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, its 72,000 hectares — of which roughly 7,200 are under vine — encompass five comuni and hundreds of individual estates, each making wine from Sangiovese grown on the zone's distinctive galestro and alberese soils.
In 1996, Chianti Classico was formally separated from the broader Chianti appellation, establishing its own identity and quality standards. The most significant recent reform came in 2014 with the creation of the Gran Selezione tier — a single-vineyard or estate-selected wine requiring a minimum of 30 months of ageing (including at least 3 months in bottle). Gran Selezione wines represent the apex of the appellation and some of Italy's most age-worthy reds.
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.