Greetings,
There is so much wine in Tuscany I don’t know where to begin. Most towns have at least 3 wine shops on each street and every store that sells any kind of food in Tuscany inevitably has bottles for sale on display. Tuscans literally have red wine coursing through their veins. Unfortunately, the quality of these wines varies tremendously with the majority being nothing to write home about. In any case, the vineyards sure are a nice sight.
First a bit about the geography and land. Tuscany has a mediterrannean climate with dry hot summers and cool wet winters. As we move further form the Mediterranean coast and closer to the Appenine Alps the influence of the ocean diminishes quickly leaving most of the region exposed to sweltering 90 degree and even 100 + degree days in the middle of summer. Soils in this region aren't suitable for most crops (see below) but the native Sangiovese grape thrives in these conditions.
We visited an interesting winery just outside of Lucca which makes a very decent Tuscan wine. In order to add concentration to the wine the vintner adds a must to the first fermentation of the wine called Governo Toscano. This must is made from a second fermentation of grapes that have remained on the vine until shriveled into sugar saturated raisins. The resulting wine is so black and viscous that it makes your mouth look like you’ve been eating smurfs. Below is a picture of the creator of the this Tuscan Teeth Stainer boxing up some wine to send out (probably by donkey or vespa).
Tuscany is most famous for its red Chianti Classico wine. Chianti and Chianti Classico have such a mixed reputation in the U.S. that it’s difficult and controversial to make any generalizations. In my opinon, Chiantis are a soft and supple fruity wine offering medium structure at best. They can be very enjoyable with a wide variety of foods but the don't offer much in terms of complexity and structure. We visited a beautiful Castle in Chianti whch produces wines of high pedigree. We sampled the wines pictured below and brought a few home to accompany pasta dishes.
I was delightfully surprised by Morellino di Scansano, a wine from the Southern Tuscany region. This is still primarily Sangiovese with generally about 10% Cabernet Sauvingon. 2007 vintages of this wine is very rich considering the minimal time spent in oak.
Currently, all the rave in the world of Italian Red Wines is the Brunello di Montalcino DOCG. We tried a couple of these and I was disappointed. They were tasty wines but they do not in my opinion compare to a Cabernet from Napa or Bordeaux as many critics claim. Who knows, maybe we didn’t have the really great Brunellos but my advice is to focus on Northern Italy for high quality wines and keep Chianti where it belongs at the lunch table next to cheap pastas.
Unfortunately I didn't to try any of the much-hyped "Super Tuscan" red wines of the region. For those of you who don't care much about wine just think Super Expensive when you hear Super Tuscan. These are wines aren't made from the traditional and government controlled Sangiovese dominated formula. Instead, they make use of Cabernet, Merlot and other non-native grapes to make concentrated wines which are still too expensive for me to casually sample.
That's all for Italy. Much more content for the wines of France.
Cheers,
Red
Dang - putting Chianti in it's place.
Posted by: Sara Mesing | August 20, 2009 at 10:11 PM