Chianti: Reviving a classic

Some of the shine may have come off Chianti since its 1980s heyday, but producers are showing they're determined to put it back on the map, finds Chris Wilson

___________________________________________

LONG WITH CHABLIS and Beaujolais, Chianti was a British wine bar and restaurant list staple in the 1980s, as ubiquitous as prawn cocktails, shoulder pads and mullet hair cuts. But over the following 30 years, as a ‘go-to’ wine it’s lost its way a little as other wines and styles from Europe and the New World have taken centre stage.

This is not to say that, as a successful and well-known wine, Chianti has been pushed completely into the wings. It holds firm on Italian lists across the world and there’s still a place for it in the casual dining and wine bar sectors.

“Chianti is an obvious Italian attraction that people have heard of, unlike, say, Brunello or Vino Nobile

di Montepulciano, despite being nearby and sharing the same grape variety,” says Edwina Watson, buyer at UK-based fine wine merchant Armit Wines.

Will Hargrove, who heads up the fine wine department at Corney & Barrow, holds a slightly different view. He believes there’s still a place for Chianti on many wine lists, but it no longer remains a staple such as Chablis, red Bordeaux and Rioja. “You’re probably more likely to find people who see Rioja as a must-have, rather than Chianti, as a style,” he says. “You often find customers who say they find Rioja very reassuring and they know it, and they say that possibly a little bit more than they do about Chianti.”

Berry Brothers & Rudd’s Italian buyer, Davy Zyw, draws a parallel between Rioja and Chianti too.

“There’s a clear customer quality ladder in Chianti which I think is really beneficial for customers,” he says.“A similar system has had real success in Rioja, where customers can move up a quality ladder.”

The understanding of the difference in quality and style of the wines at both ends of this ‘quality ladder’, however, is where many of the ambiguities around Chianti lie, especially when it comes to the end consumer. As a category Watson believes Chianti has “come on in leaps and bounds”, but is concerned that, while fine wine customers understand the addition of the word Classico and what it brings to the party, others at the lower end of the market still see it as cheap plonk. “There is clearly still a marked difference between Chianti and Chianti Classico,” she says.

CHANGED PERCEPTION

This is a view shared by David Gleave MW, managing director of importer Liberty Wines, which has one of the strongest Italian portfolios in the UK. He’s confident, however, that consumer perception has changed dramatically over the past decade in this respect. “Where once there was an important market for inexpensive, entry-point Chianti, today we have much greater demand for more premium wines from leading estates,” he believes.

Liberty imports wines from five Chianti Classico producers and has seen growth across the board recently. “Sales, especially at the more expensive end of the market, are going very well,” Gleave says.

It’s a similar story at Corney & Barrow where sales are “steady” and Hargrove is quick to remark that the Chianti market operates on a couple of levels. “In one sense it’s a bit like Chablis and Sancerre in that it battles on price in the category to tick a box,” he says. “But on the other side – which we get more involved in – there are wines that we actually want to stand behind. It’s not a default choice for some people but once you get people on to it, it can be something that they do follow.”

On top of concerns about the perceived lack of difference between Chianti and Chianti Classico, Watson – who buys all Italian wine for Armit – is frustrated that the Consorzio that regulates the region’s wines and wine laws does not recognise Chianti’s individual communes for labelling purposes. This, she argues, makes it hard for premium producers making wines from individual parcels and vineyards to market and sell their very best products for the correct price.

“Essentially there is no classification system that differentiates between a single-site wine (as in Barolo) or a blend of the whole Chianti Classico zone,” says Watson. “Querciabella has made three ‘single commune’ wines but it is adamant that they will not be made commercially available until they can be rightfully classified with their individual commune, hence Querciabella’s Riserva, which is a blend of these three ‘crus’.”

She believes that if the Consorzio looks at this issues and the confusion that still surrounds the Gran Selezione label then, in fine wine terms, there’s a great opportunity for Chianti Classico.

One of the region’s historic Chianti and Chianti Classico producers is Frescobaldi, which has been making wine in Tuscany for 30 generations and still holds bottles of its benchmark Nipozzano Chianti Rufina Riserva from 1864 in the family cellar.

