Blog: Tuscany · Wine region

'The god who created the hills of Florence,' wrote Anatole France, 'was an artist. He was a goldsmith, a medalist, a bronze founder, a sculptor and a painter: he was a Florentine.' He was also a Tuscan, a craftsman and a farmer, who was able to shape this unique landscape from the Apennines down to the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is a landscape of perfect dimensions; what man has created is harmoniously integrated into nature, and nature in turn seems to have taken on the task of creating an environment for our human works in which they appear even more beautiful. In this environment everything has remained natural, and simplicity and genuineness are also the characteristics of Tuscan cuisine. It is a harmonious combination of wonderful oil, tender meat and delicious wines, it is perhaps the simplest of all Italian cuisines, in its naturalness, but also the most exquisite, and a Trattoria, an Osteria Toscana can be discovered on this side and on the other side of the Atlantic in every large city. World famous: the Bistecca alla Fiorentina, a slice of tender ox meat from the Chiana Valley, where the cattle are fed with particularly fragrant herbs, roasted over a charcoal fire and then dressed with the finest olive oil, with salt and pepper. A simple meal, but a royal one! But to this cuisine belongs the Chianti, probably the most famous of Italian wines, a wine, one would think, that only here on these hillsides to thrive and only in the cellars of old Tuscan manor houses to find its full maturity.

Tuscany - the dream region of the Germans par excellence. Its rolling hills impress not only with the beautiful landscape but also with the olive trees and vines for the famous wines that grow here on the often clay, marl and limestone soils. Chianti is the most famous Italian wine in the world. Tuscany's winemaking tradition is thousands of years old and dates back to the Etruscan era. The renewal of Italian viticulture in the last 25 years is also largely due to impulses from Tuscany and Piedmont. The most important grape variety is the Sangiovese grape with its various clones, such as Sangiovese Grosso for Brunello di Montalcino. As part of the Chianti Classico research project, the first results of a clone selection for new and replanting are available. in addition, Cabernet Sauvignon has found ideal growing conditions on the Tyrrhenian coast and produces such great wines as 'Sassicaia', which no longer belongs to the category of Vini da Tavola, but is known as Bolgheri DOC subzone Sassicaia. - Gerardo

Besides the ubiquitous, red grape variety Sangiovese (the basis for renowned wines such as Chianti Classico and Brunello di Montalcino), Syrah is also becoming increasingly important in Tuscany.

"In recent harvest years, which have been very different, we have had more than ever the impression that the winemakers have called on all their skills to produce quality wine; the reputation of the respective growing areas has only benefited. It was not so long ago that Tuscany's winegrowers had to put up with a lot of criticism, but those times seem to have been forgotten." - Slow Wine