Tuscany Wine Appreciation 101- Best of Both October 2008 Italy Adventure
Deep red Italian wines; smoky; enticing Pecorino cheese; gourmet, organic, cold pressed olive oils; unspoiled vineyards and centuries-old olive groves. The pure, delicious flavors of Tuscan peasant cooking; vegetables hand-picked from the Tuscan soil every morning, pasta hand-made, Wine tastings in ancient Italian wine cellars; the aroma of Italian breads baking in traditional stone ovens; meals enjoyed like a true Italian in authentic Tuscan trattorias, shopping for groceries in an outdoor market that is hundreds of years old. These are just some of the exclusive cultural and culinary experiences you will enjoy as a welcome guest of Best of Both Adventures.
Tuscany (Toscana) is known mainly for Chianti, while Tuscany’s wine of greatest stature is Brunello di Montalcino.
Its climate, soil and very old traditions of viticulture make Italy a natural wine growing nation. The wines are as personal as a name, as different as the colors of the rainbow and as much a part of Italian life as almost 3,000 years of tradition can make them. The Etruscans of North-Central Italy, who created one of the peninsula’s earliest civilizations, left evidence of how to make wine. The Greeks who soon after established themselves in the South gave Italy the name Enotria (the land of wine).
For centuries wine growing has been the cultivation which used most of the labor of the Italian farmers; this is still true today; a large part of the population is engaged in the vine and wine industry Tuscany wine harvesting: September and October are grape harvesting time; vino novello and ripe figs are the flavour of the period. Spring brings wild poppies galore, bearable heat and thus good walking weather, but evenings chilly enough to light a real Italian open fire – fuelled by last years olive tree offcuts.
The olive oil in tuscany:
Italian olive oils, like Italian wine, has finally captivated an American audience. Perhaps our continuing fascination with foods from Italy and the possible health benefits of including olive oil in our diet have awakened America’s taste buds. Mediterranean countries have enjoyed the rich variety of flavors, aromas and delicious tastes that olive oils impart to food for at least 6,000 years. Italians take their wines and olive oils very seriously.The world’s most flavorful and elegant olive oils are produced in Italy’s northern province of Tuscany, where Chianti Classico wines are also produced. Olive oil has become a symbol of Tuscany and is known as “liquid gold” (probably due to its price). There are many different types of olives trees, the most common being frantoio, leccino, moraiolo, and divastro. Each of these trees determines the oil’s distinct flavor. read more…
The tuscan wine
Most of the time, wine with Italian origins have a lot of things one doesn’t understand:
Vino da Tavola is the lowest quality level. Here is not meant the colour of the wine, but it is a more simple wine whose grapes can even have various origins, in order to obtain a wine with a fruity-harmonious character. This quality level corresponds the English table wine.IGT is the abbreviation for “Indicazione Geografica Tipica” (Geographical detail), which means that the region of origin (Tuscany, Emilia Romagna etc), the type of vine (eg. Sangiovese) and the year are indicated. The IGT corresponds the vin ordinaire.
After that follows the DOC, which is the Italian abbreviation for Denominazione di Origine Controllata, which means Wine with controled origin. One can find this abbreviation under the name of the wine. It is a wine of a determined area with certain characteristics, which are established and controled by the DOC-Consortium. The consortium doesn’t only establish the vine types and the quantity to produce, but also the processing of the grapes until the bottling of the wine as well as the storage. Before the DOC-wine is put on the market it has to undergo chemical tests.
DOCG is the abbreviation for Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita, which means Wine of controled and guaranteed origin. This nomination is destinated only for a wine of a particular good quality. In order to get the DOCG nomination, the wine should have been part for at least 5 years of the DOC-wine.
The DOC and DOCG wine corresponds to the so called wine of certified origin and quality.
The DOC- and DOCG-qualification system was developed in 1963. The first wine whose place of origin was controled was the famous Tuscan white wine Vernaccia di San Gimignano. Afterwards were following the Chianti as well as the Brunello di Montalcino, both of Tuscan origins. From the 80′s on, many types of quality wine were put on the market as normal table wines (“Vino da Tavola”), but with prices as high as those of the DOC wines. These are new created wine types for which the producer wanted to avoid the long way through the Italian authorities.
Basic laws regulating yields
Grapes used for specific wines, area restrictions for growing, viticultural practices and maximum and minimum alcohol strengths were set forward at that time. Three categories were established:
Vino da Tavola , or table wine, typically, but with some exceptions, everyday wines-simple, pleasurable and inexpensive. Ironically, this category also represents the often not-so-inexpensive “Super Tuscan” wines.
DOC wines (initials stand for Denominazione di Origine Controllata ), a translation of the French Appellation d’Origine Côntrolée. There are about 250 DOC zones, and approximately 700 Italian wines bearing this classification. However, only a small percentage of these have any commercial viability. Twenty DOCs account for close to 45% of the country’s total DOC production.
DOCG (Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita) wines, first classified in 1980 with the intention of adding a quality classification to the top of the wine pyramid. The 14 DOCG wines indicate the highest quality (wines not only “controlled” but “guaranteed”). DOCG wines include such famous names as Barola, Barbaresco, Chianti, Brunello di Montalcino and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. Additional wines are petitioning for DOCG classification, so the existing group of 14 will continue to grow.
Chianti is a large wine zone extending through much of Tuscany. All of the zone is DOCG status, and it is divided into seven districts. Two of these have readily-available wines on the world market: Chianti Classico (Classic refers to the defined area–not to a reserve or superior bottling) and Chianti Ruffina. In addition to their district of production, Chianti wines vary in style according to aging. Reserve wines, often aged in French oak, may be released after two or more years at the winery.
Chianti is always a very dry red wine, with very concentrated fruit character, most often made entirely from the sangiovese grape. Chianti goes well with food, and can range in style from light to full bodied with tart cherry and violet aromas and flavors. Chianti can age ten or more years in a good vintage.
The second great red wine of Tuscany is Brunello di Montalcino DOCG, from the town of the same name just south of the Chianti district. Brunello is a local term referring to the grape variety sangiovese. These wines are of superior quality and limited production. Intense, concentrated and tannic, they tend to require long aging (up to 20 years), although some producers are now making a more approachable style. Rosso di Montalcino is a less expensive, ready to drink version from either young vines or slightly inferior fruit.
Three more Tuscan wines of note include:
Vino Nobile di Montepulciano DOCG. From the town of the same names, these wines are made from basically the same grapes and same blend as Chianti, although the sangiovese clone in this district is Prugnolo Gentile. Vino Nobile di Montepulciano was the first DOCG, and there are some excellent examples.
Carmignano DOCG. This is a dry red wine made from Chianti-like blends, although Cabernet Sauvignon can also be used.
Vernaccia di San Gimignano DOCG. Tuscany’s best white wine, it is vinified from the grape variety of the same name. A fresh wine with an almond flavor and slightly oily texture, it is best drunk young.
What is a Super Tuscan ?
The Super Tuscan phenomenon began in the 1970′s when some producers decided to get attention by creating a new style of wine. The wines are called Super Tuscans either because they are produced outside the Chianti zone, or because their grape blends include varieties (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Cabernet Franc) that do not conform to the DOC requirements for Chianti, or because they are 100% Sangiovese which previously was prohibited in the Chianti area. Although the blends differ from producer to producer, what these wines do have in common is their expensive price tags. The most famous Super Tuscans, such as Sassiscaia and Solaia, can induce collectors to spend upwards of $200 a bottle in a good vintage. The wines can vary widely in style from Chianti-like to Bordeaux-like to California Cabernet-like, depending on the blend.