A TOUR OF TUSCANY

WAINSCOTT MAIN WINE & SPIRITS

Tuscany, located in Central Italy, is known for its landscape of rolling hills, incredible views and most importantly... delicious dry red wines! The key grape here is Sangiovese making the wines of Chianti, Brunello di Montalcino, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and dessert wine Vin Santo.

The so-called Super Tuscans, such as Sassicaia, Ornellaia and Tignanello mostly take advantage of the Toscana IGT appellation to enable the use of non-indigenous varieties, such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.

While Chianti or Montepulciano d'Abruzzo are the perfect weeknight wines to be paired with pizza or your favorite pasta dish, consider treating yourself to a rich and delicious Brunello di Montalcino for a special occasion or holiday!

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Le Ragnaie Estate. The grapes come from the highest part of the Ragnaie vineyard, above the 600 meter threshold that the government placed on Brunello and Rosso di Montalcino production, prior to 2016. The grapes are hand-harvested and hand-sorted, fermented without any additives in concrete tanks spending just other two weeks on skins; this adds complexity and a tight, tannic structure. The juice is then racked to Slavonian cask where it rests for 12 months and then an additional six months in concrete.

The Vino Nobile was first vinified in 1993. Based on Prugnolo Gentile (85%) and Mammolo & Canaiolo (15%), he vineyards for the Vino Nobile are approximately 25 years average age with a southwestern exposure but at a higher elevation than those for the neighboring Chianti Colli Senesi. The yields are severely restricted, averaging 20% less than for the Chianti. The fermentation period lasts 20 to 25 days at temperatures that reach 30 degrees Celsius. The wine is then racked into a mix of small and medium sized French oak barrels for two years, at which point it is then bottled unfiltered and allowed to rest in the cool cellars of Sant’Anna for an additional 6 months before being released. About 2,000 cases of Vino Nobile are produced annually.

Geggiano lies just north of Siena, in the southern reaches of the Chianti Classico zone. This fine Chianti, made in an ancient cellar that hasn’t changed since the Renaissance, is a wine of rustic country beauty. Broad-shouldered, with hearty tannin and acidity and a dark, earthy quality to its fruit, it is a lumberjack wine that can cut through anything a Tuscan table can throw its way—wild game and aged cheeses are some of our favorites. The brothers at Geggiano rely on organic farming, indigenous yeasts, and long aging in large oak tonneaux to achieve authentic Sangioveses, to be enjoyed now and for many years to come.

La Colombina borders on both the Ciacci and Uccelliera estates in the township of Castelnuovo dell’Abate. The vineyards have been in the Caselli family for generations, but the family, proprietors of a winemaking-equipment shop in Montalcino, had always chosen to sell the grapes rather than bottle their own wines. Husband and wife team Anna Maria and Alamiro decided to make the leap into wine production in the mid-90s, and were lucky to have 1997 as the first vintage of this estate-bottled Brunello!

Fermented in stainless steel for three weeks. It is then racked into large barrels (“botte” made by Gargalotto and of Slavonian origin) and left to age in cask for forty-two months. A small part of the wine (approximately 17%) destined for Brunello status spends 12 months in small barrel. The wine for the Brunello is selected from the oldest vines and the most well-positioned vineyards. Annual production of Brunello is approximately 1,000 cases. In the finest of vintages, La Torre will produce a limited amount of Brunello di Montalcino Riserva which will age for 48 months prior to bottling.

It is a rare phenomenon that a wine can trace its origins to a single man. Brunello di Montalcino, however, owes its existence to Ferrucio Biondi-Santi and its fame to his family. Now on the seventh generation of winemakers, the Biondi-Santi family continues to produce wines renowned for their elegance and extraordinary longevity. Located in the heart of Montalcino, the Tenuta Greppo estate spreads over 25 hectares of vines on soils rich in heavy stones and marl – perfect for the cultivation of Sangiovese Grosso. Defenders of a rich enological heritage, the family continues to employ traditional vinicultural methods started well over a century ago to highlight the wine’s unique characteristics, or tipicita. Brunello di Montalcino was first created by Ferrucio Biondi Santi towards the end of the 1800s. Fortified by the viticultural experience of his maternal grandfather, Ferruccio Biondi Santi planted his new vineyards on the "Greppo" estate with the single clone which he had isolated (Sangiovese grosso), vinifying all of his grapes without blending, marking the beginning of a new type of Tuscan wine for that era. The "Greppo" extends in a series of hills around 500 mt. above sea level, facing southeast - east of Montalcino and benefits of a microclimate and ideal soil for the production of tasty and ageworthy red wine. The total surface of the vineyards destinated to Brunello today is about 19 hectares which produce grapes of high quality. The son of Ferruccio, Tancredi, skilled agricultural expert and renowned oenologist, established the foundations for the future appellation system in Italy. Tancredi was also resonsible for launching Brunello on both domestic and international markets, winning enormous commercial success within a few decades and gaining widespread recognition expert. A true "wine legend" had been born!