Collection: Tuscany

Toscana lies in central Italy, in the hills between Florens and Siena, and reaches all the way to the coast in Maremma towards Grosseto and south of Livorno. It is one of the regions we carry the most wines from in our Italian range, and it is not hard to understand why: with forty DOCG and DOC zones plus a wealth of IGT classifications, Toscana holds a breadth that spans from classic hillside wines to modern coastal projects.

The Tuscan backbone is sangiovese, the most widely planted and most studied native red grape in Italy. DNA research from 2004 has shown that it descends from the Tuscan grapes ciliegiolo and calabrese montenuovo, and both sangiovese and trebbiano are believed to have been wild vines that the Etruscans had already tamed. The grape is known under different names depending on the place: prugnolo gentile in Montepulciano, brunello in Montalcino and morellino around Grosseto. It is vital and sensitive to its environment, and because it is often low in anthocyanins, it has historically been accompanied by canaiolo and colorino, and more recently by cabernet sauvignon and merlot.

Trebbiano is the other very widely planted grape. It is productive, robust and naturally high in acidity, but is used first and foremost as a blending grape with limited aroma. On the coast, by contrast, vermentino is on the rise. The grape has a long history in Toscana, ripens late and thrives in the maritime climate, where the maritime hills carry Mediterranean scrub of holm oak, cork oak, juniper and wild herbs. Maremma was malaria-stricken marshland until the drainage in the 1930s, and today investment is growing, particularly around Bolgheri.

The majority of our Tuscan selection centres on sangiovese, but you will also find wines from the coast and from the region's many classifications. Toscana is often compared to Bordeaux for its commercial impact, and here there is ample occasion to explore how one landscape can hold so many expressions.