Region: Toscana/Tuscany
Quality Level in EU/Italian Wine Law: DOC/DOCG
Established: 1984 Classico; DOCG in 1996; Multiple subregions
Primary Grape Varieties: Sangiovese of varying percentages.
Base Chianti requires 70%
Classico requires minimum 80%; 12/24 Months on oak
Gran Riserva requires 100% and Estate grown; 30 months on Oak
Pairs with: Grilled or roasted beef, Pork, Wild Game, Acidic Foods, Baked Pasta, Braised Chicken in Tomato Sauce, Meat and Tomato Sauces with Pasta, Pizza
Characteristics: Base wines, Superiore, Gran Selezione and Riserva
Stainless Steel and Wood maturation
Red fruited, violet, tobacco, vanilla, cacao, cinnamon, anise
Moderate acid, two texture wine with high tannins, dusty character on the mid-palate, medium body
Price: $$ - $$$$
Serve: Room Temperature
Chianti is a complex region with seven sub-regions . Some are more well known than others, such as Colli Sinesi and Rufina and all seven “hills” of Chianti should not be confused with the Regional DOCGs associated with Sangiovese that include:
Sangiovese has a unique history that is very unlike its current status as the centerpiece of Tuscan Chianti wines. There is great debate whether the Super Tuscans or the Sangiovese based wines are the real kings of Tuscan wines and my vote would likely lean toward Brunello di Montalcino as the best of the region and second only to Barolo and Barbaresco for Italian dominance. Brunello is a clone of Sangiovese and a well-known DOCG of southern Tuscany with rules (disciplinare) regarding the wine’s content (100%), aging (depends on reserve designation but requires wood and bottle aging before release) and other aspects of this great wine. As one in the United States knows, most consider Chianti as the king of Tuscany even if they also don’t know the history and difficulty associated with this stubborn and sometimes difficult variety.
Sangiovese grows best where the Mediterranean and continental climates of Italy meet. Rising from the seaside areas of Tuscany that grow and produce more French and international varieties for blends and super Tuscans, the region moves inland into hillsides of the Apennine mountains where the climates cross and Sangiovese is the most widely planted. Further south in Maremma, the climate can be too warm and turn Sangiovese into a jammy and flabby wine with reduced acid and a lack of balance. Move into areas where Montepulciano is grown and the climate can become too cool, leaving a tough and astringent Sangiovese wine.
In a perfect year, winter snows in the mountains will help raise the water table for the typically hot and dry summers. Even though Sangiovese is a late budding variety, spring frosts can arrive in late spring, especially around Florence where the weather stays cooler. This was particularly true in 1997 when much of the crop was lost in a late April frost even. In a normal, mild spring the Sangiovese can develop in the buds for an expended period until bursting late and moving into flowering stages in late May or early June.
Summer heat will take over and the ideal year brings the occasional and periodic rains that help provide water and reduce heat below 33 degrees C. Often, temperatures rise above this point and the stomata of the vines will close down and photosynthesis shuts off. Extended heat is rare but heat events can contribute to reduced photosynthesis and associated ripening of the grapes.
Note: Veraison in Italian is INVAIATURA - The second phase of grape development as the grapes change color.
September is the critical month for Sangiovese in order to achieve the proper balance of fruit and phenolic ripeness while maintaining high acidity. Planted between 200-500 meters in the hillsides, the better sites have a wide diurnal range in September, reducing the loss of malic acid while still having warm and sunny days for the phenolic development. Achieving the balance in fruit concentration with acidity is key as is the timing of the color (anthocyanins) and tannins in determining the harvest timing.
At harvest, the grapes are picked early even with warm sunshine but clearly avoiding the heat of the day. Most vineyards are hillside with southwest or southeast aspects. Southwest aspects are preferred as the southeastern facing vines will require more careful canopy management for late afternoon heat and sunshine. Avoidance of sunburn is key to Sangiovese.
A general approach is to maintain open hill tops to encourage airflow for disease control. Sangiovese can be susceptible to both powdery mildew (oidium) and downy mildew (Peronospora) which the open airflow and low rainfall can help to avoid. Sangiovese can also be susceptible to grapevine yellows which requires the leafhopper vector to be controlled.
