In episode six we meet two wine producers with quite different philosophies in the comune of Radda in Chianti, the geographically central commune of Chianti Classico.
The first is Giovanella Stianti, owner of Castello di Volpaia. Volpaia is a "castello" or castle in the sense of being a fortified village, and all of the buildings are still used both by locals and tourists alike. The winery itself sits at 617 meters - too high to actually produce Chianti Classico, which by law can't be made above 550 meters - so the vineyards themselves sit a few hundred meters lower.
Giovanella would not only like to see Chianti Classico divided up by comune subzones but also according to quality. The idea would be similar to Bordeaux - some classification system with different levels. She concedes that any such system is unlikely to surface any time soon. The French are not like the Italians, and besides, the classification system in Bordeaux has been around for over a century. Moreover, there are host of economic problems too in that many winemakers in Chianti Classico don't make lots of different great wines so they can sell in bulk to cost wines. Any classification system would not be easily accepted by such producers.
Barbara Widmer came from Switzerland to Italy in 1981 with her parents who founded the winery of Brancaia. She's been working at the winery for 15 years now, and today they also have an estate in the Maremma region with over 60 hectares altogether. Instantly recognisable by their simple label, as well as a basic Chianti Classico (black and red) and a riserva (red), they do a blend of grapes from their Maremma and Chianti Classico estates, "Ilatraia".
The blend, says Barbara, goes to show that they don't tie themselves up too much in the topic of regions and subregions. Of course, they want to express their land, but they feel this is better brought about choices made during the winemaking - by not using additional yeast for instance. Off camera she told us that, by contrast to most producers, she feels the whole issue of comunes may only help to confuse the consumer further. Focus first on each individual winery, then on the whole zone of Chianti Classico that many still don't understand.
