The UGA Radda, located within the borders of the municipality of Radda in Chianti can be considered a real watershed in the interior of the denomination. Running along the mountain ridge of the Road Regional 429, this geographic area separates two different basins hydrographic: to the north there is the Pesa torrent basin and to the south thatof the Arbia stream, which in the past were both classified as rivers
but today they are no longer so.
The Pesa basin is considerably larger in terms of surface area planted with vines and can be divided into two slopes: the Destra Pesa, which extendsfrom Petraia to Lucarelli and includes places such as Albola, Volpaia andCastelvecchi, and the Sinistra Pesa, where the vineyards are mainlyconcentrated near the town of Radda in Chianti.
The Arbia basin, on the other hand, is characterized by the confluence of twodeep valleys, that of the Rigo torrent and that of the Arbia itself, which they mark the eastern border with UGA Gaiole. Except for nearby areas in the town of Radda in Chianti, between Malpensata and La Villa, the presenceof vineyards in the area is rather sporadic.
This distinction in river basins is also reflected in the geology. Along the Pesa valley, the vineyards are mainly located on four different geological formations: Macigno in the hilly area highest, shale shales, Sillano Formation and Pietraforte in the area medium-low. Along the Rigo and Arbia valleys, however, it prevails the Alberese, followed at a distance by the Macigno, whose contribution to viticultureis limited, and by shale shales, present only in the extreme north and south of thepelvis.
Furthermore, no less significant is the particularly cool climate characterizes the entire UGA of Radda, mainly because of its proximity to the Chianti Mountains.
Finally, Radda, together with Gaiole, is the area that boasts the greatest presence ofwoods throughout the Chianti Classico, with 6,100 hectares in total, whichthey represent 75.8% of the entire area.