The Chianti Classico DOCG is one of the oldest and most precisely defined wine territories in the world. Bounded to the north by Florence and to the south by Siena, it covers some 70,000 hectares — of which roughly 7,200 are registered vineyard — across eight comuni: all of Greve, Radda, Gaiole and Castellina in Chianti, and parts of Castelnuovo Berardenga, San Casciano in Val di Pesa, Barberino Tavarnelle and Poggibonsi. Hundreds of estates make wine here from Sangiovese grown on the zone’s distinctive galestro and alberese soils.
In 1996 Chianti Classico became a DOCG in its own right, separate from the broader Chianti appellation, with its own identity and quality standards. The most significant recent reform came in 2014 with the Gran Selezione tier: a wine made only from the estate’s own grapes and aged for at least 30 months, including three in bottle. From the 2027 vintage it must contain at least 90% Sangiovese, the rest native red varieties only. Since 2023 a Gran Selezione may also name one of eleven UGAs — Unità Geografiche Aggiuntive, the zone’s village-level subzones, from Lamole to Vagliagli — on its label.
The symbol of the zone — the Gallo Nero, or Black Rooster — dates to a 13th-century legend of rivalry between Florence and Siena. The story goes that each city agreed to send a horseman at cock-crow, and the meeting point would determine the boundary. Florence chose a black rooster, starved it through the night so it crowed early, and sent its rider ahead in darkness, winning most of the territory. True or not, the Black Rooster remains one of wine’s most evocative emblems.
Bargino · San Casciano 
