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Italy's Super Tuscan Wines
Is it a Brunello? Is it a Chianti? No. It's a Super Tuscan. And This Wine Can Fly. By Nancy Ross Ryan
The first time I tasted a super Tuscan wine it was a super super Tuscan -- in a castle high on a hill in Tuscany. Unwittingly, I had started at the top. The wine was Excelsus 1993, created by Castello Banfi's chief enologist, Ezio Rivella. Only 24,000 bottles of this vintage were produced, and Excelsus -- a nontraditional blend of merlot and cabernet sauvignon grapes -- is only produced in outstanding vintage years in limited quantities. The merlot and cabernet are harvested, crushed and fermented separately (because they mature at different times during the season); the two wines are aged separately for 1 year in French oak barrels; then they are blended and aged for another 6 months in French oak. After bottling, the wine is cellared for at least two years before being released.
I was dining in the Banfi wine estate's ninth-century castle, and the Excelsus arrived at the end of the meal (just before the biscotti) accompanied by a tiny slab of Pecorino di Pienza -- aged Tuscan sheep's milk cheese. The combination of the pungent, salty cheese and the full lush deep red wine redolent of berries was a heady experience. "It's all going to be downhill from here," I thought sadly to myself. And it was -- but it was one helluva trip. Although no other single super Tuscan since has surpassed that first taste, some have been its equal. And most of these wines have been better than good, they've been, well, super. Happily, many super Tuscans are downright affordable.
So what makes these wines "super Tuscan" instead of say Chianti? Super Tuscan is the nickname given to red wines first made in the '70s by innovative Italian wine makers in Tuscany who decided to use 100% varietals and/or to blend their wines with non-traditional European varietals such as cabernet, syrah and merlot. Their quest was for better and longer-lived wines. But super Tuscan wines are non-DOC wines. DOC wines (see "Italian Wine Laws and Labels") are regulated by law: where and how they must be produced, which varietals they may contain and how much of each. For example, the classic Tuscan Chianti, according to the DOC, must be produced in the Chianti region -- the best comes from the Chianto Classico district -- and must be made from between 75 and 90 percent sangiovese grape, not one percent more and not one percent less. It may contain up to 10 percent canaiolo nero, up to 10 percent other red grapes, and should contain up to five percent of white grapes, either trebbiano or malvasia. But a DOC Chianti cannot be made from 100 percent sangiovese. That is, a great wine can and has been made in Tuscany in the Chianti region from 100 percent sangiovese -- but it could not be called Chianti. That is, until the 1997 vintage when the Chianti producers' petition to allow 100 percent sangiovese to be labeled DOC Chianti was accepted. And, fortunately or unfortunately, depending on your viewpoint, the DOC laws are becoming more flexible, thus many of the now-called super Tuscans will become IGT and DOC. Some wine writers even ask if the super Tuscan moniker will survive the DOC changes. Who cares, as long as these great new-style wines survive.
They were born out of a quest for world-class, long-lived wines on the part of Tuscany's most respected winemakers who created a new generation of Italian reds, nicknamed "super Tuscans." And, of course, these same winemakers began to experiment with non-traditional whites, both 100% varietals and blends.These other Tuscans lay claim to no such flashy moniker, being known simply as IGT (Indicazione Georgrafica Tipica) wines. But these atypical non-DOC whites are well crafted and among the most intriguing white wines that my palate -- a fugitive from big California chardonnays -- has recently enjoyed.
What makes super Tuscan wines exceptional is not just the grapes -- traditional or non-traditional varietals and combinations thereof -- but the legendary Tuscan terroir . The climate is great -- warm days, cool nights and just enough moisture. The land is high above sea level and provides excellent drainage for vines, but the soil is poor -- rocky and full of clay. The combination presents the vines with just enough struggle to survive and, when carefully cultivated, produces great varietal grapes. Sometimes the cultivation methods run counter to strong local traditions. For example, when Ezio Rivella became director and chief enologist at Castello Banfi estates in 1984, he introduced the process of green harvesting sangiovese, the most traditional Tuscan grape variety and one known for producing lots of grapes and, consequently, lots of wine. "You green harvest at the end of July before the vine has a chance to produce more fruit," he says, explaining that the vines are pruned brutally, literally throwing away good grapes until there are only five to six grape bunches left on each vine. He says that the workers would follow his instructions until he was out of sight, then they would stop pruning, unable to bear the sight of the wasted grapes. "It is not easy to raise good sangiovese," he says. "You have to have a strong heart."
It requires no such test of will or endurance, however, to enjoy super Tuscan wines. So take heart and sample some from the list below.
Italian Wine Laws and Labels
DOCG
Vino da Tavola
IGT
Come Fly with Us
Reds:
IGT Whites:
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LIQUID ASSETS - May 1999