📍 Tuscany

Tuscany is a region in central Italy whose main city is Florence. It is the home of Chianti, Brunello di Montalcino and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. The region has 41 DOC and 11 DOCG appellations. Tuscany is part of Italian wine.

The main grape is Sangiovese. It is behind Chianti, Vino Nobile and Brunello, and of many other reds in Maremma. The white wines include Vernaccia di San Gimignano, Trebbiano and Vermentino. A sweet wine from dried grapes is called Vin Santo.

Almost all the famous districts lie on hills: Chianti between Florence and Siena, Montalcino and Montepulciano to the south, towered San Gimignano, and coastal Bolgheri and Maremma. In the nineteenth century Baron Bettino Ricasoli fixed the Chianti recipe by blending Sangiovese, Canaiolo and Malvasia.

In the 1970s the "Super Tuscans" appeared. They were made outside DOC rules from Cabernet Sauvignon and other grapes and sold at very high prices; later many received DOC or DOCG status, Bolgheri for example. As a result Tuscany combines old traditions with bold experiments. The first recorded mention of Chianti came from the Prato merchant Francesco di Marco Datini, who described it as a light white wine.