Why Is Tuscan Wine So Red — and So Dry?

Understanding Tuscany’s traditional wine styles

Every now and then, we receive a question before a wine tour that goes something like this:

"I don't really drink red wine. I prefer rosé, sweet whites like Moscato, fruity rosé wines. Will there be wines like that at the tastings?"

It's a perfectly reasonable question.

But it also opens the door to a much bigger one.

Why does Tuscany make the wines it makes?

Because if you're coming to Tuscany hoping to understand Tuscan wine, there's one thing you should probably know before you arrive.

There is going to be a lot of red wine.

And most of it is going to be dry.

Very dry.

That's not because Tuscan winemakers have anything against rosé, white or sweet wine.

It's because wine regions don't develop their traditions according to what the rest of the world happens to want to drink.

They develop them over centuries according to their grapes, climate, soils, food, history and culture.

And Tuscany's particular combination of all those things has made it one of the world's great regions for dry red wine.

But, as always with Italian wine, there are plenty of exceptions.

Wine styles of the past. Wines were often field-blends of both red and white grapes, resulting in a light-red dry wine. Painting from inside the Medici palace at Poggio a Caiano (circa 1600s).

Tuscany Is Red Wine Country

If you had to choose one grape to tell the story of Tuscany, there wouldn't be much competition.

Sangiovese.

It's the grape behind many of Tuscany's most famous wines.

Chianti.

Chianti Classico.

Brunello di Montalcino.

Vino Nobile di Montepulciano.

Morellino di Scansano.

And although the names on the labels are different, Sangiovese is the thread running through them.

Something like 65% of Tuscany's vineyards are grown to Sangiovese!

That's an important thing to understand about Italian wine.

Traditionally, we don't always name wines after the grape.

We name them after places.

Brunello isn't a grape variety in the way Cabernet Sauvignon is. Brunello di Montalcino is a wine from Montalcino made entirely from Sangiovese, traditionally known there as Brunello.

Vino Nobile di Montepulciano is another expression of Sangiovese, locally called Prugnolo Gentile.

Chianti Classico is yet another.

Same family of grape.

Very different places.

Very different wines.

And for centuries, Sangiovese has proven extraordinarily well suited to the hills of central Tuscany.

No doubt that Tuscany is red wine country, though very fine exceptions exist.

Why Sangiovese?

Sangiovese isn't necessarily an easy grape.

It naturally has plenty of acidity and can have considerable tannin.

Its aromas often lean toward cherry, sour cherry, red berries, herbs, earth and spice rather than the lush, sweet-fruited flavours some drinkers associate with modern red wine.

But put it in the right place and something magical happens.

Tuscany's hills, sunlight, temperature differences between day and night, soils and elevations can allow Sangiovese to ripen while retaining the acidity that gives the wine its energy. (read more about the Sangiovese in this article)

And that acidity is enormously important.

Because Tuscan wine didn't develop in isolation.

It developed alongside Tuscan food.

Wine Was Made for the Table

This, I think, is one of the easiest ways to understand traditional Tuscan wine.

For most of its history, wine here wasn't something you sat on the sofa and drank by itself.

It belonged on the table.

Imagine a plate of pappardelle with wild boar ragù.

Bistecca alla Fiorentin.

Roast pork.

Finocchiona salami.

Aged Pecorino cheese.

Beans dressed generously with extra virgin olive oil.

These foods don't necessarily need a sweet, soft wine beside them.

They work beautifully with acidity.

Tannin.

Savouriness.

Structure.

The acidity refreshes your palate. Tannin interacts with fat and protein. The wine makes you want another bite, and the food makes you want another sip.

They belong together.

And suddenly a wine that might have seemed quite austere when tasted alone makes perfect sense.

But Why Is the Wine Dry?

This is where we need to separate two words that are constantly confused:

fruity and sweet.

They are not the same thing.

A wine can smell enormously fruity and still be completely dry.

You might put your nose into a glass of Sangiovese and find cherries, raspberries, plums or ripe strawberries.

None of that necessarily means the wine contains enough residual sugar to taste sweet.

Those are aromas and flavours created by the grape and fermentation.

Sweetness is different.

During fermentation, yeast consumes the natural sugars in grape juice and converts them primarily into alcohol and carbon dioxide.

If fermentation continues until nearly all of the fermentable sugar has been consumed, the resulting wine is dry.

If appreciable sugar remains, the wine may taste off-dry or sweet, depending on how much is left and on the wine's acidity and other components.

Most traditional Tuscan wines are fermented to dryness.

So yes, your Chianti Classico may taste wonderfully of cherries.

But those cherries don't come with sugar.

Does Tuscany Make White Wine?

This is where our neat little picture of "red Tuscany" starts becoming more interesting.

The most historically famous Tuscan white is probably Vernaccia di San Gimignano, grown around the spectacular medieval town of San Gimignano.

Vernaccia has a history stretching back centuries and was mentioned by Dante in the Divine Comedy.

Traditionally, it's a dry white wine, often with freshness, floral and citrus notes and a characteristic slightly bitter or almond-like finish. (read more about Vernaccia di San Gimignano here)

Travel toward the Tuscan coast and you'll encounter more white wine, particularly Vermentino.

