How a Medieval Legend Lives On in the Chianti Classico Wine

…and strengthen the brand in a recent short film

The Chianti Classico Collection 2023 just took place a month ago, and the Chianti Classico consortium had a lot of new things to showcase. The consortium had commissioned a local web and video production agency to develop and shoot the film. Apart from the actors hired, several local people, also some producers, had walk-on parts (for example, Lorenzo Sieni from Montefioralle Winery).

The Legend of the Black Rooster film had its big premiere at the Chianti Classico Collection event. The short film is yet another step in how the consortium is working to both increase visibility and brand value.

The story is a legend but, still, it plays an important part in telling the story of the Gallo Nero (Black Rooster), the emblem of the consortium. The Republic of Florence and the Republic of Siena decides to settle the border between them by having two knights from the respective city-states race against each other. The border would be defined on the spot where the two knights met.

The Senese people choose a white rooster that they feed very well and treat like a king while the Florentines choose a black rooster that they starve into desperation. Both city-states are convinced to have chosen the perfect rooster to wake them up early in the morning.

What happened then?

Well, the black rooster was so hungry that he started crowing before dawn and woke up the Florentine rider very early. He jumped onto the horse and started riding…

The white rooster felt very pampered and content and slept in, and started to crow very late thus waking up the rider Senese after dawn.

The result was that the rider Senese barely made it out in the countryside before he met the Florentine rider. The border was, therefore, drawn just where the Fonterutoli estate is located.

The area defined in the Middle Ages is to some extent the area of Chianti Classico still today.