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Wine
Regions
Old World
Italy
CENTRAL WEST ITALY
Central Italy - West
This area of Italy is totally dominated by the red Sangiovese wines from
the hills and tiny valleys of central Tuscany between Florence and the Umbria-Latium
border. There are few other wines of any repute produced in the region and
little to connect them.
TUSCANY (TOSCANA)
PROUD POSSESSOR OF THREE OF ITALY'S six DOCGs, Tuscany is also a center
of experimental wine making. The powerful red Vino Nobile di Montepulciano
was the very first of Italy's DOCGs and was followed by another Sangiovese
clone, Brunello di Montalcino. More recently Chianti was made DOCG, with
Carmignano tipped for future classification. These are the most famous names
in Tuscany but although many of the region's finest wines bear them, not
all do and the quality of the wines granted DOCG status can be very variable-notably
Chianti. This fact was recognized by the Tuscan producers themselves, who
actively sought the ideal solution of a DOCG for the best of Chianti. Two
basic approaches towards achieving this aim were to either apply DOCG to
the Chianti Classico area, where most of the finest wines have traditionally
been made, and leave the rest as DOC Chianti, is recognizing that some exceptional
estates exist outside this central zone, grant DOCG status to the best 10
per cent of the production, regardless of origin. Unfortunately those responsible
for drawing up the new regulations applied DOCG status to the whole area
and to all Chianti wines. It is still theoretically possible for Chiantis
to be refused DOCG, and a few awful wines are, but the selection by tasting
is a public sham.. Any system that does not recognize that the majority
of Chianti is mediocre is doomed.
The largest number of exceptional Tuscan wines are the "new'' barrique
aged ones. Their origins stretch back to 1948, when a vineyard for the now
famous Sassicaia wine first planted by Incisa della Rochetta with Cabernet
sauvignon vines reputedly from Chateau Lafite-Rothschild. This became so
successful that a new red wine called Tignanello was introduced by Antinoni
in the wake of the 1971 vintage. This wine was a compromise between Tuscany
and Bordeaux, with Sangiovese used as the base and 20 per cent of Cabernet
sauvignon blended in. Until Tignanello appeared. nobody truly appreciated
the harmony that could be achieved between these two grapes: it is akin
to the natural balance of Cabernet and Merlot, only the Cabernet adds weight
to the Sangiovese, and provides balance through satisfying flavor Tignanello
sparked off the current new-wave of Tuscan wines.
UMBRIA
Orvieto is Umbria's best-known and best-forgotten wine. Next to Frascati
and Soave, it is the most used and abused name in the Italian restaurants
of the world. While there are a few exciting Orvietos, such as Bigi's Vigneto
Torricella, they are in a lamentably small minority One of Umbria's few
deservedly famous names is Lungarotti's "Rubesco" Torgiano, whose
reputation led to the establishment of the Torgiano DOC. Lungarotti is also
the clear leader when it comes to producing Umbria's excellent new-wave
wines. These utilize numerous grape varieties, both native and French, and
are thus produced in numerous styles, but they are nearly always aged in
new-oak barriques
LATIUM (LAZIO)
One of the country's largest regions, Latium appropriately boasts one of
its largest selling wines, Frascati the Latin Liebfraumilch. Unfortunately
for a region that can boast one of the classic wines of antiquity; Falernum,
it has few quality wines. However, Latium's only two fine wines Boncompagni
Ludovisi's ''Fiorano" and Cantina Colacicchi's "Torre Ercolana"
, both innovative Cabernet - Merlot blends, are very good indeed.