An interesting fact is that many of the Chianti region and classico region vineyards are poorly placed and this alone, is one of the reasons that Sangiovese and Chianti Classico can be spoty and inconsistent in the glass.
There are two key attributes of soil that must always be considered and that is chemical makeup and texture. Water drainage and retention is key as well as the ability for the roots to develop into the soil. Adequate levels of minerals are critical for photosynthesis, grape ripening, root health, water flow and all aspects of the vine processes. Tuscany has two basic types of soils – Gelastro and Albarese. Remembering that the majority of root growth occurs in the top 50 cm of soil, these soils can be affected by the amount of larger rock matter that can exist in the region. Both soils are reasonable in acidity and they have limestone, sand, clay, schist and a little sand.
Albarese is richer in calcium and more granular and is found more in the Bolgheri region on the coastal areas. It has layers of sand, clay and gravel. Galestro is the soil of the Chianti Classico region and is widespread across all of Tuscany. It is more schistous and full of crumbly rock and clay. This soil helps define the Classico region as it defines the borders. The most important characteristic of the soil type, especially with Chianti Classico Sangiovese is the ability to warm up quickly. It has good drainage (less water in the soil and it warms up faster) and the continental climate influences can bring sudden temperature increases in the spring. This helps control the consistency in budburst and associated shoot and leaf growth that enables consistency in grape ripeness at harvest.
Sangiovese has a strong tendency to develop into a vegetative cycle due to high vigor and thus must be controlled with planting density and training techniques. There are two schools of thought in the Chianti Classico region to include Cordon trained and spur pruned vs Guyot or cane replacement training. Many of the top producers in the Chianti Classico region believe that the best wines do not come from Cordon training and insist on Guyot. They plant at higher density to create competition among the vines. 7000 vines per hectare with guyot training in 2 directions is common and achieves, in the better locations, more stable acid structure and improved polyphenol and anthocyanin development. As stated earlier, the proper balance of these attributes is important in the better wines.
Canopy management was not widely practiced in earlier centuries as an art of the Chianti Classico region but is not accepted as critical and essential for proper balance in the wines. The critical balance of photosynthesis, transpiration and respiration in the vines throughout the growing season is now actively managed in the Classico vineyards. Recent trends include green harvest and cover crops. Broad bean plants are used to increase N2 into the soil. On-going research into the best canopy management, cover crop and green harvest timing is on-going as an ever increasing focus on quality continues in the region.
Sangiovese will typically ripen and be readied for harvest in late September to the middle of October. Experts suggest that harvest timing has moved approximately 3 weeks in fifty years due to global warming. When the proper balance of ripeness is achieved, most vineyards are harvested with machine which provides de-stemming in the process. Past harvest machines were large but have been redesigned to be much smaller to accommodate the higher density plantings and multi-directional, bush like and guyot training techniques.
Blending patterns for Chianti wines have changed significantly from the history use of other varieties as the base wine (Canaoilo Nero) to recent disciplinare that bases most wines on Sangiovese (80% for Classico wines). Gran Selezione designations require 100% sangiovese. Bordeaux varieties have made a change to the Tuscan wine scene and merlot, cab sauv, cab Franc and petit Verdot are common in the classico region as well as essential to the Super Tuscan blends. 20% of these varieties, if improved, can be added to the base wine.
The establishment of new and modern wineries with modern, computer controlled and high-tech equipment is a major movement in the Classico region. Well established architects and winery experts are being employed to design and build both efficient and esthetically pleasing winery properties. Temperature controlled macerations, fermentation and cap management systems are all being implemented more commonly. Giulio Gambelli, a legendary wine consultant and believer in traditional vineyard and winemaking techniques might cringe at this trend but the “Maestro Assaggiatore” cannot contain the increase of technology and control in modern Chianti Classico wines.
After a final sorting at reception, the recently harvested grapes are readied for a pre-fermentation maceration aimed at extracting color and flavor in an aqueous solution (tannin is more soluble in an alcohol rich solution), thus limiting the extraction of tannins. Pre-fermentation maceration is a function of temperature and time and the new machinery allows for extended, low temperature maceration that darken the wine and strengthen the fruit flavors. Some producers macerate for 5-6 weeks to create age-worthy wines.
