Chianti :: Tuscany :: Wines

Wines and vines Chianti Tuscany

Tuscan wine

Long before the first Etruscans made their appearance in Tuscany, wild vines grew in abundance over the sun-drenched hills of Tuscany. The Etruscans are believed to have domesticated and bred the progenitors of such grapes as Sangiovese and Lambrusco from those early feral grapes. Etruscan tomb furnishings demonstrate that wine was produced and appreciated in Tuscany at least several hundred years BC, at the same that vines were being cultivated for wine production in the south of the Italian peninsula by the Greek colonists of Magna Graecia. It's very likely that the Etruscans themselves learnt the art of wine-making from the Greeks of the Ionian islands.

The Romans had access to a treatise on wine and agriculture written in Punic and after the destruction of Carthage in 146 BC, the Roman Senate had it translated into Latin and widely distributed. Subsequently, it became the source for all Roman writing on viticulture. Cato, coincidently famous for his constant refrain calling for the destruction of Carthage, wrote De Agri Cultura in about 160 BC. This was the first survey of Roman viticulture and in it Cato discusses the production of wine on large, slave-based villa estates, indicating how important vine cultivation had become to the Roman economy.

During the Dark Age wine production in Italy was kept alive principally through the efforts of the monasteries, not least because a good supply of wine was essential for the celebration of Mass. As the Church extended the monasteries, they began to develop some of the finest vineyards in Europe. Lack of good drinking water helped make wine an important part of everyday diet for all classes. During this time, people also begin to favour stronger, heavier wines.

Poems and tales mentioning wine in Tuscany date back to the 16 C and 17 C. The most famous of these is "Bacco in Toscana" written by Francesco Redi in 1685. He extols in particular the finest wines of Tuscany and the poem concludes with the assertion that of all the wines, Montepulciano is king. The poem enjoyed great success throughout Europe and reached the English court of King William III. Redi's poem may have been responsible for William's preference for Tuscan wines and for the decision to send an English delegation to Tuscany with the purpose of acquiring wines such as Moscadello di Montecalcino and Vino nobile di Montepulciano for the English court. In 1716, Cosimo III de Medici decreed which wines would be produced in Tuscany. These included Chianti, Carmignano, Pomino and Valdaino di Sopra. Later, production was expanded to Sangiovese, Canaiolo, Malvasia and Trebbiano. In Tuscany, a wealthy region, most of the production was done by the nobility.

Tuscan Vin Santo

Since the Middle Ages, Vin Santo has played an important and prestigious part in the history of Tuscan wine. There are many theories about the origin of its name. A legend from Siena tells of a friar who in 1348 cured the sick with the wine normally used by the Brothers to celebrate Mass. The conviction that this was a miraculous wine spread, leading to the epithet "santo". When the Ecumenical Council was held in Florence in 1349, the Greek patriarch Bessarion exclaimed upon drinking the "vin pretto": "This is the wine of Xantos! (pronounced "zanto")", probably alluding to the famous Greek "Passito" from Thrace. His fellow diners believed that he had discovered qualities in the wine worthy to be proclaimed "santo". In any event, from that time on "vin pretto" became "Vin Santo", although another less picturesque explanation cannot be ruled out, which is simply the association of this wine with its customary use during the mass. The recognition of the DOC Vin Santo del Chianti in August 1997 marked an important stage in the quality evaluation of this highly traditional Tuscan wine product, which includes both the "Occhio di Pernice" and the Riserva categories.

Vin Santo has always been the wine of hospitality and friendship. It was never lacking in any home, be it farmer's cottage or a castle. It was a wine to enjoy at any time of day, although after meals was preferred. Even today, Vin Santo is still the wine of tradition because it is still made with the old methods: from selecting the finest bunches of grapes, to drying them on mats or racks, followed by long ageing in small casks. It is worth noting that the first DOC designation from the Gallo Nero Chianti Classico area was assigned to Vin Santo, a product that is emblematic of Tuscan winemaking.

Chianti Classico wine

Ricasoli (the Iron Baron), who we might call the “father” of modern Chianti, was responsible for the first codification of blended Chianti production. In 1847 he defined the traditional method of Tuscan wine-making and established the proportions of the grapes comprising this wine. It receives most of its perfume and a certain vigorous sensation from sangiovese; from canaiolo it draws agreeability to temper any initial harshness; malvasia, which is rarely used in wines to be aged, tends to reduce the prominence of the two preceding varieties, adds flavour and makes this wine lighter and easier to consume daily at table. The ampelographical bases of Chianti and Chianti Classico have been modified several times since, usually with the regulations following already established practice in the field.

Indigenous (autochthonous) Tuscan grape varieties

For wine lovers, a new and interesting development in the field of wine production is underway in Italy where significant effort is going into rescuing native grape varieties in danger of extinction. Some of them seem distinctive enough to cultivate on a large scale. The movement started some years ago in the south with wines such as Nero d'Avola from Sicily, Primitivo from Puglia and Canonau from Sardinia now readily available and much appreciated. (DNA sequencing suggests that the Zinfandel grape of north America is directly related to the Primitivo grape and that the origins of both may in fact be traced back to the Crljenak grape which is indigenous to Croatia.) There are 2,000 to 3,000 indigenous grape varieties in Italy and around 360 of these are used to make commercial wines. In Tuscany, 130 varieties are registered with the regional gene bank, and the University of Florence has been able to trace, in part by interviewing farmers now in their eighties, 278 varieties in various parts of Tuscany, of which 161 yield red grapes. Among the best known native and foreign grape varieties grown in Tuscany are mammolo, malvasia, colorino, raspirosso, gamay, sangiovese grosso, barbera, moscatello, aleatico and vernaccia. To these a new and potentially extremely interesting range are being added. Some, such as abrusco are relatively well-known, while others such as oliva, santo stefano, uva vecchia and giacomino were until recently bordering on extinction. (Click here for more about wine grape varieties of Tuscany.)

A recent success story is the recovery of the pugnitello grape variety, so-called because the grape cluster resembles a fist (pugno). The last surviving vine was found near Grosseto and the recovered seeds were planted in the experimental San Felice vineyard near Castelnuovo Berardenga. Eighteen vines were selected and propagated to yield 9,800 bottles of a vigorous and dry red wine. This is an example of a recovered variety that is suitable not just for blending but which produces an excellent wine as the principal constituent.