Wines of Exciting Tuscany

Tuscany, or Toscana to the Italians, was producing wine before the days of the Romans. For millennia the wine was consumed close to home, but this changed following World War II when raffia covered bottles of Chianti started appearing in wine shops and pizza and pasta parlours throughout the world.

The quality of the wine was reflected by the fact many people bought Chianti for the bottle and not the wine. Tonnes of pale red Chianti were poured down drains so candles could be stuck in the colorful bottles. Although a triumph of packaging over substance, the poor quality of Tuscany’s best-known wine almost single-handedly destroyed the international reputation of Italian wines.

This doesn’t mean all Tuscan wine was Chianti or that all wine created in Tuscany – or Italy for that matter – was of inferior quality. But there is no denying much of the Chianti was plonk and made by producers without a passion for their craft. Furthermore, in a world still uneducated in the ways of wine, Italian wine was synonymous with Chianti and this meant most people considered Italian wine to be a second rate product not worth getting excited about.

Chianti’s low status made it impossible for serious Tuscan producers to get enough money for their wine to justify the effort required to make a quality product. By the 1970’s several of them had enough and they began producing wines without using the Chianti appellation. By not calling their wines “Chianti’, the renegade winemakers not only avoided the Chianti stigma, they also freed themselves from the antiquated regulations governing how Chianti wine should be made.

All of this was a calculated gamble, but the new wines, which were designated simply as “vino da tavola” (table wine), took the international wine drinking community by storm. They were bold, brassy and a refreshing departure from the dismal past. Grapes rarely seen in Italy – like Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc – appeared on the scene and were blended with Sangiovese, Tuscany’s traditional red wine grape. Somewhere along the line, the wines began winning medals and accolades – and were eventually dubbed “Super Tuscans”.

The success of the Super Tuscans is highlighted by the prices they now fetch and some of the awards they have won. In the year 2000, for example, the editors of the Wine Spectator chose an Antinori 1997 Solaia, a Tuscan red made from a blend of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Cabernet Franc and 20% Sangiovese, as their wine of the year. Sangiovese plays an even bigger role in Tignanello, another Antinori product and the wine that really got the Super Tuscan revolution rolling. This wine is made with a blend of 80% Sangiovese, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Cabernet Franc.

To say the arrival of the Super Tuscans shook things up in Tuscany is an understatement. Chianti suddenly had competition and it was coming from wines that were pointedly different from Chianti. They used different grapes, employed different vineyard and winemaking techniques, were often aged in small oak barrels, and didn’t contain the white wine grapes that added to Chianti’s insipid character. Predictably, the rules for Chianti were changed and the new DOCG regulations allowed the use of grapes found in many of the Super Tuscans.

The efforts to re-establish Chianti’s lacklustre image have met with mixed results. Wines from the Chianti Classico DOCG are the best and good wines can also be found in the Chianti DOCG, particularly those labelled “Chianti Rufina”. The biggest hurdle, however, hasn’t been quality. It’s been the explosion of great wines from all of Tuscany’s diverse wine growing regions and the realization by consumers that there is more to Tuscany than Chianti.

Today Tuscany is alive with experimentation and excitement. New grapes have been planted, including white varieties like Chardonnay. New wine blends have been created and areas that formerly produced wine only for local consumption have gone international. To reinforce these changes and to help wine drinkers select wines, a plethora of new wine appellations (DOC’s) have been established.

In addition to new wines, quality wines long produced in Tuscany, but not widely known outside of Italy have now received international recognition. Good examples are wines with the “Brunello di Montalcino” appellation. Brunellos must be made from 100% Sangiovese grapes and aged at least four years, two of which must be in oak. These wines are expensive, but probably the best examples of how good a wine Sangiovese can make.

The Bolgheri region on Tuscany’s Mediterranean coast is another hotspot of excitement. Sassicaia, one of the original Super Tuscans was created here and several large and respected producers have moved into Bolgheri and planted grapes seldom seen in Italy. It will be interesting to see what the future holds for this developing area.

Tuscany is quintessentially Italian. Tempestuous, argumentative, and sometimes impossible to comprehend, it is one of the most exciting and innovative wine producing regions in the world. If you have yet to sample Tuscan wines, do yourself a favor and try one the next time you visit a wine shop or restaurant. If you are like most people, you will be glad that you did.

Italian Wine Classifications

“Vino da Tavola” (VdT) There are virtually no restriction placed on these wines. They range form insipid plonk to wines that are spectacular because they do exciting things not permitted by the other classifications.

“Indicazione Geografica Tipica” (IGT) In these wines the grapes were grown and the wine produced in the area indicated on the label. The label may also state the grape variety and the vintage.

“Denominazione di Origine Controllata” (DOC). Wines with this on their labels must conform to government regulations about which grapes can be used, where the grapes can be grown and how the wine can be produced and bottled. Wines of this denomination are subject to testing and review by officials.

“Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita” (DOCG). These wines meet all of the DOC requirements, plus the producer is required to control and guarantee zone of origin, net contents, name of grower and bottler, place of bottling and amount of alcohol. All of these wines have a government seal of approval affixed to the bottle and are subject to analysis at any time by inspectors