Fermentation is also common for 10-20 days with ramontage (pump-over), pigeage (punch down), and delestage (rack and return) as options for cap management. Malolactic conversion is typically started after primary alcoholic fermentation – the process of converting grape sugars and yeast into alcohol, CO2 and heat. The winemaker will typically increase the temperature or inoculate the wine with lactic acid bacteria to soften the wine and reduce the total acidity. Sangiovese has relatively high levels of malic acid for a red variety and MLF is a half-reaction, converting malic acid to lactic acids and increasing the pH of the wine. Tuscan and Chianti Classico wines often perform the MLF in oak botte or barrels for improved integration of oxidative and wood influences. When this is done, the wine is transferred to oak barrels at the conclusion of primary fermentation and the MLF conversion occurs in the barrels or maturation botte. The slow oxidation process also stabilizes the color of the wine as the anthocyanins (color) bind with tannins and make them less susceptible to SO2 bleaching and lees absorption and the color is stabilized.
Many types of oak barrels are used to include multiple sizes and origins. Large botte of French or Hungarian oak are coming back into style to reduce the level of new oak influence that has been common in recent years. The objective of a slow and steady oxidation of the wine in oak is key to softening the tannins and maturing the wine before consumption. Glass-lined concrete tanks that are highly thermally stable are also increasing in usage when anaerobic conditions are preferred. These tanks can maintain temperature and avoid oxidation with proper ullage management. Aging of Classico wines include 1 year minimum for Rosso, 24 months with at least 3 months in bottle for riserva and 30 months and 3 months in bottle for Gran Selezione.
These rules are based on small barrel aging and many producers will extend the aging when using large botte. Fining and filtering is being reduced as many consumers prefer the more natural wines and believe the classico wines are improved with less manipulation in the final stages.
Chianti Classico wines can be confused with the northern and very powerful Nebbiolo grape. Both are light to medium in color depth and can have hints of garnet on the rim. Both are medium to full bodied wines and high in aromatic qualities. Sangiovese has medium to high tannin levels and lower quality tannins as compared to Nebbiolo in terms of ripeness and sophistication. Sangiovese has smaller grain tannins that are felt on the gums and they can be a bit sandy in nature. Young sangiovese is often described as having a sandpaper quality but many age well and develop very nicely. The flavor profile is typically ripe cherry and raspberry with coffee and herbal notes.
The last topic of this discussion is a unique approach that is little known but based on traditional methods of centuries past. Governo all’uso Toscano is an interesting concept that softens the Chianti and adds alcohol, glycerol and body to the wine. Traditionally, Trebbiano grapes were allowed to raisinate on the vine (appassimento – sever the shoot and allow the grapes to hang) or dry them on mats while the base wine was produced. Now this is done with Sangiovese and the dried, concentrated grapes are added to the base wine, initiating a slow, second fermentation that lasts until the spring after harvest.
These Governo wines are round and deep and many experts say this process creates better wines. Many producers have initiated a line of wines and the bottles must show “Governo all’uso Toscano on the label. I am going to go look for one now.
The subregions of Chianti are:
With all of this opportunity to see and taste the best of what Sangiovese has to offer, there is little wonder that Tuscany has a reputation for great wines even though it falls into seventh place among the 20 political regions for production levels. Find a Rufina and a Colli Senesi near you and compare them for their individual elegance and sense of terrior.
Quality Level in EU/Italian Wine Law: DOC/DOCG
Established: 1984 Classico; DOCG in 1996; Multiple subregions
Primary Grape Varieties: Sangiovese of varying percentages.
