Recently I had the pleasure to meet the President of Chianti Consortium, Giovanni Busi, and we had the opportunity to spoke about the history of Chianti, as well as the plans for this fantastic wine. In June 2019, for the fourth consecutive time, Giovanni Busi was re-elected President of Chianti Wine Consortium. This wine is one of the significant wine-making realities in Tuscany that brings together 3 thousand producers, more than 15,500 hectares of vineyards for 800 thousand hectoliters of Chianti from various areas and types.
Giovanni Busi was councillor from 1998 to 2003; since 2003 he is a member of the council and the Board of Directors of the Chianti Wine Consortium, and since 2001 he is Vice President of Unione Provinciale Agricoltori of Florence as well as Assoprol councillor. Who better than he can, therefore, answer our questions and satisfy our curiosity?
Good morning and well found! Could you kindly tell me what Chianti is?
Welcome! It is a wine they make in Tuscany; we are in central Italy, and is one of the oldest and most famous wines of this area. Chianti wine, in reality, comes from Cosimo Terzo de Medici, 1716, and it is produced in the best areas of Tuscany. The areas Cosimo Terzo identified, are today both in the small areas within the Chianti as well as the largest area of this region. Chianti wine in 1927 formed a Consortium itself, therefore all wine companies recognize themselves in Chianti Consortium for all the promotional, marketing and production activities related to this wine.
What diversifies Chianti from other Italian or international wines?
Chianti wine is produced in a well-defined area, which was expanded in 1982, where its production boundaries are also determined, within the region of Tuscany. Today this wine is produced in 6 different provinces. Therefore we can find it from Arezzo, near Florence, Pisa, Siena etc. We can say that Chianti wine touches different places in Tuscany region. We have to recognize that there are around 3000 companies that produce and bottle our Chianti denomination.
Furthermore, today, Chianti wine is sold for around 100 million bottles worldwide. But the real difference between this wine and other wines, is essentially the territory, because the wine is made in the field, and not in the cellar. Therefore Chianti wine comes from excellent grapes that are born in certain types of territories, in certain kinds of climate and microclimate.
This wine, unlike other Italian wines, is made exclusively with Sangiovese, our main grape variety, which is the most important grape for us. Sangiovese is a characteristic grape of Tuscany, which has its tannicity and its strength; it matches with any other product in the table. Chianti wine is definitively Wine’s King.
Can you please explain the geography of the Chianti region?
The region is divided into 6 zones, where the production rules are much more restrictive, precisely not only to enhance the area, but also to increase the quality level of our product.
What, in your opinion, were your strategies to bring Chianti to its today level?
One of the first strategies was to understand why we had so much wine in our cellars and why the product could only be sold at meager prices. The problem was mainly qualitative. Chianti wine was initially produced in large quantities, but it is true that the quality, at the time, was not able to reach the height of the other wines that were sold all over the world. Became a real problem for us, because about 70% of Chianti wine production is exported, and abroad the competition is very fierce.
The first solution we identified to solve the problem was to replant our wines. Replacing old vines with new ones, led us to have a qualitative increase and to increase in production as well. Consequently, the second plan was, besides raising the quality, also making Chianti wine known in various markets.
And now I have a question that interests the public even more: How to combine Chianti wine with food?
I think this is the most straightforward question you can ask me, also because Chianti wine has an important characteristic that is given by Sangiovese. As I said before, Sangiovese has its tannicity and its acidity, which means that it goes well with any dish. As long as there is a little oil, a sauce for pasta, meat, this wine is always well combined.
When we go abroad, to dinners and meetings, we ask wine opinion leaders, journalists, to organize the food menu and then we combine our Chianti wine. This is to show that the combination of food and wine, with Chianti wine, is exceptional. The fantastic and best dishes for a glass of this wine are grilled meat, and it goes very well with meat with the sauce. However, the significant thing is that it should always be drunk, or at least try, with a temperature of 17 degrees. This indication is substantial because it is possible to have a balance between perfume, aroma, tannicity, acidity to avoid contrasts and to have the best expression of Chianti wine. I can say that Chianti Wine is also Table King!
Here finish our interview, and we would like to thank Chianti Wine Consortium, especially the President Giovanni Busi, for giving us the chance to discover a small but extraordinary part of Tuscany!
Farmhouse “Fattoria Agricola Lavacchio” Castello Gucciardini Montespertoli
by Maria Zota
Photo by Nick Zonna