Chianti joins international alliance to protect place names

Chianti Classico is the first Italian region to join an international alliance dedicated to protecting the exclusivity and originality of wine regions.

The alliance is a high-calibre coalition of 13 wine-producing regions which have all signed the Joint Declaration to Protect Wine Place Names & Origins.

Marco Pallanti, president of the Chianti Classico Wine Consortium, was in Washington earlier this week to sign up to the alliance, whose members include some of the most important wine-producing regions in the world.

Sonoma County, Paso Robles, Chianti Classico, Tokaj and Victoria in Western Australia are part of the group, and founding members include Napa Valley, Oregon, Washington State, Walla Walla Valley, Champagne, Porto and Jerez.

‘Americans are more knowledgeable than ever about wine and will not settle for anything less than authentic products,’ the Sonoma County representative Pete Downs said.

According to Downs, consumers have a right to know that the information printed on a bottle’s label accurately reflects the origin of the wine they are purchasing.

When a place name is misused, consumers are misled and a part of the identity of that distinctive wine region is lost.

‘The Chianti Classico Wine Consortium has always fought for the validity of denominations of origin,’ Marco Pallanti said. ‘This is the reason we were selected as the first Italian signatory of the document.’

Written by Michele Shah