I’ve always been Passionately interested in wine, to the point of feeling I have absorbed into my sense of smell and taste, the memories which are commonly known today as ‘information’, necessary to understand if a wine is well made or has suffered, if it has been ’stripped’ too much or if it has been served slightly ‘chiuso’, a term denoting a wine, which not having had enough time to be exposed to air, has not been able to express its best qualities and characteristics. I’m even able now to recognize, with an acceptable margin of error, whether the wine I’m drinking is a pure Sangiovese or whether it presents a higher or lower quantity of Cabernet or other grapes. But a true expert, one of those who understands wine immediately or who suggests crossbreeding and
the harmonious blending of grapes, one with a ‘nose for wine’ and a strong sense of taste, is a very rare man, much sought after in the land of wines. The aforementioned person is a natural oenologist, the true trump card for all producers today. It seems to me that the oenologists who work for the Chianti can be divided into two schools of thought, incompatible with one another. The protectionist school prefers to try and improve more and more, if possible, the yield and characteristics of home grown grapes, those that have represented the wines of the Chianti Classico since time immemorial. The other, more attracted by innovation, without neglecting tradition, seems to be more interested in creating new wines, alternatives to the Chianti Classico. Nothing wrong with this! But the predominant school is the one that promotes the idea of obtaining as much as possible from the home grown grapes of the Chianti. One of this group is Alessandro Ali, an oenologist and wine expert with whom we exchange opinions on the subject.
Ali is a defender of the faith in favor of tradition, a tradition which many are trying to further improve with the precise conviction that from Sangiovese, a fine quality, but somewhat hard grape, whose qualities are difficult to exploit to a maximum, better results can still be obtained. “We should study” says Alessandro Ali “as many already do, the characteristics of the vineyard and its interactions with the climatic and paedological environment, as well as a series of cultivation practices which I shall not touch upon here.
I should like to see various French grapes like Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot employed above all in important fashionable wines which have been given names such as Supertuscan, thus leaving the Tuscan stage free for King Sangiovese. Even if we use grapes for improvement or as alternatives, it is necessary to consider the explosive influences, the mildness and strength, on the typical austerity of Chianti Classico. It is true that this is the new trend, but we have to work towards softening Sangiovese, the most important and typical element of the Chianti Classico”.

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See also:

Giuseppe Verdi and Chianti Wine, Adjectives to Describe Chianti Wine, Chianti Classico Wine in Short, A ‘Saint’ Wine of Tuscany – Vinsanto, History of The Fiasco

or go back to An Introduction to Chianti Wine