Wine & Dine

What in the World?
Wine regions, the grapes they love and the funny things they call their wine.
Episode I: Tuscany
By Julianne & Scott Donnini, Auburn Road Vineyards

This is the first installment of our series within a series where we will explore the world’s great wine regions in an effort to help make sense of the confusing and often complex combinations of grape varietals, place names, and wine styles.

In Episode I, we will start our tour of world wines with one of the places we know best – Tuscany. The primary red grape of Tuscany is Sangiovese (the name derives from the latin “sanguis jovis” or “Blood of Jove” – the Roman god Jupiter). There are many clones of Sangiovese which are used throughout the region. These different interpretations of Sangiovese take on different names, some related to the place they are grown, some to the name of the clone, some a combination of the two. Confused yet? Here we go!

Chianti: Sangiovese is the primary grape (from 75 to 100%) in Chianti. Up until very recently, a few white grapes were also included in making this red wine as a way of making it lighter bodied. Chianti is actually the name of the region and within that region there are a number of subregions including – Chianti Classico (which sits in the amazingly beautiful area between Florence and Siena), Chianti Colli Senesi, and Chianti Rufina. Chianti is a medium bodied red that tends to be a little spicy with nice acidity and sometimes hints of plums and cherries.

Brunello: Brunello is the name of a grape that is a clone of the Sangiovese grape and is one of the great red wines of Italy. They mainly come from the regions around two castle towns in southern Tuscany – Montalcino and Montepulciano. These are amazing wines that are aged for 5 years before they are even released. A younger version from Montalcino (aged only 1 year) made from grapes not to the quality for Brunello is Rosso di Montalcino (simply “Red of Montalcino”). In Montepulciano, the youthful counterpart (aged 2 years) is Vino Noble di Montepulciano (“Noble Wine of Montepulciano”).

“Super Tuscan”: This is the nickname for any red wine from Tuscany that is not made primarily of Sangiovese. These are usually blends of grapes that are native to other places, including Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah. These can be, and often times are, blended with a little Sangiovese. These wines are not subject to the special growing rules and regulations that are imposed on Brunello and Chianti and can be terrific full bodied red wines. By way of example, we often refer to our Auburn Road “Classico” red wine (with tongue firmly in cheek) as our “Garden State Super Tuscan” because it is a blend of grapes you would likely find in a Tuscan Super Tuscan – Sangiovese, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon (ours also has a bit of Chambourcin – which is our own little Jersey twist to it).     

Vernaccia: This is one of the few white varieties Tuscany is famous for – particularly Vernaccia di San Gimignano. San Gimignano is an extremely beautiful and very cool castle town between Florence and Siena (that the Sienese used to help protect themselves from the Florentines). The wine is crisp and flinty tasting.

Vin Santo: This is a sweet wine (literally in Italian, “Holy Wine”) made in Tuscany from Trebbiano, a native Tuscan white and Malvasia. 

So that is a very quick look at Tuscany. Feel free to hit us with any questions you may have – we are always happy to help. There are several other amazing wine regions in Italy (Piedmont, the Venato, Puglia to name a few) and we will certainly visit them with you in time. But I think next month, we go to France….

If there are wine related topics or questions you would like for us to address in upcoming installments of this column, shoot us an email through our website. Thanks for reading and see you at The Enoteca!