Chianti

The Chianti Classico area covers about 71,800 hectares across the provinces of Florence and Siena. Four towns lie wholly inside it, Greve, Castellina, Radda and Gaiole in Chianti; parts of four more, including San Casciano Val di Pesa, fall within it.

Florence and Siena fought over these hills through the Middle Ages. At the end of the 14th century Florence set up the League of Chianti to hold them, with a black rooster on a gold field as its coat of arms, and Radda became its capital. A notary's document from 1398 already calls the local wine Chianti, and in 1716 Cosimo III de' Medici fixed the borders of the area allowed to make it.

In 1924 local growers founded a consortium to protect the wine, the first of its kind in Italy, and took the rooster as their mark. Since 2005 the black rooster has been the symbol of the Chianti Classico denomination itself, printed on every bottle.

A Chianti outing is built around the cellar and the table. At a winery you usually walk out among the vines, see where the wine rests in barrels and then taste several wines, often with the estate's olive oil, bread, cheese and cured meats. Some serve a full lunch, or dinner outside as the light fades.

You will hear two names. Chianti Classico comes only from the historic zone between Florence and Siena, must be at least 80% Sangiovese, is made from red grapes only, and carries the black rooster. Plain Chianti is a separate and much larger denomination spread over six Tuscan provinces, with eight subzones such as Rufina and Colli Senesi, and needs at least 60% Sangiovese. Both are reds built on the same grape, so tasting them side by side is the quickest way to learn the difference.

Between estates the roads run through the villages. Greve in Chianti has an arcaded market square, Piazza Matteotti, with a statue of Giovanni da Verrazzano, the navigator born here who explored the bay of New York. Panzano, a little further south, keeps the walls of its castle and the church of San Leolino. Radda is a small walled town that was once the League's capital.

On an e-bike the motor takes the sting out of the climbs, but the roads go up and down all day.

Tasting and driving do not mix. If you are riding or driving yourself, skip the wine or keep it to a sip. In Italy, alcohol may not be sold or served to anyone under 18.

The harvest runs from late summer into early autumn, when the vineyards are busy with pickers and tractors. Through September and October the vine leaves turn yellow, then red and orange into November. It is the busiest season for wine trips.

Spring is green and fresh, and a good time for cycling. Summer days are long and hot, so ride in the morning and save the evening for dinner in the vineyards. Winter is quiet, with bare vines and few visitors on the roads.