Tuscany is certainly one of the most important wine regions in the world.

Among the wines of Tuscany, surely the most famous are the Chianti, Brunello di Montalcino and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, made primarily from Sangiovese grapes, while on the whites side the Vernaccia di San Gimignano is the most appreciated.

Tuscany has 38 wines with controlled denomination of origin (DOC) and 7 wines with denomination of origin controlled and guaranteed (DOCG).

Around 1970 with a kind of wine revolution emerged in the area of Bolgheri (small town near Livorno, on the west coast), a new class of wines known to most as "Super Tuscans". These wines are made outside the strict discipline of DOC and DOCG wine , but contrary to what one might expect, are the spearhead of the Tuscan wine production: producers, in fact, without the limitations imposed by the disciplinaries, on vines, vinification, aging, ... gave vent to their creativity, creating wines with unmatched features, powerful and structured, so that today many of these wines have become the subject of worship. In fact today many of the original Super Tuscans have been transformed into real DOC or DOCG (see, for example, Bolgheri), but many producers still choose to produce wines that do not fall in any discipline, or at most qualify as IGT.

Red wine in Tuscany

The Chianti is produced in eight distinct areas covering a vast territory of central Tuscany, around the original area of Chianti Classico. The large differences in climate and geological conditions of different areas of production contribute to the individuality of each wine: some Chianti are pretty fresh and easy to drink, although in general it is a full-bodied and well developed wine, capable of becoming aristocrat with age.

Perhaps one of the world's most famous Tuscan wines, the Brunello di Montalcino has its origin in a very limited territory, from an idea of the Biondi Santi family more than a century ago. From Sangiovese Grosso grape is produced a wine with unique structure and body, capable of long aging, which develops, with time, aromas and flavors of exceptional quality and stature.

From the same area, then, come wines of greater immediacy and ease: with the same grapes of Brunello is produced, also, the Rosso di Montalcino, a lighter, fresher wine but of great quality; with Moscato grapes, the famous dessert wine Moscadello of Montalcino and a variety of wines that fall under the designation Sant'Antimo.

The Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, made with a variety of Sangiovese known locally as Prugnolo Gentile, has been defined centuries ago by the poet Francesco Redi "the king of wines". The Nobile is a wine with a rather dynamic character with fragrant notes of spice and red fruit, with acidity and tannins rather marked, making it an elegant wine of great immediacy, if not always easy to drink.

The Carmignano is perhaps the first wine of designated origin of Tuscany: in 1716 already, in fact, the Grand Duke of Tuscany Cosimo III de' Medici delimited the production area offering the world the first example of disciplinary of controlled origin.

The production of high-level "alternative" wines, which began as a trend in the 1970s, has become an essential factor for the overall improvement of Tuscan reds. Wines of worship that have become known today as "Super Tuscans" continue to thrive. Yet the Sassicaia, pure Cabernet, in 1970 convinced the world that Italy could make modern reds of international appeal, now has its own appellation the DOC Bolgheri. The Tignanello, blend of Sangiovese and Cabernet, is used as a model for the new style of Tuscan red wines aged in oak barrels or barriques instead of old barrels.

Inspired by the success of the Cabernet and Merlot made Bolgheri, wines of the Tuscan coast have seen a rapid increase of their pretige, so that today they compete with those of central Tuscany for the supremacy of quality.

White wine in Tuscany

Not too much ago, the Tuscan white wines do not particularly enjoyed great prestige at the international level, probably because most were made with grape varieties considered, often erroneously, of low quality, such as Malvasia and Trebbiano.

Today things are changing. Vernaccia di San Gimignano, from the ancient Vernaccia vine, has enjoyed a resurgence that led to his promotion as the first DOCG white wine of the region.

Recently, also, has started the production of white wines of depth and complexity with international varieties such as Chardonnay, Sauvignon, Pinot Bianco and Grigio, which found the ideal climate for their cultivation in cooler areas of the hills in the region.

How can we not mention then, the historical Vin Santo, the pride of many Tuscan wine producers. Made mostly with Trebbiano and Malvasia grapes partially dried and aged in small oak barrels called Caratelli, Vin Santo can be an excellent dessert wine but it is to try as an aperitif.