Duca di Saragnano: The Needle in a Haystack

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Like so many styles of wine, Chianti has become a victim of its own success. In the 1980s it was one of the wines to be seen to be drinking and offered superb quality at prices which did not break the bank. This high demand lead to an increase in density in vine plantings and changes in the law which allowed cheaper grape varieties to be included in the blend in order to maximise the potential for profit. This inevitably resulted in an overall decline in quality and people eventually began to associate Chianti with cheap and unimpressive wines.

Needle in a Haystack?

Whilst many producers jumped on the bandwagon and concentrated on producing bulk wines at the lower end of the market there were others who refused to compromise and continued to produce limited amounts of high quality wines. Thankfully many of those who stuck to their guns are still around today and those who are prepared to search for them are able to find delicious wines at decent prices.