why you need to start loving this great Tuscan favourite
![cypress trees, Tuscany, Tuscan countryside](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/7a1436_d54d7581d7f443d18d4c06c5b856a8f0~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_980,h_1307,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/7a1436_d54d7581d7f443d18d4c06c5b856a8f0~mv2.jpg)
When I first started getting serious about wine, I didn't like Chianti at all. Call me crazy, but it gave me a sour flavour in my mouth and really bad heart burn. So, naturally I decided to write it off and continue to look the other way in the store while walking by.
I'm not the only person I know who wasn't sold on it from the beginning. People either love it or they hate it.
Most people are more familiar with the stout bottles that have a straw bottom that sold for about 10 dollars a bottle years ago. The kind of stuff you would see people drinking out of in Italian restaurants in the 1980's.
Now if you look in a good liquor store, you will find many choices of Chianti and many different price points.
![chianti, wine, tuscany](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/7a1436_fff891fd88f9477590ca40c023fbcde2~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_980,h_2016,al_c,q_90,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/7a1436_fff891fd88f9477590ca40c023fbcde2~mv2.jpg)
It's a very approachable wine to many palates and goes with so many kinds of food. It's usually fruit forward, with touches of oak, good acidity and firm tannins. This makes it perfect to drink on it's own or with a plate of pasta.
Let me give you a bit of background about the wine itself...it comes from the heart of Italy in the Tuscan countryside, where the Cypress trees line the sides of the roads and the land is dotted with 100 year old villas.
Chianti is name for the wine and not a varietal. In the confusing world of wine, here is another example of a wine that has a title only relating to the area it is from and not what it is made out of. The wine is made of a blend of Sangiovese and Canaiolo and could still include Malvasia Bianca, although most producers are using almost 100% Sangiovese juice. The blending has changed over time, but to be called a Chianti, the wine must contain 80% Sangiovese.
![chianti, red wine](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/7a1436_2b62f01ed4be48c09212d56932dea9c8~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_980,h_2016,al_c,q_90,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/7a1436_2b62f01ed4be48c09212d56932dea9c8~mv2.jpg)
When it is young, more riper flavours like red cherry, cinnamon and floral undertones. The colour will be a bright ruby colour and the older it gets along with oak ageing the wine will become more garnet in colour. As the wine ages more aromas of tobacco and leather can emerge as well as chocolate and dried dark fruit. The acidity will also die down about and more of the back secondary tastes will come through.
Since Chianti's are usually high is acid, it can allow for some good years of age and will relax more over time.
The quality difference, will mainly reflect on the price and will either be labelled as a DOC or DOCG. Chianti classico, coming from the sub region in Chainti, will come with a logo of a black rooster on the top of the bottle.
Tonight I am enjoying a Reserva from 2008 from a producer called Campriano in the Colli Senesi sub region. It has relaxed a lot with the extra ageing and developed so many more characteristics. I get a lot of red and dark fruit, cocoa and tobacco on the nose. On the palate I get good and acid and tannin, with flavours of plum and blackberry, cinnamon, nutmeg and dark cherries.
Tonight, I am making a classic recipe of the region, that pairs perfectly with the wine. Ribolita is a classic Tuscan soup, packed with lots of vegetables and flavour. Like i always say, drink the wine from the region that the food comes from and it will always work together. The vineyards are beside the farms, so naturally it just makes sense
For more information about Chianti and Colli Senesi, check out these 2 links and get to the liquor store and try some wine.
Happy drinking my friends!
![red wine barrels, tuscany](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/7a1436_cf7fa7d9e59d448ca72a7d08832e7c5f~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_980,h_1307,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/7a1436_cf7fa7d9e59d448ca72a7d08832e7c5f~mv2.jpg)
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