While Chianti is the best-known Tuscan wine, there are many other fascinating options from Tuscany well worth your attention. Interestingly, most still use sangiovese (Chianti’s signature grape) as their foundation.
Your first choice should be Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, which is produced around the town of Montepulciano south of Siena. Though not as well-known as Chianti or Brunello di Montalcino (produced around the nearby town of Montacino), it can be good value quality alternative.
The wines must contain at least 70 percent sangiovese (known locally as prugnolo gentile) blended with other local varieties like canaiolo nero and mammolo. Generally, Vino Nobile presents refreshing, vibrant red fruit with hints of earth and spice. With gentle tannins, it offers easy drinking and versatile food matching.
A relative newcomer to the commune, acquiring its first vineyards in 1961, Poliziano, which farms its vineyards organically, is a good place to look. The (2016, $30) sports additions of colorino, canaiolo and merlot and offers bright black cherry and plum, with notes of earth, vanilla, toasty oak, spice, and licorice in a solid frame with polished tannins. Aged for 2 years, at least 1 year in oak barrels, it needs a year or two to reach its peak.
Poliziano also produces a Rosso di Montepulciano (2017, $17), a lower priced version of Vino Nobile made with added doses of various local varieties. The wine is aged in oak barrels for 1 year yielding a soft, balanced palate of plum and cherry, with hints of earth and leather.
At the other end of the Poliziano spectrum is the 2015 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano “Asinone” ($63), a single vineyard wine considered the epitome of the estate. With tiny additions of canaiolo and merlot, its succulent, deep berry fruit comes with vanilla, toast and notes of leather, earth, and spice, delivered in a rich, robust, yet polished palate with fine-grained tannins. This one should evolve nicely for several years.
For a region that is grounded in so much history and tradition, Tuscany also has become a center of innovation over the last several decades. Ever hear of a “Super Tuscan”? It was in Chianti in the 1970s where the “Super Tuscans” (not an official designation) emerged as a reaction to what some considered too rigid traditional regulations for making Chianti wine and the declining quality of much Chianti of the time. Although use of Bordeaux varieties are the most common additions, experimentation with other French grapes, like syrah also has gained interest. Many of these wines are quite expensive and considered among the best wines Italy has to offer.
Super Tuscans also may be made from a single variety like sangiovese or Cabernet Sauvignon, or a blend of different indigenous grapes. A good example of this latter type is the 2015 Badia a Cotibuono “Montebello” ($61). Wine has been made at what is now known as Badia a Cotibuono (Abbey of Good Harvest) for nearly a thousand years and possibly as far back as Etruscan and Roman times. The same family has owned the property since 1846. It is one of the region’s premier Chianti Classico producers. A field blend of nine indigenous local grape varieties (mammolo, sangiovese, canaiolo, ciliegiolo, colorino, foglia tonda, malvasia nera, sanforte and pugnitello), Montebello is produced from the family’s organic vineyards and vinified using only natural yeasts. It is beautifully intense and aromatic, with cherry, blackberry, spice, and licorice, presented with depth and complexity.
And then there is the Tuscan coast. Winegrowing here curiously gained increased attention mainly since the 1970s as the “Super Tuscans” emerged. I say curiously because the first of what became known as the “Super Tuscans” was Sassacaia, initially produced in 1944 on an estate near the town of Bolgheri a few miles from the Tuscan coast and sold commercially beginning 1968. It is comprised of 85 percent cabernet sauvignon and 15 percent cabernet franc.
The Bolgheri region soon became a frontier of innovation, experimenting with single variety wines, French/Italian blends, and more modern winemaking techniques. Ornellaia, first release in 1985, is considered another of the original “Super Tuscans” from the Bolgheri region. It is a cuvée of cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc & petit verdot. At around $240 per bottle, it is out of reach for most.
However, Le Serre Nuove dell’ Ornellaia, its sibling introduced in 1997 (described as a “second wine” in the Bordeaux tradition in that its grapes come from younger vines on the Ornellaia estate), is an affordable alternative by comparison. The 2015 ($75), is a fine wine in its own right. It features more merlot in its blend with cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc and petit verdot. It combines concentrated dark fruits, toasted vanilla, spice and savory notes, with a depth of flavor, a rich palate, approachable tannins, and aging potential. This is another wine that will evolve nicely over several years.
Also in Bolgheri, Aia Vecchia is the winery of a family of growers over several generations who decided to bottle their harvest about twenty-three years ago. The winery focuses on Bordeaux varietals to produce a portfolio of small-lot, high-quality blends. The 2017 “Sor Ugo” ($40) is 57 percent cabernet sauvignon, 22 percent merlot, 18 percent cabernet franc, and 3 percent petit Verdot. It drinks with enticing red and black fruit compote, smoky notes; it’s powerful and concentrated, with firm but friendly tannins.
Remember what I wrote earlier that it was in Chianti in the 1970s where the “Super Tuscans” emerged. We have “Tignanello”, first vintage 1971, as a blend of sangiovese, cabernet sauvignon and cabernet franc, to thank for that. Current vintages sell for around $135. But not all “Super Tuscans” are expensive. Production has evolved over the last forty years to the point where many estates craft quite good wines at quite affordable prices. These next three wines (each from a highly respected Chianti producer) are especially good values.
2015 Ruffino “Modus” ($25) introduced in 1997; one-third each sangiovese, cabernet sauvignon and merlot; lavish cherry and plum, with oak spice and vanilla delivered in a viscous palate, finishing with solid tannins.
2016 Tenuta Frescobaldi di Castiglioni ($25) a blend of mostly cabernet sauvignon and merlot with a small amount of cabernet franc and sangiovese from the family’s 700-year-old Castiglioni estate; mixed berries, earthy and herbal notes, soft but energetic texture.
2014 Selvapiana “Villa Petrognano” ($21) produced from organic vineyards in the Pomino subzone (historically known for the prevalence of French varieties near the winery’s base in Chianti Rufina); sangiovese, merlot and cabernet sauvignon combine for a lithe, smoky wine balanced with lively red fruits.
2017 Renzo Masi “Erta e China” ($16) also fashioned with grapes from the Rufina area, this half sangiovese and half cabernet sauvignon wine smacks of crisp cherry and spice.
Finally, in recent years the southwestern Tuscan area of Maremma, which had a historical reputation as much associated with cows and horses as grapes also has begun to generate interest. One of the most notable new denominations is Morellino di Scansano. By law the wines must be at least 85 percent sangiovese (known as morellino locally) from vineyards around the village of Scansano. Poliziano established a presence here with its Lohsa project in 1998. Its 2017 ($16) contains 15 percent ciliegiolo and exhibits earthy, smoky dark fruits with rustic tannins that resolve nicely with time.