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Mazzei's benchmark Chianti Classico Riserva from Castello di Fonterutoli: 90% Sangiovese, 10% Merlot, aged 12 months in French oak. Cherry, violet and tobacco over firm Tuscan tannin and bright acidity, built for the table and the cellar.
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Red cherry, tobacco and a leathery, earthy edge: the savoury Sangiovese signature of Castello di Fonterutoli's Riserva. Ninety per cent Sangiovese with ten per cent Merlot. It spends a year in small French oak barrels at the Mazzei estate in Castellina in Chianti.
Ser Lapo opens on red cherry and raspberry lifted by violet, with tobacco and a sweet note of vanilla from twelve months in French oak. Tobacco and a leathery, earthy edge run alongside the fruit, the savoury Sangiovese register of Chianti Classico.
Violet
Blackcurrant
Cherry
Raspberry
Tobacco
Forest Floor
Leather
VanillaNinety per cent Sangiovese gives bright acidity and firm, fine-grained tannin. Ten per cent Merlot rounds the mid-palate. Concentrated black and red berry fruit sits over the clay-and-limestone savouriness of the Cornia and Caggiolo vineyards. The wine is fresh, structured and intense.
The finish is long and savoury. It closes on tobacco, leather and a dried-herb, earthy grip, the kind of structured close Fonterutoli builds to age over fifteen years in the cellar.
Ser Lapo is a benchmark, well-priced Chianti Classico Riserva, and a well-liked one. James Suckling scored the 2023 a 94. The wine is Sangiovese-led and food-first, for the table now or the cellar over a decade.
A widely stocked, fairly priced Chianti Classico Riserva: UK bottles here run from about 21 to 25 pounds. The vintages listed are the hot-year 2022 and the fresher, classic 2023, each 750ml of Sangiovese-led Tuscan red from the Mazzei family estate at Fonterutoli.
75cl · 2022: £21.50, 1 UK retailer
A versatile, food-first Tuscan red around 21 to 25 pounds: strong on value and beginner appeal as a classic Sangiovese expression, with enough Riserva structure to cellar or bring to the table for a roast.
High-acid, firm-tannin Sangiovese is a classic match for red meat, tomato-rich pasta and aged cheese; one of Italy's most food-friendly reds.
At about 21 to 25 pounds for a Riserva scoring 92 to 94 with critics such as James Suckling, it sits at or below the Chianti Classico Riserva median. Good value for the quality.
Riserva structure, twelve months in French oak and Fonterutoli's 15-year ageing potential give real cellar capacity, short of Brunello or top Gran Selezione longevity.
A textbook, affordable expression of Sangiovese and Chianti Classico, easy to understand, though the Riserva tannin asks for food rather than solo sipping.
A respected, well-reviewed Chianti Classico Riserva with the Mazzei name has enough prestige for a dinner party or gift, without Gran Selezione or Super Tuscan pricing.
Affordable and food-friendly enough for a special weeknight or a weekend roast, though firm tannin and a 21-pound-plus price keep it above true everyday drinking.
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 vintages sit together. The warm, concentrated 2022 drew nods from the Italian press; the fresher, more classically structured 2023 earned 94 points from James Suckling. Both are 90% Sangiovese with 10% Merlot.
A mild winter and rainy spring gave way to a dry summer in 2023, producing a fresher, more classically structured Ser Lapo with firmer tannin; James Suckling scored it 94 and Doctor Wine 93. Built to reward a decade in the cellar.
A hot, dry 2022 in Chianti Classico gave ripe, concentrated fruit and slightly softer tannins; Fonterutoli's clay and limestone sites held freshness, and the wine drew strong Italian press marks from Gambero Rosso, Veronelli and Bibenda. Approachable earlier than a classic year.
A mild winter and rainy spring gave way to a dry summer in 2023, producing a fresher, more classically structured Ser Lapo with firmer tannin; James Suckling scored it 94 and Doctor Wine 93. Built to reward a decade in the cellar.
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 Mazzei family has farmed Fonterutoli in Castellina in Chianti since 1435, and named this Riserva for Ser Lapo Mazzei, author of the first document to mention Chianti wine in 1398. The estate runs to 650 hectares, 117 under vine, on the clay and limestone of the Cornia and Caggiolo vineyards.
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
Castellina in Chianti
Made at Castello di Fonterutoli, Castellina in Chianti. Directions
Wine route in the zone: Strada Chiantigiana SR 222.
Hand-picked estate Sangiovese off the clay and limestone of the Cornia and Caggiolo vineyards at 250 to 350 metres costs more than bought-in fruit and underpins the Riserva price.
Ser Lapo spends a year in small 225 to 500-litre French oak barrels, half of them new each vintage; barrique cost and cellar time lift the price over a steel-aged Chianti Classico annata.
DOCG Riserva rules and Fonterutoli's selection hold the wine back until roughly two and a half years after harvest, tying up stock an entry Chianti Classico would have sold far sooner.
