Virtuoso Life - July/August 2008 - (Page 64) TASTING NOTES Chianti has reasserted its traditional role as Tuscany’s signature wine. “What we’re really trying to do is capture the message of the soil.” Just two years ago, the rules were revised to eliminate white grapes altogether from chianti classico. Sangiovese must now make up 80 percent of the blend. The Chianti Classico Consortium eventually plans to institute a vineyard rating system modeled on those in Bordeaux and Burgundy. At Tenuta di Arceno (owned by California wine mogul Jess Jackson, one of many non-Italians now investing in chianti), Bordeaux-born Pierre Seillan oversees production of the estate’s chianti classico in addition to several cabernet- and merlotdriven super-Tuscans. “The big change in chianti has been the evolution of the farming,” insists Seillan. “Replanting with new spacing, with less-vigorous rootstock and different clones of sangiovese. What we’re really trying to do is to capture the message of the soil.” Chianti has reasserted its traditional role as Tuscany’s signature wine. “There are so many super-Tuscans now that they have no distinctive style, and many of them are overoaked and lack elegance,” remarks Giovanni Folonari. “That’s why people have begun to move back toward traditional chianti classico. Today, we’ve had to adapt ourselves to what the consumer wants, but we try to do that without losing tradition, style, and above all, elegance. Chianti classico is traditional, but in a modern way.” This Nipozzano is a model chianti. 64 V I RT U O S O L I F E
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