Chianti Wineries

From LoveToKnow Wine

When visiting Italian wine country, touring through a few Chianti wineries is a must.

About the Chianti Wine Region

The Chianti wine region finds its home in the center of Tuscany, just south of Florence. Can you think of a more idyllic setting for sipping on Italian wine? Chianti is actually one of the oldest wine producing areas in the world. Vintners have been making wine in this region for thousands of years. Chianti wines were a well respected, fine wine around the world up until about the mid 1950's.

Mass Production

Chianti was not recognized as a DOC in Italy until the late 1960's. Without having the strict regulations of the DOC to follow, vintners began a mass production of Chianti to be exported around the world, which sullied the good reputation it had built over centuries.

Since vintners had no regulations they had to follow, they basically chose whatever grape blend they wanted for their Chianti. The result was a dull, unbalanced wine that lacked both character and flavor. Soon, people began associating Chianti with bad wine in a straw bottle. This, thankfully for wine drinkers and serious vintners of Chianti, changed when the region was recognized by the DOC in 1967.

Good Chianti Makes a Comeback

With its newly-minted DOC designation, vintners had to follow a strict blending of the grapes they used in order to label their wine Chianti. The recipe for the wine and the percentages of specific grape blends was almost identical to the fantastic Chianti's produced in the region years ago. Gone were the lackluster Chianti's of the 1950's and 1960's and good Chianti began making its comeback as a well respected, well balanced wine. Here's an example of the DOC regulations for the Chianti Classico region:

Chianti Classico

For a wine labeled Chianti Classico, it must first, come from this region. Some requirements for this label are:

  • At least 80 percent Sangiovese grapes – The remaining 20 percent can be a blend of other grapes determined by the individual vintners.
  • Chianti Classico bottles must contain a minimum of 12 percent alcohol by volume and Riserva bottles must contain a minimum of 12.5 percent alcohol.
  • All bottling, production and aging must occur within the Classico region.
  • All Riserva's must be aged for a minimum of two years.

The Chianti Classico sub-region is probably the most well know of the area, but there are others:

  • Chianti Rufina
  • Chianti Montalbano
  • Colli Aretini
  • Colli Fiorentini
  • Colli Sensesi
  • Colline Pisani

Now that you have a little bit of history on Chianti wine, here is some more information about Chianti wineries to help you plan your next Chianti wine tour. Even if that tour is a far off daydream, the websites listed below have beautiful pictures of the regions, so at least you can imagine what it would be like to be there.

A List of Chianti Wineries

A Final Word About Chianti

The Chianti region in Italy makes some of the finest wines in the world. Explore Chianti wine proudly (minus the straw covered bottle, because although it's still produced, the wine is still dull and a bit lifeless), despite what any wine snob's opinion is on the wine. Most people who even remotely considered themselves "connoisseurs" have already explored these wines themselves and know that there is so much more to Chianti then it's bad reputation of the 1950's and 1960's. A reputation that has unfortunately followed the wine throughout the years, but fortunately is beginning to fade. If you love Italian wines or are just beginning to appreciate them, Chianti is a must have.

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