Chianti Classico on Your Summer Table

Intense, immersive and with a distinct freshness balanced with every sip, our Chianti Classico is a wine that best expresses the history and character of its terroir. This wine from the green heart of Tuscany, just between Florence and Siena, is home to the label known throughout the world – the Black Rooster.

Chianti Classico is the perfect wine to accompany your entire meal, throughout every season of the year. It is one of the wines that you drink on a crisp Autumn day while sitting in front of a fireplace, and even on warm summer days while sitting in the shade on your patio. And of course, it can be found on the summer table, accompanying meals that exalt its characteristics, even when temperatures are high.

Typically, most choose a white or a bubbly during the summer months, and yes they are generally fresh and thirst-quenching, there is also something to be said for a fresh, delicate and fragrant red wine such as Chianti Classico which can pair perfectly to summer lunches and dinners, and of course barbecues – where Chianti Classico aromas really shine!

Another great pairing to Chianti Classico, and one typical of Tuscan tradition is ‘pappa al pomodoro’. This dish is a typically known as the “poor man’s dish” mixing tomato and day’s old bread. Add a bit of fresh basil and you have the perfect dish to pair with Chianti Classico which balances perfectly with the intense flavors of the wine, every sip finely cleansing the palate. 

Now since we are talking about fine, intense wine, with good persistence and versatility, then we may as well take this a step further… Chianti Classico will pleasantly surprise you when paired with fish – another typical summer food – in particular some types of Japanese food.  Try it with Nigiri covered in salmon or tuna; or a fish temaki, also with tuna or salmon, and even mackerel (rich in Omega3 fats, a panacea for our health!). The pasty consistency of raw fish (especially tuna), combined with the aromas and seasonings typical of Eastern cuisine, wonderfully accompany the softness in our glass, which helps maintain a fresh and clean palate.

If you want to continue pairing Chianti Classico to Chinese and Indian cuisine, other dishes to try is an Indian Lamb Shahi Korma, with lamb saffron and cardamom cream base; or a Peking Duck, baked in the oven and served with spring onions; or even a delicious portion of Tandoori-marinated meat.

Now that we know that Chianti Classico can easily be had in summer months, we can keep the white wines in the wine fridge! But be careful because drinking red wine at room temperature does not mean keeping it in the living room when the temperature outside is 95 degrees. Every wine has its own serving temperature, and that of Chianti Classico is somewhere between 65 and 68 degrees. 

This is a great wine, an historic wine which will make your summer table a memorable one.