Best Tuscan Wine Destinations

So where are the best Tuscan destinations for wine tourism? One of the most popular wine tours of Tuscany is the Chianti Classico wine region located shortly just outside the famous city of Florence. It is easily accessible and directs a wine traveler to many of its hundreds of wineries dotting the Tuscan countryside. Here is where you will find the Sangiovese grape primarily being grown with additional red grapes such as Canaiolo, Mammolo and other international varieties. The most popular communes in Chianti Classico are the towns of Radda, Greve in Chianti, Castellina in Chianti and Gaiole.

Chianti, Montalcino and Montepulciano

Although, Tuscany is not just all about chianti. Tuscany produces some of Italy’s most prominent wines that hail from the towns of Montalcino and Montepulciano. These villages are located just south of Tuscany’s other major city, Siena. There you will find the esteemed Brunello di Montalcino and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano wines. Both of these areas produce wines made from clones of the Sangiovese grape. There are a number of factors that make the wines produced in this area different than those of Chianti Classico. The clones, terroir, aging, climate and other regulations all contribute to defining these wines. The specific regulations must be met to label these wines as Brunello di Montalcino DOCG and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano DOCG. This is the reason why these wines are so special and unique.

Bolgheri

For lovers of the sea and Tuscany’s coastline you will want to venture to the Bolgheri wine region in the Maremma just south of Livorno. Bolgheri is the home of the first Super Tuscan wine produced under the famous Antinori family with their prestigious Tignanello. Super Tuscans are wines produced primarily from Sangiovese with other international varieties blended in whether it is either Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah or Cabernet Franc. Today you can find Super Tuscans being grown all over Tuscany, but Bolgheri is where you will find some of the best.

Maremma

Also within the Maremma you will find other Sangiovese based wines including those of Morellino di Scansano. In this case Morellino is a clone of Sangiovese with Scansano being the town from where it is grown. This area has unique soils rich in marine fossils and volcanic matter. A warmer climate than its more northern Tuscan neighbors, you will find fruit-forward wines with soft elegance and good acidity.

White wines

So you might be saying to yourself that everything we have mentioned are red wines. Does Tuscany produce white wines? Absolutely! The medieval tower filled town of San Gimignano in the heart of Tuscany produces the popular Vernaccia di San Gimignano. You will also discover Vermentino, Trebbiano typically used in blending, and in the Maremma you will discover Bianco di Pitigliano.

As you can see Tuscany has plenty of red wines, white wines and even some dessert wines with the intriguing Vinsanto that are awaiting your exploration and consumption. So on your next destination to Tuscany make sure to go on a Wine Tour to at least one of these wonderful wine areas of Tuscany and see all that it has to offer.