The Black Rooster sybol is now imprinted on numerous bottles of the Chianti Classico area.
It is synonymous with quality, prestige and, over the years, it has become a real research key for tasters and enthusiasts of Tuscan vines.
But not everyone knows the origin of the symbol of the Black Rooster.
To find out, we must venture back to the time of the medieval struggles between Florence and Siena.
A rivalry with no holds barred, which never defined the assignment of the precious corner of Tuscany, until the day it was decided to settle the issue with a peculiar arbitration.
The two Republics relied on the skills of the two best horse riders who, riding the fastest horses, would leave at dawn from their respective cities.
A new border would be set at the meeting point between the two champions.
Departure was fixed at the crowing of the cock.
The Sienese chose a proud white rooster and, the night before, they gladdened it with a selection of the best cereals, cheeses and rice, convinced that the bird would thus enhance its singing skills.
This is not what the Florentines thought at the sunset of the famous challenge for the assignment of territories: in fact they chose a grumpy black rooster and decided to keep him stint.
The latter, exasperated, in the middle of the night began to sing like a madman.
This granted a considerable advantage to the Florentine knight who, having started at a gallop, met his rival a few kilometres from the Sienese walls.
Thus it was that Florence took over the entire Chianti area and paid homage to the hungry black rooster with all honours, to the point of allowing it to become the symbol of daring conquest.
The white rooster, we fear, met a less noble but still appetizing end.
20
Apr
