History
“It is indeed impressive to note that, twice, in the 7th century BC and in the 15th century AD, almost the same region of Central Italy, ancient Etruria and modern Tuscany, was the hub of Italian civilisation.” Jacques Heurgon, historian.
Etymological origin
There have been many disputes over how old Chianti is, and these have also discussed the meaning of its name: for some it means “beating of wings” or “clamour and sounds of horns”, while for others it is more simply the topographical extension of the Etruscan word “Clante”, a personal name, frequently used by the Etruscan people.
In documents from the Datini archive (1383-1410) in Prato, the term “Chianti” is used for the first time to designate a special type of wine. Despite rare medieval occurrences of the word, the name of this wine was long referred to as “vermilion” or “wine of Florence”. It was only in the 17th century, with the intensification of trade and exports, that the name of the region became universally recognised also for the area’s famous product.
Deep, ancient roots
To trace the history of the vine and wine in Tuscany, we must go back to the Etruscans, a refined civilisation which cultivated vines as early as the 6th century BC, training them around trees, and experimented with the first rudiments of oenology, as proven by some Attic urns found in the area.
The Etruscan civilisation flourished from the 8th century BC onwards and was definitively incorporated into Roman civilisation at the end of the 1st century BC
In actual fact, the first viticulture actually appeared in Italy earlier, in the south of the peninsula, in the colonies of what was known as Magna Graecia, where vines were planted by migrant Greeks who settled in places where there were few inhabitants at the time.
The wine inherited by the Etruscans from the Greeks was rather rough, made from wild plants known as “labrusche”. The bunches of wild grapes that grew spontaneously on the edges of fields were originally picked and fermented according to the still rudimentary Hellenic tradition.
The Etruscans were the first to experiment and develop a different kind of viticulture, with some significant innovations, such as better selection of the grapes or the training of the vines around live supports (the “vite maritata”) as opposed to the “paletto” or dead support, used by those who followed the Greek tradition.
add_a_photo Emiliano Cribari
Wine as a form of agriculture
In the 5th century BC, Sophocles, one of the greatest Greek playwrights, described Italy as “the favourite land of the God Bacchus”.
The Romans learned the secrets from the Etruscans, Greeks and Carthaginians, and succeeded in building the first rational farms capable of production, with a sense of trade and significant profits; they set up wine trade routes throughout the Mediterranean and spread production to all the provinces of the Empire.
Columella’s “De re rustica” (65 AD), the first real guide to viticulture and oenology and a fundamental reference until the Renaissance, outlined the concept of the “vineyard system”: from the most suitable soils for the various vines and reproduction using cuttings, to planting and pruning the vines.
Wine was an essential part of every Roman banquet. Mostly diluted with hot or cold water, according to taste and season, it was used abundantly for toasts and libations, as drinking it pure was considered of poor taste. The best wine was aged, in the attic or in the sun, while less valuable products were refined with salt, concentrated sea water, resin and chalk, or sometimes corrected with honey or flavourings. Figures known as “haustores”, the sommeliers of the time, began to appear, and they decanted and classified wines in numerous colourful ways.
The Middle Ages
The cultivation of wine continued generously throughout the Roman Empire and survived beyond the barbarian ravages, thanks to the commitment of the Benedictine and Vallombrosian monks, guardians of the secrets of wine for several centuries, who kept the traditions alive.
From the year 1000, the specialised cultivation of vines, grown in low level rows, spread everywhere, on the land of the monks and that of the secular clergy and the lay aristocracy.
In the Middle Ages, Tuscany’s vocation for wine was eloquent: as early as the 12th century, families whose names would remain in the history of wine inaugurated their wine production, based on the legacy of monastic knowledge. The Municipalities, banks and guilds were founded, and the road to wine production became intertwined with that of political power, prestige and trade. Florence was buzzing with taverns and wine cellars, and the Arte dei Vinattieri (Guild of Vintners), the most important of the so-called Minor Guilds, consolidated its rank
The forerunners of Chianti were called “vino rutilante” or “vermiglio” (when red) and “vernaccia” (when white): notarial documents from 1398 describe Chianti as a white wine!
add_a_photo Emiliano Cribari
The Renaissance
The greatest development of the sector in Tuscany, however, came with the coming to power of the Medici family. Already merchants and bankers, they made wine into a commodity and a charismatic symbol. The family’s favourite wine is said to have been made in the Chianti area. Towards the end of the 15th century, Lorenzo de’ Medici, in his Symposium and Bacchus’ Song, illustrates a folkloristic ambience, where wine is the essence of a theatre of wit and triviality, bordering on the grotesque. The bond between the Medici dynasty and the science of winemaking is very tight, so much so that when the 13th century Palazzo Vecchio was refurbished in the 16th century, the columns of the courtyard were adorned with vine leaves, shoots and grapes in honour of this association.
