The International Wine & Food Society Ltd.

Text copyright Nicolas Belfrage MW 2014, Visuals courtesy of Consorzio Vino Chianti Classico

Chianti, with ‘Ciao’, ‘Pizza’ and ‘Piano’, is one of the mostinternationally recognizable Italian words. Most people (notall, mind) even know how to pronounce it, despite thetemptation, following English rules of orthography, to say‘chee-anty’ rather than ‘kee-anty’ (or, more accurately,‘kyan- ty’). But how many of us really know what it is?

Oh it’s a red wine, we know that. From Tuscany – yes yes,most of us know that. Made mainly with the Sangiovesegrape – the wine-savvy amongst us know that.

But there’s plenty more to know. The location and the originof the name, for example, the latter referring to ageographical area in the hills north of Siena and south ofFlorence, Latin name Ager Clantius, later Kiantis, embracingthe central Tuscan communes of Radda, Castellina andGaiole. In an important development, in the early 18thcentury, Grand Duke Cosimo III of Tuscany included Chianti– now including the commune of Greve – as one of fourwine production areas in his famous Bando, probably theworld’s first declaration of delineated quality wineproduction zones.

By the early 20th century ‘Chianti’ had established itscredentials as a wine, not perhaps of consistently high quality,but of recognizable name enjoying a certain success in themarket-place, while other peripheral Tuscan wines, made ina similar way, struggled to establish themselves. They solvedthis problem very simply by hijacking the name ‘Chianti’ andin some cases tacking it on to their own name – e.g Chianti

Colli Fiorentini, Chianti Rufina, Chianti Colli Senesi. As a sopto the original Chianti the authorities allowed the addition ofthe word ‘Classico’ to that of ‘Chianti’, including in the newlyconstructed ‘Chianti Classico’, in whole or in part, suchcommunes as San Casciano Val di Pesa, Tavarnelle Val diPesa, Barberino Val d’Elsa, Poggibonsi and, to the southand east, Castelnuovo Berardenga.

As indicated previously the main grape for Chianti was andalways had been Sangiovese; but Chianti was conceived asa blended wine, in particular by the 19th century BaronBettino Ricasoli of Castello di Brolio in the commune ofGaiole. Baron Bettino, apart from being sometime PrimeMinister of Italy, was the ‘father of modern Chianti’,recommending that Sangiovese be supplemented byjudicious and variable amounts of other indigenous Tuscangrape varieties, including, in the case of quaffing wines asdistinct from wines for laying down, white ones. The reasonwas – and is – that Sangiovese, while being at its best agrape of great character, was/is a notoriously difficult variety,uneven of ripening from one vintage to the next not to sayone row or even bunch to the next. In some cases it mightbe deficient, or too abundant, in grape sugar; in others itmight lack colour; in others acidity – or it might be too acidic,or too tannic, or not tannic enough, or have green tannins. Itwas/is, in its many forms (sub-varieties, biotypes, clones),and under various names (Brunello, Prugnolo Gentile,Morellino to cite the best-known) the dominant grape varietyof Tuscany, but it was/is far from the case that Sangiovesewas suitable for every site, or even every part-of-site.

CHIANTI AND ITS GRAPESby Nicolas Belfrage MW

Borgo di Ama

The International Wine & Food Society Ltd.

Text copyright Nicolas Belfrage MW 2014, Visuals courtesy of Consorzio Vino Chianti Classico

It was, at least partly, in the spirit of blendingthat a new phenomenon began to emerge in‘Chiantishire’ in the 1970s and moreparticularly the 1980s. It was thought, byforward thinkers of traditional renown,like the Antinoris or Frescobaldis,that rather than compensate forSangiovese’s shortcomings byusing traditional Tuscan varietiesas defective as Sangiovese itself,it might be an idea, at least insubsidiary role, to use grapeswhich had proved their quality andbreeding elsewhere in the world,notably in France – the wine-world’s undisputed heavy weightchampion at the 2/3 mark of the 20thcentury: varieties, like CabernetSauvignon and Merlot and (later) Syrah,which came to be known as ‘internationals’,while the wines they informed came, from the1980s on, to be known as ‘SuperTuscans’.

It was a good idea, probably right for its time. But it had themajor disadvantage that the ‘internationals’, with their strongsignature aromas and structures, tended to detract from oreven overwhelm the subtle, characteristic perfumes of thenative Tuscan wine, especially when combined withlashings of new French and American oak. By the middle ofthe noughties, however generously the pundits scored themout of 100, consumers were proving reluctant to part withlarge sums of money for the somewhat contrivedSuperTuscans. But by now, too, the Cabernet, Merlot andSyrah grapes were in the ground, they had to be tended to,vinified and sold somehow. And they were burrowed intothe laws of Chianti Classico and the other Chiantis who hadinherited ‘internationalisation’ by trickle-down from theSuperTuscans.1

Meanwhile, from the late 80s, the difficulties ofSangiovese were being addressed. Various

were the clonal research programmes towhich Tuscany’s favourite son wassubjected, the most famous andprobably most effective being theChianti Classico 2000 project(under the aegis of the ChiantiClassico consortium) whichstudied not only clones but alsoother aspects of viticulture likeplant density, canopy manage -ment, rootstock matching etc.Sangiovese was shedding itsnegativity, it was no longernecessary to internationalise. It

was going to take time, and hardwork, but the far-seeing realised that

the future lay in Tuscan grapes makingwine of uniquely Tuscan character.

