The columnist Matt Kramer recently ventured in Wine Spectator magazine that Tuscany is the most difficult wine region to “really understand.” He makes an astute and specific point. We all know about Chianti. But aside from the assurance that the wine will be red, most bets are off as to what’s in the bottle. Will lively sangiovese be goosed up with dense cabernet sauvignon? The labels rarely say so. Will there be lots of oak or a little? No way to tell. Will it taste like nirvana or like mouldy cheese? You don’t know till you’ve popped the cork. And Chianti is just one opaque appellation among many in the region.
Tuscany is an enigma for another reason: Like the Italian electorate, it loves change. When you think you’ve got the Chianti thing nailed down (not that you ever will), you’ve got to grapple with the “supertuscan” model based mainly on French grape varieties and such unrevealing vanity names as Nemo, Desiderio and Il Futuro.
Then there are emerging appellations to add to your connoisseur’s lexicon. Which brings me to Montecucco. The obscure district was legally christened in 1998 to recognize rising quality in the area and to set a high bar for wines aspiring to distinction. Producers had frustratingly toiled in the shadow of one of Italy’s premier wine zones, Brunello di Montalcino. Montecucco was essentially a Brunello suburb without a name.
As in Montalcino, known for big, earthy reds, sangiovese is the star. Often Montecucco wines will contain a smaller proportion of other grapes, such as the local colorino and canaiolo, which darken and soften sangiovese without muddying its fetching and very Tuscan cherry-earthy-salty profile. The Amantis below is a gem, better than the similarly priced but more vaunted Fontodi Chianti as well as the pricier Corte Pavone Brunello, though I like those wines, too. That’s Tuscany, often confusing but frequently glorious.
Amantis Sangiovese Montecucco 2006 (Italy)
SCORE: 93 PRICE: $29.95
Mainly sangiovese with dollops of colorino and canaiolo, this dark, concentrated red plays with fetching floral-cherry nuances on the nose. Those qualities carry through on the palate, joined by wood and fine-grained tannins. Richly flavoured but not heavy or sweet – it’s classic, concentrated sangiovese, and surprisingly fresh for its age. It should improve in four to six years. Available in Ontario.
Corte Pavone Brunello di Montalcino 2005 (Italy)
SCORE: 91 PRICE: $49.95
Brunello, the king of classic Tuscan reds, is an expensive hit-or-miss proposition. Some deliver fruity freshness, others are arid, prune-like astringent, though they all tend to be big and muscular. This one’s somewhere in between, and just about where I like it. Full-bodied and tannic, it veers slightly into the driedfruit spectrum, but the prune mingles with fresher plum and cherry against a backdrop of pipe tobacco. It could improve with up to 10 years in the cellar and pair nicely with meat dishes that include truffle or porcini-mushroom sauce.
Fontodi Chianti Classico 2008 (Italy)
SCORE: 90 PRICE: $29.95
As the price would indicate, this is serious Chianti, produced by the Manetti family that’s been making Tuscany’s signature terra-cotta tiles since the Renaissance. The wine was fermented with indigenous yeasts and matured for 12 months in good French oak. Its sourcherry- like fruit remains shy, dominated by sweet, oak-imparted spice, tobacco and astringent tannins. Best to rest it for six to eight years in a cool cellar. Failing that, serve it with medium-rare, herbcrusted T-bone. I’ve got some 1999 in my cellar still and it continues to drink well more a dozen years later. ($28.10 in Que., $40.01 in N.S.) The even better 2007 vintage of this Chianti sells for $33.99 in British Columbia.
Robert Mondavi Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 (California)
SCORE: 93 PRICE: $139.95
