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1
Heat the oven to 160 °C. Pack the beef shin pieces into a terracotta or heavy-lidded casserole — the pieces should fit closely together in a single layer. Scatter the whole black peppercorns and the unpeeled garlic cloves evenly over and between the meat. Season with salt. The pot at this stage smells of raw wine and raw pepper with no intervening sweetness.
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2
Pour the entire bottle of Chianti over the meat. The wine should come approximately two-thirds of the way up the shin pieces. Cover the casserole tightly with its lid — or with a double layer of foil pressed under the lid. No stock, no vegetables, no further liquid is added. This is where the dish lives or dies: the cut must be shin, the peppercorns must be whole, the wine must be Chianti or a wine of equivalent body, and nothing else enters the pot.
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3
Transfer to the oven and braise at 160 °C for 4–5 hours without disturbing the lid. At the 4-hour mark, lift the lid: the meat should be giving at the edges and the braising liquid will have reduced and darkened considerably. Continue until the beef is completely yielding and pulling away from the bone under the lightest pressure from a spoon.
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4
Remove the casserole from the oven. Lift the beef pieces carefully — they will be fragile — and set them aside. Return the casserole to a medium flame on the hob and reduce the braising liquid, uncovered, until it is glossy and coats a spoon thickly. The peppercorns and garlic remain in the sauce; the peppercorns will be soft and edible. Do not skim the fat — it is the emulsifier for the final sauce. Taste for salt only.
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5
Return the beef to the reduced sauce. The dish may be served immediately on toasted unsalted Tuscan bread or with white beans. It is, however, markedly better on the following day: refrigerate overnight, during which the sauce sets to a firm gelatin. Reheat gently, covered, and the gelatin returns to a deeply glossy, emulsified sauce that clings to the beef. The pepper's heat at serving will be warm and rounded, not sharp.