This week marked the 100th year since the Chianti Classico consortium was founded.

Think of that! 1924, two years after the March on Rome, a time of sunny optimism and resurgence of national pride in Italy, years before clouds of war would appear on the horizon.

A century later Tuscan resilience, ingenuity, entrepreneurial acumen, and Chianti terroir have endured war, economic catastrophe and revival, booms and busts. And Chianti Classico and the interest in its wines are arguably more robust than ever in history.

The organizers of the wonderful Top Drop festival in Vancouver asked me to celebrate the anniversary in my keynote talk at the gathering earlier this week.

Chianti Classico and all those uniquely Tuscan attributes above are a model and an inspiration for a wine trade in a moment of crisis. Its arc shows how Tuscan — Italian — creativity and diligence offer a roadmap for a brighter wine industry future.

The Iron Baron, Bettino Ricasoli (1809-1880), is often remembered today for the “Chianti recipe” he created (read it here).

But for those who have read his celebrated exchange of letters with professor Cesare Studiati in at the University of Pisa, the focus on the formula misses the point.

Ricasoli and his colleague realized that acidity was the key to making wines that would retain their quality during shipping.

They discovered that the marriage of native grape varieties with their terroir produced wines with higher levels of acidity.

From their research and work in the field emerged a new wave of Sangiovese growers who followed Ricasoli’s example: like the baron, they ripped out their gaggle of grape varieties and replanted primarily to what is considered the quintessential Tuscan grape.

Think of that! How powerful to consider an advent of terroir!

It’s another reason why we owe so much to Chianti Classico — the wine arguably more closely aligned with a place than any other. And maybe it will inspire us to remember how Tuscan imagination and resourcefulness are essential elements of the terroir that has made Chianti Classico a wine icon.