At around 310,000 bottles a year this is a sizeable, repeatable production, so economies of scale keep Ser Lapo near 21 pounds rather than at single-vineyard prices.
Scores of 92 to 94 from James Suckling and other critics, and the historic Mazzei brand, support a premium over an unrated Chianti Classico Riserva.
UK alcohol duty of 2.67 pounds on a still wine of this strength plus 20% VAT account for several pounds of the roughly 21-pound UK shelf price before any retailer margin.
Dishes that go with this wine
Firm tannin and bright Sangiovese acidity point to red meat, tomato-rich pasta and aged Tuscan cheese. Bistecca alla fiorentina is the home match for Fonterutoli's Riserva; lasagne and pecorino work just as well.
Ser Lapo's firm Sangiovese tannin needs the protein and fat of grilled and braised red meat; the fat coats the palate so the grip reads as supple, while the wine's bright acidity cuts the richness of a charred bistecca.
Try with: Fiorentina steak · Agnello Ragu Lucano · Cotoletta alla bolognese · More pairings →
Sangiovese's high acidity mirrors the acidity in tomato, the structural reason Chianti Classico is the classic partner for tomato-led Tuscan cooking; the wine stays fresh against the sauce instead of turning flat.
Try with: Lasagna · Pizza Margherita · Pizza Marinara · More pairings →
The tannin and acidity in this Riserva scrub the fat and salt of hard, aged sheep's cheese from Sangiovese's Tuscan home, refreshing the palate between bites of pecorino and crisp pane carasau.
Try with: Pecorino sardo e pan carasau · More pairings →
Twelve months in French oak give Ser Lapo enough body and savoury depth to match a full roast; its acidity and tannin handle the fat of roast beef where a lighter red would simply be flattened.
Try with: Sunday Roast Beef · Steak and Kidney Pie · More pairings →
With age this wine turns to tobacco, leather and earth, its most striking savoury notes; those aromatics bridge to the seared, charred crust of a simply grilled steak.
Try with: Ribeye steak · Sirloin steak · Fillet steak · More pairings →
At 13.5% with grippy tannin, Ser Lapo amplifies chilli burn and turns metallic against oily or raw fish; keep it away from a fiery Pizza Diavola, vindaloo, sushi and oysters.
Skip with: Pizza Diavola · Vindaloo · Sushi · Oysters · Pairing guide →
Fonterutoli gives this Riserva an ageing potential of over 15 years. The structured 2023 will reward a decade in the cellar, while the riper 2022 is more approachable young; both gain leather and dried-flower complexity with time.
Peak around 2030. Best in the years above; holds without falling over either side.
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.
Riserva structure, twelve months in French oak and Fonterutoli's 15-year ageing potential give real cellar capacity, short of Brunello or top Gran Selezione longevity.
£20.73 for a 75cl bottle of the 2023, at Decantalo, is the best price we track, and we have no signal of further discounting.
Read directly from each retailer’s public product page once a day. Last refresh: 25 Oct 2026, 03:24 BST. We do not hold stock and we do not accept payment for placement.
Confidence · HighDrawn from what drinkers consistently report on Vivino, summarised in our own words. A crowd read across many tasters, not a single critic. Drinkers score it 3.9 out of 5 from 25,334 ratings on Vivino.
Confidence · MediumFrom the official Italian disciplinare for this denomination, cross-checked against the Ministry of Agriculture register.
Confidence · HighOur reading of the price, drawn from the disciplinare, public UK duty rates, and typical landed-cost benchmarks. Not a quote from the producer or a retailer.
Confidence · MediumStyle guidance for this kind of wine at this price point. Treat it as advice, not a forecast for the bottle in your hand.
Confidence · MediumIt is the Mazzei family's Chianti Classico Riserva from their Castello di Fonterutoli estate in Castellina in Chianti, blended from 90% Sangiovese and 10% Merlot and aged twelve months in French oak. It is named after Ser Lapo Mazzei, who wrote the first document mentioning Chianti wine in 1398.
Expect red cherry and raspberry with violet, tobacco and a savoury, earthy edge. It is fresh and firmly tannic with bright acidity and full structure, the classic Sangiovese profile of Chianti Classico, lifted by a little Merlot and a year in oak.
Tuscan red meat and tomato-rich dishes: bistecca alla fiorentina, lamb ragu, lasagne and pizza margherita, plus aged pecorino. Its acidity and tannin cut fat and match tomato, while it clashes with fierce chilli heat and raw fish.
Castello di Fonterutoli gives it an ageing potential of over fifteen years. The fresher 2023 will reward a decade in the cellar; the riper 2022 drinks well sooner. Both develop leather and dried-flower notes with time.
UK merchants here list it from about 21 to 25 pounds a bottle. That is competitive for a Chianti Classico Riserva scoring 92 to 94 points with critics, James Suckling among them.
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