A tourist destination synonymous with poplar-lined roads and serried rows of Sangiovese, Tuscany (Toscana in Italian) is best-known for Chianti but the region offers so much more.

Wine-Searcher editorial

Last updated 23-May-2024

A classic Tuscan landscape in Chianti with a cypress-lined drive to a hilltop farm | © canadastock / shutterstock.com

Table of Contents

• History of Tuscan wine
• Super Tuscan wines
• Toscana IGT/IGP
• Climate and terroir
• Tuscany's grape varieties
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Most Popular Tuscan Wine

Tuscany is now one of the most famous and prolific wine regions anywhere in Europe. It is best known for its Sangiovese-based dry red wines which include Chianti, Brunello di Montalcino and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano.

The region's Vin Santo is also highly prized, as are its passito dessert wines, though these are made in tiny volumes by comparison. Dry whites are probably less familiar to most consumers - apart perhaps from Vernaccia di San Gimignano.

Situated in central Italy, Tuscany's neighbors are Liguria and Emilia-Romagna to the north, Umbria and Marche to the east and Lazio to the south. Its western boundary is formed by the Tyrrhenian Sea. The picturesque rolling hills with medieval villages and cypress-lined avenues appeal to tourists and so help promote the wines.

The region's top wines are officially recognized and protected by a raft of 41 DOC and 11 DOCG titles. There are six more flexible IGP/IGT designations, with the pan-regional Toscana IGT (see below). See Italian Wine Labels for more details regarding this hierarchy.

The most searched-for wine from Tuscany on our database is Sassicaia, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc from the coastal region of Bolgheri.

The city of Florence is the capital of Tuscany | ©Gurgen Bakhshetyan / www.shutterstock.com

History of Tuscan wine

As is the case with almost all of Italy's 20 regions, Tuscany has a long wine history. This can be traced back to the 7th Century BC from remnants of wine amphora that have been excavated in the region. Throughout the Roman Empire, wine became part of the daily diet, particularly for the upper-class.

By the end of the 1200s, the city of Florence was populated with wine merchants. The Ate dei Vinattieri was established in the city as a guild for wine professionals to pledge allegiance to. It imposed strict regulations on how wine-related business could be conducted. At the same time, throughout the country, writers, poets and artists were enriching their work with wine-inspired pieces.

There were numerous family wine producers of Tuscany established throughout the 13th and 14th centuries of which today, are historic and well-respected producers of the region. These include Marchesi de' Frescobaldi, Marchesi Antinori and Barone Ricasoli among others.

Overlooking Machesi Antinori, a historic Tuscany producer | ©Machesi Antinori

In 1716, for the first time, the Grand Duke of Tuscany Cosimo III de' Medici decided to define the 70,000 hectare area of Chianti for the production of quality wines in a legal document. This made history as the first legally enforced example of a DOC.

Super Tuscan wines

When the Italian DOC system was introduced in the 1960s, it created a great deal of controversy. Many Italian wine producers found the new rules too restrictive and openly criticized the system.

A significant number of these, most notably in Tuscany, chose to continue focusing on their own criteria for quality and individuality rather than conforming to local DOC regulations. This meant they had to label their wines as Vino da Tavola, the lowest tier in Italy's wine classification system.

From the late 1960s a number of these "rebel" producers began making modern-styled wines of very high quality which later became known as the 'Super Tuscans'. These were recieved with international and recognition and praise. This meant that some of Italy's most respected wines were being labeled and sold as Vino di Tavola, turning the system of wine quality regulation on its head.

Sassicaia, the most famous of the Super Tuscan red wines, was added to the Bolgheri DOC in 1994. The latter had been established for white wines only a decade earlier. The estate now has its own Bolgheri Sassicaia designation for its reds. But a broader solution was also required.

Toscana IGT/IGP

To bring a degree of balance to the situation, in 1992 the Italian government introduced a new category of Indicazione Geografica Tipica (IGT), now often labelled as IGP (Protetta) to be more in line with the EU umbrella term. This successfully introduced a mid-ground between the highly regulated DOCG and DOC classifications and the lowly, unregulated Vino di Tavola.

Toscana IGT is the best known of the IGT classifications. It represents almost one-quarter of wine production within Tuscany.

Climate and terroir

Climate is a vital factor in this region's success as a wine region. Temperate coastal areas are contrasted by inland areas (particularly those in the rolling hills for which the region is so famous), where increased diurnal temperature variation helps to maintain the grapes' balance of sugars, acidity and aromatics.

The summers here are hot, especially at the lower altitudes within the valleys. The Sangiovese grape prefers a high volume of sunshine hours so a majority of the region's vineyards are found planted on slopes to maximize exposure.

Rainfall is concentrated into the milder autumn and winter months. Light snowfall in winter is possible but thankfully damaging spring frosts are mitigated by the undulating landscape. In more recent years, the region has endured periods of drought that have drastically reduced yields in the vineyards.

Tuscany's grape varieties

Arguably the most important of all Italian wine grapes, Sangiovese accounts for around two-thirds of all plantings and 85 percent of red wine volume in the region. It is the mainstay variety in almost all of Tuscany's top reds. Its long history and broad regional distribution mean that it has acquired various names.

The first word of the Brunello di Montalcino DOCG refers for the local name for Sangiovese. For Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, the grape is known as Prugnolo Gentile. Under the name Morellino it is the grape used to make Morellino di Scansano. Sangiovese also features in Chianti, in which it is joined by small amounts of Canaiolo and Colorino, as well as increasing quantities of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.

With the rise of the Super Tuscans, the most famous of which come from Bolgheri, Cabernet Sauvignon became a much more prominent variety in Tuscany. Merlot and the other Bordeaux varieties also feature, as does Syrah (most notably in Cortona).

More recently focus has increased on neglected local red grapes, both as blending components and for single variety wines. Of these Ciliegiolo is the most prominent; here it achieves a more structured wine than is usually the case in neighboring Umbria. Pugnitello is also experiencing a revival, though as yet on a smaller scale.

Trebbiano (Ugni Blanc) is the most planted white variety, followed by Malvasia, Vermentino and Vernaccia. International varieties such as Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Viognier are planted in very small quantities, but do feature in (usually Toscana IGP) white wines from some top estates in red wine-focused appellations.