Candialle Chianti Classico La Misse di Candialle

Galestro is a rocky, schistous clay soil found not only in most of Tuscany’s best vineyards but also in the iconic terracotta tiles crowning many a Tuscan building. This soil is responsible for strong, tannic, dark Sangiovese wines erstwhile referred to as “nero de Panzano”, the black wine of Panzano. Candialle’s vineyard is situated at the southern tip of the golden bowl, “Conca D’Oro”, just below the village of Panzano, deep in Chianti country. The Conca D’Oro acts as a natural amphitheatre with the southern and south western aspects, altitudes from 300m to 360m and the galestro creating the ideal cocktail for the high maintenance and late ripening Sangiovese grape. Husband and wife Jarkko and Josephin Peränen, Finnish and German respectively, via Holland, Germanic brewers, Italian students and Chianti Classico winemakers, ended up falling in love with Tuscany and bought a farm and established Candialle. That was 2002. Ploughing a natural furrow with emphasis on soil health and organic viticulture and the tradition of Tuscan polyculture, they are part of the “Unione Viticoltori di Panzano”, a movement dedicated to sustainable and environment-friendly winemaking, with Panzano potentially becoming the first complete organic viticultural region of Italy. La Misse,”Little Miss”, from low yield vines, hand harvested, fermented with wild, natural yeasts in concrete, is an expressive, vibrant example of Sangiovese with dark red cherry, raspberry, violet, spice and a touch of sweet tobacco. Its acidic tang makes it an ideal bedfellow for some rich, fatty, succulent slow cooked lamb. Here come those hunger pangs.