Alfonso Sderci
According to several historians who have studied the culture and history of the Chianti, the Etruscans used the name of ”CLANIS” about the stream emerging near their village of Cetamura (see Florida State University and chiantinet) in the vicinity of Badia a Coltibuono. Apart from tombs and settlements, names such as ”Vertine”, ”Rietine”, ”Nusenna”, ”Ama” ”Argenina” and ”Spaltenna” also testify the important presence of this fascinating people of able farmers in our area.
The surrounding territory was called ”CLANTIA” by the Romans, and the same name reappears in A.D. 790, when the Castello di Tornano, situated south of Gaiole, is described as ”CURTE IN CLANTI CUM INTEGRO SALINGO” in a deed of gift.
After the victory of the Florentines over the Sienese in 1174, the name of ”CHIANTI” became common, as the former began effectively annexing the territory of what is now essentially the three municipalities of Castellina in Chianti, Radda in Chianti and Gaiole in Chianti.
The fortification of the area, and especially of Gaiole and surroundings, was intensified by the fact that the border ran right through its municipal territory, as the two arch rivals, the Florentines and the Sienese continued contesting it, leaving traces in the form of the great number of impressive castles and fortified villages we see today.
The so-called ”Lega del Chianti” was actually created by the Florentines as a sort of NATO of its time, obliging each of the ”terzieri”, Castellina, Radda and Gaiole, to assist the others in the defence of Florentine territory.
We come across the name again in the XVth century, when the valley of the Massellone river appears in a document as ”VALLE DEL CHIANTI”.
The central position of the Chianti with its mild, wholesome climate devoid of swamps and with its fertile land prompted the Florentines and the Sienese to conquer and reconquer the territory, making the population suffer the consequences in the form of plunderings, destruction and famines until the final defeat of the Sienese Republic in 1555.
The Castello di Brolio, which was already in the hands of the Ricasoli family in 1141, was to be the outpost of the Florentine Republic towards Siena from that time onwards, and as a consequence was conquered albeit only briefly and destroyed three times, in the XVth and XVIth cenuries.
The ”Iron Baron”, Bettino Ricasoli (1809-1880), played an important part in the history of Italy, not only becoming Prime Minister twice of the recently unified Italy, but also being an avid agricultural reformer and innovator.
The formula of the Chianti Classico wine with its relative proportions of Sangiovese, Canaiolo, Trebbiano and Malvasia grapes, was in fact devised by the baron, although the name of ”Chianti” for a certain type of table wine is already in use in the XVth century.
In 1932 the demand for the Chianti wine in the European markets was such that a law was passed, including in the historical area of the Chianti several more or less distant areas, lending the name of Chianti to a wine called Chianti Classico, as well as to another wine called Chianti delle colline. As a consequence two different production societies were formed.
However, the cultivation of grapes dates back even further than to Etruscan times, as testified by some fossilized vines, which are more than ten thousand years old.
The historical Chianti (the ”Lega del Chianti” with the terzieri Castellina in Chianti, Radda in Chianti and Gaiole in Chianti) thus constitutes the heart of the genuine and original Chianti, historically, culturally as well as enologically, and we are looking forward to welcoming you here!
Kindly contributed by local historian Alfonso Sderci, Gaiole, translated by Birgitte Høiberg.
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Last change: 24. 04. 2008