The 2021 Chianti Classico Gran Selezione San Sano is stunning wine of the highest level. Bright acids drive through a core of red fruit, blood orange, white pepper, mint and chalk. Linear but not at all austere, the 2021 bristles with energy. The purity here is just mind-blowing. What a wine. Readers who can find it should not hesitate. The salivating, mineral-drenched finish is unforgettable.
98+ points, Antonio Galloni, Vinous (Jul 2024)
What energy here, with crushed-stone, violet and blue-fruit character, as well as raspberry and stone. It’s medium-bodied with great linear character and length. Energetic acidity and drive. Great intensity and structure. Secure in its sense of place and character. A new single-vineyard Chianti Classico from Antinori. Drink or hold.
97 points, James Suckling (Aug 2024)
To my palate, this is the clear winner in this flight of four wines from Marchesi Antinori. The 2021 Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Fattoria San Sano (with fruit from the cool Gaiole UGA) is characterized by elegant berry tones, a more transparent style and refreshing acidity (with a pH of 3.2 and seven grams per liter total acidity). That freshness defines the personality of this wine, as does its enormous range of aromas. You get blood orange, blue violets, fresh rose and star anise over a mid-weight mouthfeel and finely textured tannins. The wine performs with linear intensity and firm structure that is well-suited to bottle aging. This is a true beauty from a panoramic vineyard site, and it should be interesting to watch this program evolve over the coming vintages. My money is on Fattoria San Sano to excel above the others, but it could also prove less vintage-resistant than the others.
96+ points, Monica Larner, Wine Advocate (Oct 2024)
Purchased in 2014, San Sano reaches 450m on a luminous plateau in Gaiole. It is an exceptionally rocky site with substantial underpinnings of alberese, a limestone-rich marl. Refined in 12-hectolitre French oak cask, it is the most finessed of Antinori’s Gran Selezione quartet. Scents of mace and juniper introduce a palate that's linear in progression and built around a blood orange and pomegranate core that reaches stony depths. Animating acidity and beautifully knit tannins are in perfect synergy, culminating in a very zesty, citrussy finish. This has a bright future.
96 points, Michaela Morris, Decanter (Apr 2025)