There are many different types of red wines in Tuscany, and here we show you some of the very best. From the world famous Chianti to the fine wines of Bolgheri. From Brunello di Montalcino to Vino Nobile do Montepulciano. Get ready to savour the real Tuscany.
Tuscany Red Wine – Chianti
Wine produced in the Chianti area takes pole position here. Famous all over the world, it’s been defined “the most Italian of all wines“. It’s a perfect food wine, an apt companion for the Tuscan delicacies such as cold meat, Fiorentina steak, and meat sauces for pasta and pecorino cheeses. Sangiovese, which is Tuscany’s signature grape, is the key ingredient. It’s coarse, tannin and tart, becoming more intense, refined and full bodied the more it ages. If in doubt, choose one with the prestigious DOCG classification.
Flavour: Red fruits, herbs, tobacco leaf – Colour: Ruby red – Smell: Flowery (violet)
Prices: from low to high
Brunello di Montalcino
This is considered one of the top Italian red wines. It’s 100% Sangiovese, and only produced in the area of Montalcino, a small town in the province of Siena. It’s a wine with a long lifespan, slightly tannic but robust, harmonic and full bodied. Juicy and spicy, it improves with age, and is an ideal pair for rich food like red meat, game, aged cheese, mushrooms and truffles. But it is also a meditative wine that can be drunk alone.
Flavour: Sour cherry, red pepper, vanilla, flake, oregano. – Colour: Ruby red – Smell: spices and tobacco leaf.
Prices: high to very high
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Vino Nobile di Montepulciano
This wine is only produced in the hills around the town of Montepulciano, using Sangiovese grapes (min. 70%) black Canaiolo, and other local varieties. It’s a wine with a very long history, enjoyed throughout the centuries by popes and nobles. Two years minimum ageing is the rule. It’s an elegant, medium bodied wine, and its acidity makes it a wine worthy of ageing.
Flavour: strawberry, cherry, tannic, tea leaf finish – Colour: deep dark red – Smell: dark cherry and plum. Prices: high.
Bolgheri – Super Tuscans
Of all the types of red wines produced in Tuscany, the ones from the area surrounding Bolgheri, near the coast of Livorno, are perhaps the most modern, and nonconformist. This is due to the fact that they use alternatives to the Sangiovese grapes such as Sauvignon, Trebbiano, Merlot, Syrah and Cabernet Franc. To classify these wines that didn’t conform to the traditional wine-making norms, the term ‘Super Tuscan’ was invented. From the start these were wines of superior quality, which quickly earned global recognition.
One of the better known Super Tuscans is Sassicaia. Produced on a small scale and made with 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, it’s one of the most sought-after fine wines in the world. A wine for collectors as well as drinkers.
Prices: high to astronomical
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