Here is some fun wine-based trivia. Do you know the derivation of the word fiasco? One theory is that when Venetian glass blowers realized a beautiful piece was flawed, they turned it into an ordinary bottle, called a fiasco (flask). The traditional globular bottles with a straw basket that Chiantis were packaged in were also called a fiasco. The connotation of humiliating failure predates the downfall of Chianti in their fiaschi, but it is an apt connection, nonetheless, as Chianti was a wine region of renown for many centuries, but the desperate poverty of The Depression and World War II led to the loosening of the rules of quality control for Chianti and a massive expansion of the zone with the right to use the name. By the seventies the quality of Chianti had become, well, a fiasco. In 1996 the producers in the original Chianti zone broke off from the rest of Chianti and the Chianti Classico DOCG was born. Chianti Classico must have a minimum of 80% Sangiovese, with two other indegenous grapes, Canniolo Nero and Colorino (which are used in this bottling) allowed, as well as Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Chianti Classico Riservas require an extra year of barrel aging compared to regular Chianti Classico. Lanciola is a family-owned estate that is organically farmed and uses only estate-grown fruit and ages their Riservas in used French oak barrels. The tannin levels increase as one ascends the quality scale in Chianti, so this wine is the perfect accompaniment to Florentine Steak or other rich and intensely flavored cuts of meat.