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 Food Wine, etc. |
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Wine, etc.
Chianti
 Chianti. Main facts
Tuscan dry red wine of high quality – DOCG (Denominzione di Origine Controllata e Garantita)
The most popular Italian wine outside Italy.
Father of the first blend of Chianti – Baron Bettino Ricasoli, the middle of the 19th century.
7 production areas: Classico, Rufina, Colli Aretini, Colli Fiorentini, Colli Senezi, Colli Pisane, Colli Montalbano.
Up to 10 of grapes could be used in Chianti. Red autochthonous grapes: Sangiovese (min 75%), Canaiolo, Colorino, Mammolo, Malvasia Nera. Other red grapes: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah. White local wines: Trebbiano, Malvasia Bianca.
Over 1000 producers.
The most successful years (over the last 20 years): 1985, 1988, 1990, 1995, 1997, 1999.
Has inherent aroma (wild cherry, wild berries, violets) and taste (ripe berries with refreshing acidity taste and well structured tannins). Chianti Classico and Chianti Ruffino are produced in accordance with stricter standards and typically appraised more than the others.
There are two major categories of Chianti (independent of production area):
Normale. Unofficial category; as a rule this wine is not made for long storing and is drunken within 2 years after release.
Riserva. It is produced only in the best years from the best vineyards. The wine is to be aged in barrels and bottles (at least 2 years for Chianti Classico) and has a higher content of alcohol (min 12,5 for Chianti Classico).
The bottles with straw braiding popular outside Italy are a bait for tourists and victims of stereotypes. None of serious and successful producers resorts to such an old-fashioned marketing trick. The reason for braiding used to be the fragility of bottles and lack of ability of glass blowers to make a normal stable bottom of bottle and therefore the flat foundation was not blown but braided.
On the neck of some bottles of Chianti one can see a red little belt featuring the silhouette of a black rooster. Such label is a proof of a true bottle of Chianti Classico, which producer is a member of Consorzio del Marchio Storico. However, not all producers consider it important. So, don’t get upset if there is no rooster on the bottle that you have chosen – most likely, this wine simply does not need extra advertising.
Before the middle of the 80s Chianti had been perceived as a rather moderate wine that played the role of an inexpressive accompaniment of outstanding Italian cuisine. Even the standard for wine blending proposed using of 10% of odious white grapes with the only “enhancement” being increase of its quantity. Fortunately, over the last 20-30 years the situation has taken a dramatic turn and though one can still meet many representatives of the “old school”, a true connoisseurs of Chianti would have no difficulty in naming more than a dozen of aromatic, tasteful and interesting representatives of this fabulous Tuscan wine.
Among the best producers are: Castello di Ama, Antinori, Frescobaldi, Ruffino, Barone Ricasoli, Fonterutoli, San Fabiano Calcinaia, Poggio Scalette, Machiavelli, Felsina, Casa Emma, Isole e Olena, San Felice, Badia a Coltibuono, Riecine, Poggio al Sole, Querciabella, Fontodi, La Massa, Melini, Castello dei Rampolla, Petrolo.
Interestingly many famous super-Tuscan wines are produced in accordance with Chianti standards. For example, Tignanello, Fontalloro, Capanelle, Le Pergole Torte, Il Carbonaione, Sangioveto. Obviously the authors of these wines consider that the image of Chianti as a wine of high class still has sufficient reserves for growth.
Sergei Gusovsky
When using materials from the site www.pantagruel.com.ua place a link to osteria Pantagruel, Italian restaurant in Kiev, Ukraine.
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