Welcome to Maxx Guide To Wine
Wholesale Wine Article
. For a permanent link to this article, or to bookmark it for further reading, click here.
Comparing 'Chianti' Wine and 'Chianti Classico' Wine
from: Maxx Guide to WineNewer wine enthusiast often assume a 'Chianti' wine is the same as a 'Chinati Classico' wine, but this is incorrect.
Chianti Classico is produced in the Chianti area and is notable for its 'black rooster' logo found on the neck of the bottles.
There are much stricter producer rules applied by the 'Chianti Classico Consortium' than those applied to producers of 'Chianti'. Interesting, don't you think? Let's dig a little deeper and discover why this is so.
Production Area: Chianti Classico wine is only produced within the borders of the Chianti area. On the other hand, Chianti producers can produce outside those borders, and do so in areas such as the Tuscan provinces of Florence, Siena, Arezzo, Pisa, Pistoia and Prato.
Grapes: Chianti Classico uses black grapes only, with a minimum basis of 80% of Sangiovese (the typical grape of the Chianti's area). Chianti wine also uses white grapes, including Malvasia and Trebbiano, along with the minimum basis of Sangiovese, which is 75% in this case.
Standard of Quality: The rules of the Chianti Classico Consortium are much more strict on all aspects which have an impact on the wine's quality. For instance, the 'resa massima di uva per ettaro di vigneto' (the maximum amount of grapes for hectare) is 75 quintals for Chianti Classico, while for Chianti the limit is 90 quintals.
The first version of the DOCG 'disciplinare' or production rules for Chianti and Chianti Classico goes back to 1984, when Chianti Classico was considered a sub-category of the Chianti DOCG, although with separate regulations that imposed production rules more stringent than those stipulated for the other Chianti wines.
It wasn't until 1996 that Chianti Classico acquired the definitive consecration of its importance and its precedence -- Chianti Classico, in fact, was recognized as an independent appellation, finally establishing its diversity and independence from other Chiantis.
Chianti and Chianti Classico are both traditional wines made in Tuscany with sangiovese usually the base of most red variants such as Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, Morellino di Scansano, Brunello di Montalcino, Rosso di Montalcino and so on.
A black rooster was the emblem of the Lega del Chianti during 17th century. The black rooster is now the emblem of the Chianti Classico producers association. Chianti Classico wines have this symbol on the neck of the bottle indicating the wine is produced in the Classico area using the Chianti Classico Consortium rules.
The Chianti Classico Consortium's policies are to safeguard the wine's quality to the detriment of quantity, mainly due to the increasing number of high quality wines from all over the world. In addition, they want to safeguard the quality aspects specific to the area making the Gallo Nero products unique.
Check out moderately priced gourmet gift baskets from Cheese and Wine Unlimited!
Wine Gift Baskets
Cellars Wine Club
Wholesale Wine News