Little is known of Etruscan society except what the Romans would tell us. But traveling through the countryside of Etruria (now Tuscany) and visiting the old artefacts, tombs and examining with detail the frescoes remains searching for clues, will reveal a life-affirming world and will leave no doubt as to the importance of wine as part of the Etruscan culture. 

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Tuscany, the cradle of creativity, had long prided itself on the intellect and artistry of its people. But it had been surprisingly backwards to the matters of the table. It wasn't until the 1950s that the region finally began waking up to the unique quality of its vineyards, vines and wines.

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Tuscany's terroir is as unique as Burgundy's and yet infinitely more elaborate. The geography of this complex landscape - a place of clashing mountains and upended seas - makes it a home like no other for the Sangiovese grape, whose vines thrive on these hills in ways that are only barely replicated in the rest of the wine world.

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Italy's most planted variety, Sangiovese (sanguis-jovis), is a chameleon grape whose wines range from sour-cherry quaffers to statuesque Super Tuscans. 

 

Until relatively recently Sangiovese was a grape in the wilderness, and its name appearance on a label was far from a guarantee of greatness, rather the opposite. It has been only since the last part of the 20th century, thanks to a systematic research programme in the Chianti Classico heartland of the the greater Chianti region, that the producers have been able to identify Sangiovese's finest clones.

 

A 1996 tasting of some of the most promising vine selection with Paolo De Marchi of Isola e Olena in the heart of Chianti Classico country, included a range of almost a dozen different Sangioveses.

 

Sangiovese's dominant viticultural characteristics are that it can vary as much as Pinot Noir in its sensitivity to place and that it ripens relatively late. Meaning that if planted in too cool a location can produce tart and unripe wines, 

 

The Chianti Classico research programme concentrated on trying to match suitable clones to the varied local conditions of this quite extensive region whose upper reaches were at the limit of successful grape-ripening territory.

 

Today, fine Sangiovese is an altogether nobler wine with real complexity and ageing potential, whatever its depth of color and concentration.  As for the elusive flavor of pure Sangiovese, it ranges in a spectrum somewhere between mulberries, raspberry and cherry from cooler sites, spice, tobacco, sometimes leather and chestnuts. It tends to be savoury rather than sweet, and if not fully ripe can smell distinctly farmyard-like. 

 

Chianti Classico may still be a blended wine, but now that the right clones have been identified and are increasingly popular, Sangiovese is allowed to shine in all its glory without depending on a makeup of other traditional local varieties like Canaiolo and Ciliegiolo, or imported Bordeaux varietals like Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, and the tendency nowadays is to make it often with 100% Sangiovese.

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Chianti Classico offers a wide spectrum of wines, from the most powerful and opulent, to the most delicate and refined ones, depending on many factors as vine's orientations, altitude and soil composition. Most Chianti Classico vineyards are planted between 250 and 500 meters above sea level (asl), though in theory -and it's happening thanks to climate changes- vines could be planted up tp 700 meters asl. 

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Very broadly speaking there are three main soil types in Chianti Classico, albarese, galestro and macigno. Albarese is a mix of calcareous marls and yellowish calcareous deposits; Galestro, highly friable, is a metamorphic medium grained clay schist made of flaky layers. Macigno is a mix of compacted sands, with lower calcium content carbonate content than the other two and its soils are characterized by excellent drainage.

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The territory of Chianti Classico is the core of Tuscany - a heart-shaped hilly area that sits neatly below Florence and above Siena, with natural river-valley borders to both east (Valdarno and Val di Chiana) and west (Val d'Elsa). The region has undergone many revolutions and changes in laws and regulations.

 

In 1924 33 producers within the Chianti hills formed a consorzio per la difesa del vino tipico del Chianti , with the black rooster (gallo nero) as its logo.

 

In 1932 it was finally decreed that the original territory would be called Chianti Classico and will include nine geographical subzones: Castellina in Chianti, Greve in Chianti, Castelnuovo Berardenga, San Casciano in Val di Pesa, Gaiole in Chianti, Radda in Chianti, Tavarnelle Val di Pesa, Barberino Val d'Elsa and Poggibonsi.

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The pyramid of quality for Chianti Classico includes the Chianti Classico label, usually the most fetching for immediate drinking; Chianti Classico Riserva, which must be aged for 24 months and the Gran Selezione label, created in 2014 to be the pinnacle of the DOCG pyramid, requiring 30 months cellaring including three months bottle aging.

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In a pivotal and intriguing moment in Tuscany's story, 2023 saw the demarcation of 11 distinct terroir-led subregions - Unitá Geografiche Aggiuntive (UGA) - in the Chianti Classico region, which, from July 2023 , may be declared on the label of Chianti Classico Gran Selezione. The vines must be estate grown to qualify for UGA, although the fruit doesn't need to come from a single vineyard. The wine​ can include 10 percent indigenous grape varieties, and after 2027 won't be allowed to include international varieties. The UGA's are a game changer since finally we can turn our attention from wood and grape variety to the territory.

The eleven UGA's are: San Casciano, Greve, Montefioralle, San Donato in Poggio, Panzano, Lamole, Radda, Castellina, Vagliagli, Gaiole and Castelnouvo Berardenga.

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​The outside of the Classico area can be labelled as Chianti DOC, DOCG, IGT and could be made in seven subzones, being the more interesting: Chianti Rúffina which includes Carmignano now rightly regarded as an independent DOCG, and Terraelectae, Chianti Colli Fiorentini, Chianti Montespertoli, Chianti Montalbano e Chianti Colli Senesi.  

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