Wines of Tuscany
Undoubtedly, Tuscany is one of the most well-known regions in the world. Famous for its delicious cuisine, wide culture and obviously for the quality of its wines. Its hilly landscape and the direct influence of the Tyrrhenian Sea make a special place to grow vines.
The most planted grape in the region is the Sangiovese with 37,925 hectares that represents about 66% of the planted surface in Tuscany. The interesting thing comes with the Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes that have an important presence in the region, derived, in some reason, to the boom of the Super Tuscans wines in the 80's and 90's. In these years Tuscany became the Bordeaux of Italy with the tendency to make full-bodied red wines, with a lot of structure and able to age several decades, very much in the style of Bordeaux wines. In those days it was quite an insolence to plant French varieties in Italy, however, at present some DOC and DOCG already allow a percentage of these varieties as is the case of Chianti and Chianti Classico, which is the largest DOCG in terms of volume with 26% of the total production of Tuscany and the third DOC of Italy only after Prosecco and Montepulciano d'Abruzzo.
The whole Italian territory is a mosaic of flavors, styles and grape varieties, certainly, Tuscany is not the exception and offers a wide range of wine styles. From the intense and powerful wines of the DOCG Brunello di Montalcino to the subtle and fruity wines of Sangiovese made under carbonic maceration. Not forgetting whites like the Vernaccia di San Gimignano that goes great with seafood.
Surface of vineyards:
57,942 hectares
Wine Production:
2,7 millon hectoliters
6th place in Italy
Production by type of wine:
87% Red wine
13% White wine
Production by category:
63% DOC
27% IGT
10% da tavola
Categories:
11 DOCG
41 DOC
6 IGP
Most planted grapes (in hectares):
Sangiovese 37,925
Merlot 2,804
Cabernet Sauvignon 2,744
Canaiolo Nero 1,012
Vermentino 543
Vernaccia 530
Source: Istat 2017, Itlian Wine Central
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