Chianti
Date: 5/29/18
Location: Chianti Region, Italy
Today we did a Chianti wine tour booked on the Viator website. The first stop was at the Tenuta Riseccoli winery, a family-run estate that produces 10,000 bottles a year.
At the winery we sampled an IGT white, black rooster Chianti Classico, black rooster Chianti Classico Riserva, and Piccolo Verdot (100% petit verdot, usually a grape used for blending).
Chianti is a region in Italy with 7 sub-divisions. One of the sub-divisions is Chianti Classico. For a wine to be a Chianti it needs to be made with 75% Sangiovese. For a Chianti Classico, and to have the black rooster seal on the bottle, there are additional rules that need to be followed. The back rooster Chianti Classico needs to be made in the Chianti Classico region with over 80% Sangiovese and aged for a minimum of 1 year.
To be a black rooster Chianti Classico Reserve the wine needs to be made with over 80% Sangiovese and aged for over 2 years in oak barrels. The black rooster will appear on the neck or back of the wine bottle if the wine is a black rooster Chianti Classico.
We enjoyed the wine and purchased 2 bottles. The white that is 50% Trebbiano and 50% Malvasia and the black rooster Chianti Classico. The Chianti Classico we purchased has 90% Sangiovese and 10% Merlot.
The winery also had nice views.
From the winery we stopped at the town Greve in Chianti to walk around.
Here is Greve in Chianti’s city center.
The tour then went to another winery, Poggio Amorel. At the winery we tasted a white sparkling wine, black rooster Chianti Classico, black rooster Chianti Classico Riserva and grappa. We also had some of their extra virgin olive oil, truffle oil and balsamic vineger.
This winery was bigger than the 1st one we went to but still small with production of 25,000 bottles a year.
Here is the view from the winery.
After the 2nd winery there was a stop in Castellina before returning to Florence.
Here is the view from the town.
In the town and we saw some others from the bus there are black roosters.
The tour had over 50 people on it, which was more than we were expecting. While the tasting pours were on the lighter side, it was still nice to see the country side and try different wines.
