Friday, February 25, 2011

Chianti Gino Bartali DOCG


Chianti Gino Bartali DOCG*

* VITIGNI: Sangiovese 80% Canaiolo 20%.
* TECNICHE PRODUTTIVE: Raccolta nel mese di settembre, vinificazione con 2 rimontaggi al giorno a temperatura controllata di 28°C e macerazione di 2 settimane. Dopo la svinatura e la successiva malolattica il vino viene tenuto sulle fecce per 1-2 mesi. Imbottigliamento dopo 6 mesi dalla vendemmia.
* COLORE: Rosso rubino vivace e brillante.
* PROFUMO: Fine e fragrante con note di frutta fresca.
* GUSTO: Armonico, rotondo e molto elegante.
* GRADAZIONE ALCOLICA: 12,5% vol.
* ABBINAMENTI GASTRONOMICI: Arrosti, brasati, carni bianche e rosse.
* SERVIZIO: Va servito ad una temperatura di 18-20° da stappare mezz’ora prima di servire.

Order information (Italian only) here.

*The meaning of DOC and DOCG:
Reading an Italian label is usually straight forward: there's the winery name, perhaps the vineyard that the grapes came from, the year, and an abbreviation (DOC, DOCG) or a phrase (Vino Da Tavola). Have you ever wondered what a DOC wine is, and how it differs from a Vino da Tavola?
There are four major categories of Italian wines:
Vino Da Tavola
Vino a Indicazione Geografica (IGT)
Vino a Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOC)
Vino a Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG)


Vino Da Tavola: (VdT, in the wine books) is the lowest class of wine, a wine made by the producer as he sees fit to make it. There are few rules, other than that the stuff not be poisonous. Most is insipid, thin, weak, and acidic, the sort of wine that used to be sold in jugs and is now sold in tetrapacks. However, there are also some spectacular Vini da Tavola, wines made by extremely good producers who have decided to make something that doesn't qualify for a superior status because of its composition or the way it is made. So, with Vino da Tavola you either get plonk or something spectacular.


Vino a Indicazione Geografica: is just that, a wine produced in a specific area. There's nothing special about most of it, though there are some nice exceptions.


Vino a Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOC): is the Italian answer to the French AOC. DOC wines are produced in specific well-defined regions, according to specific rules designed to preserve the traditional wine-making practices of the individual regions. Thus, the rules for making Barolo differ markedly from those for making Chianti Classico. The winery can state the vineayrd that the grapes came from, but cannot name the wine after a grape type (doing so would cause confusion, because there are some DOCs named after grape types, for example Brunello di Montalcino), and cannot use a name such as "Superior." Since a wine has to meet certain standards to qualify as DOC, the quality of Italian wines as a whole has improved since the first DOCs were established in the 1960s.


Vino a Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG): Similar to the DOC but more stringent. Allowable yields are generally lower, and DOCG wines must pass an evaluation of a tasting committee before they can be bottled. The establishment of DOCG wines has again resulted in an overall improvement in the quality of Italian wines -- it doesn't make sense for a producer whose vineyards are in a DOCG area to produce wines that aren't good enough to qualify. The only drawback is that in some cases the areas are too large (all of Chianti, about half of Tuscany, is DOCG for example, despite fluctuations in quality from place to place).



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