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About wines of Tuscany |
| The most famous and popular wine from
this region is by far
Chianti.
The 7,000 hectares (17,290 acres) of
vineyards inscribed in the D.O.C.G. Register
for the production of Chianti Classico wine
make it one of the most important
appellations in Italy. The area accounts for
nearly a quarter of all Denominazione di
Origine Controllata e Garantita (D.O.C.G.)
wine produced in the country. All Chianti is
made from one major grape variety Sangiovese. From good vintages, pure
Sangiovese wines are rich in body and
intricate in flavor with deep ruby garnet
colors. Tuscany’s appellation of greatest
stature is
Brunello di Montalcino. Brunello
producers also make Rosso di Montalcino, a
younger wine from Sangiovese, the sweet
Moscadello di Montalcino (from Moscato) and
a range of wines that carry the appellation
Sant’Antimo. Not far from Montalcino is
Montepulciano with it’s
Vino Nobile, made
from a type of Sangiovese. Rosso di
Montepulciano is a younger alternative. The
production of upscale alternative wines,
beginning as a trend in the 1970's, became
an essential factor in the general
improvement of Tuscan reds. These cult wines
have become known as "Super Tuscans”. The
grand-daddy of all Super Tuscans is
Sassicaia
a pure cabernet that convinced the world
that Italy could make modern reds of International appeal. Antinori’s Tignanello,
also served as a model for Tuscany’s new
style of red wine aged in small oak barrels
or barriques instead of ancient casks. |
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Vacation
Rentals in Tuscany |
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Tuscany Accommodation |
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OVERVIEW ABOUT TUSCAN WINES
Here is a little
something about wine and our forefather's hopes; noble families (Antinori
Frescobaldi) and their history and the world behind wine which was
once only something to drink during a meal (not specialized
methods); today we can drink a glass of wine all by itself, without
any kind of food; with friends, it is a social habit, a reason to
get together and keep each other company.
So when you drink a
glass of wine, you can configure up an image of the hills of this
extraordinary area and the fascination of the old traditional
grape-growers.
The three most important variables that give
all Tuscan wines different characteristics are:
A: The different
kinds of soil
B: The climate and microclimate
C: The different
kinds of clones from the same grapes
A: In fact, we can find soils with stones called
Galestro that keep the earth hot during the summer and give the
plants heat during the winter. We can also find areas with different
kinds of soil, with a lot of different minerals that give the plants
and the grapes different aromas. For example, in the south we have
more clay which maintains a lot of water at the base of the plant
because it is waterproof.
B: Very important is the latitude of
Tuscany that provide us with a mediterranean climate, hot summers
and cold winters, and so there are very big temperature differences
between the two seasons.
Very important is the altitude that
begins at sea-level and goes as high as 450 mt. above sea-level.
The microclimate is characterized by, for example, the wind from the
sea in towns near the seacoast where salt covers the skins of the
grapes. Different exposure to the sun (north or south) or the
inclination and position of the vineyards on the hills, the presence
in the area of higher hills that stop the clouds and let the rain
fall more than in other areas.
Let us start speaking about clones
of the same grapes. The most important grapes here are autocton
grapes like SANGIOVESE, CANAIOLO, COLORINO, TREBBIANO and MALVASIA.
At the base of almost all of the Tuscan wines there is the
SANGIOVESE grape that in Montalcino is the clone BIG SANGIOVESE (big
grapes with a thick skin); in Montepulciano another clone in this
area is called PRUGNOLO GENTILE, in the Maremma it is called
MORELLINO because of the small-sized grapes;
In Chianti, the
regular Sangiovese is produced, but with different clones to be
ideal for any kind of soil in a microclimate.
In Tuscany, other
kinds of grapes are also used which are imported from France like:
CABERNET SAUVIGNON, CABERNET FRANC, MERLOT, SAUVIGNON BLANC. These
grapes are used in blends for many kinds of wines or pure to produce
the famous SUPERTUSCANS that are wines that because of the quantity
of these non-autocton grapes, do not follow the rigid rules of
Chianti, for example, and cannot be given the special denomination.
The vineyards in these towns are very old (15, 25 years) and produce
the best quality of grapes. The plants start to produce grapes for
making wine, only after 3 years from the time the grape-growers have
planted the vineyards.
The harvest starts in the middle of
September for the young vineyards and for cabernet and merlot grapes
and goes on until the first week of October except for the white
grapes like Malvasia and Moscato; for them, the harvest starts in
the last week of October and continues until the end of November.
After the harvest, the winemakers bring the grapes into the cellars
where the fermentation process begins at controlled temperatures
between 20 and 32° C for red wines.
A lower temperature of 15°C
for white wines, without skins, so as not to give tannins to the
wine.
They put the grapes in big stainless steel silos where the
sugar starts to became alcohol and the enzymes give flavor to the
wine.
After a variable period of 15-20 days, they filter the wine
and put it in barrels of oak or small barrels called barriques.
The wine with not much tannins is put in small barriques to give the
wine tannins and more flavor of toasted oak and smoke, because in
order to bend the wooden planks of the small barriques, fire is
used.
After 3 years, all the barrels have to be renewed so that
the wood can give more perfume to the wine. Small barriques are used
because the surface area of wine in contact with the wood is greater
and it gives the wine more flavor in less time.
Of course, the
law says how many years you have to leave the wine in the barrels.
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