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The Chianti Classico Grand Tasting in New York Concludes With a Great Success And Celebration of the Newly Introduced UGA Classification System

Mar 10, 2022 494

BY: Cristina Coari

The Chianti Classico Consortium returned to New York City on February 28th to celebrate the recent introduction of the UGA (Additional Geographic Units) classification system, which differentiate and highlight the differences in climate and soil type of 11 villages of the region.

The Walk-around Tasting was held at the Altman Building from 12 to 5 pm with 60 producers pouring their Chianti Classico wines for over 300 attendees, including trade professionals and media, a great success in terms of attendance despite all the Covid-19 regulations, with tickets sold out weeks before. 

The tasting event focused on increasing the awareness of the UGAs, the term used to indicate additional geographical units, identified within the production area of the denomination. The floor plan of the Altman Building was arranged in order to group the wineries of each UGA and it also featured a large wine bar where attendees could taste 65 Chianti Classico wines from the 11 UGAs. 

The event also featured two educational seminars, one for the media and one for the trade, “No Wine is an Island” hosted by the renowned Italian Cartographer, Alessandro Masnaghetti to discover how the project developed and how the UGAs reflect defined expressions of the Chianti Classico territory. The media seminar was accompanied by the tasting of 11 Chianti Classico Gran Selezione, representing the 11 UGA villages.  

"The introduction of the additional geographical units (UGA) that divide the Chianti Classico territory into more specific areas represents an epochal turning point for the denomination. A change of perspective that leads producers and their wines to be no longer single actors, but expressions of a territory in relation to each other. A decision destined to leave its mark. “said Alessandro Masnaghetti. 

The new classification system, approved in June 2021, as for now applies only to the Gran Selezione (GS) category, which are the only ones allowed to add the specific UGA mention on the label. The 11 villages were identified based on specific criteria such as oenological recognizability, historical authenticity, renown, and significance in terms of volumes produced: San Casciano, Greve, Montefioralle, Lamole, Panzano, Radda, Gaiole, Castelnuovo Berardenga, Vagliagli, Castellina, San Donato in Poggio. 

“The UGA project was received with great enthusiasm by the media and the trade who attended the event,” said the President of the Chianti Classico consortium Giovanni Manetti. "The phrase “The territory makes the difference” has always been one of our favorite mottos," he continued, "Chianti Classico is a truly unique territory, which is covered two third by woodland and only one-tenth is devoted to wine growing, with more than 50% dedicated to organic farming (52.5% of the area under vine).  As I have often said in my three years as President, wine reflects the territory like a negative photographic image, and this is why it is so important to preserve its environmental context and landscape and be able to communicate this to the consumer in all its various facets, also through the label.”

SOURCE: Consorzio Vino Chianti Classico

TAG : Wine New York Manhattan Toscana

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