tuscany # 37-40 ~ del gallo nero

On the grounds of the Poggio Cascianto estate, San Polo, Tuscany • click to embiggen
A winery tour ~ Ruffino Winery - San Polo, Tuscany • click to embiggenThe number of opportunities for taking a a winery tour in Tuscany is similar to the number of grains of sand on a beach. A slight exaggeration, maybe, but not that much of one.

So it was that we found ourselves at Poggio Casciano, an ancient estate occupied since Roman times which is graced with a classic Renaissance villa - one that serves as the home of one of the two brothers who own Ruffino. The villa is surrounded by 60 hectors of vineyards and has a rather modest wine making facility.

We did not land here by accident - my brother delivers mail to one of the two brothers who own the largest wine company and the largest importer of wine - to include Ruffino - in the US of A. By coincidence, at one time in my photographic past, I used to do the photography for their annual report and wide variety of advertising / marketing photography for many of their products. That said, by pre-arrangement we were able to have a small private tour of the place.

As expected, we learned about / sampled some nice wines, toured the wine making facility and the wine cellars, and played a little bocce but what really struck my fancy was learning about del gallo nero - the black rooster. From an Italian translation:

The origins of this symbol can be found in a telling about the rivalry between Florence and Siena, due to the disputing for the possession of the Chiantishire lands, in the medieval period. To put down this interminable and bloody war, the two communes decide to entrust the definition of its own borders to a trial between two knights, one with the colour of Florence and the other with the colour of Siena. The place where the two knights met, leaving their respective cities to dawn, when the cock crows, there would have been the boundary. The Sienesi grew up and stuffed with food their white cock, convinced that this would sing stronger, while the Florentines choose a black cock and left it on an empty stomach. The fatal day, the black Florentine cock was very hungry and so began to crow before the sunrise, while the white Sienese cock was full of food yet.

The Florentine knight, woken up early by his cock, began to gallop covering much more street than his rival: almost the whole land of the Chianti was annexed to the lily Republic.

Ignoring the double entendre - re: woken up early by his cock (nudge, nudge, wink, wink) - you can probably get the drift of this story. What may be less than obvious in this translation is the fact that the knights set out from opposite ends of the same road - the road that traversed the region of Chianti - and where they meet on that road determined the location of the boundary in dispute.

In any event, the image of our hero (at least by Florentine accounting), del gallo nero, was adopted in 1716 by the Chianti Classico Consorzio del Gallo Nero as the symbol of high quality Chianti Classico wine.

Now, the next time you to go to the wine store, you can pick up a bottle of Chianti Classico (which will have the del Gallo Nero seal over the cork on the bottle neck). You can then entertain and amaze (and perhaps even annoy) anyone within earshot with the story of del Gallo Nero. The inclusion of the woken up early by his cock (nudge, nudge, wink, wink) bit is at your discretion.

And, btw, the next time you see me maybe I'll be wearing my del Gallo Nero insignia golf cap and/or my del Gallo Nero insignia polo shirt.