Chianti Wine

Chianti is perhaps Italy’s most popular wine, and in recent years has come to evoke images of basket-bottomed “fiasco” bottles, red and white checkered table cloths and Hannibal Lecter smacking his lips after reminiscing about sipping it paired with fava beans and a census taker’s liver. The origins of the name are nebulous. Some say its a derivation of “Clango,” “Clangor” or “Clanti” which can all refer to the call of a trumpet or horn, or the cry of a bird, hearkening back to the classical days of hunting expeditions. Others say it’s named for an Etruscan noble family, Clante. But by any name, there is evidence of its early stages as far back as the 14th century.

 

The Grand Duke of Tuscany, Cosimo III de Medici, is credited with creating demarcated subzones in Chianti in 1716. In 1932, these were further subdivided into what now stands as its official zones: Classico (the “heart” of the region and considered the highest quality), Rufina, Colli Aretini, Colli Fiorentini, Montespertoli (once part of Fiorentini, added in 1997), Collini Pisane, Colli Senesi and Montalbano. Wines are labeled under each zone separately, or can simply be called “Chianti.”

 

For centuries, Chianti was a blend of Sangiovese and whatever grapes were available, with no official “recipe.” In the mid 19th century, Baron Bettino Ricasoli created what became the official blend using mainly Sangiovese with smaller amounts of Canaiolo and Malvasia. 

 

During the 1970s, many producers chose to bend these blending specifications either to add grapes that weren’t part of the allowable list or different blending percentages, calling them Chianti Vino di Tavola. While some of these wines were part of a high end artistic movement to add complexity to the wines, others were done this way to bulk them out for cheap exports. The blending specifications were revised again in the 1980s to accommodate what had become a lasting trend: a minimum of 80% Sangiovese with the rest some percentage of Canaiolo, Colorino, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and/or Syrah. 100% Sangiovese varietal releases also exist. In 2006, Trebbiano and Malvasia were banned from the allowable blend. 

 

The Chianti age labeling classifications are:

*Chianti = minimum four months

*Chianti Superiore = minimum of seven months

*Chianti Riserva = minimum of thirty-eight months

~Amanda Schuster