Famous for it’s olives, elegant cypress trees, hilltop villages the colour of burnt orange, artistic culture and beautiful architecture, the Tuscan region has been producing wines for thousands of years. Grape vines grew naturally on the sunny hills and these natives were later refined into the Sangiovese and Lambrusco grapes found here today which are blended with local Cabernet Sauvignon, Canaiolo, Ciliegiolo and other varieties to create local staples like Chianti, Montepulciano and Brunello di Montalcino. White grapes don’t account for much of Tuscany’s annual harvest, but there are some good Chardonnays and the famous Vin Santo dessert wine.

The Chianti region runs from Florence to Siena. One of the best Chianti Classico producers to visit is Badia a Coltuono. To Florence’s south lie the medieval towns of Montalcino and Montepulciano in the vineyards surrounding which their namesake wines are bred. Tuscan mixes, or Super Tuscans (wines not able to receive a region and blend specific qualification due to their blending with French varieties.) like Ornellaia and Tignanello are produced around Maremma. Many visitors will miss this region out because it doesn’t have the named varieties of it’s neighbours but the area, especially around San Gimignano, is classic Tuscany, with rows of vines separated by neat lines of cypresses and there are many interesting traditional boutique wineries to visit.

Some of the great producers in the Tuscan region are Schiena d’Astino, Brunelli and Siro Pacenti for Brunello de Montalcino, Del Cerro and Boscarelli for Montepulciano and Fonterutoli, Antinori and Castello de Brolio for Chianti.

This is a large region with plenty of other draw cards including beautiful towns and villages and traditions of good food and exceptional art, so probably top of the list for people wanting to taste wine in beautiful surroundings.

Written by  Kat Mackintosh.

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