Tuscany: New Releases from the Coast

BY ANTONIO GALLONI | JULY 05, 2022

I found a lot to like in this year’s crop of new releases from the Tuscan Coast. The best Vermentinos and Morellinos offer terrific value, while at the higher end, many of the region’s reference-point wines turned out beautifully. Moreover, a greater emphasis on freshness yields contemporary wines that marry energy with the natural opulence that comes so easily on the coast, a pretty appealing combination in my book.

I have to say, I was especially taken with the wines of the Tuscan Coast I tasted for this article, despite not having been able to travel in the region as I did regularly prior to COVID-19. But, as with many articles I have written over these last two years, I actually found tasting in a neutral setting allowed me to focus on just the samples, without any outside distractions, and to appreciate the wines in a slightly different manner than in the past.

The first thing I noticed, as mentioned above, is a general move away from the opulence of years past in favor of an approach that gives more importance to delineation and vibrancy. To be sure, some of that is attributable to the character of recent vintages, but there does seem to an effort to seek greater finesse through less extreme farming and gentler winemaking than was once the norm. Tuscany’s coastal appellations naturally produce wines of generosity and volume, so having something to counter that richness can be quite compelling, as it is for many wines in this report.

On a less positive note, I was disappointed to see the continued use of excessively heavy bottles. I always chuckle (that is a polite term) when I see an estate that touts its sustainably farmed vineyards but then uses big, heavy bottles. Ordinarily, that would just be hypocritical. But in today’s day and age, it is that and also just plain offensive. The production of glass is heavily reliant on natural resources. And then there is environmental impact of shipping these wines around the world. Even before today’s environment marked by soaring inflation and war in Ukraine, the precarious position of the world with regards to climate change demands a more sensible and thoughtful approach to packaging. It’s time for those oversize bottles to go.