TOURISM IN THE CHIANTI
A simple pages and pictures
ensemble
to show you some of the unknown resources
of the gorgeous Chianti
Chianti Wine
WINE ABOVE ALL ...
Wine, as already said, has been produced in the Chianti region since antiquity.
Documents in the care of the church of Santa Cristina a Lucignano signal
cultivations of grape vines already before the year 1.000.
The Medicean Tuscany really loved the nectar of the grape and already in the
seventeenth century the wine of the Chianti begins to gain fame, so much as to
be exported to England and as exchange good of high quality. Francesco Redi
recites in his Bacco in Toscana (1685): "My tongue already made
witty,/Taste a little,
Taste this other,/ Robust wine that one boasts / To be born in the middle of the
Chianti / .../Majestic / Imperious / it walks within the heart, / And drives
away of it without noise / Every anxiety and every pain... ".
In 1716, the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Cosimo III, officialised it as "wine
of protected denomination and origins. "
During the Lorena family dominion the enology and the commerce of the wine have
a strong development. The nineteenth century confirms the success of the Chianti
wine prized also at the exposition of Paris in 1878; and it is in this same
century that Bettino Ricasoli, then owner of the castle of Brolio, told the
formula of the Chianti Classico. This includes the prevalence of Sangiovese
comprising 75-90% of the mixture; with black Canaiolo, in the measure of 5-10%,
and white grapes (Malvasia and Trebbiano) making up 5-10%.
In future prospects, the Chianti wine will always have more body, more intense
color and perfume and will intensify its typical aroma of cherries and sweet
violets, thanks to a predominant acceptance of Sangiovese grapes.
After that of 1924 the "Consortium of the Gallo Nero (Black Rooster) "
and the "Consortium Vino Chianti Classico" (the transformation of the
"Consortium of the Black Rooster" into the "Consortium of the
Historic Mark" is recent) were estabilished. The two consortiums have
different objectives: the historic Black Rooster promotes the mark within Italy
and abroad, the "Consortium of Chianti Classico Wine" has assumed the
roles of inspection, assistance, vigilance and tutelage of the denomination.
The legislation DOC (Denomination of controlled origins) was passed in 1967
which confirms geographic limits and productions of the Chianti. In 1984 the
State, with DOCG, took upon itself the regulations of these consortiums.
The denomination "Chianti" is actually attributed also to wines of the
surrounding areas, such to cover a territory of about 450,000 hectares, of which
the Chianti Classico, in a strict sense, occupies about 70.000 hectares. More
than 250 farms operate on this area with a combined production of about 300,000
hectoliters of wine: more than half of the wine produced in Italy,is exported to
Germany, the United States and Japan.
… BUT ALSO OLIVE OIL
The international reputation of the Chiantian land is also connected to olive
oil. The cultivation of the olive tree has very old origins, so old in fact that
it dates back to the VI century BC, to the period of the agricultural
development promoted by Roman civilization. In the successive centuries this
plant has come to characterize the entire Thscan territory becoming one of its
emblems together with the grape vines and the unforgettable cypress trees.
Today Tuscans proudly affirm that their extra-virgin olive oil - which is
obtained by the cold pressing of olives, without the aid of any chemical
processes - is the best in the world; it is a very precious product because it
is very scarce: it is enough to say that it constitutes only 3.6% of the entire
national production.
In Tuscany, due to the various typologies of land and to the diversity of
climates, oils of very diverse varieties are produced, among which that of the
Chianti region is
best distinguishable for its strong flavor - spicy and somewhat bitter - given
also to the fact that a few of its leaves afe left among the olives to
accentuate its herbaceous taste. Its color which depends on the degree of the
maturation of the fruit, is generalIy of an intense green; its maximum acidity
cannot exceed 1 %. The
times and the technique with which the harvest is gathered, the type of pressing
and the method of conservation strongly influence the quality of the final
product.
According to the discipline - that fixes cycles of rigorous work and even more
severe perimeters than those granted by CEE regulations - the extra-virgin olive oi of
the Chianti Classico region derives from the pressing of four varieties of
olives - Frantoio, Moraiolo, Leccino and Pendolino - in variable proportions.
The olives are still worked in the traditional way: a brief stay in boxes,
arranged in layers of 10-15 cm in height, they afe pressed and spun to separate
the water of the fruit from the oily part. The product obtained by this
procedure is then arranged in large terra-cotta oil-jars where it is conserved
until it is bottled.
The extra-virgin olive oil's easy digestibility matches to an high nutritional
value rich of therapeutic properties: it in fact stimulates bile secretions,
reduces the formation of cholesterol and helps keep the vascular system in good
working order.
Precisely to protect the origins and the quality of a unique product, the
Consortium "Terre del Chianti Classico (Lands of the Chianti Classico
Region)" has been instituted, which supports more than 120 oil producers.
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