CHIANTI CLASSICO VAUNTS THE HIGHEST NUMBER OF ATTEMPTED IMITIATIONS WORLDWIDE. THE “BLACK ROOSTER” SPENDS 200,000 EUROS EVERY YEAR IN DEFENSE AGAINST FALSE IMITATIONS PRODUCED IN THE EU, U.S., AND AUSTRALIA

Chianti Classico, the most renowned Italian wine worldwide, can vaunt another claim to fame: it is also the most imitated wine in the world. In fact, the Chianti Classico Wine Consortium spends an average 200,000 euros per year just to defend its image from false imitations that are produced in Europe, the United States, and Australia.

To be imitated is an indubitable sign of success, but it also implies potential damage to a product that maintains its image because of its top quality, accurate controls, and centuries-old history and tradition. This is why the Consortium has now created a legal and permanent task force made up of lawyers and experts in international law who will work exclusively to protect the name Chianti Classico. So far, the Black Rooster logo, which is the seal that represents the wines that belong to the Chianti Classico denomination, has been registered in over 40 countries around the world and with international monitoring to reveal any illegitimate use of it.

During the premiere of the latest vintage Chianti Classico 2007 and the 2006 Riserva at the Chianti Classico Collection event held on February 17 and 18 in Florence, the president of the Consortium, Marco Pallanti, explained: “the great fame and prestige linked to the name Chianti, always one of the most well known Italian wines in the world, also implies another side to the coin: for years now it has, in fact, been the target of numerous attempted imitations, so many so that we had to register the name ‘Chianti Classico’ as a collective name. It was an inevitable decision, above all in those countries like the United States where it is not possible to oversee our denominations of origin with both bilateral agreements and at a WTO level”. Thus, from Brazil to New Zealand, India, China, The Philippines, and South Africa the name ‘Chianti Classico’ will now enjoy all of the rights of any certified brand name. It is a 360° promotional strategy and it is not by chance that Chianti Classico is the only wine on whose seal, with the unmistakable ‘Black Rooster’, there is also the stamp of the State.

“Safeguarding the image of Chianti Classico” – affirmed Giuseppe Liberatore, director of the Chianti Classico Wine Consortium – “and defending it from attempts at imitation at an international level represents a very elevated cost: and with this proposal we have obtained ‘ad hoc’ financing from the Ministry of Agriculture, which will cover part of the costs destined to pay for registration, monitoring, and legal supervision”.

Within the district of Chianti Classico there are 597 producers, of which 345 are bottlers, 7,200 hectares of vineyards under the DOCG denomination, and 37 million bottles of Chianti Classico wine produced each year. 27% of total production is destined for the national market while the rest is sent abroad. The top exporting countries are the United States with 29% of total, followed by Germany (10%), Great Britain (9%), Switzerland (7%), Canada, Japan, Russia, Austria, and Holland. Total annual earnings for Chianti Classico wine are, on average, about 270 million euros.