Base Chianti requires 70%
Classico requires minimum 80%; 12/24 Months on oak
Gran Riserva requires 100% and Estate grown; 30 months on Oak
Pairs with: Grilled or roasted beef, Pork, Wild Game, Acidic Foods, Baked Pasta, Braised Chicken in Tomato Sauce, Meat and Tomato Sauces with Pasta, Pizza
Characteristics: Base wines, Superiore, Gran Selezione and Riserva
Stainless Steel and Wood maturation
Red fruited, violet, tobacco, vanilla, cacao, cinnamon, anise
Moderate acid, two texture wine with high tannins, dusty character on the mid-palate, medium body
Price: $$ - $$$$
Serve: Room Temperature
Chianti is a complex region with seven sub-regions . Some are more well known than others, such as Colli Sinesi and Rufina and all seven “hills” of Chianti should not be confused with the Regional DOCGs associated with Sangiovese that include:
- Chianti
- Chianti Classico
- Carmignano
- Vino Nobile di Montelpulciano
- Brunello di Montalcino
- Morellino di Scansano
Sangiovese has a unique history that is very unlike its current status as the centerpiece of Tuscan Chianti wines. There is great debate whether the Super Tuscans or the Sangiovese based wines are the real kings of Tuscan wines and my vote would likely lean toward Brunello di Montalcino as the best of the region and second only to Barolo and Barbaresco for Italian dominance. Brunello is a clone of Sangiovese and a well-known DOCG of southern Tuscany with rules (disciplinare) regarding the wine’s content (100%), aging (depends on reserve designation but requires wood and bottle aging before release) and other aspects of this great wine. As one in the United States knows, most consider Chianti as the king of Tuscany even if they also don’t know the history and difficulty associated with this stubborn and sometimes difficult variety.
Sangiovese grows best where the Mediterranean and continental climates of Italy meet. Rising from the seaside areas of Tuscany that grow and produce more French and international varieties for blends and super Tuscans, the region moves inland into hillsides of the Apennine mountains where the climates cross and Sangiovese is the most widely planted. Further south in Maremma, the climate can be too warm and turn Sangiovese into a jammy and flabby wine with reduced acid and a lack of balance. Move into areas where Montepulciano is grown and the climate can become too cool, leaving a tough and astringent Sangiovese wine.
In a perfect year, winter snows in the mountains will help raise the water table for the typically hot and dry summers. Even though Sangiovese is a late budding variety, spring frosts can arrive in late spring, especially around Florence where the weather stays cooler. This was particularly true in 1997 when much of the crop was lost in a late April frost even. In a normal, mild spring the Sangiovese can develop in the buds for an expended period until bursting late and moving into flowering stages in late May or early June.
Summer heat will take over and the ideal year brings the occasional and periodic rains that help provide water and reduce heat below 33 degrees C. Often, temperatures rise above this point and the stomata of the vines will close down and photosynthesis shuts off. Extended heat is rare but heat events can contribute to reduced photosynthesis and associated ripening of the grapes.
Note: Veraison in Italian is INVAIATURA - The second phase of grape development as the grapes change color.
September is the critical month for Sangiovese in order to achieve the proper balance of fruit and phenolic ripeness while maintaining high acidity. Planted between 200-500 meters in the hillsides, the better sites have a wide diurnal range in September, reducing the loss of malic acid while still having warm and sunny days for the phenolic development. Achieving the balance in fruit concentration with acidity is key as is the timing of the color (anthocyanins) and tannins in determining the harvest timing.
At harvest, the grapes are picked early even with warm sunshine but clearly avoiding the heat of the day. Most vineyards are hillside with southwest or southeast aspects. Southwest aspects are preferred as the southeastern facing vines will require more careful canopy management for late afternoon heat and sunshine. Avoidance of sunburn is key to Sangiovese.
A general approach is to maintain open hill tops to encourage airflow for disease control. Sangiovese can be susceptible to both powdery mildew (oidium) and downy mildew (Peronospora) which the open airflow and low rainfall can help to avoid. Sangiovese can also be susceptible to grapevine yellows which requires the leafhopper vector to be controlled.
An interesting fact is that many of the Chianti region and classico region vineyards are poorly placed and this alone, is one of the reasons that Sangiovese and Chianti Classico can be spoty and inconsistent in the glass.
There are two key attributes of soil that must always be considered and that is chemical makeup and texture. Water drainage and retention is key as well as the ability for the roots to develop into the soil. Adequate levels of minerals are critical for photosynthesis, grape ripening, root health, water flow and all aspects of the vine processes. Tuscany has two basic types of soils – Gelastro and Albarese. Remembering that the majority of root growth occurs in the top 50 cm of soil, these soils can be affected by the amount of larger rock matter that can exist in the region. Both soils are reasonable in acidity and they have limestone, sand, clay, schist and a little sand.
