Guide To Chianti Chainti Classico Chianti Reserva Top Every Day Italian Wine But Also Fine Wine

www.grapeswine.com

The Chianti regions of Italy lie at the center of Tuscany, Italy´s quintessential wine region on the western Ligurian coast of the country, stretching from Pisa to Arezzo and Siena. Subzones include: Chianti Colli Aretini, Chianti Colli Fiorentini, Chianti Colli Senesi, Chianti Colline Pisane, Chianti Montalbano, Chianti Rufina, and Chianti Montispertoli. Baron Bettino Ricasoli, later Prime Minister in the Kingdom of Italy created the first recipe for Chianti: 70% Sangiovese, 15% Caniolo and 15% Malvasia Bianca in the middle of the 19th century.

In 1932 the Chianti area was completely re-drawn and divided in seven sub-areas: Classico, Colli Aretini, Colli Fiorentini, Colline Pisane, Colli Senesi, Montalbano and Rùfina. As the years went by, Chianti became a household name. First of all because it is a wine for food lovers and is available at affordable prices compared to its fellow Sangiovese grape-based wines Rosso di Montalcino and Brunello. Also, Chianti became fixed in U.S. wine drinkers´ consciousness due to its distinctive straw basket-covered bottles. The "fiasco" was designed to echo the "borraccia", the traditional leather flask men tied to their horses in medieval times to quench their thirst on long trips. These Chianti bottles always seemed to be sitting on a red-checkered tablecloth in our collective imagination until of late when the Florentine bottle took its place to give Chianti a more elegant image overall.

First because its popularity after World War II led to increased production using trebbiano Toscano, a dull grape that made Chianti overly thin and unbalanced. Secondly, In 1967, the Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOC) was enacted. While this legislation set out even stricter rules regarding yields and grape choices, this led to a massive planting of vines, often in areas that were not suitable for growing quality grapes. Yes, more and more wine was being produced, but much of it was fairly diluted, poor-quality table wine. But help was on the way as the rise of Super Tuscans, led by Sassacaia and Tignanello in the 1960´s, finally spurred Chianti makers to move away from the traditional blend of using white grapes which re-established Chianti as a wine built for food. Sangiovese is supple and less tannic than say Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot and yet more elegant and lighter in body than syrah or zinfandel. Moreover, there is an almost saltiness from the Sangiovese and acidity that clears your palate, to ready it for food.

Classico and Riserva

Not all the wine produced in the Chianti zone is Chianti Classico. To have the right to a denomination is not sufficient. In fact, the provenance refers to a given territory but also all the rules stipulated in the production regulations must be respected. Those rules determine the conditions and the requisites that permit a wine to be decked out with the name Chianti Classico DOCG.The rules provide for a minimum ratio of 80% for Sangiovese, the typical red variety of the zone. Along with the Sangiovese, other red grapes of the area can be used in a maximum percentage of 20%. These grapes include natives like Canaiolo and Colorino as well as "international" varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, all recommended and/or authorized for the production zone. Among the principal sensory characteristics indicated by the production rules, there is the ruby red color that can become at times intense and profound, depending upon the wine´s origin.

The odor offers floral notes of violets and irises combined with a typical character of red fruit. The flavor is harmonious, dry and sapid with a good level of tannin that fines in time, becoming soft and velvety. The regulations note that the processes of vinification, preservation and bottling must occur exclusively in the production zone. And the wine may not be released for consumption before October 1. The Riserva must age for at least two years. Minimum required maturation for the Riserva is 24 months including three months of bottle fining.

As far as the label is concerned, the regulations contain some terms that are added to those already stipulated by the specific rules in effect in the sector. In the first place, the label must contain the indication "Chianti Classico" with the more specific identification, Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita and display the year when the grapes were produced (vintage). The name of the wine can be identified in connection with that of the estate or with a brand name or it can be a fantasy name or indication of the name of the vineyard of provenance. In any case, terms like extra, fine, select, selected, superiore, old and similar may not be used.

The minimum permitted ratio of Sangiovese grapes used in the production of the wine is 80%, a percentage that can rise to 100%. Sangiovese is the real soul of Chianti Classico. The Sangiovese grape is extremely sensitive to external factors, especially terrain and climate, and it is truly difficult to identify another variety that is so well able to interpret the characteristics of the soil and modify its aromas in accordance with the terrain in which the vine grows. Flowery bouquets are derived from sandy soils, while scents of wild berries are suggested by limestone and the aromas of tobacco are fresh with hints of tufa. But always, whatever may be its zone of origin, there is that scent of violets that the production regulations identify as the characterizing and specific element of Chianti Classico.

In the first years of its life, Chianti Classico is odorous, fruity and rounded and the wine features a brilliant ruby red color. But Sangiovese is a grape of medium-long aging capacity and it is used in extremely high percentages or alone as is foreseen for Chianti Classico. This can result in products with big bodies and substantial complexity that can withstand many years of aging.

Of the entire production of Chianti Classico, about 20% is now devoted to Riservas, wines with dark red colors tending to garnet and aromas of spices and wild berries. They also offer imposing structures and are elegant and velvety. The best grapes are selected at the time of the harvest for the production of Riservas. Their qualities are further enriched when they are exposed to wood during maturation. Huge casks of chestnut and oak were once used but today producers prefer containers of oak with smaller dimensions, which accelerate the evolutionary processes and permit greater transference of their aromas to the wines. The wine matures in the wood for a more or less prolonged period, depending upon the dimensions of the container. There is, then, a further pause for bottle fining before the wine is sent to the market.

Robert Wood

Ph: 1-800-434-9463

To See What ´Chianti Wines´ are available. Please Click Here.