CHIANTI – 80 km away from Monticchiello
Chianti, the
territory that for centuries produces Chianti Classico wine, is a part of Tuscany that
is bordered on the north from Florence, on the east by the Chianti Mountains,
south of Siena and on the west by the Pesa and Elsa valleys.
The Black Rooster (Gallo Nero) is the historic
symbol of Chianti, adopted as a trademark for wine from the Chianti Classico
Consortium that brings together producers. This is a land of ancient
traditions, civilized in ancient times, first by the Etruscans – of which there
are traces of their activity in the world of wine – and then by the Romans.
In medieval times the Chianti was a land of constant battles between the cities of Florence and Siena, at the time, Villages and monasteries, castles and strongholds, partly transformed into villas and residences when times became more peaceful. It was that the vast forests of chestnut and oak was subtracted space for the cultivation of grapes and olives, which gradually acquired economic importance and international fame. The first dates back to 1398 notarial document in which the name refers to the Chianti wine is produced in this area. Already in ‘600 exports to England were no longer an occasional fact and, from 700, with the revival of agrarian Tuscany, sharecropping became the main agricultural system of Chianti and the landscape was enriched in traces of a different organization of work. At that period are most of the houses and accommodation crofting still exist today. From the 800 to the threshold of the third millennium, the Chianti Classico wine has increasingly asserted on tables all over the world, giving the area of production prosperity and well-being.
The ” capital ” of the Chianti region are the cities of Florence and Siena and its own lands extend in between the two provinces is 70,000 hectares which include the entire municipalities of Castellina in Chianti, Gaiole in Chianti, Greve in Chianti, Radda in Chianti and parts of those of Barberino Val d’Elsa, Castelnuovo Berardenga, Poggibonsi, San Casciano in Val di Pesa and Greve in Chianti.
The Chianti wine area has been demarcated in 1932 by a ministerial decree and since then the boundaries have remained unchanged. The decree defined the production area of the Chianti Classico wine as the ” zone of more ancient origin “, giving it a certificate of primogeniture and recognizing them as well, a peculiar spatial uniqueness. Even then, the current territory of Chianti was then recognized as the original production area of Chianti Classico wine, that to stand out from the Chianti wines that came later and produced in areas other than the territory has had to bear the appellation of Chianti ” classic “. Classical therefore means ” the first”, “original”.
