Il Chianti
QUIESCIT VITIS IN ULMO
The vine rests when she is trained up the
elm tree, a creeper seeking light and sky: in her incredible growth, filled
with the energy of the Spring, she seeks the Gods and the Infinite. I know of
no other plant that combines delicacy, vigor, strength and generosity in this
manner.
The Etruscans taught us how to grow the vine: "Put her near a tree," they said, as she needs strong masculine support to properly express herself."
I have indelible memories of the taste of
the grapes I would savor while perched on elm trees when I was a savage little
girl in the lands of my parents, in Custoza and Valpolicella, near Verona.
THE OLD CHIANTI
In the 19th century Mr. Barone Ricasoli decided
that Chianti should be a blend of two red and two white grapes: Sangiovese,
Canaiuolo, Trebbiano and Malvasia del Chianti. Thus began the age of a
delicious fresh red wine that was bottled in fiaschi and enjoyed immense
popularity worldwide: pan d'un giorno e vin d'un anno, fresh bread and
wine of the vintage were the food and drink of our happy ancestors.
THE NEW CHIANTI 
A
strong red wine made solely from red grapes, a wine dark of color and
ponderous; the lightness of Canaiuolo was abandoned, while other weightier red
grapes, many from abroad, were mixed in with the Sangiovese in the vineyards of
"Chiantishire" to cater to the tastes of the many Fashion Gods who dictate the
modern style of food and drink.
Montenidoli offers three different traditional interpretations of Chianti: