Chianti’s quiet revolution

When Alessandro Santori took out the fiasco of Chianti, that round bottle cradled in a sheath of straw, I braced myself for the worst. Tuscany was in the grip of winter, and my friend Francesco had risked steep, icy roads to bring me to his mountain hometown of Castell’Azzara, two hours outside Florence, to meet his parents. As snow began to pile up outside, the burly little Alessandro, bright-eyed, bald-headed and 63, ripped the cork out of the unlabeled bottle, which he said had been made by one of his friends. I cringed, expecting a thin, weedy glass of pinkish acid. For though I knew that Chianti had come a long way since the days when “fiasco” came to mean disaster, a fiasco’s still a fiasco, and this looked homemade.

But, remarkably, this wine was dark. Even in my little tumbler it smelled of cherries and peppery spice. Then it filled my mouth with rich, red fruit, finishing cleanly and sweetly. It was refreshing yet substantial. As I asked for my second glass, it occurred to me that, although Chianti has been on a well-documented upswing for several years, when homemade, not-for-export wine is tasting great, the region has truly arrived.

And so it has. In the second half of the ‘90s, when Americans were going gaga for Piedmont, shelling out big bucks for Barbaresco and Barolo, a quiet revolution was happening in Chianti Classico.

Of the seven Chianti zones in Tuscany (including Chianti Classico, Montalbano, Colli Fiorentini, Rufina, Colli Senesi, Colline Pisane and Colli Aretini), Chianti Classico is the most famous, the standard-bearer for the region. It’s so dominant that when people in food and wine circles in Florence mention Chianti, it can be assumed they’re talking about Chianti Classico.

The Chiantis we’re drinking today, the ones that grace the pages of restaurant wine lists and store shelves, are richer than they used to be; they’re aromatically more complex, with softer, rounder tannins. They’re the most supple, crowd-pleasing, approachable and desirable wines the region has ever produced. Ten years ago, choosing a Chianti off a store shelf was a somewhat risky endeavor, but today it’s hard to go wrong.

Even in winter, under gray skies and chilling north winds -- with no Tuscan sun to bask in -- Panzano, a 45-minute drive south of Florence, glows with ancient beauty. Twisting roads wrap up the hillsides to fortress cities; crumbling stone farmhouses crown every hilltop. Bent-over old women hobble up cobblestone streets, market baskets in hand. Tradition is a religion, so much so that here, as elsewhere in Tuscany, the locals still refuse to add salt to their bread.

In this atmosphere, Chianti has made the leap to modernity.

The impetus to modernize winemaking and vineyard practices came largely from the success of the region’s own Super Tuscans, those expensive nontraditional blends that 20 years ago became hugely popular, bringing the world’s attention to the region. “Without the Super Tuscan phenomenon,” said Antonio Zaccheo, proprietor of Carpineto, which makes a Chianti Classico from its estate in Greve, “Chianti would be a different wine today.”

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Centuries of sameness

For hundreds of years Chianti Classico was a Sangiovese-based blend that included a number of other varieties, among them white grapes; the inclusion of the other varieties was mandated by law. In 1996 the law was changed, no longer requiring the use of white grapes. Furthermore, the inclusion of any red grape -- not just the traditional Colorino and Canaiolo -- is now legal, to enhance the richness and color of the wine. Sangiovese now must comprise no less than 80% of the blend and can be the sole constituent, which was previously illegal.

Unwieldy and temperamental, Sangiovese had been both Tuscany’s strength and its greatest liability. Chianti Classico is a cool region, and Sangiovese does not ripen easily, especially when over-cropped. Capable of offering red-cherry sumptuousness, tangy acidity and pretty spice when properly grown, it yields hard and tannic wines when poorly farmed. The latter dominated Tuscan offerings for decades.

“The thinking has always been here,” explains Fernando Catani, proprietor of La Calonica in nearby Montepulciano, “that Sangiovese needs some kind of lover.” (Like Chianti Classico, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano is Sangiovese-based.) “In the past we had to use a blend of many grapes, including white grapes, to soften Sangiovese’s hard tannins and acidity. Now the lover is changing. So we have cut off the white grapes, and some people now think that Merlot and Cabernet are the best new lovers.”

