The Chianti Classico 2000 Project

The Chianti Classico 2000 Project arose from the need to renovate grape growing in the Chianti Classico wine production area by studying agronomic techniques and plants to get new and valuable information.
The project, devised by the Chianti Classico Wine Consortium in September 1987, was approved by the Italian Ministry for Agricultural and Forestry Policies and the Tuscany region in 1988. It also received the approval of the European Community, which financed it.
Cooperating in the project were the consortium’s scientific committee along with the Agrarian Sciences faculty of the University of Florence, which handled the economic and agronomic aspects as well as wine inspections, and the Agrarian Sciences faculty of the University of Pisa, which is in charge of the grape-growing and grape health aspects.
The project lasted 16 years, divided into three cycles, during which there were on-site inspections followed by data gathering and processing and, in the end, the publication and circulation of results.



For grape research 16 experimental vineyards were planted on a total of 25 hectares (62.5 acres), and for wine studies five cellars were equipped to work on each experimental thesis; at the same time, 10 agro-meteorological stations were set up in the parts of the territory having the most significance in climatic terms.
With regard to the problem of rationalizing vineyards and growing quality grapes, the Chianti Classico 2000 Project pinpointed and verified on site six key issues for modern viticulture.
The first concerned the agronomic behavior and enological value of a number of selected clones of red grapes (Sangiovese, Canaiolo, Colorino and Malvasia Nera) already grown in the territory and used in the Chianti Classico blend.
The second concerned the characteristics of a series of rootstocks, some of them the most currently used because best suited to the Chianti climate and soil, and others never experimented with in Chianti territory.
The third concerned the most suitable planting density in relation to the environment and desired yield. In practice, this meant using experimental methods to determine the relationship between planting density and the vegetative-productive behavior of the vineyard, with particular reference to grape and wine quality.
The fourth concerned vine training methods and was carried out in order to assess their influence on grape and wine quality, also taking into consideration the need to reduce the cost of manual pruning.
The fifth concerned the soil management techniques that should be use in the vineyard, assessing the viability of controlled grass planting to improve vineyard management and at the same time help protect the environment by limiting erosion.
The sixth concerned clonal selection of the main grape types used to make Chianti Classico (Sangiovese, Canaiolo and Colorino). It was thereby possible to identify 239 presumed clones, from which were selected 24 of Sangiovese, 8 of Canaiolo and 2 of Colorino, which, proving to be immune to the main viral diseases, were then given further technological tests.
At the end of the experimental period seven new clones of Sangiovese and one of Colorino were selected and registered in the national grape-variety registry as "Chianti Classico 2000" (CCL 2000).