Tuscany DOC Wines

The Argentario coastline covers in part the territories of the municipalities of Manciano, Orbetello and Capalbio as well as all of Monte Argentario and the Isle of Giglio. But it is also the name of a white wine that has been forever produced on the legendary promontory of Monte Argentario and the Isle of Giglio. Only recently, Ansonica earned its much deserved D.O.C. appellation.

As to the Ansonica grapes, not much is known about their origin. Most people argue that they come from Sicily, but some claim that their roots can be traced back to Normandy. What’s sure is that this grape has been grown from times immemorial in Sicily, in Sardinia, on the Isle of Elba and the Argentario.

In each one of these places, Ansonica took its own course: in Sicily it became the island’s third most widely grown grape variety, in Sardinia it has all but disappeared, on the Isle of Elba it is used as table grape, and at Argentario it has been used to produce a wine with such distinctive character as to deserve its own specific appellation.


Barco Reale di Carmignano DOC

Established in 1994, Carmignanp is one of the most recent D.O.C. appellations in Tuscany. It belongs to those appellations that are called "a cascata", or cascade style, where from a single grape variety it is possible to obtain a number of different wines.

It is interesting to note that a D.O.C.G. wine, Chianti Montalbano, is also produced in this same area. The hills of Carmignano comprise Barco Reale, a vast territory that was once a hunting reserve. Today, Barco Reale is the name of a fine wine produced with Carmignano grapes. Very fine Vin Santo and rosé wines, once known here as Vin Ruspo, also have a place in the local winemaking tradition.

These wines are produced in an area that covers the municipal territories of Carmignano and Poggio a Caiano, at an altitude of no more than 133 feet. The terrain here is marly, schistose and clayey.


Bolgheri Sassicaia DOC


Bianco Vergine Valdichiana DOC 


Bolgheri DOC

Bolgheri or "the golden oasis of the Maremma", as it has been described, is a center with a long agricultural tradition. Dedicated since the beginning to the growing of grapes, Bolgheri was in ancient times an extremely wealthy community.

Historical documents concerning the production zone mention "light red wines and whites" and cite precise sensory characteristics that have been maintained intact to the present day. They are wines that the noble families of Tuscany rediscovered and improved, breathing new life into the area’s traditional production of light wines.


Candia dei Colli Apuani DOC

The Candia dei Colli Apuani production zone extends over the slopes of the hills of the territory of Massa and Carrara. Viticultural has been practiced in the district since the earliest times and agriculture in general has always represented an impotant economic resource for the community.

The Candia denomination began to be applied to the area’s wine about a century ago. The name was that of a small area on the slopes of Monte Oliviero, which was anciently described as a "free" zone.


Colline Lucchesi DOC

The attractive hilly landscape surrounding the appealing city of Lucca seems to have been destined since the beginning to the cultivation of the vine. The prosperity of this agricultural area and the widespread practice of viticulture in ancient times are indicated in numerous documents. The quality of the Colline Lucchesi was greatly appreciated by leading figures in the country’s history. Among them some Popes.


Cortona DOC


Elba DOC

Viticulture has been practiced on the island of Elba since the period of Etruscan domination. Archaeologists' discoveries of a large number of artifacts of the Roman period, many of which were used in the preservation or transportation of wine, indicate that wine represented an important commodity on the island in that period.

Pliny the Elder was justified, therefore, in describing Elba as insula vini ferax or an island fecund in wine. Afterward, in the Middle Ages, the island's wine was widely known and and appreciated and it was shipped to all parts of Tuscany. Once it reached Pisa, the wine was transshipped to all major towns in the region. Part of the reason for the demand was its reasonable price, which was close to those of Trebbiano and Valdarno, the most highly appreciated Tuscan white wines of the time.

In 1595, Ferdinando I de' Medici issued numerous regulations that were intended to protect vineyards from being damaged by cattle. Later, Grand Duke Pietro Leopoldo of Lorraine regulated the sale of wine at Portoferraio, the island's capital. And, later still, Napoleon Bonaparte, following his return to Paris from enforced residence on the island, remarked that "the inhabitants of Elba are strong and healthy because the wine of their island gives them strength and good health."

In the 19th and 20th centuries, viticulture represented a major resource for the local economy. Pullé, in his Monografia Agraria, observed that, "among all the agricultural activities pursued on the island, the cultivation of vineyards is of the greatest importance...being practiced on a quarter of Elba's total surface and yielding alone much more than all the other contributing crops together."


