Monte Bernardi Retromarcia 2024 Chianti Classico

Monte Bernardi Retromarcia 2024 Chianti Classico

Monte Bernardi
$30.00

Grape: Sangiovese
Vintage: 2024
Type: Red

Retromarcia, meaning reverse gear in Italian, is Michael Schmelcer’s calling card and homage to how Chianti traditionally used to taste. Biodynamic farming in Panzano, Michael focuses solely on Sangiovese to give his Classico a lean frame with clean cherry fruit, little smoke, earth, and freshness. Fresh, fun, juicy, light, candied cherry, tarragon, smooth, easy finish. Very drinkable and versatile. A benchmark everyday Chianti Classico. Michael’s cellar philosophy: a deliberate step away from the heavily extracted, heavily oak-influenced, techno-driven styles that dominated Tuscany in the 1990s and 2000s. Michael uses no modern additives, enzymes, or technological manipulations. The wines are fermented spontaneously with native yeasts and bottled unfined and unfiltered. Michael picks based on flavor and acid balance rather than sugar density. As a result, his wines are athletic, savory, they trade brute power for longevity and transparency.

Monte Bernardi is a biodynamic estate in Panzano, at the southern end of Chianti Classico, led by Michael Schmelzer since his family purchased the property in 2003. Schmelzer approaches the farm as a complete ecosystem and focuses on Sangiovese grown in Panzano's galestro-rich hillsides, alongside traditional regional varieties. Fermentations are spontaneous and élevage favors large, neutral vessels that frame rather than mask the fruit. Wines such as Retromarcia and Sa'etta are transparent, savory and energetic, presenting Chianti Classico through red fruit, earth and firm acidity rather than extraction or new oak.