CHIANTI, Wine and Food Traditions

WINES

It is easy to say that the identity of Chianti lies in its wine, but it would be a simplification. Yet it is absolutely true that this is a terroir that is among the most important, fascinating and famous in the world.

FOOD

Chianti vineyards

Side by side with wine this rural wisdom has also preserved and then re-launched olive-oil, has brought back the pig breed Cinta Senese and a certain amount of sheep-rearing with the production of excellent sheep’s-milk cheeses (pecorino). Part of Chianti’s identity lies in its cuisine. Every dish is the result of a culture that harks back to the land and the bond established between man and environment, perhaps maintained more than elsewhere precisely because here it has been experienced more.

CASTELLINA IN CHIANTI

San Salvatore Church, Castellina

Castellina stands more than protected on its hilly bed. The village offers a series of patrician palazzos which are restored military garrisons. The centre of the built up area is the ancient fortress designed in the second half of the fifteenth century by the great architect Giuliano da Sangallo. In Via Ferruccio one gets the feeling of Castellina’s former opulence. Right at the end of this street, at the fork leading to the fortress, is the neo-Romanesque church of San Salvatore, rebuilt after being destroyed in the second world war. A stop-off in Castellina may obviously include tasting at the numerous wine lodges, but you can also get to know the great art of Chianti pork-butchers whose charcuterie is highly prized for its unforgettable flavours.

CASTELNUOVO BERARDENGA

A visit to Castelnuovo Berardenga cannot exclude the Villa Chigi Saracini with its superb architectural elegance embellished by a formal garden. It is enriched above all by a 19th century park of considerable botanical importance.

GAIOLE IN CHIANTI

Brolio Castle

Gaiole, founded between the 13th and 14th century, had trading rather than military origins. At first it was a market serving the many castles dotted around the surrounding territory. So the heart of Gaiole (which today is one of the Cinta Senese breeding centres) is a street-marketplace: via Ricasoli where the market was and is still held and which is the hub of local life. Gaiole offers the chance to shop for fine wines and foods, and also has some quality hotels. And of course there is the fascination of the ancient houses, the riverside and the urban furnishings which recall medieval trading activities.

Villa Vistarenne, Gaiole in Chianti

RADDA IN CHIANTI

Radda is the vineyard village. From the high ground on which it was built in the middle ages, between the waters of the rivers Arbia and Pesa, you gaze over a very dense interweave of vineyards. The centre of the village, dominated from above by the remains of the original castle, is Piazza Ferrucci. Don’t miss the view over the alleys of the old centre and the vegetable gardens, surrounded by dry stone walling, which supply the essence of Chianti. No other place than Radda would have been right for the headquarters of the Foundation for the Safeguarding of Chianti Classico Territory.

Farmhouse holidays with pool in Radda in Chianti, Tuscany