In September 1716, Cosimo III de’ Medici, then Grand Duke of Tuscany, marked the turning point towards the concept of wine designations and production regulations, issuing the so-called “Bando”, the first document in the world to regulate the production of wine, which established and legislated measures governing production, name and sale, inside and outside “the States of His Royal Highness”. It also set the boundaries of the various zones, in particular of four regional wines: Chianti, Pomino, Carmignano and Val d’Arno di Sopra.
The first supervisory bodies were created, and the Grand Ducal edict applied severe penalties for all cases of falsification and illegal trafficking, establishing a forerunner to the regulation of places of origin, the prelude to today’s designation of controlled and guaranteed origin.
Squaring the circle
In the second half of the 18th century, the newly established Accademia dei Georgofili in Florence began experimenting with the blending of different grape varieties, identifying their characteristics before proceeding to vinification. About a century later, the University of Pisa carried out specific studies on the total acidity of wine, which spoiled the immediate predecessors of modern Chianti wine.
In those years of great research, one man marked the contemporary history of Tuscan wine more than any other, Bettino Ricasoli. The “Iron Baron”, an outstanding political figure of the time, dedicated his life also to viticulture, with a tireless spirit of experimentation and charismatic discipline which he applied personally to his wines. He demanded, for example, the separation of the stalks from the marc, fermentation in closed vats and rapid racking followed by “governo all’uso toscano”; he tested the resistance of the wines to shipping by sea, the main means of export at the time, sending them to the furthest corners of the world for years; he promoted and stressed the importance of the first rudiments of marketing of Chianti, which enjoyed a huge boost in fame, with foreign demand almost tripling in around 1890. While satisfied with the quality of his Castello di Brolio wines, which were vermilion, fragrant and resistant, he was rather disappointed with their most recurrent defect, too much acidity on the palate, and this led him to intensify his personal relations with Prof. Cesare Studiati of the aforementioned University of Pisa, an expert in the chemistry of wine. Almost three decades of clever and tireless research later, the idea came to him.
In 1872, the Baron recorded the first formula for his Chianti in a letter to Prof. Studiati:
“…the wine receives the majority of its perfume and a certain vigorous sensation from Sangioveto; from Canajolo, the sweetness which tempers the harshness of the former, without stripping any of its perfume, being also endowed with it; Malvagia tends to dilute the product of the first two grapes, enhancing its flavour and making it lighter and more readily suitable for everyday use at the table”.
This was the first official definition of the blend of the first “modern” Chianti, already exported and appreciated at tables around the world, which would inspire the D.O.C.G. regulations of 1984, over a century later.
Modern times
In the 1920s, thanks in part to a fortuitous commercial advantage due to the delay with which the nightmare of vine phylloxera attacked Italy compared to other rival countries, Chianti was undoubtedly the best-known Italian red wine in the world. Its image as a traditional, everyday, table wine, often presented in a “flask-style” bottle, appealed to the palates of consumers, especially those in the United States, who immediately became demanding customers of this wine. Along with centuries of cultural tradition, history, literature, gastronomy and people, the term Chianti now represents not only a great wine but also the icon of a more complex socio-economic system.
In 1932, a ministerial decree improved and integrated the Chianti production areas, which fall within the provinces of Florence, Siena, Arezzo, Pistoia and Pisa.
In 1967, at the height of the industrial boom that followed the Second World War, Chianti wine was recognised with the Denominazione di Origine Controllata (Designation of Controlled Origin).
In 1984, thanks to the skilful work of winemakers and the sector’s active collateral industry, the conditions were created for Chianti wine to finally be recognised with the Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (Designation of Controlled and Guaranteed Origin).
In 1996, the “Superiore” product category was added to the existing “Annata” and “Riserva” categories. D.O.C. Vin Santo del Chianti was recognised in the same year, marking an important point in the protection of this product, which is as representative today as it was neglected in the past, and which the Consortium spent many years fighting for.
In 1997, the seventh sub-zone for the production of Chianti Montespertoli D.O.C.G. was added.
add_a_photo Emiliano Cribari
