Wine Industry Report

Extraordinary vintage heralded by Italy’s leading wine guides
Export sales increase of 10% this year
Consorzio President Pallanti declares it “A great moment for our Sangiovese”

Harvesting began early for the 600+ Consorzio Vino Chianti Classico estates this year. Climatic conditions were near perfect for this vintage, and the expectation is that 2006 wines will be of outstanding quality as grapes achieved optimum ripeness and displayed ideal sugar levels and polyphenolic maturity. The expert vineyard management practiced by the Consorzio’s member producers also meant that yields were strictly limited to ensure maximum quality fruit was achieved.

Consorzio President Marco Pallanti clarified that while the harvest gives us initial foresight into the quality of the end wine, Black Rooster wines only receive absolute quality verification a year later for the Chianti Classico or two years later for the Chianti Classico Riserva, but as an early indication, the signs all point to 2006 being a great vintage. “Everyone makes comparisons and cites similarities with preceding vintages at harvest time,” said Pallanti, “but wine is an evolving creature during all phases of its life and there are many factors that influence its definitive character. However, discussion on how each vintage might turn out adds to the fascination of a much-loved and familiar product like wine.”

The exceptional 2006 vintage forecast further supports a period of economic revival for Black Rooster estates. Not only did Chianti Classico sales rise in the domestic market, but the Black Rooster saw a significant increase in its export sales with an increase of 10% (September 2006) over the same period last year.

The Black Rooster Awards Harvest
In addition to a great Sangiovese harvest, the Black Rooster also reaped an avalanche of Glasses, Stars and Clusters—the prestigious annual awards judged by Italy’s leading wine guides and announced throughout the month of October.

This year, Black Rooster producers were proud to learn that the Tuscany region received the most laurels with highlights including:

§ Gambero Rosso: Tuscany was awarded 55 “Tre Bicchieri” (Three Glasses) awards (over Piedmont’s 52)
§ L’Espresso: of 131 wines that received awards throughout Italy, 48 were Tuscan and the guide also declared the Chianti territory “the most honored wine-producing area in Italy”

Duemilavini: cites the Chianti Classico denomination with great frequency

“This recognition bears testament to the hard work Chianti Classico’s producers have put into the quality of their wines in recent years,” Pallanti observed, “but it is also a sign of “an important renaissance for Sangiovese, in comparison with the more fashionable international varietals of recent years. We have great confidence in our Sangiovese, which finds in the diverse terroirs of Chianti Classico an ideal habitat from which it can express its uniqueness and achieve the world-class quality sought after by consumers and wine critics alike”.

Pallanti views the recent success and recognition of Chianti Classico wines as “an invitation for other world-class Sangiovese wines currently playing on the Super-Tuscan team to rejoin our Chianti Classico team. I believe that if this were to happen, team Black Rooster would be unbeatable.”