If there is one Italian wine people know, it’s Chianti (pronounced “key-on-tee”). This lovely, medium-bodied wine is omnipresent in Italian-themed restaurants, supermarkets and wine shops. But consumers know little about it, because the labels generally give only flowery descriptions of the taste or origin.

However, clues to its source and quality can be found on the bottle’s neck, where you’ll find a black rooster or the letters “D.O.C.G.” or both. It’s a wine that has undergone more changes in the last five decades than in the previous five centuries.