Tuscany
Tuscany is the geographical centre and cultural heart of Italy, where you find two of the greatest medieval and renaissance cities of Florence, Siena and a multitude of beautiful small hilltop towns. All are surrounded by magnificent sweeping countryside, punctuated with poplars, vineyards and olive groves.
In Tuscany the wine scene has undergone a dramatic change in the past twenty years in terms of quality. Long gone are the straw covered fiascos of Chianti and DOC wines of questionable standards. Italy in general has transformed their wine industry, concentrating on producing superb traditional regional wines, and Tuscany was at the forefront of the revolution of introducing world-class vino di tavola from international grape varieties. More recently with the rest of Italy following this trend, the Tuscans have begun to turn the tide again, and with the results of the Chianti 2000 project, they are concentrating on exploring the superb qualities of their native grape varieties. The main grape variety being Sangiovese – see our Tuscany wine notes for further wine background.
The main wine regions are Chianti Classico, which stretches from just south of Florence to Siena from North to South and from Tavernelle in the West and Gaiole in the East. Within this region you will find the attractive Tuscan towns of Radda, Castellina, Greve, Panzano and Castelnuovo de Berardenga.
To the west you find the most famous white wines of the region, San Gimignano, and the eponymous town – with its medieval towers, which can be seen for miles around. South of Siena are Montalcino, famed for its weighty Brunello wines and Montepulciano to the East, with its “Vino Nobile’s”. On the Tuscan coast is the world-renowned wine region of Bolgheri, where the “super Tuscans” of Ornellaia and Sassicaia are produced.
Tuscan cooking is wholesome and hearty and made from local fresh ingredients according to the seasons. Pasta is not a traditional dish, though it will be used along with game, for example in the delicious game starter dish “papardelle alla lepre or cinghale” (wide pasta strips with hare or wild boar); soup is a Tuscan staple, particularly rich bean soups laced with the excellent local olive oil (nearly all the wine estates also make their own extra virgin olive oil), crostini (little toasts) with liver and anchovy paste and fresh tomatoes are also popular.
Puccini Festival & Tuscan Wine
26 - 29 July 2007, 11 - 14 July 2008, 24 - 27 July 2008
Florence Wine & City
6 - 9 November 2007
Ultimate Tuscany
10 - 15 November 2007
