“Chianti Classico Is”
10 Glorious Days Exploring the wines, foods, music and more of Chianti Classico
May 25 – June 3, 2012
With the grand fete, “Chianti Classico Is”, the Black Rooster district struts its stuff.
Seminars, concerts, tastings and exclusive gourmet meals roll out in tidal waves of activity and fun. What’s not to love?
In Gaiole in Chianti, the knives are already being sharpened in preparation for a cook-off with two stellar chefs, while in Radda and Castellina, vintners are getting ready to present their wines through the old streets of town. San Casciano Val di Pesa will combine its Chianti Classicos and those of Tavarnelle and Barberino with street food coming from all over the country. This is “Chianti Classico” and these events are only a small portion of the offerings during this 10-day fete.
After the success of the first three editions, the “Black Rooster fete” has been extended from 8 to 10 days and its name changed from “Classico is” to “Chianti Classico is” to further emphasize the symbiosis between the event and the wine inspiring it. Because this year, too, while the calendar includes various events enlivened by art, culture and fine food, the guideline they share is always Chianti Classico, the “icon-denomination” known worldwide not just because it’s synonymous with premium labels but above all because it embodies the history, culture and social identity of a “cult” region with an inimitable lifestyle.
For more than a century a model for wine tourism in Italy, with over 1 million wine-lovers visiting it each year, “Chiantishire” is an evergreen, a great classic that never goes out of style, with an offer for every taste: “Chianti Classico is” (may 25 – june 3 – info: www.classico-e.it) becomes an occasion in which the whole district goes on stage, dedicating to premium wine lovers a unique events calendar organized by the Chianti Classico Wine Consortium that enriches the wine & food offer the territory provides the throughout the year.
Right from may 25 it will be possible to tour the more than 350 Chianti Classico wineries and attend the events some of them are organizing: on may 25 San Casciano will be welcoming the finest street food purveyors from all over Italy, who for four days will be combining their delights with wines from the communities of Barberino Val d’Elsa, S. Casciano and Tavarnelle in Val di Pesa, in collaboration with the Streetfood Association.
There will be seminars at the ancient convent of Santa Maria al Prato in Radda, where Borgogna will be compared with Chianti Classico; tastings beneath ancient vaulted loggias in Castellina and through the streets of Radda; picnics on the lawns of old villas, Chianti Classico DOP olive oil workshops, music, art at the wineries and much, much more on a calendar viewable in its entirety at www.classico-e.it.
The event’s grand finale will be held in Gaiole in Chianti, where territory homemakers will compete in the second edition of “Home-cooking Trophy”
Program
May 25 – Castellina in Chianti
Pentecost dinner under the vaulted loggias
8 pm
The traditional dinner inaugurating “Pentecost in Castellina” will be held in the same place again this year. The event will open Chianti Classico is in one of the loveliest places in the territory. The Ristorante Albergaccio in Castellina will cater the dinner.
May 26-27 – Castellina in Chianti
Pentecost in Castellina
3 to 8 pm
A weekend of tastings open to the public to sample the wines from the southern part of the territory during “Pentecost in Castellina”, the event organized by the Castellina Wineries Association in collaboration with the Castellina town council. The vintners will be present during the tastings, for one-on-one meetings with final consumers.
The wines can be tasted only after purchasing the glass that will be sold at the reception desks located at either end of the loggias.
May 25-27 – San Casciano Val di Pesa – Piazza della Repubblica gardens
May 25, 5 pm to midnight; May 26, 11 am to midnight; May 27, 11 am to 7 pm.
The Black Rooster & Street Food
Back again is the finest street food from all over Italy paired with Chianti Classico wines from Barberino Val d’Elsa, Tavarnelle and San Casciano Val di Pesa. Plus workshops on Chianti Classico DOP olive oil and concerts in San Casciano’s main piazza.
Tasting of Chianti Classico from these three communities.
On May 25 and 26 concerts of various types of music from 7 pm to midnight.
May 27
Departure from Castellina and Strada in Chianti – 9:30 am
The Black Rooster legend, on foot
An on-foot re-enactment of the historic Black Rooster legend. Like the medieval riders, departure will be at cock’s crow, one route departing from Castellina and the other from Strada in Chianti. The two groups will meet in Panzano with a finale lunch at Dario Cecchini’s “Solo Ciccia” restaurant.
May 27
Greve in Chianti – The Pescille lemon hothouse, Panzano in Chianti
5 pm
Great goals in football history… in tasting
Just prior to the start of the European Football Championships, a tasting re-evoking the greatest goals in history paired with 10 great Chianti Classico wines.
June 1-5 – Lamole (Greve in Chianti) – Piazza di Lamole – June 2, 11 am to 8 pm; June 3, 4 and 5, 11 am to 9 pm
The scents of Lamole
Valle di Lamole vintners meet with the public in four days of open-air tastings.
Info: Greve Tourism Office: 055 8545271
June 2 – Santa Maria al Prato Convent – Radda in Chianti
The “Radda in the glass” seminars for Chianti Classico is
10:30 am
Parlez-vous Raddes?
Radda in Chianti’s Chianti Classico compared with Burgundy wines in a fantastic tasting.
3 pm
Do you recognize Radda?
Blind tasting with “intruders”. A tasting challenge for aficionados, asked to recognize the particularities of Radda wine territory.
June 2-3 – Radda in Chianti –Saturday, 2 to 7 pm; Sunday, 11 am to 6:30 pm
Radda in the glass
Tastings of Radda in Chianti wines through the streets of town
May 27 and June 3 – Castellina, Greve, Radda, Gaiole – local restaurants, 1 pm
The Homemaker’s Trophy
The territory’s cuisine prepared by its most faithful interpreters: the homemakers of Greve, Castellina, Radda and Gaiole. In an all-Chianti tournament, the “queens of the house” of the four communities lying entirely in Chianti Classico territory will vie with typical dishes in three events devoted to great home cooking. Diners will decide the winning town after tasting the homemade dishes.
Semifinals
May 27, 1 pm
Greve vs. Radda
Le Cascie – Castellina in Chianti
Castellina vs. Gaiole
Il Chiasso dei Portici restaurant – Radda in Chianti
Finals
June 3, 1 pm
Cost: 25 € per person, 22 € with the Classico è Card
Daily
Tours
Daily excursions exploring the different spirits characterizing Chianti Classico wineries. A guide will accompany you during a day devoted to the Black Rooster and where it is born and grown: castles, abbeys, big and small wineries, twixt art and the Sangiovese credo. Each tour includes a visit to two wineries and a tasting of their wines.
Booking and info: Essence of Tuscany – 0577 741392 – info@essenceoftuscany.it and Geofirias Firenze – 055 2479880 – geofirias@geofirias.com
Tour fee: 18€ per person
So, what we want to know now is: can you handle all this fun?
Ciao!