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WOWZA! That’s a lotta bottles, sista!
That is a sign that I was impressed and that the value is there!
I take it we are exploring the Chianti wine subregion of Tuscany?
Yes!
Why does the label have so many words? I’m not sure what it’s supposed to be telling me.
I tend to criticize this, as it is frustrating to the average wine drinker, but I am (slowly) learning to reframe this as storytelling - a thing I love to do here!
Let me unpack it for you starting at the bottom of the label and work upwards. First word up:
Monteriggioni
Monteriggioni is considered one of the best-preserved medieval towns in Italy. The city-state of Siena built this walled settlement in the early 13th century. In Dante’s Inferno its 14 towers along the walls were compared to giants hovering around the edge of hell’s central pit.
I can imagine the war stories - if only those ramparts could talk. But how does this relate to wine?
Let’s move up the label to the words:
Il Colombaio.
Il Colombaio, the winery who produces the featured wine, has had family vineyards in the general Siena area since 1897. The winery is located on the Via Francigena, the ancient pilgrimage route from Cantebury to Rome. The grapes that made this wine were grown in the vineyard they refer to as Monteriggioni.
On the map below, the white territory just above the word Siena is the Chianti Classico subregion which covers the hills between Florence and Siena. The coloured lands surrounding Chianti Classico are referred to simply as “Chianti”. These Chianti lands were defined in the 1930s at a time when the world was asking for more Chianti.
The Chianti and Chianti Classico subregions span six Tuscan provinces, namely: Florence, Siena, Arezzo, Pisa, Pistoia and Prato. These provinces also share their names with key cities. I love this map because you can see those cities in relation to one another within the wine subregion’s boundaries.
Okay get back to the label – I feel so much suspense I cannot stand it!
Chianti Colli Senesi
Next up: Chianti Colli Senesi, one of the eight “subzones” of Chianti.
The legend on the bottom right of the map shows eight “subzones” within Chianti only. (Chianti Classico has its own system – a story for another day). Today’s featured wine has its grapes grown within the Chianti Colli Senesi subzone, shown in the peachy color. The Monteriggioni vineyard is located near Siena hugging the southwest flank of the Chianti Classico hills.
This all must be Sangiovese territory.
Indeed. The main grape of Chianti is Sangiovese, although up to 30% of other supporting grapes are allowed.
This brings us to:
San Cirino
San Cirino is the wine’s name - a blend of Sangiovese and Canaiolo.
Wow – we’ve reached the top of the wine label. I feel like I traveled through matter, space, and time!
Wine can do that – one of the many reasons I believe wine is so special! But most importantly, now let me tell you what about this wine got you so enthused!
Let’s start with the price, which is an indicator of quality. This wine is so reasonably priced that I had low expectations. It was a perfect wine for our Friday Pizza Night! At the end of the week, I don’t need anything too complicated!
From the first sniff of the glass, this wine took hold of me. This was to the dismay of my colleagues, who got their weekend evening off interrupted by a bottle photo and a series of texts praising this wine. Fast forward a few days and miraculously six more bottles made it home!
The wine’s complexity and concentration of flavours and aromas along with the precision of fruit flavours really stood out for me. At its price point, I would have expected a simpler, more dilute wine with muddle fruit notes. This doesn’t happen every day!
So much wine, so little time!
Okay I am scrolling down to get into the nitty gritty in the section where you cover the featured wine in detail.
Great – now don’t forget to see the related Shades of Grape articles too!
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Il Colombaio ‘San Cirino’ Monteriggioni Chianti Colli Senesi 2022 from Tuscany, Central Italy
Style: Full body old world red wine
Variety(ies): Sangiovese and Canaiolo blend
This fresh intense wine has precision of fruit flavours such as ripe red cherry, black cherry, blueberry, blackberry, and cassis, with the complexity of forest floor and earth and hints of mushroom, coffee, and leather. This structured wine has a high level of ripe grainy tannins and a long finish.
Best pairings: Pappardelle with meat ragu, Italian sausage and mushroom pizza, Grilled beef steak with rosemary, Braised beef short ribs, Veal meatballs with tomato sauce and Mushroom risotto, Cheeses: Aged Pecorino, Manchego, and Parmigiano-Reggiano,
Serving Temperature: 16 - 18 degrees Celsius
Serving Tips: Decant for a minimum of 30 minutes
Price: ~$25 Cdn
Relevant Shades of Grape links: Keep scrolling
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LINKS TO RELEVANT PAST SHADES OF GRAPE ARTICLES:
SOURCES:
Chianti Classico, 2023. The Additional Geographical Units (UGA). [online] Available at: https://www.chianticlassico.com/en/territory/uga/ [Accessed 22 October 2026].
Comune di Monteriggioni, no date. Storia. [online] Available at: https://comune.monteriggioni.si.it/it-it/vivere-il-comune/storia [Accessed 22 October 2026].
Consorzio Vino Chianti, no date a. The Chianti Wine Lands. [online] Available at: https://www.consorziovinochianti.it/the-chianti-wine-lands/?lang=en [Accessed 22 October 2026].
Consorzio Vino Chianti, no date b. The Consortium. [online] Available at: https://www.consorziovinochianti.it/the-consortium/?lang=en [Accessed 22 October 2026].
Fattoria Il Colombaio, no date. The Estate. [online] Available at: https://fattoriailcolombaio.com/the-estate/ [Accessed 22 October 2026].
Fattoria Il Colombaio, 2024. San Cirino [PDF]. [online] Available at: https://fattoriailcolombaio.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/San-Cirino-INGLESE.pdf [Accessed 22 October 2026].
Harding, J. and Robinson, J., 2023. The Oxford Companion to Wine. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Monteriggioni Turismo, no date. Monteriggioni. [online] Available at: https://www.monteriggioniturismo.it/en/what-to-see/monteriggioni [Accessed 22 October 2026].
Princeton University, no date. Dante [online database entry]. Available at: https://dante.princeton.edu/cgi-bin/dante/DispToynbeeByTitOrId.pl?INP_ID=215498&SMALL=0 [Accessed 22 October 2026].
Shades of Grape, no date a. Chianti vs Chianti Classico: Sangiovese. [online] Available at: https://www.shadesofgrape.ca/p/chianti-vs-chianti-classico-sangiovese [Accessed 22 October 2026].
Shades of Grape, no date b. Knights, Legends and Sangiovese. [online] Available at: https://www.shadesofgrape.ca/p/knights-legends-and-sangiovese-the [Accessed 22 October 2026].
Wine & Spirit Education Trust, 2025. D3: Wines of the World – An Accompaniment to the WSET Level 4 Diploma in Wines. Version 1.2. London: Wine & Spirit Education Trust.