Our Wine Advent-ure: Day 18

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The wine for the 18th day of Advent was a 2022 Fare Fiasco Chianti.  Made with organic grapes (handpicked, no less!), tasting notes say sippers "Discover the epitome of romance in every bottle."

We've been married over 30 years and don't need a bottle of wine to discover romance; we've managed that quite well on our own. To us, it was just a nice Chianti.

By Italian law, Chiantis must contain at least 70 percent Sangiovese, the primary grape of the region, with strict limits on how much of any other varietal can be used for the remaining 30 percent. Red varietals such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Cab Franc can be used, as well as white grape varietals Malvasia and Trebbiano. Wines labeled as Chianti can be made of a blend of grapes from some seven subzones of the Chianti DOCG (region), and they can include grapes from peripheral areas.

Fare Fiasco is 100 percent Sangiovese.


For comparison, wines from the Chianti Classico DOCG have stricter regulations. Chianti Classico wines must contain at least 80 percent Sangiovese with up to 20 percent of other approved red varietals. No white grapes can be used in a Chianti Classico.

Interestingly, the word "fiasco" does not imply failure; it's the name for the straw wrapping on the bottle. Its origin dates back to the time the wine was put into hand-blown bottles, which had round bases. The fiasco gave a more or less flat surface so the bottle could be stood up.

Locals in the region tend to sneer at tourists who order the bottles with the straw wrapping, thinking it's traditional. It is, but not in the way they think. The bottles with fiasco wrappings are usually the cheap stuff.  The better chiantis are packaged in standard bottles with a red band around the neck. 

Regardless, this one was quite nice. Deep, red color, lots of berries on the nose and palate with enough tannins to make the mouth feel a tiny bit puckered. It went extremely well with the pizza we got from our local pizzeria, Via Marina is Des Moines.



What more did we need?

Salute!

Visit my main page at TheTravelPro.us for more news, reviews, and personal observations on the world of upmarket travel.

Photos by Carl Dombek
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