Tuscany

The Barons, Contrarians and Sangiovese

Tuscany is the heart and soul of Italy. Tuscany is also the hills, the vineyars, the unbelievably tasty food and excellent wines; the land of Etruscans whom we now have to thank for the Sangiovese grape. Two medieval capitals: Siena and Florence, – a multitude of tiny yet beautiful villages with Michelin-starred and private-owned domestic restaurants, small farming enterprises in the heart of the region and the luxurious villas on the coast. The perfect place to study wine and enjoy it among the picturesque landscapes.

But what is really special and essential about Tuscany is people. It’s the people, devoted to their soil and their work, who create that great and true wine we love so much. To be honest, the region as a whole produces a lot of mediocre, commercial and simply bad wine. Historically, the wines of Tuscany have been associated with bellied bottles of Chianti, covered in straw. Wine has always cost little here and people added everything into it. Up till 1980s, according to the “formula” of the baron Bettino Ricasoli – the creator of Chianti – besides Sangiovese, wine also needed the local grape varieties: Canaiolo (providing the structure) and Colorino (providing the colour). Other “musts” included the white varieties: Trebbiano and Malvasia, which are not suited to great wines at all.

But some decided to change the situation and raise the region’s reputation. In 1968 marquise Incisa della Rocchetta, going against the local law, made the first super-Tuscanian wine – the famous Sassicaia, – thus beginning the production of wines by the Bordeaux technology on the coast of Tuscany. Almost simultaneously another Tuscanian winemaker Sergio Manetti from the Montevertine domain decided to leave the Chianti consortium because the law obliged him to add other grape varieties into wine (besides Sangiovese). That was how the legendary Le Pergolo Torte came into being – the wine that can be safely said to be the best manifestation of Sangiovese on the Chianti grounds.

But Chianti is but a part of Tuscany. All around the small town of Montalcino people grow a clone of Sangiovese and make the wonderful Brunello di Montalcino. Back at the end of XIX century Ferruccio Biondi Santi put a start to these wines, and now Brunello is one of the most famous Italian wines. And, sadly, one of the most commercialised. But still, some winemakers remain unfailingly loyal to the traditions of old.

It is justly supposed that the Brunello of Gianfranco Soldera, aged in Slavonian oak, is the trademark of this grape variety, terroir and all the Tuscany wines.