Tuscanroutes The Chianti
Il Chianti Der Chianti T
he chain of hills of Chianti extends for about twenty kilometres and this might seems as a superficial fact but it’s not if you think about that name Chianti. Many people think
that it comes from the word “vino” (wine) but the true meaning of the world is actually “colline” or “zona montagnosa” (hills or mountainous area). But it’s obvious that the etymology of the word hasn’t been very helpful in the argumentation about where to line out the border of the “official” and the A.o.c.g. Chianti area (a very old and important conflict for the fortunate people that own a piece of this precious land) since three quarters of the Tuscan territory are characterized by hillsides and mountainous areas. Without wanting to stir up a hornet‘s nest or solve the unsolved economic questions connected to the use of the wine brand, but for the sake of clarity we can distinguish between “two Chianti”: one is the “classico” (classical), or “limited” so to say, including the municipalities of Greve, Castellina, Gaiole and Radda, which in the official denomination are called “in Chianti” and that corresponds to very precise territorial areas; and the other one is the so called Chianti “allargato”(enlarged/extended) including the municipalities of San Casciano and Tavarnelle Val di Pesa, Barberino Val d’Elsa, Poggibonsi and Castelnuovo Berardenga. In addition to those there are also the denominations of Chianti such as Chianti Rufina, the Chianti Colli fiorentini, the Chianti Montespertoli and so on but the later ones are only connected to wine production and doesn’t have any historic or geographical connections the other areas of Chianti. But is it really important for the tourist to know where the Chianti district finishes? Does it make any difference if she or he is in the municipality of Gaiole or Montevarchi when the beautiful green landscape is similar and equally breathtaking? Why should the enotourist be interested in what is written on the wine label when the bottle contains the beauty of the surrounding hills? In some way the tourist will be able to bring those hills home and relive the beauty again when opening the bottle years after and hundreds of kilometres away, as a memory of a happy day to enjoy whenever and wherever in the time and space of 75cl. So why argue about where when Chianti, today, has become also, if not primary, a spiritual place?
19 toscana&chiantinews