Tuscany Farmhouses

Tuscany Wine

Since the Middle Age there is a wine vocation of the Chianti. Families such as the Ricasoli in Brollo from 1141 and the Antinori from 1385 are today to the twentieth generation, their continuous presence in  this region contributes to write pages of history and to render the “Chianti” denomination one of the most ancient of the Tuscany.
In 1716 Gran Duke Cosimo III established rules and controls for the correct production of four regional wines: the Chianti, the Pomino, the Carmignano and the Valdarno di sopra, for which he adopted a particular form of protection based on geographic criteria. The scientist and writer Francesco Redi wrote “Bacchus in Tuscany” where he praised a lot of wines of the region.
The Chianti described from Redi is very different from the one we know today. In the half of 1700 the Academy of the Georgofili, wich was founded in Florence in 1753, tested the mixture of several types of vine, trying to discover their characteristics before proceeding to the preparation of grapes in order to obtain the wine.
From the 1834 the Baron Ricasoli tried to improve the agricultural techniques in its estates, defining in 1874 the preparation of the grapes of the Chianti, to which it would have inspired in 1984 the disciplinary.
In that period it was composed by 70% of Sangiovese, 15% of Canaiolo, 10% of Trebbieno and  Malvasia and 5% from complementary vines such as the Mammolo and the Colorino.
In 1878 the Chianti won its first gold medal to the national exposure of Paris.
On the 14th May of 1924 a group of 33 producers formed a consortium called Black Rooster whose purpose was to safeguard the Chianti wine and its brand a black rooster on background gold.
About this symbol there is a legend which talks about how Florence and Siena fixed the boundary line. The governments of the two cities decided that a horseman should set out at the first cock’s crow from their respective communities and gallop down the highway, where they met would be the frontier. The Florentines astutely chose a young black rooster and gave it so little to eat that on the appointed day it began to crow long before dawn; as a result, the Florentine horseman set out early and he could cover a greater distance than his rival reaching the castle of Fonterutoli, here in the beginning of 1200 a lot of deals were signed.
This brand has been put on all the bottles of Chianti produced from the ’20 until now, it is a red seal  with a circular inscription  “Consortium Classic Chianti Wine”. The Centre is in Sant’Andrea in Percussina in the commune of San Casciano in Val di Pesa.
To the Consortium do not join all the Chianti producers for example the companies: Marchesi Antinori, Barone Ricasoli, Montevergine and others. The area of production of the Chianti wine  extends beyond the border of the most ancient part of the region of production including six provinces: Arezzo, Firenze, Pisa, Pistoia, Prato, Siena.