You'll also find Trebbiano Toscano, Ansonica and Malvasia, alongside international varieties and an increasingly exciting generation of Tuscan white wines.

So Tuscany certainly isn't exclusively red.

What About Rosé?

Yes, lately Tuscany makes quite a bit of rosé too.

Or, as we call it in Italian, rosato.

And some excellent Tuscan rosati (plural) are being made today.

But here's the important part if you're accustomed to associating pink wine with sweetness:

Rosato does not mean sweet.

Tuscan quality rosato is dry.

Its colour comes primarily from brief contact between the juice and the skins of red grapes, rather than from leaving lots of sugar in the finished wine.

Depending on the grapes and style, it can be pale or quite intensely coloured.

So if someone tells us, "I don't drink dry wine, but I like rosé," there's an important follow-up question hiding in there.

Do you like rosé because it's pink?

Because it's lighter?

Because it's fruity?

Or because the particular rosé you normally drink is sweet?

Those are four very different things.

And Moscato?

Now we're entering another interesting corner of Italian wine.

When many international visitors say "Moscato," they're thinking of something like Moscato d'Asti: aromatic, floral, fruity, gently sparkling and sweet.

It's delicious!

But it comes from Piedmont, hundreds of kilometres north of Tuscany.

It isn't a traditional everyday wine style of Chianti.

That doesn't mean Muscat grapes are unknown in Tuscany.

Far from it.

One particularly fascinating example is Moscadello di Montalcino, an ancient local wine tradition made from Moscato Bianco.

Long before Brunello became internationally famous, Montalcino was known for its sweet Moscadello.

Today it represents only a tiny part of the wine produced around Montalcino, but it's a wonderful reminder that wine regions are never quite as simple as we make them sound. (read more about all the wines of Montalcino in this article)

A whole room at Capezzana winery dedicated to drying of the grapes for Vin Santo

Tuscany's Great Sweet Wine

And then we arrive at one of my favourite exceptions.

Vin Santo.

If dry Sangiovese represents one side of traditional Tuscan wine culture, Vin Santo represents another.

Traditionally, grapes, most often Trebbiano Toscano and Malvasia Bianca, are harvested and then dried for weeks or months.

As the grapes lose water, their sugars and flavours become concentrated.

The grapes are eventually pressed and the concentrated must is fermented and aged, traditionally in small barrels known as caratelli.

The result can vary enormously.

Some Vin Santo is relatively dry.

Most is richly sweet.

The best examples can be extraordinarily complex, with aromas and flavours that might remind you of dried apricot, honey, nuts, caramel, spice and orange peel.

True Vin Santo is amazing - and when a winery produces one, you should definitely taste it!

(Read more about Tuscan Vin Santo here)

Both white & red grapes can be used for producing Vin Santo

So What Will You Taste on a Tuscan Wine Tour?

This brings us back to the question that started all of this.

"I normally drink sweeter or fruitier wines. Can the wineries accommodate me?"

The answer requires a little shift in how we think about wine tourism.

Visiting a winery isn't quite the same thing as going to a wine bar.

At a wine bar, you tell the sommelier what you enjoy and they can search the list for something that suits your palate.

At a winery, you're there to taste the wines that winery makes.

And those wines exist because of where you are.

If you're standing in a cellar in Chianti Classico, the producer isn't pouring Sangiovese simply because they happen to think you should like it.

They're pouring it because you're standing in one of the places in the world where Sangiovese has been grown for centuries.

If you're in Montalcino, you're probably going to taste Brunello.

If you're visiting San Gimignano, Vernaccia will appear.

And if you're lucky enough to visit a producer who makes Vin Santo, perhaps that will appear too.

The tasting is telling you the story of the place.

You Don't Have to Like Everything

And this might be the most important thing of all.

You don't have to like every wine you taste.

Really.

Wine tasting isn't an exam.

There's no prize for pretending to enjoy something you don't.

If you normally love soft, sweet, aromatic wines, your first traditionally styled Chianti Classico may seem surprisingly acidic.

A young Brunello might feel tannic.

A Vernaccia may taste more savoury and less fruity than the white wine you usually order at home.

That's okay.

The interesting question isn't always:

"Do I like this?"

Sometimes it's:

"Why does this taste like this?"

Why is there so much acidity?

Why does Sangiovese taste different in Montalcino and Chianti Classico?

Why does this wine work so much better when I take a bite of Pecorino cheese?

And every once in a while, something wonderful happens.

A wine you would never have ordered becomes the wine you remember most.

Approach wine tasting with an open palate - you may discover your new favorite wine (or not - that's ok, too)

Taste the Place, Not Just Your Preferences

One of the greatest pleasures of travelling for wine is temporarily leaving your usual drinking habits behind.

If I travel to Piedmont, I want to understand Nebbiolo.

If I go to Champagne, I want to taste Champagne.

If I'm in Jerez, pour me Sherry.

And if I'm standing among the vineyards of Tuscany, I want to know why generations of people have fallen in love with Sangiovese.

You can always return to your favourite bottle when you get home.

But while you're here?

Taste Tuscany.

It might surprise you.