Tuscany Part 1: Chianti, Vino Nobile and Supertuscans

Some of the world's finest red wines are made in Tuscany's central areas of Chianti, Montepulciano and Carmignano, all relying mostly on the potential greatness of sangiovese. However, in Montepulciano and especially in Carmignano, unlike in Montalcino, international varieties have also played a prominent role historically, and so the sangiovese-based wines of these three areas can be resoundingly different.  And they couldn't be any more different than the wines of the Tuscan coast, which are made mostly from Bordeaux varieties like cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, merlot and petit verdot.

Chianti per se is a generic term that refers to a very large swath of land, not all of it ideal for sangiovese. The most famous Chianti of all is Chianti Classico, that portion of the greater Chianti zone, located essentially between Florence and Siena, that was historically linked to true Chianti production. Over the decades, politicians and producers lobbied to expand the vineyard areas that could also lay claim to the Chianti monicker, and so today we have many other Chianti wines to choose from, mostly notably Chianti Rufina, Chianti Colli Fiorentini and Chianti Colli Senesi.  However, Chianti Classico is the engine that drives the region forward, and the Chianti Classico producers' association is one of the best-organized in all of Italy.  In an effort to fine-tune their wines, the consortium has just instituted new and important changes: a new and as yet unnamed Chianti Classico category has been created, one that will sit atop the quality hierarchy (i.e., above riserva), and that will be essentially devoted to single-vineyard wines.  These bottlings will require a minimum of 30 months' aging prior to release, including at least 3 in bottle.

The riserva category is also affected by the new rules: producers will be required to declare from the outset which level of Chianti Classico their grapes are destined for, requiring accurate decision-making early on in the production process. Riserva wines are all-important for Chianti Classico since they represent 30% of the region's production and  40% of the total value.  They can be some of Italy's greatest wines and I am not alone in thinking that Chianti Classico has not done enough to protect this wine's image and quality level in the past.