Italy is the biggest wine producing and exporting country in the World. Far too much insignificant wine has been produced in the past. Of course, the same is true for France, but the French have always been nice enough to drink most of it themselves. Considering this, it is no wonder that there are very few producers that have been able to make a name for themselves and that are recognized in the rest of the world such as the famous regions; Chianti Classico, Barolo, Brunello, Lambrusco, etc. Only a very small percentage of the existing quality wines benefit from the Italian appellation system that was founded back in 1963. The appellation system helped many areas of Italy to prosper, but at times the system proved to be rather restrictive. For more detailed information, see http://www.tuscany-wine.com

• Tuscany

In the seventies, some Tuscan wine producers started experimenting with French grape varieties and excellent wines were made. Unfortunately it was impossible to classify these superb new wines and therefore each wine producer was forced to give the wine a name that was considered as a “vino da tavola”. Even though this range of wines is nowadays called Super Tuscans, most of these wines are still known by their single names, such as Solaia, Tignanello and Sassicaia. These famous Super Tuscans have lost a lot of their popularity since they have become awfully expensive and the appellation system has bent a lot towards modern winemaking, allowing small percentages of French varieties in some of DOCGs and DOCs. Especially the region of Tuscany has in the past 20 years become known for these fine new "international style" wines, since the climate and the earth proved to be extremely generous towards the French grape varieties (cabernet sauvignon, merlot, syrah, etc.).

Nowadays, after introducing a permissive appellation system and with modern wine technology, the tendency is to go back to the roots, making the DOCs and DOCGs better and better. The Super Tuscans or costy IGT’s are still produced, but mostly as a “pearl” of a wine-makers production.

The sangiovese grape is the most important autochthon or native grape of the region of Tuscany. It exists in different varieties and with different names (such as sangiovese grosso also called Brunello, or the sangiovese piccolo also called Sangiovese del Chianti) and it is the base of most of DOCs and DOCGs. Other autochthon grapes are: Vernaccia, Malvasia Nera, Trebbiano Toscano, Canaiolo Nero, Ciliegiolo and others.

• Appellations

The Italian classification system is applicable to the entire country (more than 350 different appellations). The DOC and DOCG stand for "denominazione di origine controllata (e garantita)", an appellation that guarantees the origin of the wine, as well as the grape sorts used in each kind of wine. The appellations of Tuscany are continuously modified by law and expanded to new areas. The DOCs are numerous (at the moment 36) whereas the DOCGs are only 6 and rather easy to remember. The first appellation was given to the Vernaccia di San Gimignano in 1966. Every appellation has a Consorzio that the producers become members of and that helps the producers to understand the laws of the appellations and helps promoting the wines by organizing meetings, wine tastings and gives wine awards. The Consorzio also represents the smaller producers at Italy's most important wine fair; Vinitaly.

Another category of classified wines is the IGT "indicazione geografica tipica" and the only difference is that the names of the DOCs or DOCGs zones cannot be indicated on the label (eg. a Chianti Classico must be a DOCG and cannot be an IGT, whereas a wine produced in the Chianti Classico area doesn't have to be a Chianti Classico DOCG if it is named differently, eg. Wine IGT). The IGT is a classification of "typical regional wine" and is recognized as such also by the EU.

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Take a wine tour in Tuscany:

• DOCG

The following appellations are DOCGs (in brackets the provinces)

Brunello di Montalcino (Siena):
Regular aged for approx. 3 years, and Riserva aged for approx. 5 years.

Carmignano (Prato)
Regular aged for min 10 months, Riserva aged for min. 20 months.

Chianti:
-Chianti Colli Aretini (Arezzo)
-Chianti Colli Fiorentini (Firenze)
-Chianti Colli Senesi (Siena)
-Chianti Colline Pisane (Pisa)
-Chianti Montalbano (Pistoia, Prato, Firenze)
-Chianti Montespertoli (Firenze)
-Chianti Rufina (Firenze):
Regular aged for min. 5 months, Superior with higher alcohol percentage, and Riserva aged for min. 12 months.
Please note that the above mentioned Chianti DOCGs have different appellation regualtions regarding the grape varieties allowed. See for example Poggio Capponi in Montespertoli, who makes a Chianti Montespertoli DOCG but also a Chianti DOCG.

Chianti Classico (the area between Siena & Firenze)
Regular aged for min. 6 months, Riserva aged for min. 18 months

Vernaccia di San Gimignano (Siena)
Regular aged for min. 4 months, Riserva aged for min. 10 months

Vino Nobile di Montepulciano (Siena)
Regular aged for min. 12 months, Riserva aged for min. 20 months.

• DOC

As the DOCs are many, we will only mention them quickly by name:

Ansonica Costa dell'Argentario, Barco Reale di Carmignano, Bianco della Valdinievole, Bianco dell'Empolese, Bianco di Pitigliano, Bianco Pisano di San Torpé, Bolgheri, Candia dei Colli Apuani, Capalbio, Carmignano, Colli dell'Etruria Centrale, Colli di Luni, Colline Lucchesi, Cortona, Elba, Montecarlo, Montecucco, Monteregio di Massa Marittima, Montescudaio, Morellino di Scansano, Orcia, Parrina, Pomino, Rosso di Montalcino, Rosso di Montepulciano, San Gimignano, Sant'Antimo, Sovana, Valdichiana, Val di Cornia, Vin Santo Occhio di Pernice, Vin Santo del Chianti Classico, Vin Santo di Montepulciano.

Many of these DOCs are fairly new and have become very popular in recent years. As for example Morellino di Scansano, Montecucco, Montescudaio, Orcia, and many more...

• IGT and Super Tuscans

An IGT Toscana guarantees that a minimum of 85% of the grapes used in the wine have been produced in the region (this is an insurance that we don't have if we drink a "vino da tavola" which theoretically could come from any part of the world). However, most of all IGT wines are produced with grapes that come from the wine producers' own vineyards. Many of the important and famous wines in Tuscany are actually the IGTs, and can range incredibly in price (from a couple of euro to hundreds of euro). The more expensive wines have since the 70's been called Super Tuscans. This name was invented by the Americans who found notable interest in these wines.

A Super Tuscan is the final expression of quality and skill of winemaking of a wine producer and his enologist. The wine can be made with any variety of grapes, either blended or pure. These wines are matured in oak barriques and can age well. A Super Tuscan is the signature of the wine-producer; a precious wine that sometimes can be difficult to find or even to taste. For this reason the Super Tuscans (just like Brunellos and Barolos) can become a good investment, as their commercial value may double or triple in time.