However, it wasn’t just Sangiovese’s lovers that needed to change, but Sangiovese as well. So 15 years ago, the Consorzio del Marchio Storico, Chianti Classico’s primary organization of producers, began an effort called Chianti Classico 2000. Experimental vineyard sites were planted throughout the Classico zone to determine how different Sangiovese clones would respond to a number of soils and vineyard practices. Several low-yielding clones were identified as producing wines with greater concentration, more complex aromatics and darker color. These clones started to provide fruit in the mid- to late ‘90s. With ideal growing conditions in 1997, 1999 and 2001, Chianti Classico began to reach new heights. As the vines mature, expect the progress to continue.

At a large tasting of Chianti Classico in Florence last month, these clones were the subject of much discussion. “The new plantings have added structure and color to the wines and reduced acidity,” said Rocco Giorgio, director of San Fabiano Calcinaia, which makes its Chianti from 100% Sangiovese. “There is more ripe cherry and spice in the aroma.”

Panzano is one of the top villages in Chianti Classico, relatively sunny and warm, with advantageous south-facing slopes. The reds produced here are somewhat fuller and richer than those from elsewhere in the zone. Here, on a frigid afternoon at Fattoria Le Fonti, owner and winemaker Vicky Schmitt-Vitali surveys the leafless rows of her vineyards. “Originally, the clones on our property were from Emilia-Romagna, a completely different region with different conditions,” she says. “The new clones are selected for our terroir. They provide smaller crops and ripen better.” It’s apparent in Le Fonti’s wines, which show wonderfully concentrated fruit but still have a mineral edge.

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Joining the mainstream

New vineyard practices have also contributed to better wines. It may seem unbelievable to most producers in the New World, but green harvesting -- cutting off some of the clusters a vine produces when they are still unripe so the remaining grapes achieve better ripeness and concentration -- has, until recently, only been embraced by the top Tuscan producers.

Chianti Classico’s rapid improvement is about more than clones and vineyards. It has also been due to an influx of new landowners and winemakers. A good example is Le Fonti’s Schmitt family, which moved from Germany to the hilly slopes of Panzano in 1992. Vicky Schmitt-Vitali, whose father bought the estate, says that of the 20 wineries in Panzano, eight changed hands in the ‘90s, and a ninth did so two years ago. “Only three wineries are owned by locals,” she says. “The others are owned by families from Florence and Prato. And this is only Panzano. There are many other villages in Chianti that can tell the same story.”

She explains that Chianti was being abandoned in the ‘60s and ‘70s as a lot of people moved to cities for better jobs. Many houses and wineries remained empty until the ‘90s, when there was a huge rush of tourists to buy up holiday homes. Real estate prices, she says, tripled.

“The [former] owners of Le Fonti weren’t taking their wine seriously,” she says. “Of the couple who owned it, the husband only drank white wine and beer, and the wife did little because she was having an affair with their enologist. They just bottled a little for home consumption and sold the rest of their grapes to the cooperative. They didn’t even know about using sulfur to preserve the wine.”

Since taking over the estate, Vicky and her husband, Guido Vitali, do most of the work themselves, from the demanding tasks of pruning the vines, pulling leaves and tilling the soil to making the wine.

The results of the hands-on attention are striking. In 2002, a vintage that was washed out by continuous rain and cool weather, Le Fonti produced one of the better wines. The sacrifice was immense: 12,000 bottles rather than the typical 30,000 were produced. But the wine is a testament to their care.

Its dark color, however, may owe something to the inclusion of 7% Cabernet Sauvignon and 1% Merlot. While now legal in the Chianti blend, the use of non-Tuscan grapes still arouses controversy. Carpineto’s Zaccheo says, “Cabernet Sauvignon can overwhelm Sangiovese, and with it Chianti loses its identity by tasting more like a wine from anywhere. The New World desire for fruity, powerful wines can overwhelm the subtleties of what the region can offer.

“We think Chianti Classico should be about a sense of place,” he says. “Sangiovese is the best at this because it varies considerably depending on where it is planted, and so it becomes an expression of terroir.”

