YEAR’S BEST CHIANTI CLASSICO; The Mazzei family selects grapes for this wine (sangiovese with eight percent malvasia nera and colorino) from the 50 best parcels at the Fonterutoli estate, and ages the wine for 20 months in French oak barriques and tonneaux (60 percent new). The wine shows flavors of ripe black cherry leavened by notes of toasted nuts, tobacco and porcini mushrooms, the darkness of the flavors creating a warm, cozy impression that suggests a pairing with a hearty beef stew. – S.J.