As well as celebrating its (and the region’s) history and traditions, Frescobaldi is one of many Tuscan producers to push the envelope in terms of new products and marketing in the hope of injecting more interest into the category and attracting different (and younger) consumers.

“With the 2014 vintage [of Nipozzano] we released a limited number of golden bottles to celebrate the 150 years since the oldest bottles were available,” says Frescobaldi’s export director, Giuseppe Pariani. “It proved a success, particularly in Russia and the Middle East,” he adds.

This October in the UK Frescobaldi brought two new wines to market, a Chianti Classico and a Chianti Classico Riserva from the Tenuta Perano estate which was bought last year. There are plans to release a third – a Gran Selezione Chianti – in spring 2019.

It’s clear that Chianti, especially within the coveted Classico category, still has plenty of muscles to flex, especially on the international stage where brands such as Frescobaldi, Fontodi, Selvapiana and Felsina continue to attract significant attention, especially in America and the Far East.

China and Singapore are growing markets for Corney & Barrow, which trades from Hong Kong as well as the UK, and has seen growing interest in quality Italian wine across the board in recent years, including the Chianti and Super-Tuscan sectors.

It’s the same story at Berry Bros, but Zyw would add Japan to that list too. “For Italian wine the fastest growing markets are the US and China, but also increasingly Japan. Japan has a huge affiliation with and respect for Italian cuisine and culture – for 90% of the guys we work with in Italy, Japan is their fastest growing market outside of the US.”

Frescobaldi has a keen eye on China and is putting in a lot of effort in on the ground there. “We have a resident area manager in China, as the personal relationships are of paramount importance there. Wine tastings and wine education remain strong tools to create awareness in China too,” says Pariani.

The presence of Super-Tuscans in the marketplace can be a blessing but also a distraction for Chianti as, while they help promote quality Tuscan wines and add weight to the canon of well-known wines from the region (often made primarily from the Sangiovese grape), then can also muddy the message that Chianti, and in particular Chianti Classico, is trying to convey.

ENCOURAGING SALES

David Gleave believes Super-Tuscans sharpen the category as a whole and can encourage sales of quality Tuscan wine across the board. “I think they are vitally important in the way they complement the message of Chianti,” he says. “There are still some consumers who regard Chianti as ‘mass market’ but who are willing to spend two or three times the price on a wine from Chianti that doesn’t have the name Chianti on the label.”

Watson is on the same page. “Many of the best Chianti producers make a Super-Tuscan – or were the first to spearhead that category as a result of prohibitive rules,” she says. “Look at Cepparello or Fontodi. Both could legitimately be labelled Chianti Classico now but they choose not to be.”

As far as sales of Super-Tuscans go, there’s positivity all round. “From the top producers demand now outstrips supply,” says Gleave. “The category continues to perform very well with more customers investing in the wines on release. The second wines from the likes of Sassicaia and Ornellaia are also hugely popular among our private and trade customers alike,” adds Watson.

Looking to the future for Chianti, if the quality continues to shine through and nobody takes their eye off the ball, there’s real optimism that growth will continue and start to chip away at other flagship Old World regions such as Bordeaux, whose importance and popularity has waned in recent years.

“Chianti has a bright future,” says Zyw. “Within the range there’s something for everyone, and quality is only getting better.”

THE DOCGS EXPLAINED

What’s the difference between Chianti and Chianti Classico?

Chianti and Chianti Classico are two separate and distinct DOCGs with different rules of production and different geographical boundaries.

Chianti Classico refers to wine grown and made in the historic heartland of the region – the longest-established viticultural area. Classico can be made in one of a number of sub-regions and must be made from a minimum of 80% Sangiovese with other red grapes, such as Canaiolo, Colorino, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, also permitted. Since the 1920s bottles of Classico have been marked by the DOCG’s black cockerel symbol.

Chianti comes from a much larger zone – spanning a huge area of vineyards between Florence and Siena – and must be made from a minimum of 70% Sangiovese, with other local and international red and white grapes permitted too.