Fattoria Selvapiana Chianti Rufina Riserva 1995 "Bucerchiale"

I am not always the patient sort, and that can be problematic in the wine business. While it is true that most wines are ready to be consumed upon release, there are a few that need time for their glorious potential to be revealed. When drunk too soon, such wines can be unbearably tannic (Bordeaux and Nebbiolo-based wines, for example) or they can simply be hibernating ghosts that refuse to reveal themselves (like Moulin a Vent and other cru Beaujolais, or some of the great Rieslings from Germany or Alsace). The "Bucerchiale" Riserva is perhaps a bit more polite, but after all mumbling and fumbling is said and done, this is a wine to buy now but to drink later.

Fattoria Selvapiana is, arguably, the finest estate in Chianti Rufina. This appellation lies in the area immediately to the east of Firenze (Florence for you Anglophiles). The estate consistently produces a fine range of Sangiovese based wines (as well as a Super-Tuscan "Pomino" that I have not had the opportunity to taste). I have, on several occasions, enjoyed the "basic" Chianti Rufina (currently available in the fabulous 1997 vintage), and, immediately upon my return from a month long sojourn in Italy last summer, I enjoyed a bottle of the "regular" 1995 Riserva (which immediately sold out before I could get a second bottle). Only recently, our local importer Kysela Pere et Fils received a new container of Italian wines, and when I saw the Bucerchiale on the list, I knew that I had to try this one out. Having had all the "standard" offerings from Selvapiana, I had to try their "flagship" wine. "Bucerchiale" is, in fact, a vineyard particularly favored by the Selvapiana estate.

As soon as I had opened this wine, I knew that all manner of coaxing and cajoling would be necessary in order to obtain a semblance of its worth. I decanted, I swirled, I ran away to do other things (such as photocopying IRS forms at the local library or scaring away coffeeshop customers by reading Italian aloud to myself). Upon my return to The Bottle, I would pour myself another precious ounce or two of this (Future) Elixir. Over the course of two and a half days, this wine only slowly yielded. A tight knot of dark pit fruits, earthiness (clay and fresh mulch) gave way to higher aromatics of cedar and roses. On the palette, the wonderful fruit was just a step ahead of still-vigorous tannins which clamped down with alacrity. All the elements for a great wine are there EXCEPT the time required for this wine to reach its full potential. Will that be in five years or in ten years or beyond? I don't know, but I did stick a second bottle of this in my stash and I will probably try it out in half a dozen years. It is not that this wine isn't a pleasure to try now, but it will yield much, much more given a few more years to develop in bottle.

So you should drink it later, but why should you buy it now? You should buy it now because unlike Pepsi or Coca-Cola, this is not an industrial product, and there is only so much of it available. I am not sure that we will be able to get more that what we currently have in stock and even if we are able to find more, it will not be very much. Given all the economic imperatives to invest in 401k plans and nest eggs, I say, invest in future bliss: buy a bottle of Selvapiana Chianti Rufina (to have tonight) and a bottle of Selvapiana Chianti Rufina Riserva "Bucerchiale" to celebrate some future occasion. Believe me, you'll find an excuse!