Chianti is a large wine zone extending through much of Tuscany. All of the zone is DOCG status, and it is divided into seven districts. Two of these have readily-available wines on the world market: Chianti Classico (Classic refers to the defined area--not to a reserve or superior bottling) and Chianti Ruffina. In addition to their district of production, Chianti wines vary in style according to aging. Reserve wines, often aged in French oak, may be released after two or more years at the winery.

Chianti is always a very dry red wine, with very concentrated fruit character, most often made entirely from the sangiovese grape. Chianti goes well with food, and can range in style from light to full bodied with tart cherry and violet aromas and flavors. Chianti can age ten or more years in a good vintage.

There are few areas in ltaly about which you believe you know and have said and read everything, and the opposite to everything. Such as the Chianti region.

The Chianti region of Italy is known for its beauty and its irresistible fascination.
Only the most discerning and expert sightseer can discover its hidden, important treasures. Every bend is filled with history, anecdotes and legends without which this important land would perhaps not be appreciated today.

And there are very few, such as the Chianti region again, which take you unawares each and every time.

A truly unending source of culture, humanity, scenery, architecture, tourist attractions, gastronomy and wines, the Sienese part of its territory contains the "historical" communes of this land: Radda, Gaiole and Castellina (the old Chianti League), and Castelnuovo Berardenga too.

Here lie the lines of defence of the two Republics, Siena and Florence, which have scowled at each other through its woods and vineyards for centuries.

The surrounding territory of Berardenga borders on the epic plain of Monteaperti and all the hills of the DOCG wine, furrowed by a thousand roads and a thousand tracks through the greenery. And then, thanks to all the wine-cellars, farms, castles, boundless estates and tiny vineyards, centuries-old parish churches, refined hotels, farms for country holiday and other accomodation at a whole range of prices, the region does not only come alive during the grape harvest and olive-pressing, but there is a continous cycle of exhibitions, concerts, novel initiatives and events which transform it into a large openair theatre, with the maternal profile of Siena as a backcloth.

Chianti is an area of about 300 square kilometres of pure Tuscany, right in the centre between Siena and Florence. Entirely hilly, it varies in aspect from the severe and harsh to the sweet and soft, covered in serried rows of vines, green forests or stony meadowland with olive groves and sparse oak trees. The light is really astounding - no view ever seems to be the same from one hour to the next.

ON clear days you can seemingly see forever; on misty days the light filters the colours and the objects as though through a smoky silk veil, and one seems to be living in a Renaissance landscape. Interspersed with the countryside are castles: some are still occupied by the noble families whose ancestors built them in the feudal middle ages; others - ruined, perhaps in battle centuries ago, and abandoned - still dominate their hilltops with proud arrogance. There are numerous hill towns and hamlets, villas and farmhouses, guarded by sentinel cypresses, by people who may make their living tending the vineyards, or have already made more than a living and have retired to beautiful old houses. Superb wines are produced in this beautiful district, with its happy combinations of climate, soil and four special grapes.

The Sangiovese and Canaiolo (black) and the Malvasia and Trebbiano (white) together give Chianti wines their notable dry, full-bodied character with a bouquet like violets. There are so many good wines, it is well worth trying for yourself. Call in at farms and estates and ask to taste the wine; the owners will be happy to let you and, if you buy, their price will almost certainly be far less than you would pay in the shops. Jealously protected by the Fine Arts Commission, Chianti is unspoilt and will remain so, but it has such an active agricultural and viticultural life that there is no danger of its sinking into a museum-like tourist attraction.

Basic laws regulating yields
grapes used for specific wines, area restrictions for growing, viticultural practices and maximum and minimum alcohol strengths were set forward at that time. Three categories were established:

Vino da Tavola , or table wine, typically, but with some exceptions, everyday wines-simple, pleasurable and inexpensive. Ironically, this category also represents the often not-so-inexpensive "Super Tuscan" wines.

DOC wines (initials stand for Denominazione di Origine Controllata ), a translation of the French Appellation d'Origine Côntrolée. There are about 250 DOC zones, and approximately 700 Italian wines bearing this classification. However, only a small percentage of these have any commercial viability. Twenty DOCs account for close to 45% of the country's total DOC production.

DOCG (Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita) wines, first classified in 1980 with the intention of adding a quality classification to the top of the wine pyramid. The 14 DOCG wines indicate the highest quality (wines not only "controlled" but "guaranteed"). DOCG wines include such famous names as Barola, Barbaresco, Chianti, Brunello di Montalcino and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. Additional wines are petitioning for DOCG classification, so the existing group of 14 will continue to grow.

Lnks about Chianti Tuscany Italy

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