Wine Routes: Tuscany, birthplace of Chianti, one of the most famous Italian wines
This week, the soap opera 13 Hours of France 2 takes you to discover the wine routes around the world. After South Africa, the novel continues in Tuscany (Italy) where wines are very famous, such as the famous Chianti.
Following the Tuscan wine routes (Italy) is crossing vineyards, olive trees, cypresses, a true open-air museum. The history of Tuscan wines goes back almost 3,000 years. “Chianti is a historic wine, produced since the Etruscans. And if it is so famous it is because it is very old”, explains a guide for Belgian and American tourists. “It’s such a good mix, you drink more than one thing, it’s complex and I like it”, describes a tourist tasting.
The birthplace of wine in Tuscany is located about thirty kilometers south of Florence. In the territory of Chianti, a world famous red wine, vineyards surround the castles of the Middle Ages. Since then, the region, very rugged, has lived off the wine and olive trade. Tuscany is also home to historic treasures, such as the village of San Gimignano, whose medieval towers overlook the vineyards. And in the south of the region, this once poor Italian territory was reborn from its ashes in the 1980s thanks to an exceptional wine. “This juice is an explosion of aromas and flavors”says Giacomo Neri, owner of Casanova di Neri. A bottle of Brunello on the property was even voted the best wine in the world in 2006.
