Chianti Classico wine and olive oil start new communication campaign MEET in Sweden

The Consorzi Vino Chianti Classico and the Chianti Classico DOP Olive Oil have put together a new educational and promotional initiative aimed at the Swedish, Italian, German and French markets. With the three-year programme called MEET (Magical Experience of European Taste), more than 340 wine estates and 200 olive oil producers hope to combat the rampant phenomenon of counterfeit denomination products as well as to maintain the European consumer’s interest in high-quality agricultural produce. In Sweden, the programme will kick off with a tasting and masterclass in Stockholm on October 19, led by Madeleine Stenwreth MW, and Alessandro Masnaghetti.

Chianti Classico DOCG wines and Chianti Classico DOP olive oil don’t just have the denomination name in common. They also share the same area of production stretching from the beautiful hills between Florence and Siena. The first initiative to safeguard and raise awareness of Chianti Classico was taken in 1716 by Granduca Cosimo III de’Medici. Aware of the value of a region so suited to high quality viticulture, he defined its boundaries for the first time, defending its unique heritage and protecting it against counterfeiters.

Today this region is safeguarded above all else by its chief protagonists, Chianti Classico’s wine growers and olive cultivators who are the true custodians of the land. Two thirds of the land are covered by woods with just a tenth dedicated to viticulture. More than 50% is organically cultivated (52.5% of land under vine). Approximately 10,000 hectares are dedicated to olive groves, of which a large proportion are also organic.

Both Chianti Classico’s wine and olive oil products are easily recognizable on the shelf, thanks to the characteristic Black Rooster logo whose mythological roots go back to medieval times. In fact, the legend pretty much defines the internal politics of the Chianti region because the behavior of a Black Rooster decided its destiny:

When the republics of Florence and Siena were engaged in almost constant bitter battles over the Chianti territory, a strange system was put in place to stop the contest and establish definitive boundaries. It was agreed that the boundary would be marked by the meeting point of two horsemen dispatched from their respective headquarters. Departure would take place before dawn and the starting signal would be cockcrow. The latter decision was customary at the time when the rhythms of the day were still governed by natural occurrences. The right choice of rooster was key, more so than the horse or its rider. The Sienese chose a white rooster, while the Florentines’ was black and deliberately kept in a hungry and enraged state, confined in a small, dark henhouse. On the fateful departure day, the black rooster began to crow loudly as soon as it was released from its confines, even though dawn was a long way off. Cockcrow was the signal for the Florentine horseman to set off immediately, well in advance of the Sienese who had to wait until first light for his rooster to crow. His late departure relative to his opponent meant the Sienese horseman had covered not more than 12 kilometers before meeting the Florentine at Fonterutoli. That’s how almost the whole of Chianti came under Florentine Republican rule, significantly earlier than the fall of Siena.