nine months in used oak, scrub that fat away. Gaiole in Chianti has eaten this pairing for centuries, a medium bodied Tuscan red against charred beef.
Try with: Fiorentina steak · Ribeye steak · Sirloin steak · Lamb chops · More pairings →
Braised veal is soft and sweet, and it needs a wine of the same weight or it disappears. This Chianti Classico is medium bodied, not heavy, so it sits level with the dish instead of burying it.
Try with: Ossobuco alla Milanese · Cotoletta alla bolognese · Vitello Tonnato · More pairings →
Mushrooms taste of earth and damp woods, and a purely fruity red fights them. This one carries leather and earthy notes under the fruit. Sangiovese from Chianti Classico stays savoury, so glass and plate agree.
Try with: Porcini mushroom risotto · Tagliatelle al tartufo di Acqualagna · Truffle risotto · More pairings →
Salami and aged pecorino are salty, and salt makes tannin taste harder than it is. The bright acidity here softens that clash and keeps the wine juicy. Cured meat is a natural match for this Chianti Classico.
Try with: Pecorino sardo e pan carasau · Pizza Diavola · Cheese board · More pairings →
Chilli heat sharpens the tannin and makes this wine taste bitter and hot. Raw fish goes the other way: it is too fine for the grip and turns metallic. Pour a crisp dry white instead, such as Vermentino di Sardegna.
Skip with: Nigiri Sushi · Sashimi · Lamb bhuna · Sweet and sour pork · Pairing guide →
For the main offer above.
A short splash decant softens the first-pour edge and opens the aromatics.
Aim for the cooler end on a warm day; warmer end opens up more aromatics.
Chianti Classico asks for twelve months of ageing, and this is the yearly Brolio, not the Riserva, so drink it inside six or seven years.
£19.00 for a 75cl bottle of the 2023, at The Wine Society, is the best price we track, and we have no signal of further discounting.
Read directly from each retailer’s public product page several times a week. Last refresh: 6 Nov 2026, 06:16 BST. We do not hold stock and we do not accept payment for placement.
Confidence · HighDrawn from published drinker ratings, summarised in our own words. A crowd read across many tasters, not a single critic.
Confidence · MediumFrom the official Italian disciplinare for this denomination, cross-checked against the Ministry of Agriculture register.
Confidence · HighOur reading of the price, from how this wine is made, the rules of its appellation, UK duty and VAT and the price shops charge for it today. Not a quote from the producer or a retailer.
Confidence · MediumThe drinking years for the main offer apply to its 2023 vintage. Treat them as advice, not a forecast for the bottle in your hand.
Confidence · MediumSour cherry and red plum, with liquorice and a hint of anise behind them. Nine months in used oak barrels means the wood shows as toast more than as sweet vanilla. The tannins grip a little, then let go. A well-liked everyday red.
The 2024 is 95% Sangiovese with 5% Colorino, on Ricasoli's own fact sheet. Sangiovese is the grape behind every Chianti Classico. Colorino is a dark Tuscan grape used in small amounts to deepen the colour. Some UK merchants still print an older blend with Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon.
Tomato and meat dishes. The acidity cuts through a slow cooked ragu or a plate of lasagne, and the tannins handle grilled beef. Beef, veal, pasta and cured meat are all natural matches. Hard pecorino works too.
Drink it between now and about 2032. This is the estate's yearly Chianti Classico, not the Riserva, so it is built to be opened young. The 2023 is the riper of the two years on sale, at 14% alcohol. Both are ready now: the 2023 has until about 2031 and the 2024 until about 2032.
No. Brolio Riserva is a separate bottling that spends longer in barrel and costs more. This page is the plain Brolio Chianti Classico, the estate's yearly release. Look for the word Riserva on the label before you buy.
Because Bettino Ricasoli wrote down the first recipe for Chianti in 1872. His family has owned Brolio Castle since 1141, which makes them one of the oldest wine families in the world. Francesco Ricasoli has run the estate since 1993 and replanted its vineyards.
9 retailers
Chianti Classico
9 retailers
£21.00
£24.00
+ delivery
8 retailers
Chianti Classico
8 retailers
£43.83
+ delivery
7 retailers
Chianti Classico
7 retailers
£56.00
+ delivery
6 retailers
Chianti Classico
6 retailers
£24.84
+ delivery
Affiliate disclosure. Some links above are affiliate links. If you buy through them we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Editorial coverage, ratings and tasting notes are written independently and a retailer cannot pay to be listed or to be ranked higher.
How retailer prices are sourced.
Prices and stock are read from each retailer’s public product page several times a week. Outbound buy links carry rel="nofollow sponsored noopener". The list is sorted by price; we do not accept payment for placement.
What we will never do. Imply we tasted a bottle when we didn’t. Imply stock when a retailer is out. Imply independence on links that are paid affiliate links.
DOCG
checked 
