Every week we choose a wine of the week that compliments mood of the week ahead. This week. Maggy Smith Dip WSET chose Chianti Classico Tenute Rossetti Poggio Civetta.
"Chianti is a vast area in Tuscany and is divided into 7 sub-zones to produce its famous wine. This emblematic wine is made all over the Tuscan countryside, but the historic heart lies in a region between Florence and Siena. Chianti and Chianti Classico are two different and separate DOCG (Denomination of Controlled and Guaranteed Origin) wines with two different areas of production and characteristics. 
Click on the link below to purchase
Chianti Classico Tenute Rossetti Poggio Civetta for £12.48
What is a Chianti?
Wine has been produced in this area for over 2000 years, since Etruscan times. This Tuscan region was named Chianti and recognized as a wine-region since the 13th century and its borders were defined in 1716 by an edict issued by Gran duke Cosimo III de' Medici. Legend has it that in the 13th century Florence and Siena decided to use a horse race to end their land dispute over Chianti. The meeting point of two knights, who had left respectively from Florence and Siena when the rooster sang at dawn, would mark the new borders of their territories. The Florentines selected a black rooster and kept it for a few days in a box with no food. On the day of the race, when they took the rooster out of the box, he sang much earlier than dawn. Thus the Florentine knight left before the Sienese rider, meeting him only 20 kilometers from the Siena walls. Since then the black rooster has been the symbol of Chianti: first of the Chianti League in the 13th century and then of the Chianti Classico Consortium. This is Tuscany’s winemaking powerhouse.
What makes Chianti Classico so unique compared to other Chianti wines is the unmistakable Chianti Classico seal in the form of a black rooster (Gallo Nero in Italian) on a white background with a Bordeaux coloured frame.
This particular label is the symbol of the Chianti Classico Wine Consortium, founded in 1924 to protect, promote this wine and prevent wine fraud.
Many tasted their first sip of tangy Sangiovese from a flasco, a bottle wrapped in a straw basket, in an Italian restaurant. Over the last few decades though Chianti has increased in quality. A good Chianti Classico is one of the most soulful wines I know. The best have a pure, deep red-cherry flavour, sometimes deliciously tart or bittersweet, along with pronounced floral aromas and flavours, and an earthy minerality. The acidity is fresh and lively; tannins should be discernible, though not overly chewy — often with what I think of as a dusty quality, focusing the wine and readying the mouth for another sip. The key to the unique qualities of Chianti Classico is the local Sangiovese grape.
Our Chianti Classico offers a fine nose, with scents of wild berry fruits, violets and a nice spicy finish. In the mouth, it is dry and fresh, with full body and big tannins. The bottle is very chic showing a cool owl with two shiny eyes!
I love this Chianti with cooked tomato sauces and pizza. However, it is also a natural partner with sausages, all sorts of beef dishes and stews. I wonder if you are planning a BBQ this weekend? If so, you might consider a Poggio Civetta, Chianti Classico, Tenute Rossetti
Enjoy your chianti Cheers!"
Maggy Smith
Dip. WSET
Member of the Association of Wine Educators
Certified Spanish Wine Educator
Certified Sherry Educator
Click on the link below to purchase
Chianti Classico Tenute Rossetti Poggio Civetta 750ml bottle for £12.48
or buy a case Chianti Classico Tenute Rossetti Poggio Civetta for £62.40