Tuscany or Toscana, as it is known in Italian, in central Italy is not only the country’s most important and well known wine region, it was also where the Renaissance movement began in the 14th century in the city of Florence. It covers a region along the Tyrrhenian coastline inland toward the Apennine Mountains. Tuscany is undoubtably one of the most beautiful wine regions in the world, with beautiful sun soaked vineyards on rolling hill, alongside olive and cypress trees and impressive aristocratic estates.
The most well known wine in Tuscany is Chianti and is made predominantly from the red grape Sangiovese. Chianti is the equivalent to Rioja here in Spain in terms of international recognition. As a brand Chianti has had its highs and lows, when quality was sacrificed for quantity during the 1970’s and 80’s. However, things have changed and the quality has improved markedly in the last ten years.
In the film Silence of the Lambs Hannibal Lecter craved for ‘liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti’, which is actually a very good combination. However, most people prefer their Chianti with pizza and pasta. To put in perspective how well known Chianti is, think that most pizzerias in the world will have a Chianti on their list. However, avoid the bottles dressed in straw jackets, the wine will be awful.
A basic Chianti is a red wine that tends to be fairly light in colour, medium bodied, light cherry flavours, quite savoury and noticeably acidic, which makes it a good food wine. The more interesting and better quality wines are those from the eight sub zones with the most important being Chianti Classico, located in the heart of the region.
Brunello is another name for Sangiovese or, to be more precise it is a clone of Sangiovese, and Brunello de Montalcino DOCG is one of the most highly prized wines in the world, with a prize tag to match. They come from vineyards around the town of Montalcino, near Sienna in southern Tuscany, where it is normally warmer and consequently the wines are more complex and fuller bodied than Chianti. These wines are made for ageing, in fact it can take decades for them to reach their peak. Most producers from the area will also offer a Rosso di Montalcino, which is not as intense as Brunello and drinkable at a younger age, five to ten years after the harvest.
To the east lies Vino Nobile di Montepulciano DOCG, which is in between Chianti Classico and Brunello in terms of intensity and concentration flavour. The second wine from the area is Rosso di Montepulciano.
The village of Bolgheri which is near the coast, is world famous as the home of several Super Tuscan wines. These are wines made from grapes like Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah and years ago because these grapes were not permitted in the Chianti DOCG they had to be called something else. These wines combine the acidity of Chianti with the rich fruit and tannins that come from the French grapes. The first Super Tuscan wine was Saccicaia, made from Cabernet Sauvignon. Nowadays there are quite a few ‘Super Tuscan wines’ Ornellaia, made mostly from Cabernet Sauvignon, and Tignanello, made from Sangiovese and Cabernet Sauvignon. You can be sure to pay ‘super’ high prices for these wines!
Add Toscana to you list of wines regions to explore as there are many great wines to discover.
Featured photo of Marco Rossi.
