After 300 years Chianti is nominated Heritage Site
On 24th and 25th September the official celebrations were held for the birth of the first Italian designations of origin: Chianti, Pomino, Carmignano and Valdarno di Sopra. Second in the world after the Hungarian region of Tokaj-Hegyalja (whose vineyards were first classified by Prince Rákóczi in 1700), but before Porto (1756).
The birth of Chianti
It was the Grand Duke Cosimo III de’ Medici who issued two edicts in 1716 which aimed, on the one hand, to control the trading of wine from the Chianti, Pomino, Carmignano and Valdarno di Sopra production region and exports via ship (18th July) and, on the other hand, to define the production area itself (24th September). This latter date was chosen for the official celebrations of the Chianti designation in 2016.
A moment of the official celebration
Future UNESCO World Heritage Site?
The ceremony for the three-hundredth anniversary in Florence was the perfect occasion to announce the nomination of the Chianti region to become a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Even Matteo Renzi didn’t want to miss such an important appointment for the Tuscan wine economy. “Italy exports 5.5 billion euros worth of wine at the moment,” said the premier. “Our aim is to reach 7.5 billion by 2020. Chianti Classico is more than capable of being a protagonist in this, because a part of our country’s economy is right here.”
