Between Florence and Siena, on the hills rising from 250 to 700 meters, there is a territory that has been producing wine long before anyone thought of regulating it. Grand Duke Cosimo III de' Medici delimited its borders by law in 1716 — the first act of territorial protection for wine in world history, almost three centuries before the word "terroir" became fashionable. The Black Rooster, symbol of the Consortium founded in 1924, also the first in Italy, already presided over these hills when in France they were just beginning to talk about appellations.

The pedological complexity is extraordinary: galestro and alberese between Radda and Castellina yield wines with mineral tension and austere structure; towards Greve, the deeper soils produce floral and fragrant wines; to the south, around Gaiole and Castelnuovo Berardenga, clayey soils and a milder climate give warm and enveloping wines. Three different souls that share a common denominator: Sangiovese, a grape capable of interpreting the soil and translating it into the bottle with almost cartographic fidelity.

The production regulations foresee three types — annata (vintage), Riserva, and Gran Selezione — with increasing minimum aging periods of 12, 24, and 30 months. The more the wine ages, the more Sangiovese reveals its vocation for longevity: the austere tannicity softens, the fruity notes evolve towards spices, tobacco, and undergrowth. Today, 61% of wineries are organically certified, with an additional 9% in conversion: numbers that make Chianti Classico one of the most committed wine regions in the world to sustainability.