Touring Tuscany: Carmignano, Montecucco and Beyond

BY ERIC GUIDO | FEBRUARY 21, 2023

Tuscany's diversity makes it one of my favorite regions to taste in Italy. Putting aside the established names of Montalcino, Chianti Classico, Maremma and Montepulciano leaves us with a kaleidoscope of small towns and unique terroirs that add incredible diversity to the bigger picture that is Tuscany. While Sangiovese is undoubtedly the king of varieties in the region, Tuscany also excels with a mix of indigenous and international grapes that is staggering. 

The Colline San Biagio vineyards in Carmignano.

Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Syrah, and even Tempranillo can all find a happy home throughout the different corners of the region. While these are often used for blending with Sangiovese to create the wines of Chianti Classico, Carmignano and Montecucco, each can also shine in pure form, displaying a fascinating blend of varietal typicity and Tuscan terroir. I often gravitate to mature Bordeaux varieties and blends from Tuscany before looking elsewhere. The Super Tuscan movement heavily popularized this category, but as the style lost some of its international appeal, many wines were overlooked.

But let’s not forget that this is Tuscany, and in the minds of consumers worldwide, that means Sangiovese. It’s amazing to taste Sangiovese broadly throughout central Italy. More often than not, I find myself looking back to Tuscany when the time comes to pick a bottle for the cellar or dinner table. That’s not to say that Sangiovese from Umbria, Abruzzo, Marche and Romagna isn’t worthy of consideration, but rather that in Tuscany, even the majority of entry-level bottlings are more often balanced and enjoyable, not to mention the quality when looking at the exhaustive list of world-class wines made here.

Much of this has to do with a steady increase in quality that has been noticeable across the region over the last twenty years. A combination of technology, cleaner cellar practices, higher-quality (including synthetic) corks, better use of clones and an understanding of where and how to plant them has transformed the region's landscape. The days of opening twenty bottles of Chianti Classico only to find four or five of them to be corked are thankfully far behind us. There are also significantly fewer Brett-infected and rustic wines crossing my path. Then there is value. Consumers can still find a serious bottle of wine for the dinner table or the cellar in the $20-$30 range. In the end, Tuscany has a lot to offer.