Why Chianti Classico Wine Deserves More Respect

A 25-meter-long wall-cum-sculpture by Daniel Buren at the edge of the San Lorenzo vineyard. Photographer: Elin McCoy/Bloomberg Photo by Elin McCoy/Bloomberg /Photographer: Elin McCoy/Bloombe

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(Bloomberg) — Italy’s “wine map man” Alessandro Masnaghetti was speeding fast along narrow, winding roads in Tuscany’s Chianti Classico region, causing me, in the passenger seat, to clutch my door handle, so I could escape in case of a crash. Luckily, we stopped often to examine handfuls of chunks of alberese limestone and savor stunning views of softly green olive trees, hillsides of vines, distant towered castellos and vast forests.

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Who knew that only 10% of the famous historic wine region is vineyards, while more than 60% is deep forest hiding destructive wild boar?

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The morning driving tour was to illustrate Chianti Classico’s latest news: the region’s newly defined official 11 subzones (UGAs, or unita geografiche aggiuntive—an awful term), whose names are now appearing on 2020 and 2021 vintage labels. Masnaghetti has mapped all of them in the gorgeous tome Chianti Classico: The Atlas of the Vineyards and UGAs (Enogea), and he highlighted their differences as we sped from spot to spot. In tiny, high-altitude Lamole, he even pulled out a couple of bottles to show off the wines distinctive profile.

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Giovanni Manetti, president of the Chianti Classico Consorzio and owner of Fontodi winery in UGA Panzano, one of the region’s most famous areas, calls the zones “an historic achievement.”

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You could ask why they matter.

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Manetti says they’re part of elevating the quality of Chianti Classico’s once-controversial top wine category, Gran Selezione. “The new rules require the use of only estate-grown grapes, and a higher percentage of our unique, elegant sangiovese grapes.” Naming the origins of wines encourages drinkers to sniff out a sense of place in them, he says. Some 80% of Gran Selezione UGA wines are from single vineyards.

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“We’re now speaking a lot about what should be Chianti Classico’s identity,” says Angela Fronti of Istine, which makes three brilliant Gran Selezione wines, two from UGA Radda and one from UGA Gaiole, but also a new white, a rosé vermouth and a gin flavored with juniper berries from the forest on their estate.

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This new attention to terroir is one reason undervalued Chianti Classicos (or some of them, see below) belong on your bucket list of Tuscany’s collectible reds along with Brunello di Montalcinos and Super Tuscans like Ornellaia. After all, the wines aren’t the same as plain old Chianti plonk. They come from a small historic area between Firenze and Siena, a distinct region within the wider Chianti area that celebrated its 100th anniversary in May 2024, and a top spot for sangiovese grapes with its own strict regulations. Bottles carry the iconic Black Rooster image. 

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And they come in three versions. First, the inexpensive, bright-and-savory, drink-me-now Chianti Classico annata (about 60% of the production), which has improved significantly. Then comes the longer aged (24 months) Riserva (30%-35%), while 2014 saw the addition of the Gran Selezione category (about 6%), aged 30 months before release, intended as a winery’s very best.