Castelnuovo Berardenga
The territory of the commune that takes the name Castelnuovo Berardenga UGA is located at the southern part of Chianti Classico. (A western sector of the commune has been split off as Vaglagli UGA). The area that corresponds to Castelnuovo Berardenga UGA can be seen in its entirety in the first image, extending along the last offshoots of the Chianti Mountain range, in three parallel bands that reflect differences in altitude and the distribution of geological formations.
The first, taking in the villages of San Gusmè, Villa a Sesta and San Felice, is mainly an expression of the Alberese formation, even if there are vast areas of Macigno, particularly near San Gusmé. It could be described as a sort of plateau easily recognizable in the second image. Below that, though impossible to capture in a single image, the terrain winds from the hill of Rancia (in the foreground in the third image) and is still dominated by the Alberese formation up to Castell’in Villa and Bossi (fourth image) where the so-called tufo senesi prevails, consisting mainly of Pliocene sands. Finally, visible only in part by rotating the fourth image 180 degrees, the UGA winds along the southern border of the denomination, between San Piero in Barca, with soils prevalently clays, and Monte Giachi and Poggio Bonelli, where Pliocene sands, interrupted by alluvial terraces, once again dominate. The southern border of the denomination is unfortunately impossible to highlight accurately in this image, but those with a spirit of observation can easily identify it by referring to the vegetation: the emerald green areas, between Pianella and Villa Monte Giachi, are part of the Chianti Classico area, while the browner ones, toward Monte Amiata, are part of the clay moors known as Crete Senesi.
The fifth and sixth images give an idea of the southernmost part of the western sector of the Castelnuovo Berardenga UGA, between Pievasciata and Pontignano.
How to use
As simple and intuitive as the use of panoramic images may be, some clarifications and suggestions seem in order.
- The expression Unità Geografica Aggiuntiva (UGA) applies to a specific and precisely delimited area within the Chianti Classico denomination. Some UGAs correspond to an entire commune, others to a portion of one, others result from the unification of parts of two communes.
- When a UGA corresponds to the area of a single commune, the name of the UGA has been shortened (San Casciano in Val di Pesa becomes simply San Casciano) or the use of the specification “in Chianti” has been avoided to avert useless repetitions on wine labels. Gaiole in Chianti becomes Gaiole, and Panzano in Chianti, which is not a commune, becomes Panzano. The names of Castelnuovo Berardenga, a commune, and San Donato in Poggio, which like Panzano is not a commune but a hamlet, remain unchanged.
- At the moment the use of UGA is foreseen only for Chianti Classico Gran Selezione wines.
- Coming now to the introductions to each UGA, the greater or lesser number of images used in the virtual tours depends on the overall shape and size of their territories. Some can be illustrated with few images and others require more detail. It follows that the different number of images in no way implies a difference in importance of one UGA with respect to another.
- To navigate between the different images within each tour, use the thumbnails below, above the command bar. To rotate the images to the right or left, drag them with the mouse or with your fingers, if you are using a phone or a tablet.
- In each image you will find names that identify geographical references and/or toponyms. Use them to orient yourself as you move from one panorama to another.
The colors used for the different names have three different functions. In white are the names of farms and villages within the Chianti Classico DOCG. In red are the names of communes, hamlets, mountains and hillocks within the same borders. In blue are the names of places located outside the territory of Chianti Classico DOCG. Some of them, such as mountains and hills, have been inserted to contextualize Chianti Classico with respect to other areas of Tuscany that many users will already know. - The recognized UGAs within the production zone of the Chianti Classico appellation are eleven. Starting from northwest and, moving generally clockwise, they are: San Casciano, Greve, Lamole, Montefioralle, Panzano, Radda, Gaiole, Castelnuovo Berardenga, Vagliagli, Castellina and San Donato in Poggio.