Today, Chianti is not necessarily a blended wine;more and more producers are accepting the relativelyrecently offered option of using (the much improved)Sangiovese at 100%, usually in a mix of clones or massalselection derivatives. But insofar as Sangiovese is deemedas needing correction in one department or another, theprocess increasingly involves the use of one or more of thenative grapes of Tuscan style.

The most commonly employed indigenous back-up grapein Chiantiland is Canaiolo Nero or Black Canaiolo, anancient variety (aka vitis vinifera etrusca) once much moreprominent than today but still, in the right circumstances,capable of blending well with Sangiovese, delivering floralperfume and ease of drinking thanks to soft tannins andgood acidity. In the 20th century Canaiolo fell steeply fromgrace, being removed or dying out from numerous

vineyards, where it existed as partof a field-blend; but it retainedfavour with certain influentialacademics and oenologists andsubsequently growers, and todayits star, though still low, is in theascendant.

Sangiovese, at least in its morevenerable incarnations, isnotorious for its weakness ofcolour, a defect Merlot andespecially inky Cabernet deal witheasily. But the ampelographicalarmoury of Tuscany has acandidate in the form of the aptly-named Colorino. Actually anumber of tenuously relatedgrapes share that name, the mostcommonly found of which isColorino del Valdarno. Othergrapes, unrelated to the Colorinosbut having a similar effect oncolour, exist in the form ofAbrusco, Abrostine and Ancellotta– the point being that there is noshortage of indigenous Tuscanvine-material for purposes ofcolour deepening and fixing. It isSangiovese

merely a question offinding out by trial anderror which one works bestin a given context.

Ciliegiolo (from ciliegiameaning cherry, eitherbecause the ripe berryresembles a cherry orbecause the grape/winesmells of cherries) isanother profoundly Tuscanvariety of good colour andflavour-intensity. Indeed it isthe one capable ofdelivering the highestquality varietally, vying inthat respect withSangiovese itself, to whichDNA tests suggest that it isclosely related. Its soledefect is that, being a lateripener, it tends to fall shortof full maturity in therelatively cool autumns ofmid-Tuscany, preferring thegreater warmth of that southwestern section of the regioncalled Maremma. Still, it may have an important part to playas global warming proceeds.2

Mammolo, from the word meaning violet, is a historic varietyused less in Chiantiland than in Montepulciano (the zone),but which in the right conditions can add subtlety ofperfume and elegance, if little in the way of colour, to ablend. Malvasia Nera di Brindisi, presumably of Puglianorigin, is not widely to be found in Tuscan vineyards, itswine having an unfortunate tendency to oxidise early, but itis found in certain high-quality Sangiovese-based winessuch as Castellare’s I Sodi di San Niccolò.

The white varieties,Trebbiano Toscano and Malvasia delChianti, are no longer a legal constituent of ChiantiClassico, although they will be allowed up to the 2015vintage in basic Chianti. Personally I see no reason why

they should not remain part of this simple quaffer, a winecosting little and destined for early consumption, Trebbianobringing fresh acidity and lots of juicy if neutral fruit, whilethe white Malvasia adds a bit to the aromatics.

After so many thousands of years of uninterrupted viticultureit would be surprising if there were not still other centralItalian grape varieties and sub-varieties capable of gracinga Tuscan blend – as a trip through obscure vineyards withperhaps the greatest living expert on Tuscan viticulture,Roberto Bandinelli of the University of Florence, makesclear. One name that springs to mind is ‘Montepulciano’ (thegrape), but to explore that avenue would take us wellbeyond the remit of this article. Suffice it to emphasize, veryfirmly, that Tuscan Sangiovese in the 21st century does notneed help from Bordeaux or the Rhone, and the sooner thelaw recognizes that fact, the better.3

Notes1 According to current legislation, ‘Chianti Classico’ may contain,other than Sangiovese, up to 20% “red-skinned grapes suitable forcultivation in the Tuscan region” while plain ‘Chianti’ may contain25 to 30%. These grapes are unspecified in the Chianti Classicodisciplinare, but that they include Cabernet, Merlot and Syrah, aswell as various indigenous Tuscans, is stated elsewhere.

2 Ian d'Agata, whose excellent book called Native Wine Grapes ofItaly I have gratefully consulted for this article, lays out thearguments for Sangiovese being an offspring of Ciliegiolo(Vouillamoz et al; Bergamini et al) then sets against them thearguments for the reverse (Di Vecchi Staraz et al; Cipriani et al). Ithink we can safely conclude that the jury is out on the matter, andthat the most we can affirm is that there is a parent-offspringrelationship of some sort. In my personal and highly unscientificview we can't even affirm that.

3 In early 2014 Chianti Classico introduced a new top level ofquality wine, beyond Riserva, called ‘Gran Selezione’. The aimwas to establish an official category for what had been called,unofficially, ‘SuperTuscan’. Long story, no time, but let’s just saythat ‘Great Selection’ is a great waste of an opportunity to purge Chianti Classico, and by extension Chianti, of non-indigenous varieties.

The International Wine & Food Society Ltd.

Text copyright Nicolas Belfrage MW 2014, Visuals courtesy of Consorzio Vino Chianti Classico

Copia di Paesaggio del Chianti