Podcast 003 | What does a black rooster do on a wine bottle and why is it important?

May 20

The black rooster as a symbol for Chianti Classico

I'm back again with a new episode all about Chianti Classico! So glad you're joining me again for 'A Glass of Wine with Nina in Chianti'. I'm Nina, and I absolutely love Chianti Classico, and today I want to take you on another journey into my Chianti Classico world.

Do you feel like things sound a little different today compared to my first episodes? Well, you're totally right! I'm finally back in Panzano in Chianti, right here in Tuscany, Italy. Because of the pandemic and everything that came with it, I couldn't travel to Panzano for over six months, which was really tough for me. So, my joy at being back here is huge! I'm sitting at one of my absolute favorite spots in all of Chianti right now. You can probably even hear the birds singing – they're clearly happy about something, whatever it is!

Today, I want to explain what a black rooster is doing on a bottle of Chianti Classico, how it got there, and why it's something you should definitely look out for.

A Glass of Wine...

But as always, before I kick things off, let's bring in my glass of wine for today! True to the podcast's title, 'A Glass of Wine with Nina in Chianti', I've got a glass right here with me.

Today, I'm enjoying the Chianti Classico 2018 from Fattoria di Rignana winery, right here from Panzano in Chianti. I picked this wine for today's episode because the owner of Rignana winery is called Cosimo.

And a Cosimo is going to play a pretty important role in today's podcast! But first, a quick note about the wine. Cosimo Gericke, who owns Rignana, has been making his Chianti Classico for years using his tried-and-true blend of 85% Sangiovese and 15% Canaiolo grapes. Why am I bringing that up? Well, you'll discover later that this particular blend has been a winner for centuries, not just for Cosimo.

The wine smells absolutely lovely! You get cherries and sour cherries, berries – dark ones, spices, juniper, and citrus fruits. Just wonderful! When you taste it, it's just as fruity and spicy as it smells. Super easy to drink, and you'll have a lot of fun with it. It's got nice tannins, a lovely acidity – everything you need for a really good, classic Chianti Classico.

The Black Rooster

Chianti Classico is a wine – we've definitely talked about that in previous episodes. And you could say that this Chianti Classico wine region has its very own symbol: the Gallo Nero, which means the black rooster.

This symbol wasn't just picked at random. It didn't come from a graphic designer or get decided by some marketing gurus. Nope, this trademark has actually been around for hundreds of years! Today, you'll see it as a logo on every bottle of Chianti Classico, either on the front near the bottle neck or on the back, on what's called the back label.

The logo features the name Chianti Classico, which is the name of the region, and right in the middle, you'll find the black rooster – that's the symbol for Chianti Classico. You'll also see the year 1716, which is basically when the Chianti Classico region was officially established.

I'll happily put a link in the show notes where you can check out the logo and even its older versions. That's because this logo has been updated, modernized, and I'd almost say streamlined over the past few years. So, if you want to really see how it's evolved, just find that link in the show notes and take a peek!

So, whenever you spot this logo, or even one of its older versions, on a bottle of wine, you'll now know it's Chianti Classico! That means it's a red wine, mostly made from Sangiovese grapes, and it comes from a specific area in Tuscany.

The Legend of the Black Rooster

So now you know that the Gallo Nero and Chianti Classico are totally connected, but you still don't know how it all started, right? Well, there's a fantastic story behind it – the Legend of the Black Rooster! Back in the Middle Ages, the city-states of Florence and Siena were at war for decades, basically fighting over who would be in charge. And these battles mostly happened right in what we now call the Chianti region.

But one day, people here had simply had enough! They wanted to stop all these constant battles and draw some final borders. So, they came up with what I'd call a super unusual way to decide where those borders would be. The border would be set at the point where two riders met – one sent from Florence and one from Siena. Both riders were supposed to set off at sunrise, right after the first rooster crowed.

So, they did it! Siena picked a white rooster and took really good care of it, making sure it had plenty of food. They were super concerned about the bird, after all, it was supposed to guarantee their victory! Florence, though, chose a black rooster. For tactical reasons, this rooster didn't get much food – it was basically kept hungry. It was kept in a small, dark cage and definitely wasn't looked after as well as Siena's rooster.

Then, on the agreed morning, both roosters were let out of their homes. As soon as the black rooster was free, it started crowing! And get this – it crowed *before* sunrise, which gave the rider from Florence a huge head start. The rider from Siena, on the other hand, had to wait much longer for his white rooster to finally crow *after* the sun came up. And that's how it happened: the rider from Siena only managed to travel twelve kilometers before bumping into his rival from Florence. So, ever since that day, the border between Florence and Siena runs right through Castellina in Chianti, not far from Siena. And that's the legend!

