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Tuscany: Down on the Coast

Tuscany is peppered with vineyards, including a huge expanse around the Chianti Classico zone representing the other Chianti regions - Chianti Rufina, Chianti Colli Senesi and so on - which, for reasons of simplicity (the maps, not me I hope!) I have chosen to omit. But there are other less well known vineyards too, and in this part of my guide, and the next, I will take a look at some of these wine regions. Not every one will come under the spotlight; there are, for example, some vineyards up to the west of Pisa which I have elected to overlook for lack of my experience with the wines. But I will look at the most important 'other' regions, starting here with those close to the coast, to the west of the Chianti Classico and other 'classic' Tuscan wine regions.

The drive from central Tuscany, where we find famed cities such as Siena, Pisa and Florence, and famed vineyards such as the aforementioned Chianti Classico zone, Brunello di Montalcino and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, is certainly one worth experiencing. I have already mentioned in my account of a day Out in Chianti Country the twisting and turning nature of many of the roads through Tuscany but here, as you ascend and descend the narrow spine of hills that run parallel to the coast it seems as though everything has been turned up a notch. These are only low foothills, so the ascent is not great, but progress is slow, the roads narrow and shaded, being enclosed by the canopy of trees overhead, and they are rich in lurching hairpin turns. Add in several crowds of kamikaze cyclists, resplendent in their racing team's colours, who revel in overtaking you on the downhill stretches but holler and whoop their complaints when the tables are turned, and it all makes for an entertaining journey. Thank heavens that there are some worthy wines to be discovered at journey's end when we reach the Maremma, Tuscany's coastal flatlands.

The first port of call on this journey is Morellino di Scansano, in the southern Maremma. Having just dealt with Montalcino and Montepulciano it makes sense to me to begin here, not purely for the purposes of pleasing alliteration but because there are common themes between these three regions. This should become especially apparent when we move further north to the second region that interests us here, Bolgheri.

Morellino di Scansano

Although I think of the coastal regions of Tuscany as lying to the west (where the coast is!) a quick look at the map of the coastal wine regions reveals a surprise, which is that Scansano in fact region lies directly south of the Chianti Classico zone and Montalcino. Nevertheless, we are much closer to the Mediterranean here, so there is a very different feel to the vineyards and also to the wines. Like Montalcino's Brunello and Montepulciano's Prugnolo Gentile, the principal grape variety here - Morellino - is yet another synonym for Sangiovese, proving this variety's dominance in Tuscany. The origin of the name is perhaps obscure, but rather like Brunello it may stem from the brownish tinge displayed by the fruit as it ripens, morellino being a derivative of morello (meaning brown).

Akin to Chianti and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano (but not Brunello di Montalcino, note), there is room for blending within the Morellino di Scansano DOCG, the minimum required Sangiovese being 85% (it can be 100% if pure Sangiovese is the winemaker's preference), the remaining 15% allowing for a wide selection of varieties, including the Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot that you might expect, but also other more 'southern' varieties such as Grenache, and of course the usual Italian suspects. Unlike some of its neighbours there are no strict aging regulations here, and so the wine can be released much sooner after the vintage than Brunello di Montalcino or Vin Nobile di Montepulciano, and this reflects Morellino di Scansano's position as an 'easier' drinking wine for approaching sooner than these grander DOCGs. Note though that there is a riserva designation which requires two year's aging before release, of which at least one year must be in wood.

Overall I view the wines of Morellino di Scansano as potentially offering great value, although as always it depends on the individual producer. I should also point out that there are a number of estates located in this region making good Sangiovese and other blends that fall outside the remit of Morellino di Scansano, and are classified as Indicazione Geografica Tipica. For more on the IGT category see the section on Super-Tuscans below.

Bolgheri

Head up the coast along from the vineyards of Scansano and we come to the northern Maremma and the coast 'proper', and in particular Bolgheri. Although the name of this particularly important DOC might not seem so familiar as Chianti or Brunello di Montalcino, the wines are highly significant for Tuscany. This is the source of numerous globally-renowned Italian wines such as Sassicaia (from Tenuta san Guido), Ornellaia and Masseto (both from the Frescobaldi family's Tenuta dell'Ornellaia), Le Macchiole and Lupicaia (from Castello del Terriccio) among others, as well as more recent but increasingly sought-after wines such as Caiarossa, from the Caiarossa estate, Guado al Tasso (from the Antinori stable) and Ca' Marcanda (a Tuscan outpost of Angelo Gaja). Of these, it is perhaps the first, Tenuta san Guido's Sassicaia, that is best known. The fact that this wine existed long before the DOC was shaped around it explains why it should enjoy the largest share of the limelight, while the name of Bolgheri remains, by comparison, a relatively obscure one.

