Tuscany

Tuscany is without doubt one of Italy’s most important and at the same time most fascinating wine regions. Grapes are cultivated here on 58,000 hectares – from north to south, east to west, and, importantly for us, also on the offshore islands. Tuscany is divided into 11 DOCG, 41 DOC and 6 IGT appellations, which – despite the questionable nature of some designations of origin and the rules they impose – at the very least impressively demonstrate how heterogeneous this region, with its millennia-old winemaking tradition, really is. Lesser-known names such as Colli di Luni, Pitigliano, Montecucco or Suvereto stand alongside illustrious ones like Brunello di Montalcino, Vernaccia di San Gimignano, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and, of course, Chianti.

Many of these regions have roots going back to antiquity. The Etruscans are generally regarded as the first to practice viticulture in Tuscany. They were followed by the Romans, and after the fall of Rome it was above all the Christian orders who produced wine without interruption. Over the centuries, increasingly subtle differences emerged between vineyard sites often only a few kilometers apart. In 1716 – long before Bordeaux’s famous 1855 classification – this led, on the orders of Grand Duke Cosimo III of Florence, to the first classification of Tuscany’s best wine-growing areas at the time. The four most highly valued were Chianti Classico, Carmignano, Pomino, and the upper Arno Valley (Val d’Arno di Sopra). In other regions, today far more renowned, such as Montalcino or Bolgheri, wine was already being made back then, but neither became truly relevant until the years of Italy’s post–World War II economic boom.

The unifying element of almost all Tuscan wine regions – as different as they may be – is Sangiovese. Whether one is in the cool hills above Lucca, in the much warmer Maremma, or in the hills of Chianti, virtually cut off from the sea: everywhere, the great red grape variety of central Italy predominates. Sometimes it stands alone (in Montalcino, for example, both Rosso di Montalcino and Brunello must be made exclusively from Sangiovese), and sometimes it is blended with a proportion of other grape varieties.

Part 1 – Chianti Classico

In Chianti, the blending partners for Sangiovese were traditionally local varieties such as Canaiolo, Malvasia Nera, Colorino, Mammolo, Foglia Tonda, as well as the two white grapes Trebbiano Toscano and Malvasia Bianca Lunga. The latter two were banned in Chianti in 2006. Already ten years earlier, however, in what is perhaps Tuscany’s most important wine region, the addition of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Syrah to Sangiovese in small amounts had been permitted. Almost certainly in reaction to the enormous success of the so-called Super Tuscans – those blockbuster wines based on international grape varieties, often rather inflated and over-extracted, aged in new oak to suit the critics’ tastes of the time – Chianti wines often gained substance but lost identity and finesse.

Instead of taking the more farsighted approach – organic viticulture, lower yields, artisanal vinification, aging in concrete and large neutral oak – while relying on the native varieties that had been established for centuries and perfectly adapted to the terroir, producers went down the easier but misguided path. Even in small proportions, Merlot and especially Cabernet Sauvignon tend to overwhelm the substance and aromas of the much more delicate and subtle Sangiovese.

One of the first to protest this decision by withdrawing her membership as a Chianti Classico producer was Giovanna Morganti of Le Boncie. Her legendary red wine Le Trame, made from Sangiovese, Mammolo, Foglia Tonda, and Colorino, is today regarded by many as one of the finest wines of the region. In 2008, Pacina also left the consortium, citing not only the use of international varieties but also the lax production standards.

Some of these issues have by now been acknowledged within the Chianti Classico consortium, but turning back the clock is difficult. Beyond the fact that many producers have taken matters into their own hands – re-grafting their vineyards, as Massimo Lanza of Pruneto has done with great success – and that organic farming is now widespread, the consortium has decided to introduce a new category in 2027: the “Chianti Gran Selezione,” in which only regionally typical varieties will be permitted.

Part 2 – Ansonica and the Isola del Giglio

Apart from Vin Santo (a story for another time), white grapes play only a marginal role in Tuscany. One small but striking exception is the Isola del Giglio, a mere 23 square kilometers in size. Here, on bare granite slopes, vines cling between dry-stone walls in terrain so steep it feels almost vertical, battered constantly by the shifting moods of the surrounding sea. Nearly all of them are planted to Ansonica.

Ansonica is an ancient white variety, thought to have arrived on Giglio from Sicily. There, it goes by the name Inzolia, though the wines it produces on the larger island are generally far less compelling — likely a result of hotter conditions and very different soils. Giglio is hardly cool either, yet its granite bedrock seems to lend Ansonica remarkable verve and tension, even when its acidity is naturally low.

Whether the Romans already planted Ansonica on Giglio remains uncertain, but what we do know is that they covered the island with vines some 2,000 years ago. Winegrowing remained central to Giglio’s life until disaster struck: phylloxera arrived at the end of the 19th century, decimating the vineyards. Matters grew even more dire after World War II, when almost all of the remaining vines were abandoned.

That decline was finally halted in 1999, when Francesco Carfagna of Azienda Altura began restoring Giglio’s viticultural heritage. He rebuilt some 12 kilometers of dry-stone terraces and replanted Ansonica — known locally as Ansonaco. His initiative inspired others on the island to return to winegrowing. Among them was Milena Danei, who grew up on Giglio, pursued a winemaking career on the mainland, and eventually returned home. Today, her Strulli is perhaps the most captivating expression of Ansonica to emerge from the island — a wine that captures Giglio’s granite, sea, and spirit in every glass.