- Villa experience but hotel amenities
- More space and privacy then a hotel
- Easier for families to get together
- Personalized services
- Customized vacation planning assistance
- 24/7 concierge services included
- Over 250 high-end luxury properties
- Key executives with over 50 years total rantal and hospitality experience
Italy - Tuscany - Chianti
TUSCANY - CHIANTI
The name Chianti comes from an Etruscan family called Clanti, and refers, roughly, to the triangular-shaped and hilly region commencing about ten kilometres south of Florence: it is bordered to the west by the Florence-Siena superstrada and, to the east, by the Florence-to-Arezzo superstrada. The southern border of Chianti is usually considered – quite incorrectly as it turns out – to be the line between Arezzo and Siena.
Chianti is also an oenological denomination, and the area first became officially recognised in 1716 when the Grand Duke Cosimo III defined which areas of Tuscany could call their vintage Chianti. It was only in the 19th century that Baron Ricasoli, owner of the Castello di Brolio near Greve, "invented" Chianti, a pleasing blend of the red Sangiovese and Canaiolo grapes blended with just a hint of the white Malvasia variety, twice fermented in the age old, classic Tuscan style.
Meanwhile, the strapeso, the famous dark green flask clad in woven straw, was developed, and the product took the 1878 Paris Exhibition by storm. In 1924, the boundaries of Chianti Storico – traditionally around Siena – were greatly expanded to create Chianti Classico, and all the producers adopted the black cockerel as their own symbol. Then, in 1967, Chianti Classico along with many other Chianti viniculture classes were accorded the prestigious denominazione di origine status: production soared, but, as many rather suspected it would, the quality of this epic and almost ubiquitous wine suffered.
Chianti is also an oenological denomination, and the area first became officially recognised in 1716 when the Grand Duke Cosimo III defined which areas of Tuscany could call their vintage Chianti. It was only in the 19th century that Baron Ricasoli, owner of the Castello di Brolio near Greve, "invented" Chianti, a pleasing blend of the red Sangiovese and Canaiolo grapes blended with just a hint of the white Malvasia variety, twice fermented in the age old, classic Tuscan style.
Meanwhile, the strapeso, the famous dark green flask clad in woven straw, was developed, and the product took the 1878 Paris Exhibition by storm. In 1924, the boundaries of Chianti Storico – traditionally around Siena – were greatly expanded to create Chianti Classico, and all the producers adopted the black cockerel as their own symbol. Then, in 1967, Chianti Classico along with many other Chianti viniculture classes were accorded the prestigious denominazione di origine status: production soared, but, as many rather suspected it would, the quality of this epic and almost ubiquitous wine suffered.
In fact, the quality went way, way down and, in an effort to raise it, the Chianti Classico Consortium was upgraded to DOCG status with all the black-cockerel wines being tested by judges. Since then Chianti has largely taken the well trampled "designer-label" path, and the much-loved strapeso – a really excellent candle holder – has, for all intents and purposes, become a thing of the past: modern Chianti so studiously sniffed, swirled and quaffed by the cognoscenti is a far , far cry from the spontaneous original wine created by the "Iron Baron".
The old vines that gracefully followed the hill contours are now being replaced by new varieties planted geometrically: the current Chianti wines include the fabulous Sassicaias, fine Brunellas and Vino Nobile from the epic medieval hilltop villages of Montalcino and Montepulciano, located far below that mythical Florence-Arezzo line that was once considered to be Chianti's lower limit.
The old vines that gracefully followed the hill contours are now being replaced by new varieties planted geometrically: the current Chianti wines include the fabulous Sassicaias, fine Brunellas and Vino Nobile from the epic medieval hilltop villages of Montalcino and Montepulciano, located far below that mythical Florence-Arezzo line that was once considered to be Chianti's lower limit.
Previous