Donna Laura Ali, the sangiovese of angels

I'm picky when it comes to entry level, inexpensive chiantis. Sometimes you just dont want to spend a lot of money, but you want a decent quality Chianti. I recently discovered the Donna Laura Ali Sangiovese di Toscana I.G.T. wine at a local wine shops wine tasting and retailing for $11.99 was a value for this chianti..

The Donna Laura winery is located in the Castelnuovo Berardenga town within the Chianti Classico region in Tuscany. This is one of the top towns in this region for Chianti Classico production along with Radda, Gaiole, Greve, Castellina in Chianti and Panzano. It's located in the southeastern part of the Chianti Classico zone. This winery produces about half a million bottles a year and is owned by Lia Tolaini-Banville. Some of the grapes that they use in producing wines for the Donna Laura brand originate from the grapes produced on the Tolaini estate.

Map of Tuscany ~ Property of Donna Laura wines

Where does the name come from?
 Lia Tolaini-Banville's appreciation of wine drew from her first introduction to Italy and her Aunt Laura on a visit with her father when she was 6 to Lucca in Tuscany. Over the years Lia fell in love with Italy, as many of us do, and returned for summers enjoying the time and culture and spending time with her relatives. After graduating from college she traveled to Florence, Italy to further study art and spend more time with them. As Lia grew older and had a family of her own their connection remained strong until unfortunately the aunt passed away. In 2004 Lia started the brand Donna Laura wines named after her aunt her drew about her passion for Italy and where her family was from.

One of the three wines produced under the Donna Laura brand that I tasted includes the wine, Ali, meaning “wings” and named after Lia's daughter. It's produced with 100% sangiovese. Ruby in color, it was a smooth, medium bodied wine with juicy ripe cherry and raspberry with soft tannins. 

What value Chiantis have you found that you'd like to share?  

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