Don’t Be Fooled: How to Recognize a Real Chianti

Let’s start with the bad news: not all Chianti is as delicious as you might hope. The days of straw-covered bottles and wine you’d rather wash down as quickly as possible with limoncello are long gone, but there are still major differences in quality. Luckily, our colleagues at Italiamo are here to help: “You don’t have to be a wine expert to know whether you’ve got a Chianti Classico – and therefore the very best variety – in your hands; you can see it at a glance on the bottle.”

Chianti Classico DOCG

Bottles of Chianti Classico DOCG feature a black rooster, the gallo nero. Why a black rooster? It’s a good story, so more on that later. But if the rooster is on the bottle, it’s a Chianti from the historic heart of the (rather enormous) Chianti region, and it is of the highest quality. The vineyards there are located somewhat higher than the rest, allowing the grapes to ripen optimally in an otherwise fairly warm area. All other Chianti wines must also come from the same region, but they have more variation in flavor. Chiantis from the north, for example, are somewhat more elegant, while those from the south are a little more powerful.

Thanks to the gallo nero

But now for the story of that rooster. Not only is it the hallmark of Chianti Classico, but the gallo nero is also the historical symbol of the entire Chianti region in Tuscany. A region that has been beloved for centuries and that both Siena and Florence coveted for a long time. What do you do then? You let two roosters decide which city Chianti belongs to. Two knights had to wait for the first cockcrow in the morning before they were allowed to mount their horses. Wherever they met, that would be the new boundary.

The knight from Siena thought he was being clever and fed his white rooster plenty of food in the evening, so it would crow extra early the next morning. The knight from Florence decided to give his black rooster nothing at all. A clever plan: driven by sheer hunger, the Florentine rooster began crowing before sunrise. At the same time, the rooster from Siena was still stuffed and crowed much later than usual. The knight from Florence was only twelve kilometers from Siena when he met his opponent. And so the entire Chianti region came into Florence’s hands, thanks to the black rooster.

Sangiovese

Bet you’ll be looking for that black rooster the next time you’re in the wine aisle? And if you still have doubts about the quality of Chianti – which was abysmal for years – things are now in good shape, both for Classico and the other varieties. It used to be sour and dry because of overproduction, but since the 1970s, winemakers have been using better techniques and different grape blends. Today, that means 80 to 100 percent sangiovese – the ideal wine to pair with pizza, lasagna and bolognese -, optionally supplemented with canaiolo nero and French merlot or carbet sauvignon.

Want to know more about Chianti? Then read our ultimate Chianti guide, in which we tell you much more about the flavor and the best culinary pairings.

Also read:

• Italian dishes you’ll never, ever get in Italy
• This is the absolute, absolute, absolute best filthy pizza on the menu in Italy
• 10 things you shouldn’t do when you’re in Italy – and probably do anyway

Source: Italiamo