Podere Poggio Scalette’s Il Carbonaione 2020 is the estate’s flagship Sangiovese, sourced entirely from the single “Il Carbonaione” vineyard in Ruffoli, in the Greve in Chianti area of Tuscany. Although it sits in the Chianti Classico zone, it is bottled as Alta Valle della Greve Toscana IGT, a choice that underscores its single-vineyard, 100% Sangiovese focus. The property was founded in 1991 by winemaker Vittorio Fiore and is known for working steep, rocky, terraced hillside sites; the Il Carbonaione parcel includes vines dating back to around the 1920s.
Critical response to the 2020 vintage is notably strong, led by an excellent 94-point review from James Suckling. Suckling highlights the wine’s savory, complex edges, citing “exotic oriental spices, black pepper, black berries” alongside more forest-floor tones like “pine cones, porcini mushrooms and incense.” He also emphasizes its structure and texture, calling it “naturally concentrated… with a full body rounded by plush, velvety tannins,” finishing “very long.” His conclusion—“Drink or hold”—frames it as accessible but clearly built to evolve.
Wine Spectator’s 93-point review also lands in the top tier for the category and leans into the wine’s polish and darker fruit profile. The magazine describes “a lush, eloquent red,” with “smoke and charred oak flavors wrapped around a core of black cherry, blackberry, plum and iron.” Importantly, Wine Spectator flags its youthful structure: “polished, with a youthful grip of tannins,” and recommends patience, advising, “Give this a few years in the cellar.” They place the drinking window at “Best from 2026 through 2038.”
Production is relatively limited at 2,100 cases made (600 imported), reinforcing its small-lot, site-specific positioning. Overall, Il Carbonaione 2020 reads as a concentrated, dark-fruited Sangiovese with savory complexity, oak-influenced spice and smoke notes, and the kind of tannin backbone that should reward cellaring.