But how did this visual link between Chianti and the Gallo Nero actually come about, you might ask? Well, it all started way back in 1384! That's when the Lega del Chianti decided to use the black rooster on a golden background as their official emblem.

Back then, the Lega del Chianti was a political and military group set up by the Republic of Florence, and its main job was simply to keep control over the Chianti region.

But the story continues with this visual connection, because in 1398, the first notarized document mentioning the name Chianti was dated. And even better, in this document, the name Chianti actually refers to wine.

If you think about it, Giorgio Vasari was basically the first one to create a visual brand for the Chianti Classico symbol. You see, in his allegory, which you can still see today in the Salone di Cinquecento at Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, he already chose the proud animal, the rooster – the black rooster – as the symbol for Chianti back in 1565.

Oldest Appellation in the World

As you can tell, Chianti has centuries of history and development behind it. The area we now know as Chianti was civilized by the Etruscans, fought over by the cities of Florence and Siena in the Middle Ages (as the legend tells us!), and today it's simply inseparable from wine production.

In connection with all this, the year 1716 is also super important. That's because in that year, the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Cosimo III, officially set the boundaries for the Chianti growing region – which is what we now call Chianti Classico.

It's an area between the cities of Florence and Siena where wine was grown and already highly valued back then. This unbreakable link between the wine and its homeland was made official with Cosimo III's decree in 1716. It states:

“For Chianti, this is determined and shall be, from Spedaluzzo to Greve, from there to Panzano, including the entire Podestà of Radda, which comprises three parts, namely Radda, Gaiole, and Castellina, up to the border with the State of Siena.”

So, he set the boundaries for what we now know as Chianti Classico, the Chianti area within the Chianti Classico wine region. But Cosimo III also created a supervisory group back in 1716. This group kept an eye on production, shipping, checked for fraud, and oversaw wine trade. Even back then, fake Chianti wine production was a thing, especially for exports to England. So, it was kind of like a protection consortium. Just a reminder, we're talking about 1716 here, so over 300 years ago!

The Chianti Recipe

Alright, next up on my list is the Chianti recipe. Yes, you heard that right, there's a Chianti recipe. But I promise you, it has nothing to do with cooking. That's because Bettino Ricasoli, also known as the Iron Baron, a politician and a member of the famous Ricasoli family – I briefly told you about him last time. In 1872, he created a kind of guide for Chianti, specifically a guide for the blend, because, simply put, the blend is what makes it. Bettino Ricasoli did a lot of research on this famous wine back then and came to the following conclusion:

“That the Chianti wine receives its main dose of aroma, which I particularly strive for, and a certain robust sensation from Sangiovese. From the Canaiolo grape, it gets sweetness, which softens the harshness of the former's quality without diminishing its aroma. The Malvasia grape, which could even be excluded for wines intended for aging, tends to dilute the product of the first two grapes, enhances the taste, and makes it lighter and more suitable for use as an everyday table wine.”

And that's how the first recipe came about, which already designated Sangiovese as the main grape variety back then. In other words, for a long time, it was common to make Chianti Classico – or just Chianti, as it was called back then – primarily from Sangiovese grapes, with a good splash of Canaiolo grapes and a generous dash of white wine to make it light and easy to drink, if you will. Today, using white grape varieties like Malvasia or Trebbiano is actually forbidden. But it was still allowed until just a few years ago.

Because, as you already know from my previous episodes, Chianti Classico today must be made from at least 80% Sangiovese grapes. The rest can be grapes from local (autochthonous) or international varieties. That's totally up to the winemaker, their terroir, and their philosophy. And of course, it can also be more Sangiovese, up to 100 percent, meaning it can be a single-varietal wine.

More Information

I hope you learned something interesting from me today. I think I was able to show you just how much historical significance is behind Chianti Classico. And it's probably this very history that makes the wine, the people, and the landscape become such a unified whole. And it's exactly this unity, this story, that fascinates and excites me so much.

I hope I could take you along into my Chianti Classico world, because that's my passion, my mission. At least, that's how I feel about it. And by the way, it's also an excellent wine. Speaking of which, you'll naturally find the link to today's wine in the show notes. In my online shop NinaInChianti.com, you'll find lots of info about this wine from Cosimo Gericke, and of course, you can order it too. Which I'd naturally be thrilled about!

But if you have any questions about Chianti Classico, feel free to ask me. Just use the link in the show notes, and who knows, maybe you'll be part of one of my new episodes soon!

Alright, that's it for today. See you next time. Hopefully! I'm looking forward to it. Ciao. See you soon.