Chianti’s Anatomy

Making wine is like haute cuisine: the quality of ingredients, processing time, and even the perfect amount of ingredients that only the chef knows and is able to dose: these are the components of a perfect recipe.
To make a good Chianti, it takes different grapes, in precise percentages, all expertly blended according to a centuries-old tradition: Sangiovese, which is the heart of the Chianti Classico, Canaiolo, white Trebbiano and Malvasia and the two dark giants Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.

As in a chorus of voices or in meetings among people, even those among grapes become perfect when everyone fulfills his part and knows better and make richer the character of the other, allowing the whole to stand out.

For example, the Sangiovese grape variety is widespread in Italy but grow it is not easy, it’s like a Prince character … irritable: the plant should not be exploited and its very dark blue bunches must not be allowed to age too much because they may lose their whole aromatic power, the pulp of the berries releases certain scents, including bay leaf, violet, cherry and black cherry; when the juice of the Sangiovese ages well you can feel tobacco, fruit of the undergrowth and spices.

Canaiolo’s dark berries have a thin skin and produce few tannins, substances that give the sense of “dry” in the mouth, so it makes a good team with Sangiovese grapes, because it soften their flavor. Both Trebbiano and Malvasia are white grapes and they used to refine the chianti taste and the color too, to make them rich in hues and shades. The good Trebbiano grapes bringds to the wine aroma of wheat, citrus and white flowers such as daisies and acacia, and aging they will become toasted hazelnut, sea rock and peat.

To complete the composition of Chianti remain to be discovered Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, two black grapes spreaded throughout the world. Cabernet Sauvignon has a serious character and closed in on itself, it can lead aromas of black currant, blackberry, fern, jasmine and pine resin, while getting older we can recognize in his body dry and rich in tannins: tobacco, cedar, truffles. The last “ingredient” of the recipe for a good Chianti is the nice Merlot, that is extroverted, with a very “dense” juice that brings in dowry flavor of plum, violet and mint.
All these grapes contribute to create the set of fragrances and aromas that are called “bouquet”, a French word adopted in the professional tasting of wines from around the world to denote the set of perfumes, aromas, flavors, scents that are emitted by a good glass of wine. During your Chianti wine tasting tour, when you taste a few glasses of good Chianti, you can discover all this: let yourself be guided by our tour guides who are all professional sommeliers. They will teach you to break down all the feelings you feel when you taste a Chianti or a Super Tuscan, so you can discover the many parts that make up a wine, not as the doctor who studies the anatomy but as an artist painting a beautiful nude!

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