Chianti Classico

Chianti Classico is the historic heartland of Chianti and, since 1996, a separate DOCG with its own stricter rules — not a grander bottling of the same wine but a different appellation, sealed with the black rooster. Grown only in the hills between Florence and Siena, it is at least 80 percent Sangiovese, dry, medium-bodied and pale ruby-garnet, with sour cherry, violet, dried herbs and leather over high acidity and firm, fine-grained tannin.