Tuscany - Chianti, Brunello and Super Tuscans
For many wine lovers Tuscany is the very heart of Italy: a landscape of gentle hills, cypresses and stone towns, and in the glass some of the most recognisable red wines in the world. It is a region where a single grape, Sangiovese, reigns, and yet it gives wines of very different character: from everyday, cheerful Chianti, through majestic, long-lived Brunello, to rebellious, rule-breaking Super Tuscans. This guide explains what links these wines, how they differ, where their prices come from and how winemaking rules sparked one of the most important revolutions in the history of Italian wine.
Sangiovese, the soul of Tuscany
The key to understanding Tuscany is one grape: Sangiovese. It is the source of most of the great Tuscan red wines, and it gives them their shared character. Sangiovese is famous for high acidity, firm tannins and a savoury, cherry profile dominated by a note of cherry skin, sometimes almost tart and austere.
It is a wine that can seem sharp and demanding when drunk on its own and blossoms only at the table, in the company of food. Its lively acidity cuts through fat, and the tannins cope with meat and cheese. That is why Sangiovese is so deeply tied to Tuscan cuisine: it was made for food. I cover tannins in tannins in wine, and acidity in acidity in wine.
Chianti, everyday joy
The most famous Tuscan wine is Chianti, once associated with a bottle in a straw basket, today with a whole spectrum of quality. Chianti is a wine based mainly on Sangiovese, from a broad area between Florence and Siena. In its best, higher form, marked as Chianti Classico, it comes from the historic, hilly heart of the region.
Chianti is a wine of bright, ruby colour, clear acidity and notes of red cherry, plum, herbs and sometimes earthy, spicy seasoning. It is versatile, friendly and made for the table, especially for Italian cuisine with tomatoes, whose acidity harmonises beautifully with the wine. It is the ideal entry point into the world of Sangiovese: affordable and at the same time authentic. From simple, everyday bottles to serious, ageing Chianti Classico Riserva stretches a whole ladder of quality.
Brunello di Montalcino, majesty
At the top of the Tuscan hierarchy stands Brunello di Montalcino, one of the most distinguished and expensive wines of Italy. Brunello is the local name for a particular clone of Sangiovese, grown around the small town of Montalcino. In the mid-nineteenth century a local farmer isolated this clone, and his grandson popularised the wine that in time became a legend.
Brunello is made one hundred percent from Sangiovese and undergoes long ageing: a minimum of five years before release, six in the Riserva version. This makes it a powerful, deep and exceptionally long-lived wine, with notes of ripe cherry, leather, tobacco, dried herbs and earth. Brunello was the first Italian wine to earn the highest DOCG classification. It is a wine for long ageing and great occasions, far from the cheerful simplicity of ordinary Chianti, though both descend from the same grape.
Vino Nobile and other faces of Sangiovese
Tuscany is not only Chianti and Brunello. It is also worth knowing Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, another noble wine based on Sangiovese, from around the town of Montepulciano. Historically considered the wine of the nobility, hence the name nobile, it combines structure and elegance, sitting somewhere between approachable Chianti and majestic Brunello.
These three wines, Chianti, Brunello and Vino Nobile, show how much a single grape can change character depending on place, clone and ageing. It is a great lesson in terroir in the Italian style: the same Sangiovese soul, three different personalities. Tuscany proves that the richness of wine need not come from a multitude of grapes but can be born from a deep knowledge of one.
Super Tuscans, rebellion against the rules
The most interesting story of Tuscan wine is the birth of the Super Tuscans in the 1970s. To understand it, you need to know that Italian wine law strictly regulates which grapes may be used in a given appellation. A group of ambitious winemakers found these rules too rigid and decided to break them.
They began making wines from grapes unusual for Tuscany, especially Cabernet Sauvignon, or blending Sangiovese with Bordeaux grapes, often ageing them in French oak. From the point of view of the law these were ordinary, unclassified wines, and yet they proved outstanding and reached dizzying prices. The first of them was the famous Sassicaia from Bolgheri, a Bordeaux-style blend released in 1971. Thus a whole category of wines was born that broke the rules and at the same time conquered the world. I cover the grape behind this rebellion in Cabernet Sauvignon.
How the law caught up with the revolution
The story of the Super Tuscans has an interesting ending that says a lot about how the wine world works. Since these wines were formally ordinary and at the same time outstanding and expensive, the classification system proved disconnected from reality. Something had to be done about it.
In 1992 a new, more flexible IGT classification was introduced, which gave winemakers freedom to experiment while still providing a certain level of quality assurance. Thanks to it the Super Tuscans gained official recognition without losing their freedom. It is a beautiful example of how a grassroots rebellion can change a whole system from within. Today the Super Tuscans are not outcasts but among the most prized wines of Italy, and their story teaches that sometimes breaking the rules leads to greatness.
White wines and Vin Santo
Although Tuscany is famous for red wines, it is worth knowing that the region also makes interesting white and dessert wines, which broadens the picture. The most famous white is Vernaccia di San Gimignano, from around the picturesque town with its characteristic towers. It is a dry, fresh wine with notes of citrus, green apple and a light, almond bitterness in the finish, great with fish and light snacks.
The real Tuscan curiosity, however, is Vin Santo, that is holy wine. It is a sweet dessert wine made from dried grapes that, after harvest, rest on straw or mats, losing water and concentrating their sugars, and then age for years in small barrels. It gives an amber, dense wine with notes of honey, dried apricot, nuts and caramel. It is traditionally served with hard almond cantucci biscuits, which you dip in the wine. It shows that Tuscany is not only Sangiovese but a whole world of flavours worth exploring.
Tuscany at the table
The common denominator of all Tuscan wines based on Sangiovese is their vocation for the table. High acidity and clear tannins make them wines that show themselves most fully in the company of food, rather than during solitary sipping. It is not a flaw but their essence.
The classic pairings here are obvious and proven over centuries: Chianti with pasta in tomato sauce, pizza and grilled meat, Brunello with game, roasts and mature cheeses. The acidity of Sangiovese refreshes the palate between bites of fatty food, and the tannins balance the protein of the meat. That is why in Tuscany wine and food are inseparable, and tasting these wines without food misses half their charm. It is a good lesson that some wines must be understood in the context of the kitchen.
How to explore them
The best way to understand Tuscany is to set an affordable Chianti beside a more serious wine from the same grape, like Brunello or a good Chianti Classico Riserva, and if you can, add a Super Tuscan with Cabernet. You will immediately feel how the same cherry soul of Sangiovese can take a cheerful, majestic and rebellious form. In GustoNote you record the appellation, acidity, tannins, fruity notes and your impressions of each wine, and after a few entries you will see which style of Tuscany draws you most. It turns an intimidating region into a clear, personal map of flavour. You will find a full overview of wine types in types of wine.