Montecarlo DOC


Montecucco DOC

Montecucco D.O.C. covers the territories of a number of municipalities in the province of Grosseto, including Cinigiano, Civitella Paganico, Campagnatico, Castel del Piano, Roccalbenga, Arcidosso and Seggiano.

This vicinity has had a positive effect on the development of winemaking traditions and techniques in the Montecucco area. In the past few years, the production techniques here have constantly improved thanks to the introduction of the Montecucco D.O.C. appellation. The result is a number of fine wines, especially reds.

The D.O.C. regulations here reflect the attitude of Montecucco winegrowers: they are very strict and put great weight on the use of traditional grape varieties and vinification methods, allowing no room for trendy experimentations and shortcuts of sorts.



Monteregio di Massa Marittima DOC

Monteregio di Massa Marittima D.O.C. covers the entire territories of Massa Marittima and Monterotondo Marittimo and parts of Roccastrada, Gavorrano, Castiglione della Pescaia, Scarlino and Follonica. Nine different varieties of wines are produced under this appellation in this hilly land.

Special attention is due to Vermentino, a white wine of distinctive character, and to two types of Vin Santo, one white and one red. The red Vin Santo is also known as Occhio di Pernice. It is a full-bodied and intense wine.


Montescudaio DOC


Morellino di Scansano DOC

The outstanding geological and climatic conditions found in the area have strongly favored the development of a flourishing vitivinicultural tradition.

In recent decades, the growing of grapes and making of wine have become increasingly specialized and refined in the area. That effort of improvement was crowned in 1978 with the issuance of the Denominazione di Origine Controllata, which sanctioned in a definitive way the physical-chemical characteristics and sensory virtues of the Morellino di Scansano wine.



Moscadello di Montalcino DOC

Moscadello di Montalcino is produced in three types: Still, Sparkling and Late Harvest. This wine is much appreciated for its characteristic harmony and for its Muscat aroma, which can be expressed in the three types of wine.

To look at, Moscadello di Montalcino is a faded straw yellow colour for the Sparkling type, which tends to become darker in the Still type and more light golden in the Late Harvest type. The nose manifests an aroma of balanced, fresh Muscat, with floral nuances for the Late Harvest type. The palate is pleasantly quenched by the sweetness and aromatic harmony of the Still type while the Sparkling type provides the tempting vivacity of a light perlage. The Late Harvest type boasts the velvety elegance and embrace of a dessert wine.

The Still and Sparkling Moscadello di Montalcino should be drunk young, while the Late Harvest type develops its best expression as the years go by. Its natural place is at the end of a meal, a pleasant accompaniment to pastry and dry desserts.


Orcia DOC

Two of Tuscany’s D.O.C.G. wines - Brunello di Montalcino and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano - are separated by a strip of land where the River Orcia flows.

Crushed by the fame of the noble wines produced in neighboring areas, the vintners here decided to improve their methods of cultivation and vinification in order to assert the qualities of their wines.

Their efforts have finally been crowned with a brand new appellation, Orcia D.O.C., established in March 2000. It includes a white made with Trebbiano grapes; a red made with Sangiovese, and a traditional Vin Santo, aged in small barrels for three years.


Pomino DOC


Rosso di Montalcino DOC

Built on a ridge of more than 500 meters, Montalcino dominates the valleys of the Orcia, Arbia and Ombrone. Already appreciated in past centuries, Rosso di Montalcino's enological production remains faithful to the canons of Tuscan tradition. Yet it was only toward the end of the last century that the first experiments were undertaken to improve and develop the characteristics of a raw material and an environment that are quite special. That effort led to the creation of Brunello.

Brunello is not Montalcino’s sole entry in the field of premium wines. Previously appreciated and widely known under various denominations, the Rosso di Montalcino acquired a precise identity and official recognition with the issuance of the Denominazione di Origine Controllata in 1983. The community can now boast of having three denominations of origin: Brunello, which requires extended aging; Rosso di Montalcino, a younger wine that combines a special vivacity and freshness with a superb structure, and the Moscadello di Montalcino, which is sweetish and fizzy.


Rosso di Montepulciano DOC

Montepulciano stands on a height at the southern extremity of the Chiana Valley in the province of Siena. The Rosso di Montepulciano DOC was established quite recently and complements that of the Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, from which it is distiguished only in terms of yield per hectare, alcohol level and aging. The production area is exactly the same.

The discipline gives individual producers the right to choose one of the two DOCs, depending upon the exposure of his terrains, the climatic situation during the growing season and all the other elements that render the grapes more adapted to the production of one wine rather than the other.


San Gimignano DOC

The municipal territory of San Gimignano, in Tuscany, is home to both Vernaccia di San Gimignano D.O.C.G. and San Gimignano D.O.C. wines. The latter is a rather recent appellation that was officially approved in August 1996.

