The original zone dictated by the edict of Cosimo III de ' Medici would eventually be considered the heart of the Chianti Classico region.

Within the collective Chianti region more than 8 million cases of wines classified as DOC level or above are produced each year.

Since the mid 1980s, the Chianti Classico zone has had its own DOCG recognized area separate from the greater Chianti region.

As of 2006, there were of vineyards in the Chianti Classico region.

The Chianti Classico region covers an area of approximate 100 square miles ( 259 square kilometers ) between the city of Florence to the north and Siena to the south.

The four communes of Castellina in Chianti, Gaiole in Chianti, Greve in Chianti and Radda in Chianti are located entirely within the boundaries of the Classico region with parts of Barberino Val d ' Elsa, San Casciano in Val di Pesa and Tavarnelle Val di Pesa in the province of Florence as well as Castelnuovo Berardenga and Poggibonsi in the province of Siena included within the permitted boundaries of Chianti Classico.

Vineyards in Gaiole in Chianti in the Chianti Classico region

According to Master of Wine Mary Ewing-Mulligan, Chianti Classico wines from the Castellina region tend to have a very delicate aroma and flavor, Castelnuovo Berardegna region wines tend to be the most ripe and richest tasting, wines from Gaiole tend to have been characterized by their structure and firm tannins while wines from the Greve area tend to have very concentrated flavours.

Outside of Chianto Classico, the wines of the Chianti sub-zone of Rufina are among the most widely recognized and exported from the Chianti region.

* Greve in Chianti, a town in Tuscany, Italy, at the center of the Chianti wine region

Established in 1756, the port wine producing Douro region is the third oldest protected wine region in the world after the Tokaj-Hegyalja region in Hungary, established in 1730, and Chianti, in 1716.

The world's third-oldest appellation control, after Chianti and Tokaj was introduced in Portugal in 1756, pertaining to port wine, which was produced in the region of the Douro valley.

For the Chianti Classico, this " traditional region " is defined by a decree from July 10, 1932.

The Chianti DOCG covers all the Chianti wine and includes a large stretch of land encompassing the western reaches of the province of Pisa near the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea, the Florentine hills in the province of Florence to the north, to the province of Arezzo in the east and the Siena hills to the south.

It described the area near the villages of Gaiole, Castellina and Radda ; the so-called Lega del Chianti and later Provincia del Chianti ( Chianti province ).

In 1932 the Chianti area was completely re-drawn and divided in seven sub-areas: Classico, Colli Aretini, Colli Fiorentini, Colline Pisane, Colli Senesi, Montalbano and Rùfina.

Most of the villages that in 1932 were suddenly included in the new Chianti Classico area added in Chianti to their name-such as Greve in Chianti which amended its name in 1972.

Wines labeled Chianti Classico come from the biggest sub-area of Chianti, that sub-area that includes the old Chianti area.

Chianti wine area within Tuscany

Chianti from the Rufina area is characterized by its multi-layered complexity and elegance.

Located in the hills between the Chianti Classico area and Arno valley, the wines of the Colli Fiorentini vary widely depending on producer, but tend to have a simple structure with strong character and fruit notes.

Abruzzo's wealth of castles and medieval towns, especially around the town of L ' Aquila, has earned it in some quarters the nickname of " Abruzzoshire ", by analogy with the " Chiantishire ", nickname sometimes used to refer to the Chianti area of Tuscany, but Abruzzo is still off the beaten path for most visitors to Italy.

Montalcino has one of the warmest and driest climates in Tuscany with the grapes in the area ripening up to a week earlier than in nearby Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and Chianti Classico.

Chianti ( pronounced ) is a red Italian wine produced in Tuscany.

In 1716 Cosimo III de ' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany issued an edict legislating that the three villages of the Lega del Chianti as well as the village of Greve and a 2 mile ( 3 km ) hillside north of Greve near Spedaluzza as the only officially recognized producers of Chianti.

Subsequent expansions throughout the twentieth century would eventually bring the Chianti zone to cover almost all of Tuscany.

In 1716 Cosimo III de ' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany issued an edict legislating that the three villages of the Lega del Chianti ( Castellina in Chianti, Gaiole in Chianti, and Radda in Chianti ) as well as the village of Greve and a 2-mile ( 3-km ) stretch of hillside north of Greve near Spedaluzzo as the only officially recognized producers of Chianti.

Newer restaurants are styled after a farmhouse in the town of Castellina in Chianti, Tuscany, on the grounds of the Rocca delle Macie winery.

These systems have also developed into protected designation of origin across the European Union so that, for example, winemakers from outside a region like Tuscany can not produce a Sangiovese wine and call it a Chianti.

Travail in situ, Castello di Ama, Lecchi in Chianti, Tuscany, Italy.

In contrast to Chianti, the other famous Sangiovese based wine of Tuscany, Brunello di Montalcinos have a more fleshy texture with common aromas and flavors of blackberry, black cherry, black raspberry, chocolate, leather and violets.

The city or comune of Florence is the capital both of the Province and the Region of Tuscany ; particular places of beauty or interest in the province include Barberino Val d ' Elsa, Fiesole, Greve in Chianti and Tavarnelle Val di Pesa.

Montefioralle is a village in Tuscany, a frazione of the comune of Greve in Chianti.

Today, most Chianti falls under two major designations of Chianti DOCG, which includes basic level Chianti, as well as that from seven designated sub-zones, and Chianti Classico DOCG.

The sub-zones are ( clockwise from the north ): the Colli Fiorentini which is located south of the city of Florence ; Chianti Rufina in the northeastern part of the zone located around the commune of Rufina ; Classico in the centre of Chianti, across the provinces of Florence and Siena ; Colli Aretini in the Arezzo province to the east ; Colli Senesi south of Chianti Classico in the Siena hills, which is the largest of the sub-zones and includes the Brunello di Montalcino and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano areas ; Colline Pisane, the westernmost sub-zone in the province of Pisa ; Montespertoli located within the Colli Fiorentini around the commune of Montespertoli ; Montalbano in the north-west part of the zone which includes the Carmignano DOCG.

Wines that are labeled as simply Chianti are made either from a blend from these sub-zones or include grapes from peripheral areas not within the boundaries of a sub-zone.

First came oidium and then the phylloxera epidemic would take its toll on the vineyards of Chianti just as they had ravaged vineyards across the rest of Europe.

With the fall of the Sienese Republic, Montefioralle lost its prior importance and most of its inhabitants moved to Greve in Chianti.

However, during the same period, a group of ambitious producers began working outside the boundaries of DOC regulations to make what they believed would be a higher quality style of Chianti.

Valpolicella ranks just after Chianti in total Italian Denominazione di Origine Controllata ( DOC ) wine production.

Other well known Sangiovese-based Tuscan wines such as Brunello di Montalcino and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano could be bottled and labeled under the most basic designation of " Chianti " if their producers chose to do so.

This delineation existed until July 1932, when the Italian government expanded the Chianti zone to include the outlying areas of Barberino Val d ' Elsa, Chiocchio, Robbiano, San Casciano in Val di Pesa and Strada.