In deference to tradition, Carpineto Chianti Classico is made with 90% Sangiovese and 10% Canaiolo. Other top producers, such as Badia a Coltibuono, Fontodi, Castello di Ama and Castello di Brolio, have also eschewed international varieties in their appellation wines.

According to the president of the Consorzio, Giovanni Ricasoli-Firidolfi, more and more producers are finding that they don’t need nonnative grapes to make their wines good. “Even though we allow our members a certain freedom of choice,” he says, “members today seem to use more Sangiovese and to rely increasingly on local varieties in the blend.” Producers are allowed to use up to 20% of non-Italian varieties in their Chiantis, yet one rarely sees anyone using even 10%.

Improved winemaking techniques also play a part. The San Fabiano Calcinaia Chianti Classico 2002 is 100% Sangiovese and one of the most slickly contemporary wines from the region, thanks to state-of-the-art winemaking and time in French barriques. Such fundamental improvements have allowed basic Chianti Classicos to reach quality levels formerly the domain of the riservas. Riservas, which must be aged in oak three years as opposed to two for Chianti Classicos, are sometimes twice the price. Generally stiffer and more structured, they’re meant to be aged, sometimes for up to 20 years.

Paolo Paffi, a manager at the estate Casa Emma, says the biggest problem for Casa Emma these days is selling these riservas, which used to be Chianti’s showcase wines. “The Chianti Classicos today are coming very close in quality to the riserva,” he says. “The big difference between the two is price. In fact, you see a lot of wineries are stopping producing riservas.” Paffi says the quality of Chianti has turned around so much that “you sell more Chianti than Super Tuscan.”

This is great news for Chianti drinkers, who for years saw their favorite wines overshadowed by pricey Super Tuscans. Nowadays, drop $30 on a Chianti Classico in a decent wine shop and it’s almost hard to go wrong. Even in difficult vintages, from good producers you can reasonably expect deep color, concentrated flavors and some complexity. And you might well find something splendid.

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Getting to know a classic again

Made in a cool region where the Sangiovese grapes often struggle to ripen, Chianti Classico is prone to significant vintage variation, so look for the best of the widely available years: 1999, 2000 and 2001. Consider producer over vintage, though, because the better producers release good wines in almost every year.

Antinori Peppoli 2001. Dark purplish wine offers a simple nose of black cherry and dried herbs. Lively in the mouth, but not a lot of depth. $23 at John & Pete’s in West Hollywood.

Castello di Brolio 1999. Deep and flavorful with dark plum, berry, violets and black licorice character. Full-bodied, great balance. Fine tannins precede a long, sweet finish. About $46 at Wine House, Los Angeles.

Felsina 2001. Fresh berry aromas, with hints of flowers, herbs and chocolate. Juicy and full-bodied, with a pleasant finish. $16 at Hi-Time Wine Cellars, Costa Mesa and Woodland Hills Wine Co.

Fontodi 2001. Enticingly rich nose with sweet cherry, spice and violet perfume. Full-bodied and lush. $20 at Wine House and at Wine Exchange, Orange.

Fonterutoli 2002. Cherry, stone and plum aromas carry through on the palate. Rich, with soft tannins and a long, satisfying finish. Amazing quality for a tough vintage. $25 at Wally’s Wine and Spirits, West L.A.

Le Fonti 2000 Riserva. Well-structured wine with nicely delineated aromas of cherry, raspberry, licorice and minerals. Delicious. $27 at Wine House.

Monsanto 2000. Medium bodied with a light brick-red hue, aromas of tart red cherry and lively acidity. Too tangy for some palates, but great with food. $17 at John & Pete’s.

Querciabella 2001. Elegant wine with beautifully expressive nose of cherry, mineral and fresh herbs. Medium- to full-bodied with fine tannins and a medium, slightly herbal finish. Lovely balance and structure. $25 at Wine House and at Wally’s.

San Fabiano Calcinaia 2001. Chocolate, cherry and toasted wood aromas lead through to a smooth wine with sweet fruit and oak flavors, silky tannins and a long finish. $20 at Wine Exchange.

-- Jordan Mackay