The Gallo Nero trademark comes from a very long past and its design was recently renewed with the aim of creating a modern, essential and easy-to-read image. You will find it on the neck or on the back of all the bottles of Chianti Classico.
The legend of the Black Rooster leads right to Fonterutoli. In 1202 and 1208, it was the host of two peace treaties between Florence and Siena, which assigned the territory of Chianti to the Florentines. Legend has it that in the 13th century, Florence and Siena decided to use a horse race to end their land dispute over Chianti. The meeting point of two knights, who left respectively from Florence and Siena when the rooster sang at dawn, would mark the new borders of their territories. The Florentines selected a black rooster and kept it in a box for a few days with no food. On the day of the race, when they took the rooster out of the box, it sang much earlier than dawn. Thus, the Florentine knight left before the Sienese rider, meeting him only 20 km from Siena walls. Since then, the black rooster has been the symbol of Chianti: first of the Chianti League in the 13th century and then of the Chianti Classico Consortium.
In fact, in 1384, a black rooster on a gold background became the symbol of the Lega del Chianti, a military organization founded by the Republic of Florence with the express purpose of protecting the territory. This symbol was immortalized by the painter Giorgio Vasari who, in 1547, depicted in the ceiling of the Salone dei Cinquecento in Palazzo Vecchio in Florence “The allegory of Chianti”, the god Bacchus next to a yellow shield embossed with a black rooster and behind him the three districts of Radda, Gaiole and Castellina.
The Rooster emblem was chosen to represent the Consortium, founded in 1924.
Since 2005, the Black Rooster is no longer a collective corporate brand but the symbol of all Chianti Classico wines, included in the State Fascetta on all bottles. Most recently, after a graphic review in 2013, a black rooster (Gallo Nero in Italian) on a white background with a burgundy border was chosen to make it more recognizable, the logo becomes mandatory on every bottle. Without the Black Rooster, we cannot speak of Chianti Classico.