San Gimignano, with its geological and climatic characteristics and the skills of its vintners, has a great winemaking vocation. Moreover, great attention is paid to environmental and ecological aspects. Winegrowing is the most important economic activity at San Gimignano.

The wines of San Gimignano are rich in history and cultural heritage. There exists very old historical evidence of the area’s red wine, once called Vino Nero by the local farmers, and its Vin Santo.

San Gimignano wines must be produced exclusively with grapes from vineyards situated inside the hilly municipal territory at an altitude of at least 1,700 feet.


Sant'Antimo DOC

Sant’Antimo is an extremely ample denomination that covers many wines both red and white. Take for instance Sant’Antimo Rosso that can also have the variety indication of Cabernet, Merlot and Pinot Nero, or Sant’Antimo Bianco that can avail itself of the varieties Chardonnay, Sauvignon and Pinot Grigio.

The red type can also be produced as Novello. One can even produce Sant’Antimo Vin Santo with white grapes and Sant’Antimo Vin Santo Occhio di Pernice with red grapes, each of which can also be made as Riserva.

The importance of Sant’Antimo is noteworthy since it fits in perfectly in the productive pyramid of Montalcino. Indeed Sant’Antimo Rosso can be produced as a passage from Brunello or from Rosso di Montalcino allowing producers the
freedom to make qualitative choices at harvest time or in the winery.


Val di Cornia DOC

Val di Cornia is a scenic valley rich in history and inhabited by very friendly people. The D.O.C. appellation, established in 1989, has led to a giant step forward in the quality of the wines produced at Val di Cornia. A careful selection of the grapes and accurate methods of vinification have considerably improved the quality standard of the various types of wine produced here.

Initially, Val di Cornia D.O.C. included "riserva", red, rosé and white wines. But following recent changes, the D.O.C. now includes several types of wine, including some obtained from only a single variety of grapes, and a subcategory called Suvereto, which is a red obtained from Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Sangiovese grapes.

The grapes used in making Val di Cornia wines must be grown at Suvereto, Sassetta, Piombino, San Vincenzo, Campiglia Marittima and Monteverdi Marittimo. The Suvereto subcategory can be obtained from grapes grown only at Suvereto.


Vin Santo del Chianti Classico DOC

Vin Santo has always been known as the wine of friendship and hospitality. No household was ever without it. It was served at any time of the day, although most people preferred it at the end of a meal. Today, Vin Santo is still considered to be a symbol of tradition because it is produced using age-old methods: from the selection of the best grapes to their drying on mats and racks; from the preservation of the grapes in ventilated garrets to the extended ageing of the wine in small barrels called "caratelli".

The first Vin Santo D.O.C. appellation was significantly given to the wines produced in the Chianti Classico territory. The villages of Castellina, Gaiole, Radda and Greve in Chianti and some parts of Barberino Val d’Elsa, San Casciano Val di Pesa, Tavarnelle Val di Pesa, Poggibonsi and Castelnuovo Berardenga are all part of this territory.


Vin Santo del Chianti DOC

The establishment of Vin Santo del Chianti D.O.C. in August 1997 marked an important step towards the full valorization of a wine that has played a great role in Tuscan oenology.

The Vin Santo del Chianti D.O.C.’s production area not only corresponds exactly to the same area where the Chianti D.O.C.G. is produced, but it also follows the same geographical subdivision: Colli Aretini, Colli Fiorentini, Colli Senesi, Colline Pisane, Montalbano, Montespertoli, and Rufina.


Vin Santo di Montepulciano DOC

Montepulciano, lying on the rolling hills between Val d’Orcia and Val di Chiana, has always been known for its excellent wines, among which the best-known is of course Nobile di Montepulciano. Vin Santo, the wine of friendship and hospitality, is another one of the pearls that has been produced here since time immemorial. It used to be produced in small quantities from carefully selected grapes that were left to dry for a long time before they were vinified in small oak or chestnut barrels. The high sugar content, which was obtained by drying the grapes on racks, yielded a wine that was both alcoholic and sweet.

To date, Vin Santo is produced respecting the same age-old traditions. The wine of friendship and hospitality is still uncorked only on special occasions. The gift of a bottle of Vin Santo is considered a sign of great friendship and respect.

The three subcategories of Vin Santo di Montepulciano D.O.C. - Normale, Riserva, and Occhio di Pernice - are produced only in the best areas of Montepulciano: those that have the best exposition and microclimatic conditions and which are between 880 and 2,000 feet.