Tuscany
Mediterranean
Rolling hills of Sangiovese — Chianti, Brunello di Montalcino, Vino Nobile — and the birthplace of the Super Tuscans.
Overview
About Tuscany
Tuscany is Italy's Sangiovese heartland. It goes into Chianti and Chianti Classico, into Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, and — as the local clone Sangiovese Grosso — into Brunello di Montalcino, which must age five years before release, at least two of them in oak. Vernaccia di San Gimignano, a white, was the first Italian wine to be awarded a DOC, in 1966.
On the Tyrrhenian coast, Bolgheri became famous for Sassicaia, a Cabernet-based wine first made commercially in 1968 that helped inspire the 'Super Tuscan' movement: high-quality blends, often including Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, made outside the traditional rules and originally sold as simple table wine.
Where is a grape grown?
Hover a marker to see what's grown there, and click it to open that place. On a touch screen, tap once to preview and again to open. Bigger markers have more grapes linked to them.
Italy
Shaded: Toscana. Map units are states, provinces or départements, so a smaller place appears as the larger area that contains it.
The land
Climate & terroir
Climate
Mediterranean
Warm, dry summers and mild winters on the coast; the inland hills are more continental, with cooler nights, and altitude is a major influence on ripening. Rain at harvest can be a problem in some vintages.
Terroir & soils
What the vines grow in
Galestro, a friable schistous clay, and alberese, a hard compact limestone, are the classic Chianti soils. Montalcino has a mix of clay, limestone and sand, while Bolgheri combines gravel and clay near the coast.
Side by side
Chianti Classico vs Brunello di Montalcino
Chianti Classico
- Soil
- Galestro (schistous clay) and alberese (limestone)
- Dominant grapes
- Sangiovese, at least 80%
- Typical style
- Bright, savoury and cherry-toned; medium-bodied and often accessible early
Brunello di Montalcino
- Soil
- Clay, limestone and sandstone, in a warmer, drier climate
- Dominant grapes
- Sangiovese Grosso, 100%
- Typical style
- Fuller, denser and long-lived; at least five years' ageing before release
Go deeper
Rules, years & producers
Tuscany has famous DOCGs built on Sangiovese, and a separate space for the 'Super Tuscans' that broke the rules.
Chianti Classico, Brunello di Montalcino and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano DOCGs
The great Sangiovese appellations.
Chianti DOCG
A much larger zone with seven subzones, making generally lighter wines.
Bolgheri DOC
A coastal appellation for Cabernet-based wines. Sassicaia has its own sub-appellation.
IGT Toscana
The home of many 'Super Tuscans', blends made outside the traditional rules.
Within Tuscany
Appellations
Bolgheri
A coastal strip of the Tuscan Maremma where Cabernet-based blends, Sassicaia and Ornellaia among them, redefined Italian fine wine.
Brunello di Montalcino
One of Italy's most prestigious reds: 100% Sangiovese Grosso from a hilltop town south of Siena, aged for years before release.
Chianti Classico
The historic heart of Chianti between Florence and Siena, marked by the black rooster and built on Sangiovese.
San Gimignano
The medieval town of towers, whose Vernaccia was the first Italian wine to receive a DOC, now a DOCG for dry, mineral white.
Vino Nobile di Montepulciano
Sangiovese from the hills around a Renaissance hill town in south-east Tuscany, one of Italy's first DOCGs.
What's grown here
Grapes
Grapes linked to Tuscany or to a place within it. Each grape's page links back here.
Ciliegiolo
Fuller, more structured versions, and a traditional Chianti blending grape.
Merlot
A key "Super Tuscan" blending partner alongside Sangiovese and Cabernet Sauvignon.
Ugni Blanc
As Trebbiano Toscano, a traditional blending component in everyday whites and, historically, Chianti.
Cabernet Franc
Grown in Bolgheri.
Cabernet Sauvignon
Grown in Bolgheri.
Sangiovese
Grown in Brunello di Montalcino, Chianti Classico, and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano.
Vernaccia di San Gimignano
Grown in San Gimignano.