Tuscany is one of those wine regions that give some of the most important reds in the world. Famous winemaker Giacomo Tachis, inventor of the award winning Supertuscan wine Sassicaia, said: "Here there is light, the sun. Radiant sunlight and the right soil are the soul of wine. But the tradition of the countryside and the memory of men are the solid bases of the extraordinary Tuscan wine culture."
In Tuscany, the appellation system was introduced in the Sixties, but was very rigid and had yet very little to do with the quality of wine.
In following years the introduction of international grape varieties and the use of the French barriques became common in seventie's.
Beginning in the 80's and through the 90's new wines, the so-called Super Tuscans with their international taste gave a very good name to the area.The gradual modernization of the appellation system has now drawn our attention back to the traditional wines of the area, made with the autochthon grape varieties, and without excessive use of foreign oak barrels. In these last years, many people realized that Tuscany is not only the land of the great Brunello and Super Tuscan, often available only to wine collectors: it is a region that has great many interesting wines, pure and blends, made with indigenous grape varieties.
Here you can find some of the most famous wine of Tuscany region:
The Doc Orcia
Fundamental to Orcia wines is Sangiovese grape. This noble vine is the “red son” which ties the story of our wine together.
The territory in which Orcia wine is produced is between the zones of the Brunello of Montalcino and the Vino Nobile of Montepulciano, one of the most important areas in Italy for the production of great wines.
The Doc Orcia wines are Orcia red (made from Sangiovese grapes and other non aromatic grapes; a well-structured, complex wwine, dark red in colour with a fine bouquet, reminiscent of red fruits), Orcia white (made from Tuscan trebbiano and other non-aromatic grapes: a wine with a fine, fruity bouquet and a dry, balanced flavour) and Orcia Vin Santo (made from Tuscan trebbiano (min.50%) and other non aromatic grapes; a complex wine, golden tending to amber in colour, with an intense bouquet, spiritous and lasting, warm, banaced, and full on the palate).
The Doc Chianti
Chianti is a specific geographical area between Florence and Siena, however there are 8 zones of Toscana can call their wines Chianti: Chianti Classico, Chianti Montalbano, Chianti Colli Fiorentini (Florentine hills), Chianti Montespertoli, Chianti Rufina, Colli Senesi (the hills of Siena), Chianti Colline Pisane (the Pisan hills) and Chianti Colli Aretini (the hills of Arezzo).
The grape variety are Sangiovese, Canaiolo Nero, Trebbiano Toscano & Malvasia Bianca Lunga (other grapes max 10%).
Type of wines: Chianti Superiore (min 12% alchol), Chianti Riserva (min. aging 38 months).
Today all Chianti wines are Docg (Denominazione origine controllata e garantita, Designation of Controlled Origin and Guaranteed).
The Chianti Classic wines generally are bright ruby-red tending to garnet with maturation coloured, with a vinous odor,
with a scent of violets and a pronounced finesse that develops in the maturation phase. The flavor is balanced, dry, sapid and lightly tannic, fining in time to a velvety softness.
Brunello di Montalcino
“Brunello” (“the little brown one”) was the name that in the 19th century locals gave to the Sangiovese Grosso grown around Montalcino. They called so grapes for the brown hue of its skin. This area, 112 km/70 miles south of Florence, enjoys a warmer, drier climate than the various zones of chianti, so here Sangiovese reaches its maximum ripeness here, giving fuller, richer wines than anywhere else in Toscana. Today, “Brunello di Montalcino” is probably one of the most famosu wines in the world;
producer Ferruccio Biondi-Santi was the first to bottle it and give it a distinctive name, in 1888.
Prior to 1968, when DOC regulations were introduced, the producers were used to augment their Sangiovese with other varieties in the zone. The monovarietal Biondi-Santi's view was an exception, and prevailed. However, following the earlier tradition, some producers currently add other grapes (especially Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon) to their wines, in order to give them more appeal when the vintage is unhappy.
Brunello di Montalcino is a wine with a intense ruby red, tending to garnet with ageing, characteristic and intense bouquet, and a flavor dry, warm, a bit tannic, robust and harmonic.
Vernaccia di San Gimignano
This wine is straw yellow, dry, slightly bitter, with a high alcohol content. It is made from vernaccia grape, locally produced: its name probably mean “native”. The vine is believed to derive from Greece; story tells us that Vernaccia was beloved in Tuscany already 800 yrs ago. Later on Vernaccia was surely served at the table of popes and of the Medici family. It is a wine that is intended for drinking young, so within a year, max 2 yrs, of harvest. However, the Riserva has interesting aging potentials (3-5 yrs), depending on the wine.
