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A Chianti wine (:'kjanti) is any wine produced in the Chianti region, in central Tuscany, Italy. It was historically associated with a squat bottle enclosed in a straw basket, called a ''fiasco'' ("flask"; ''pl. fiaschi''); however, the ''fiasco'' is only used by a few makers of the wine now; most Chianti is now bottled in more standard shaped wine bottles. Baron Bettino Ricasoli (later Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Italy) created the Chianti recipe of 70% Sangiovese, 15% Canaiolo and 15% Malvasia bianca in the middle of the nineteenth century.〔J. Robinson (ed) ''"The Oxford Companion to Wine"'' Third Edition pg 162-163 Oxford University Press 2006 ISBN 0-19-860990-6〕 The first definition of a wine-area called ''Chianti'' was made in 1716. It described the area near the villages of Gaiole, Castellina and Radda; the so-called ''Lega del Chianti'' and later ''Provincia del Chianti'' (Chianti province). In 1932 the Chianti area was completely re-drawn and divided in seven sub-areas: Classico, Colli Aretini, Colli Fiorentini, Colline Pisane, Colli Senesi, Montalbano and Rùfina. Most of the villages that in 1932 were suddenly included in the new Chianti Classico area added ''in Chianti'' to their name-such as Greve in Chianti which amended its name in 1972. Wines labelled "Chianti Classico" come from the biggest sub-area of Chianti, that includes the original Chianti heartland. Only Chianti from this sub-zone may boast the black rooster seal (known in Italian as a ''gallo nero'') on the neck of the bottle, which indicates that the producer of the wine is a member of the Chianti Classico Consortium, the local association of producers.〔Consorzio del Marchio Storico〕〔Consorzio del vino Chianti Classico〕 Other variants, with the exception of Rufina from the north-east side of Florence and Montalbano in the south of Pistoia, originate in the respective named provinces: Siena for the Colli Senesi, Florence for the Colli Fiorentini, Arezzo for the Colli Aretini and Pisa for the Colline Pisane. In 1996 part of the Colli Fiorentini sub-area was renamed ''Montespertoli''. During the 1970s producers started to reduce the quantity of white grapes in Chianti. In 1995 it became legal to produce a Chianti with 100% Sangiovese. For a wine to retain the name of Chianti, it must be produced with at least 80% Sangiovese grapes.〔M. Ewing-Mulligan & E. McCarthy ''Italian Wines for Dummies'' pg 147-159 Hungry Minds 2001 ISBN 0-7645-5355-0〕 Aged Chianti (38 months instead of 4–7), may be labelled as Riserva. Chianti that meets more stringent requirements (lower yield, higher alcohol content and dry extract) may be labelled as Chianti Superiore, although Chianti from the "Classico" sub-area is not allowed in any event to be labelled as "Superiore". ==History== (詳細はCosimo III de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany issued an edict legislating that the three villages of the ''Lega del Chianti'' (Castellina in Chianti, Gaiole in Chianti, and Radda in Chianti) as well as the village of Greve and a of hillside north of Greve near Spedaluzzo as the only officially recognized producers of Chianti. This delineation existed until July 1932, when the Italian government expanded the Chianti zone to include the outlying areas of Barberino Val d'Elsa, Chiocchio, Robbiano, San Casciano in Val di Pesa and Strada. Subsequent expansions in 1967 would eventually bring the Chianti zone to cover a very large area all over central Tuscany. By the eighteenth century, Chianti was widely recognized as a red wine, but the exact composition and grape varieties used to make Chianti at this point is unknown. Ampelographers find clues about which grape varieties were popular at the time in the writings of Italian writer Cosimo Villifranchi who noted that Canaiolo was widely planted variety in the area along with Sangiovese, Mammolo and Marzemino.〔 It was not until the work of the Italian statesman Bettino Ricasoli that the modern "Chianti recipe" as a Sangiovese-based wine would take shape.〔H. Johnson ''Vintage: The Story of Wine'' pg 414-420 Simon and Schuster 1989 ISBN 0-671-68702-6〕 Prior to Ricasoli, Canaiolo was emerging as the dominant variety in the Chianti blend with Sangiovese and Malvasia playing supporting roles. In the mid-nineteenth century, Ricasoli developed a recipe for Chianti that was based primarily on Sangiovese. His recipe called for 70% Sangiovese, 15% Canaiolo, 10% Malvasia (later amended to include Trebbiano) and 5% other local red varieties. In 1967, the Denominazione di origine controllata (DOC) regulation set by the Italian government firmly established the "Ricasoli formula" of a Sangiovese-based blend with 10–30% Malvasia and Trebbiano.〔 The late nineteenth century saw a period of economic and political upheaval. First came oidium and then the phylloxera epidemic would take its toll on the vineyards of Chianti just as they had ravaged vineyards across the rest of Europe. The chaos and poverty following the ''Risorgimento'' heralded the beginning of the Italian diaspora that would take Italian vineyard workers and winemakers abroad as immigrants to new lands.〔 Those that stayed behind and replanted choose high-yielding varieties like Trebbiano and Sangiovese clones such as the ''Sangiovese di Romagna'' from the nearby Romagna region. Following World War II, the general trend in the world wine market for cheap, easy-drinking wine saw a brief boom for the region. With over-cropping and an emphasis on quantity over quality, the reputation of Chianti among consumers eventually plummeted. By the 1950s, Trebbiano (which is known for its neutral flavours) made up to 30% of many mass-market Chiantis.〔K. MacNeil ''The Wine Bible'' pg 376-379 Workman Publishing 2001 ISBN 1-56305-434-5〕 By the late twentieth century, Chianti was often associated with basic Chianti sold in a squat bottle enclosed in a straw basket, called a ''fiasco''. However, during the same period, a group of ambitious producers began working outside the boundaries of DOC regulations to make what they believed would be a higher quality style of Chianti. These wines eventually became known as the "Super Tuscans".〔 Many of the producers behind the Super Tuscan movement were originally Chianti producers who were rebelling against what they felt were antiquated DOC regulations. Some of these producers wanted to make Chiantis that were 100% varietal Sangiovese. Others wanted the flexibility to experiment with blending French grape varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot or to not be required to blend in any white grape varieties. The late twentieth century saw a flurry of creativity and innovation in the Chianti zones as producers experimented with new grape varieties and introduced modern wine-making techniques such as the use of new oak barrels. The prices and wine ratings of some Super Tuscans would regularly eclipse those of DOC sanctioned Chiantis. The success of the Super Tuscans encouraged government officials to reconsider the DOC regulations in order to bring some of these wines back into the fold labelled as Chianti.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Chianti」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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