AnteprimeToscana 2018: Interesting Regional Tuscan Appellations

When you think of Tuscany, the wines that come to mind are Chianti, Chianti Classico, Nobile di Montepulciano and Montalcino, and of course, San Gimignano known for its Vernaccia white wine as well Chianti from this small village, an hour’s drive from Florence. However, there are 10 other areas within Tuscany that have an independent Appellation and a Consortium of producers who showcased their products by setting up their stands for a day, as a part of Anteprime Toscana or popularly known as Tuscan Tastings. 

The first day is reserved for tasting these wines. Whether one day is enough to do justice to these wines and wineries is a moot point. But a visitor needs to take a position and focus on just a few of the appellations to do justice. The wines are generally of good to very good quality and more affordable- my favourites are Carmignano that makes wines like Chianti but generally using Cabernet Sauvignon with Sangiovese, making this a Super Tuscan producer zone.

There were also a couple of Master Classes and a guided Tasting from 10 appellations by Doc. Clizia Zuin, a sommelier and wine expert from Florence.  The first one was entitled Sangiovese & Co. In Tuscany- past, future and good laws. The second was ‘Go Local, yes, in Tuscany we can!’  The future was very good ,she said since the quality of wines in the areas had seen an upward shift due to New Agricultural techniques. Besides the richness of Tuscany, many young and ambitious winemakers are also connected with small families and so quality has been increasingly very well in the last 10-15 years. The Tastings did bring out the difference in Terroirs.

There are 6 IGT (Indicazione Geografica Tipica) 30 DOC (Denominazione di Origine Controllata) and 11 DOCG wines in Tuscany, said Doc. Zuin. Of course, Chianti and Chianti Classico are 2 of the 11 docg wines-not all wines from these 10 appellations are docg. She took the audience through a guided Tasting of one wine from each of these areas.

She emphasized that Local grapes were a part of biological environment, offered typicity to the wine. There is a great curiosity around the viticulture trade in Tuscany and it was their endeavour to create a connection between lad, local grapes and foreign markets.

Sting adds glamour

A substantial part of the morning session was taken away by the presences of the famous iconic musician, Sting and his wife Trudie Styler who own a winery Tenuta Il Palagio, making excellent red wines in the Chianti region; around 40 Kms southeast of Florence in the direction of Arezzo. He sang a few popular songs with his Jamaican friend Shaggy after his wife Trudie introduced the winery and its 27-year old history. After regaling the crowd with the few songs, they walked through different stands tasting wines at a couple of places. They also went to their own winery stand erected specially to be with these 10 appellations, where they spent more time and tasting their own wines.

This showcasing of 10 appellations is a recent addition to the Tuscan Tastings and merits more time for people to savour the wines. A dinner with wines from the appellations would be an idea to emulate from Chianti Classico, Montepulciano, San Gimignano and Montalcino where one drinks and discusses the wines with different dishes and has discussion with the producers. Some of these wines have not been in limelight- but areas like Maremma, Montecucco and Morellino di Scansano are the rising stars which could increase their market share with such strategy.

Subhash Arora 

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