Albarese is richer in calcium and more granular and is found more in the Bolgheri region on the coastal areas. It has layers of sand, clay and gravel. Galestro is the soil of the Chianti Classico region and is widespread across all of Tuscany. It is more schistous and full of crumbly rock and clay. This soil helps define the Classico region as it defines the borders. The most important characteristic of the soil type, especially with Chianti Classico Sangiovese is the ability to warm up quickly. It has good drainage (less water in the soil and it warms up faster) and the continental climate influences can bring sudden temperature increases in the spring. This helps control the consistency in budburst and associated shoot and leaf growth that enables consistency in grape ripeness at harvest.
Sangiovese has a strong tendency to develop into a vegetative cycle due to high vigor and thus must be controlled with planting density and training techniques. There are two schools of thought in the Chianti Classico region to include Cordon trained and spur pruned vs Guyot or cane replacement training. Many of the top producers in the Chianti Classico region believe that the best wines do not come from Cordon training and insist on Guyot. They plant at higher density to create competition among the vines. 7000 vines per hectare with guyot training in 2 directions is common and achieves, in the better locations, more stable acid structure and improved polyphenol and anthocyanin development. As stated earlier, the proper balance of these attributes is important in the better wines.
Canopy management was not widely practiced in earlier centuries as an art of the Chianti Classico region but is not accepted as critical and essential for proper balance in the wines. The critical balance of photosynthesis, transpiration and respiration in the vines throughout the growing season is now actively managed in the Classico vineyards. Recent trends include green harvest and cover crops. Broad bean plants are used to increase N2 into the soil. On-going research into the best canopy management, cover crop and green harvest timing is on-going as an ever increasing focus on quality continues in the region.
Sangiovese will typically ripen and be readied for harvest in late September to the middle of October. Experts suggest that harvest timing has moved approximately 3 weeks in fifty years due to global warming. When the proper balance of ripeness is achieved, most vineyards are harvested with machine which provides de-stemming in the process. Past harvest machines were large but have been redesigned to be much smaller to accommodate the higher density plantings and multi-directional, bush like and guyot training techniques.
Blending patterns for Chianti wines have changed significantly from the history use of other varieties as the base wine (Canaoilo Nero) to recent disciplinare that bases most wines on Sangiovese (80% for Classico wines). Gran Selezione designations require 100% sangiovese. Bordeaux varieties have made a change to the Tuscan wine scene and merlot, cab sauv, cab Franc and petit Verdot are common in the classico region as well as essential to the Super Tuscan blends. 20% of these varieties, if improved, can be added to the base wine.
The establishment of new and modern wineries with modern, computer controlled and high-tech equipment is a major movement in the Classico region. Well established architects and winery experts are being employed to design and build both efficient and esthetically pleasing winery properties. Temperature controlled macerations, fermentation and cap management systems are all being implemented more commonly. Giulio Gambelli, a legendary wine consultant and believer in traditional vineyard and winemaking techniques might cringe at this trend but the “Maestro Assaggiatore” cannot contain the increase of technology and control in modern Chianti Classico wines.
After a final sorting at reception, the recently harvested grapes are readied for a pre-fermentation maceration aimed at extracting color and flavor in an aqueous solution (tannin is more soluble in an alcohol rich solution), thus limiting the extraction of tannins. Pre-fermentation maceration is a function of temperature and time and the new machinery allows for extended, low temperature maceration that darken the wine and strengthen the fruit flavors. Some producers macerate for 5-6 weeks to create age-worthy wines.
Fermentation is also common for 10-20 days with ramontage (pump-over), pigeage (punch down), and delestage (rack and return) as options for cap management. Malolactic conversion is typically started after primary alcoholic fermentation – the process of converting grape sugars and yeast into alcohol, CO2 and heat. The winemaker will typically increase the temperature or inoculate the wine with lactic acid bacteria to soften the wine and reduce the total acidity. Sangiovese has relatively high levels of malic acid for a red variety and MLF is a half-reaction, converting malic acid to lactic acids and increasing the pH of the wine. Tuscan and Chianti Classico wines often perform the MLF in oak botte or barrels for improved integration of oxidative and wood influences. When this is done, the wine is transferred to oak barrels at the conclusion of primary fermentation and the MLF conversion occurs in the barrels or maturation botte. The slow oxidation process also stabilizes the color of the wine as the anthocyanins (color) bind with tannins and make them less susceptible to SO2 bleaching and lees absorption and the color is stabilized.
