Going to European red wine regions is constantly so illuminating for me, as somebody who spends a great deal of time in California wineries. On the surface area, basically, things tend to look the exact same: European grapes look like American grapes. Their wineries use the same type of stainless steel tanks that we do, and barrels emblazoned with the same familiar seals.But below the surface, some essential differences separate American wineries from European ones, specifically in storied regions like Tuscany, Italy, where I was lucky sufficient to spend some time last week. The defining issue can be explained in one word:
custom. Winemaking in Tuscany dates back to the Etruscan period in the 8th century BCE, so, granted, there is a lot of history to compete with. Tradition notifies every aspect of Tuscan wine making– whether one selects to follow it or reject it. This concept turned up a lot during my check outs to wineries in Tuscany’s best-known
subregion, Chianti Classico, which produces stunning red wines from the Sangiovese grape. The very first thing to understand is that the U.S. regulates wine very differently from locations like Italy. Here, in order to print the words “Napa Valley”on a red wine label, the only requirement is that the grapes need to have been grown in Napa Valley. Easy. To print the words “Chianti Classico”on a wine label, on the other hand, it’s inadequate for the grapes to simply have been grown within the borders of Chianti Classico. The white wine should likewise abide by a strict set of government-prescribed guidelines, including which grape ranges are permitted, how long the red wine must age before it’s offered, how old the vines are and more. The goal of these guidelines is to guarantee that all Chianti Classicos taste like Chianti Classico. The stereotypical Chianti
Classico is searingly acidic and thickly tannic, with tastes and aromas that remember tart cherry, dried herbs, cigar tobacco and gamey meat.(It’s scrumptious, a red wine that tastes like no other, and achingly perfect with a bite of Pecorino cheese and fennel-flecked salame Toscano. )Yet the agreement around what Chianti”ought to”taste like has
shifted significantly over time. Throughout the 20th century, the guidelines changed: At one point, the red Sangiovese grape needed to be mixed with small amounts of white grapes in order to certify as Chianti. Other red grapes native to Tuscany, such as Canaiolo, Colorino and Malvasia Nera, were allowed small amounts, however so-called international grapes, like the French varieties Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah, were restricted. Those restrictions led a lot of the area’s top producers to desert the guidelines completely, starting in the 1970s. Many of these wine makers thought their Sangiovese would be better if blended with Cabernet, rather of with white grapes, and so they relinquished the privilege of labeling their wines as “Chianti.”These iconoclastic bottlings became known as the Super Tuscans. Eventually, the guidelines altered to accommodate a few of the Super Tuscans.(The rules altered in many other methods too, including distinctions
in between”Chianti “and” Chianti Classico,”however I digress.)Nowadays, it’s perfectly kosher to blend Sangiovese– as long as it consists of a minimum of 80%of the cuvee– with Cabernet Sauvignon and still call the wine”Chianti Classico. “The modern-day interpretation of a”typical “Chianti, in other words, has broadened to include this French impact. Still, controversies persist, as I found during my winery gos to. The consortium of Chianti Classico producers recently passed another brand-new set of rules: Red wines identified with the greatest quality
designation, Chianti Classico Gran Selezione, will now need to be made from 90% Sangiovese, up from 80%, and the staying 10%can not be global grape varieties– only those odd, indigenous Tuscan reds may comprise the balance. One vintner I visited, Laura Bianchi of Castello di Monsanto, approved of this relocation. She adheres carefully to customs that her parents followed, and already utilizes these native grapes to complete the Sangiovese in her Gran Selezione. Another winemaker, Marco Pallanti at Castello di Ama, felt in a different way. He believes that grapes like Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, when combined with Sangiovese, make the superior white wine, and believed it was an error to exclude them from the leading Chianti Classico label. It’s difficult to picture this sort of argument is happening in California. Here, winemakers can utilize whichever grape ranges they want, in whichever percentages, using any vinification strategies, and neither the federal government nor their regional winery consortium can stop them. Independently, one vintner may complain his neighbor
‘s choices, but that’s his issue. We do not have actually government-regulated quality classifications like Gran Selezione, or French equivalents like Grand Cru. There are disadvantages to our free-for-all method, like the truth that it’s not always as easy for the red wine drinking public to have a sense in their mind of what a”normal”Paso Robles red mix need to taste like, instead of the clear vision of a Chianti Classico. But I like the imagination that the American system enables room for, and the flexibility it enables changing the lineup of grape varieties in the face of an altering environment. Most of all, I like walking into a California winery and never ever quite understanding what sort
of wine I’m going to get– constantly anticipating a new surprise.