The Bolgheri vineyards are midway along the coast surrounding the little village of the same name. Here it is not Sangiovese that dominates, and indeed this very Tuscan variety has a very minimal presence. Unlike the surrounding vineyards of Chianti, Montalcino, Montepulciano and even Scansano, Bolgheri is a region where international varieties dominate. Leading the pack are the Bordeaux varieties, both Cabernets, Merlot and Petit Verdot, but there are those that would extol the virtues of Syrah in preference. That is not to imply Sangiovese is totally absent from the region, and indeed I have tasted a few cuvées of coastal Sangiovese over the years. Unfortunately, what I have experienced has tended to display the weaknesses of the variety here, with a tendency towards rather oily textures and soft tannins lacking precision and life. Sangiovese does better a little further inland, with a little more altitude and harder, well-drained soils, which together give the wines better definition and a more savoury, restrained substance. Here on the coast, stick with the Bordeaux blends is my advice. If you can afford them, that is; these are some of Italy's most expensive wines.

The Super-Tuscans

At this point in my wine guide it seems appropriate to give some detail on what have been known for several decades as the Super-Tuscans. If this guide had been written ten or fifteen years ago I think I would have devoted much more space and detail to this section of the guide, but today it seems less vital to expound so thoroughly. That is not to deny the dramatic effect the evolution of the Super-Tuscans have had on the wines of this region; to play down their effect in this manner would most certainly not be true. The development of this ill-defined category of wines had far-reaching effects not just for the wines of Tuscany, but for all Italian wine.

The appearance of the Super-Tuscans in the late 1960s and 1970s resulted from dissatisfaction with the stringent Italian wine laws which many individuals felt were little better than a vinous strait jacket. For example, the Chianti Classico regulations ratified in 1967 stipulated a maximum 70% Sangiovese, a figure that had been passed down through history ever since the Ricasoli family described the ideal (in their eyes) Chianti recipe in 1872. The varieties that were to make up the remaining 30% included only indigenous varieties and even white grapes - so a Chianti could include up to 30% Malvasia and Trebbiano! What if you, the dedicated winemaker, felt the best quality would be achieved with 100% Sangiovese? Alternatively, and this sentiment was probably more prevalent, what if you would rather blend Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot instead of Colorino, Canaiolo, Trebbiano or Malvasia? Or indeed, what if you fancied producing a wine that was 90% Cabernet Sauvignon, with nothing more than a splash of Sangiovese, if it was included at all? At the time though, it mattered not which path you may have preferred, as none of these styles were permitted by the DOC regulations of the era.

The breakaway wine was Vigorello, produced by Enzo Morganti at San Felice, in the Chianti Classico zone, in the 1968 vintage. This was pure Sangiovese, and as such did not meet the requirements to be labelled as Chianti Classico; with no appropriate DOC in existence, such wines ended up being classified as vino da tavola, 'lowly' table wine. In the same vintage came Sassicaia, a rather different proposition, this being a blend of Cabernets Sauvignon and Franc, so clearly far outside the concept of Chianti or other Sangiovese-based wines. It had in fact been produced since the 1965 vintage, but 1968 was the first commercial release. Again, this was classified as vino da tavola. Before long the Antinori family, suitably inspired by the achievements of their cousins with Sassicaia, followed suit with Tignanello. In the 1970 vintage Tignanello had been a Chianti Classico Riserva, predominantly Sangiovese blended with the usual red (and white) suspects. In the 1971 vintage these traditional blending varieties were replaced with Cabernet Sauvignon, and once again the vino da tavola category was the only one applicable. So now Tuscany had two very broad wine categories; those that followed the perhaps stifling DOC regulations, for better or for worse (many locals felt the latter), and those that ignored the rules, putting quality above classification, using more Sangiovese or international varieties than was permitted, or indeed, producing wines made purely from Sangiovese or some blend of the international varieties. The result was that this slightly disparate group of new and esoteric wines were forced into the vino da tavola category, a quality level usually associated with throat-burning wines of 'rustic charm', if I may put it that way, and yet these new wines were considered by many to be superior to their DOC counterparts, with their more prestigious ranking. Consumers agreed, and these wines were soon fetching high prices, regardless of what classification may have appeared on the label. These new and ultimately 'iconic' brands - Sassicaia, Ornellaia, Masseto and so on - were more recognisable and memorable than the DOC wines. Thus, the Super-Tuscans were born.

Despite their stringent DOC and DOCG regulations the Italian wine authorities have, at times, shown a remarkable degree of flexibility. Just as the Bolgheri DOC subsequently grew up to accommodate the grand international success of its prototype wine Sassicaia, the entire Italian wine system evolved (in time) to accommodate the Super-Tuscans. I suppose it had to; having the best wines classified as vino da tavola made a mockery of the entire system, and their continued success threatened to marginalise the supposedly more prestigious DOC and DOCG wines. To resolve the situation the Indicazione Geografica Tipica or IGT category was created, essentially to give these new wines a home that didn't have the 'table wine' undertones, and moves to accommodate some were made by relaxing DOC and DOCG regulations, as described principally in the section on Chianti Classico. Some estates and wines have made the move to IGT whereas other have taken advantage of these developments in the Chianti Classico DOCG in order to give their wines a more recognisable designation than mere vino da tavola. Although overall I think relaxing (and as a result, overall, improving) the regulations for Chianti was a wise move, the unintentional result has been a further blurring of the boundaries that existed between the traditional styles and the Super-Tuscans. Today, why some wines are classified as Chianti Classico, and some as IGT, can be something of a mystery, often down to little more than the whim of the proprietor.

Take, for example, the superlative Flaccianello cuvée from Fontodi. Once a single-vineyard pure Sangiovese but now sourced from all over the Fontodi estate, this wine would once have been ineligible for Chianti Classico status as it has always been 100% Sangiovese. As a consequence it is today IGT, although as the Chianti regulations have relaxed (and 100% Sangiovese cuvées are now eligible) it could in fact be marketed as Chianti Classico, and would probably be a leader within that category such is its quality. And what else should Chianti be, if not pure Sangiovese? But Fontodi already have a very successful Chianti Classico Riserva of similar quality, named Vigna del Sorbo. Today this latter wine is, ironically, 90% Sangiovese and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, exactly the sort of blend that was outlawed, engendering the appearance of the Super-Tuscans. And yet today this is not super-Tuscan, or vino da tavola, or IGT, but is instead offered by the estate as their foremost example of the Chianti Classico DOCG, despite the inclusion of the international variety Cabernet Sauvignon and in preference to the 100% Sangiovese Flaccianello, which remains IGT. A similar situation can be found at a number of other estates; wines which could be classified as Chianti Classico (and which superficially might appear to be the most Chianti-like wine in the portfolio) remain IGT. When what appears to be the most obvious choice for reclassifying as Chianti remains IGT, it may well reflect the timeline of the development of the regulations; the inclusion of up to 10% international varieties became legal in 1984, but pure Sangiovese cuvées did not come into the fold until 1996, hence Vigna del Sorbo became eligible for the Chianti label at a time when Flaccianello remained ineligible; this sequence of events, more than anything else, probably determined which wines 'converted' to Chianti status, and which remained vino da tavola and then IGT. Keeping the wines in distinct categories also probably helps to distinguish between Chianti on the one hand, and alternative styles on the other, within any given portfolio....although confusingly these interpretations may differ from one estate to the next.

This mildly confusing state of play is a good reason for not going on any longer about the Super-Tuscans. What was achieved by the appearance of these wines was a new flexibility in Italian wine law, not just here but across the whole country. There are now IGT wines from Veneto, Sicily, Friuli, from almost every corner of Italy in fact. The result was, in my opinion, increased diversity and the appearance of ever more exciting wines. As if Italy wasn't diverse and fascinating enough already! Although, having said that, in Tuscany this diversity still tends to disappear beneath the sea of Sangiovese and Sangiovese-blends which dominate the region. And so, in the final section of this mini-guide, I will explore in more detail some of the other wine styles that can be found in the enotecas of Tuscany, wines that might be white rather than red, and sweet rather than dry.

• Part 7: Other Wines of Tuscany