Many types of oak barrels are used to include multiple sizes and origins. Large botte of French or Hungarian oak are coming back into style to reduce the level of new oak influence that has been common in recent years. The objective of a slow and steady oxidation of the wine in oak is key to softening the tannins and maturing the wine before consumption. Glass-lined concrete tanks that are highly thermally stable are also increasing in usage when anaerobic conditions are preferred. These tanks can maintain temperature and avoid oxidation with proper ullage management. Aging of Classico wines include 1 year minimum for Rosso, 24 months with at least 3 months in bottle for riserva and 30 months and 3 months in bottle for Gran Selezione.
These rules are based on small barrel aging and many producers will extend the aging when using large botte. Fining and filtering is being reduced as many consumers prefer the more natural wines and believe the classico wines are improved with less manipulation in the final stages.
Chianti Classico wines can be confused with the northern and very powerful Nebbiolo grape. Both are light to medium in color depth and can have hints of garnet on the rim. Both are medium to full bodied wines and high in aromatic qualities. Sangiovese has medium to high tannin levels and lower quality tannins as compared to Nebbiolo in terms of ripeness and sophistication. Sangiovese has smaller grain tannins that are felt on the gums and they can be a bit sandy in nature. Young sangiovese is often described as having a sandpaper quality but many age well and develop very nicely. The flavor profile is typically ripe cherry and raspberry with coffee and herbal notes.
The last topic of this discussion is a unique approach that is little known but based on traditional methods of centuries past. Governo all’uso Toscano is an interesting concept that softens the Chianti and adds alcohol, glycerol and body to the wine. Traditionally, Trebbiano grapes were allowed to raisinate on the vine (appassimento – sever the shoot and allow the grapes to hang) or dry them on mats while the base wine was produced. Now this is done with Sangiovese and the dried, concentrated grapes are added to the base wine, initiating a slow, second fermentation that lasts until the spring after harvest.
These Governo wines are round and deep and many experts say this process creates better wines. Many producers have initiated a line of wines and the bottles must show “Governo all’uso Toscano on the label. I am going to go look for one now.
The subregions of Chianti are:
- Colli Fiorentini – Separates Firenze from the Classico region and makes light and fruity wines, meant to be drunk young. Mostly consumed by locals in the trattoria even though the wines are not released for a full year after harvest, six months longer than the usual chianti.
- Colli Aretini – Three separate hills on the eastern limit of Chianti and bordering part of the Classico DOCG. The wines are usually just labeled Chianti and are simpler versions with aggressive acidity.
- Colli Sinesi – A large subregion covering some of the most famous vineyards of Tuscany including Vernacchia di San Gimignano, Vino Nobile and Brunello. Highest quality of the subregions (along with Rufina) but many of the better grapes are used in the the other DOCGs. The wines are elegant and easygoing for a unique combination and very little oak influence is used in vinification/maturation.
- Colle Pisane – A unique area near the hills of Pisa and thus, set apart from the rest of Chianti. Close to the sea and with a milder climate, the wines are light in body and color with soft fruit and violet notes.
- Montespertoli – Once part of Colli Fiorentini and just west of it, the wines are held for three extra months and not released until the June after harvest.
- Montalbano – small area in the Montalbano hills slightly north of Firenze and overlaps with Carmignano. Sandstone soil results in light, fruit driven wine meant to be drunk young.
- Rufina – the smallest subregion but also the most known internationally except for Classico. Located in the Appennine mountains, the vineyards have cooler temperatures and milder summers. The wines are more elegant and ageworthy with the same release rules as Colli Fioretini - One year after harvest.
With all of this opportunity to see and taste the best of what Sangiovese has to offer, there is little wonder that Tuscany has a reputation for great wines even though it falls into seventh place among the 20 political regions for production levels. Find a Rufina and a Colli Senesi near you and compare them for their individual elegance and sense of terrior.
Producer/Theme websites: