For many of us who were around in the seventies and early eighties, you would likely remember the Italian restaurants back then and the Chianti wines and the straw basket “fiasco” bottles they came in. Oh, what a name. But the wines were not really that great. Chiant has come a long way since.
One really cannot discuss Italian wines without mentioning Tuscany. The area is the largest and among the oldest wine region in Italy. It lies south of Milan and north of Rome. The most common and popular wines in the Calgary market from Tuscany are: Chianti Classico, Chianti, Chianti Rufina (not to be confused with Rufino, which is a winery in Chianti Classico), Brunello di Montalcino, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano (not to be confused with Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, which is made with Montepulciano grape from Abruzzo), and Super Tuscan.
Chianti Classico DOCG, which was originally part of the Chianti DOCG subzone (delineated from Chianti in the 1996) and is the largest DOCG subzone encompassing the area between Florence and Siena. It is a DOCG (highest government destination) area. It is probably the oldest or second oldest wine area in the world. This area has probably been producing wines even before Roman times. Ownership of the Castellio Brolio passed into Baron Riscasoli in 1141 and has been in the Riscasoli family ever since. The family has been producing wines since the late 12th century. All Chianti Classico wines bear the Black Rooster (Galio Nero) emblem on its bottle. We currently find 3 levels of Chianti Classico in our market: the ordinary (Annata) Chianti Classico, the Riserva, and the Gran Selezione. They are governed by requirement of the length of barrel aging, and quality of the wine. In the Clagary market, most Chianti Classico Annata are in the $20+, Riservas around $40+ and Gran Selezione anywhere from $60 and up to over $100.
Sangiovese is the dominant grape in the Tuscany area. The characteristics of Sangiovese are cherries, red fruits, high acidity, with nuance of floral notes (mostly violets), fresh herbs and spices such as oregano, and basil. Chianti, Chianti Classico, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, and Brunello di Montalcino are all made with Sangiovese in major proportion. Chianti must contain a minimum of 70% and Chianti Classico a minimum of 80% Sangiovese. Brunello di Montalcino is 100% Sangiovese Grosso – a Sangiovese clone, with added black fruit nuance.
When speaking of Tuscany wine, we must mention Super Tuscan and the IGT Tuscana designation as well as the Bolgheri area. Back around the late 1960s some vineries in Tuscany started to experiment growing and blending non-indigenous grapes such Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon in their wines. Since these grapes were not allowed in the Chianti and area DOC and DOCG rules at the time, these wines were designated as Vino di Tavola (the lowly table wine designation). But most of them were of such high quality that wine consumers were gravitating to them. They were then called Super Tuscan wines by the world over. Eventually the government came out with the IGT Tuscana designation (Indicazione Geografica Tipica – roughly translated as Typical of the Tuscan Area) for these wines.
Back as early as 1940s, the Marchese Incisa della Rocchetta, Mario, owner of the Tenuta San Guido, started planting French varietals Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah on his property in Bolgheri, a small village close to the coastal area in Tuscany. His early vintages of Bordeaux type blend were for his own private enjoyment only. By the 1960s, his son Nicolo, and his friend Piero Antinori, persuaded Mario to release the 1968 vintage in ’71 as Sassicaia. At about the same time, Antinori has also been planting the French varietals in his own vineyards in Chianti. He released his first vintage of Tignanello in 1971 with the French varietals blending in some amount of Sangiovese and about a decade later the Bordeaux blend Solaia. Shortly before that, Lodovico, a brother of Piero, had been quietly buying up properties near the Tenuta San Guido in Bolgheri, planting French varietals and started producing his Bordeaux blend wines Ornellaia in 1985 and a 100% Merlot under the name Masseto. The rest is history and Super Tuscana was born. By the mid 1990s, Bolgheri was given its own DOC designation.
The Super Tuscans: Tignanello, Solaia, Sassicaia, Ornellaia, Masseto, are among the most expensive Italian wines in our market, commanding prices upwards of $100+ all the way into $1000+.
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