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Tuscany, one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world can also count its wines as some of the most famous and sought after. Tuscany, or Toscana is best known for its Sangiovese-based red wines, Chianti, Brunello di Montalcino and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano along with world remowned Super Tuscans which include big names such as Sassicaia and Ornellaia. Beyond the reds wines are lesser known but no less delicious white wines made from the local Vernaccia and Vermentino grapes and don’t forget amazing Vin Santo for dessert! But there is even more to explore and behind it a long and fascinating history of wine production.
Tuscany sits in central Italy, bordered by Emilia-Romagna and Liguria to the north, Umbria and Marche to the east and Lazio to the south, and its western border boasts a coastal area on the Tyrrhenian Sea. Rolling hills are dotted with picturesque medieval villages lined with cypress tress on the roadways.
Over 40 DOC’s and 11 DOCG’s help to protect the production rules and quality of the wines, alongside the table wines marked with IGP/IGT designations.
Historically, Tuscany can trace its vinous roots back to the Etruscans from the 7th century BC. They learned winemaking from the Greeks and shared their wine across central Italy. During Roman times production dropped as more wine was sourced from Gaul and the Iberian Peninsula but it never ceased and has continued until modern times. In fact, wine production was such an important part of daily life that it is said even Michelangelo produced his own wine to share with friends and family. By the 1200’s Florence was a center of wine with many merchants and a guild known as the Ate dei Vinattieri that imposed rules on production and how business was conducted.
All this wine undoubtable inspired much of the output of the Renaissance.
In 1716 the Grand Duke of Tuscany Cosimo III de' Medici defined the Chianti zone with a legal document. This made history as the first legally enforced example of a DOC.
The climate is very hot in the summer with rainfall occurring in the autumn and winter months, with some snowfall possible. The best vines are planted on the sloping hills and Sangiovese, by far the most important grape of the region and one of the ‘noble grapes’ of Italy, accounts for two thirds of all plantings and 85% of red wine production.
