All about Chianti including laws, sangiovese and territorities

Probably one of the most known wines in all of Italy is Chianti. If you have ever been to Tuscany you have experienced utter beauty with it's rolling hills, cypress trees, olives groves and never ending row of vines.   

Chianti, along with it's many different mutations, is definitely one of my favorites, along with the wines from Piedmont that I will cover another time. Chianti been around since B.C. and has changed so much over the years, especially in recent decades. Some of you may remember Chianti from the old straw bottles known as fiasco, but some say to stay clear from those as it demonstrates some of the older production of Chianti and it has come so far over the years that there are many better wines to explore.

For those of you that don't know, Chianti is made up of the sangiovese grape, but there are many other mutations of sangiovese such as Brunello, known for making one of the highest quality wines in all of Italy, Brunello di Montalcino. Prugnolo Gentile is another, typically known for making Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, as well as some other mutations such as, Morellino and Sangioveto. The variety of these styles along with different soils and elevations throughout the region produce many different styles of Chianti.

There are a couple different designations like Chianti Classico DOCG, which are all the wines produced in the regions between Florence and Siena. The Chianti Classico area's main communes are Greve, Radda, Gaiole and Castellina. There is also Chianti DOCG, which are for all the other winemaking regions that come from 6 subzones. If it's outside those zones it will just say Chianti, otherwise you'll see these subzones listed on the label: Chianti Colli Pisane (Pisa area), Chianti Colli Fiorentini (Florence area), Chiantii Colli Senesi (Siena area), Chianti Colli Aretini (Arezzo area), Chianti Montalbano (NW area of Tuscany) and the most popular and known to be the best quality, Chianti Rufina.

Chianti can be made up of 100% sangiovese, but at least 75% must be sangiovese. The rest can be up to 15% red with canaiolo, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot and up to 6% white, usually malvasia and trebbiano. Chianti riserva have a requirement of aging at least 27 months and being 12.5% without any white grapes blended. Most Chiantis are medium bodied, with a lot of cherry notes and tartness. There is usually mid to high acidity along with some tannin. You may even get some tobacco notes.

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Rosso di Montepulciano & Vino Nobile di Montepulciano w/ Dei winery

As many of you know I am getting married in Italy in October and wanted to write about all the different towns and areas that I will be visiting and tasting wines ahead of time so when I write about some of my experiences later you will understand a little background of the area.

Last weekend I went out to eat in the seaport at Salvatore's in Boston and enjoyed a bottle of Rosso di Montepulciano from the producer Dei. There is a Rosso di Montepulciano and Rosso di Montalcino, both towns in Tuscany, but this one one is from Montepulciano, southeast of my favorite place Florence “Firenze”. Two wines come from this area, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and Rosso di Montepulciano. 

Rosso di Montepulciano and Vino Nobile are made up of at least 70% of the sangiovese grape clone, Prugnolo Gentile. For those of you that don't know Sangiovese is the grape responsible for making Chianti. It is also blended with no more than 20% of Canaiolo Nero, Malvasia and Trebbiano. Don't confuse these wines with the grape Montepulciano. That actually comes from the southern region of Abruzzo.

Some of the biggest differences between Vino Nobile and Rosso di Montepulciano are that Rosso is aged in a much shorter time for about 6 months where Vino Nobile is require to be aged at least 2 years with at least 6 months in the bottle and 3 years for Riservas. There are usually larger yields for Rosso and the vines are typically younger. It's a lot cheaper as well based on some of these factors. Vino Nobile earned DOCG status back in 1980 while Rosso is DOC status. 

Some big producers to keep an eye out from this region are Avignonesi, Poderi Boscarelli, Contucci, La Braccesca, Dei and Poliziano. I have visited a couple of these estates in the past and their quality was fantastic! 

Tuscany in general, especially around this area, is known for

their Bistecca alla Fiorentina. It's from the white chianina cows and is served rare. I'm not one for rare meat, but it's phenomenal. Enjoy it with some of these great wines and the experience is a complete joy!

If you have visited this region leave a comment with where you have been and what you have enjoyed. I love to hear of recommendations and experiences.

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