This May 14th was the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Chianti Classico Consortium, by royal order of the then King of Italy. As long-time marketing and communications manager of the Consorzio Silvia Fiorentini reminded me, that was a ground-breaking event: the first wine consortium in all Europe. A whole century later, the Consortium is still here, still working with the vineyards and vintners at the spiritual heart of Tuscany to protect and improve one of the world’s great red wines. That in itself is a cause for celebration, and the quality level that Chianti Classico now routinely achieves is another.
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I should be upfront about Chianti Classico. It’s a staple wine in our house. We probably drink it more often than we do any other wine – more than my beloved Taurasi and Barolo, more by far than any Burgundy or Bordeaux. That’s because it’s just so amazingly versatile: It drinks well with almost anything, even with – should you be so inclined – fish. I remember many years ago that a busload of wine journalists headed for Vinitaly unanimously agreed (just about the only thing they agreed on all week) that if they were ever restricted to one wine for the rest of their life, it would be Chianti Classico.
I make a point of saying Chianti Classico because there are wines from districts outside the Classico zone, like Arezzo or Pisa or Siena, that are legally entitled to call themselves Chianti. I don’t mean to denigrate them. Some good wine is made in all of them, but they don’t reach the consistent level of quality of the Classico vineyards. For my palate, the best of those satellite zones, and the most distinctive, is Chianti Rufina – but it has a climate and terroir all its own, different from all the other Chianti zones and different from the Classico.
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The Chianti Classico zone comprises the stretch of central Tuscan hills that runs south from Florence to Siena. Anciently, this was the home of the Chianti League. Now, it is the heartland of Sangiovese, one of Italy’s three noblest red varieties (along with Aglianico and Nebbiolo). And Sangiovese is the heart and soul of Chianti Classico, which — traditionally a blended wine — now can be vinified from up to 100% of Sangiovese alone. That’s the result of the Consortium’s 100 years of intelligent, steady work with clones, field techniques, and vinification methods.
There are now so many good clones of Sangiovese available for Tuscan growers to work with that it’s not inaccurate to say that even 100% Sangiovese Chianti Classicos are still blended wines: They’re a blend of Sangioveses, and all the better for it. The characteristic bittersweet tang of the grape, its racy acidity and yielding tannins, its natural elegance and balance, show wonderfully, vintage after vintage, making it a thoroughly enjoyable wine from its exuberant youth to its graceful old age. Those are the qualities that make it such a welcoming food wine with everything from a brightly spiced tomato-based pasta sauce to a big, rare steak to all sorts of cheeses. Those are the reasons it so often appears on the dinner table a casa mia.
There are a great number of Chianti Classico producers and, as a result of the Consortium’s efforts, most of them are more than respectable. These days, it’s pretty hard to buy a bad Chianti Classico, and pretty easy to find an excellent one. Some of my perennial favorites are Badia a Coltibuono, Brolio, Castellare, Castello di Verazzano, Felsina, Fonterutoli, Fontodi, Poggiopiano, and – alphabetically last but very far from least – Volpaia. That there are so many names in that list is both an indication of the high quality of Chianti Classico and its abundance on the America market. Cause for celebration indeed!
Hi Tom:
Your wonderful piece puts me in mind of a kind of fiasco. The marco gallo, that black rooster on all Chianti Classico bottles, and a logo of the consortium since its inception, lost its name to the Gallo Bros. (Of California) in a legal dispute of names. Still can’t figure that one out!
But yes, what’s in the bottle—a rose is a rose is a rose is a rose…
Best Joe
Hi Joe. I well remember the Gallo case: Everybody even remotely connected with the wine business was scandalized by that narrow-minded ruling. Fortunately, it had no effect whatsoever on the quality of the wine coming from Chianti Classico. As you say, a rose is a rose.
As usual well-written, concise and loaded with information.
Thank you, Jonathan. You are, as usual, too kind.
Amen, Tom. As I wrote in a column many years ago: “If one could have a best friend in wine, mine would be Chianti.” It’s still that way, I’m proud to say. No other wine has given me so much pleasure over the years. Cheers! Burton Anderson
Nice to hear from you, Burt, and especially with such enthusiastic agreement! All best to you from this side of the pond.
Succinct and well articulated overview. Sorry I missed the tasting but was lured by an Alsace one the same day.
Thanks, Michael.