This piece comes fresh off the (wine) press. I happen to be travelling through the picturesque countryside of Tuscany having made my base in the area?a region so pretty and enchanting, it comes to me as a real wonder that people get any work done here instead of just visiting museums and sipping at piazza-side cafes.
But I, too, don?t have much time to leisurely reminisce over the glory of the Renaissance. Alas, I am on a mission: to decipher the local hero?Sangiovese?the grape behind the majority of red wines of the region. Even if the sub-region changes (and with that, the local name for the grape, Brunello in Montalcino, for example), the grape remains the same. Of course, there are clonal variations, but it is still pretty much the same grape.
And yet, the wines are so different, so stylistically asymmetric that only upon tasting and experiencing them first-hand can a person claim to somewhat understand the myriad joys that the world of wines can present.
In Chianti, for example (the region largely located between Florence and Sienna), the wines are soft and supple, with a zesty twang and ripe fruit mixed with some green earthiness. Think cherry tomatoes with the leaves still on. The wines are fruity, but never jammy. The tannins are powdery and gentle, and the acidity marks the wine. Think of it as a sporty red that can do laps on your palate with dextrous ease.
But then in Montalcino, a town with surrounding vineyards not too far away from the Chianti region, the wines are more of a turbo-charged, all-terrain vehicle. Here, the grape does not only show more power and more charm, but also more dominance. The tannins are intense and the aromas heady.
And not to be forgotten is the Vino Nobile di Montepulciano in Montepulciano. The style is softer than Brunello (or sometimes Chianti), but still manages to be complex. Released two years after harvest, the wines are a great value-for-money buy for something that is ready to drink when young, but could benefit largely from cellaring.
The event where I managed to taste many of them is called the Ante-Prima. It is a kind of preview, a very exclusive tasting event in the wine world. Usually organised by the local governing body of a wine region, it invites all the producers (without any bias) of a region or sub-region to come and showcase their wines?those in the barrels from the current year and other examples from previous years. The idea is to provide people insight into the collective wine philosophy of the region, so that they can understand the general sense of aromas and tastes in order to imprint it on their memory, something that would better their recall capabilities.
For example, I can now safely state that a good Sangiovese wine must show the following few characteristics: it must have ripe fruit (small red berry fruit ideally) and a touch of leafiness, with crispness aplenty; the oak must support and never be too drying, the tannins are best when powdery and yet grippy; and, finally, there must be some savoury character in the wine to endow it with complexity. These are the hallmark signs that distinguish good exploits of this grape.
After having tried over a hundred wines a day in the last few days, I am convinced that the Sangiovese grape doesn?t get due credit in the world. These three regions, in spite of churning out some pretty expensive wines, are still highly undervalued. I would much prefer these over a Super Tuscan any day. But that?s just me.
The writer is a sommelier