Each country or region has a different history, a different climate, a different kind of agriculture which make the local wines particularly fit to match with local dishes. Anyway Italian wines and especially Tuscany wines are well known worlwide for being special and therefore to appreciate our cooking nothing is better than a Tuscany wine.
Notwithstanding many foreigner countries try to copy tuscan wines and most of all our labels and names, the law about the controlled origin (DOC and DOCG) can assure the quality of a genuine Tuscan wine.
If you are a lover of wine tasting you could take a look at the Florence wine tours section where i suggest the best wine tours to do in Florence and also some Tuscany wine tours to satisfy your Tuscan wine tasting desire.
Now a few basic rules to follow to combine Tuscan food with the right Tuscan wine:
- Do not serve two similar wines together (for example do not serve two white wines or two Chianti wine with the same colour and the same age )
- White wines come before the pink ones and these before the red ones.
- Little alcoholic wine comes before strong wine.
- Young less important wines comes before old and more important ones-
- With cakes and desserts serve always sweet wine.
- Sparkling dry wine is better as aperitif or between meals. In spite of this wine etiquette, in my family we like to drink a toast at the end of a birthday meal etc.
TUSCAN WINES IN ALPHABETIC ORDER
|
NAME |
COLOUR |
AGEING |
COUPLED WITH |
| Bianco della Valdinievole | white | no | Aperitif light dishes with no tomato, soups, fishes, eggs, vegetables |
| Bianco dell' Empolese | white | no | Hors d'oeuvre, light first courses,vegetables |
| Bianco di Pitigliano | white | no | Hors d'oeuvre, fishes |
| Bianco Pisano San Torpè | white | no | Aperitif light dishes with no tomato, soups, fishes, eggs, vegetables |
| Bianco Vergine della Valdichiana | white | no | Hors d'oeuvre, light first courses,vegetables, fishes |
| Bolgheri Bianco | white | no | Hors d'oeuvre, light first courses,vegetables, fishes |
| Brunello di Montalcino | red (ruby) | more than 4 years | Red meat (florentine steak) and game |
| Candia dei colli Apuani | white | no | Hors d'oeuvre, light first courses,vegetables, fishes |
| Carmignano rosso | red (ruby) | 3 years and more | Rosted or grilled or stewed meat |
| Chianti | red (ruby) | 2 years and more | Rosted or grilled or stewed meat, game strong cheese |
| Chianti Classico | red (ruby) | 3 years and more | Rosted or grilled or stewed meat, game |
| Colline Lucchesi - Rosso | red | no | Rosted or grilled or stewed meat |
| Elba Bianco | white | no | Hors d'oeuvre, fishes |
| Galestro | white | no | Hors d'oeuvre, light first courses,vegetables |
| Montecarlo Bianco | white | no | Hors d'oeuvre, light first courses,vegetables, fishes |
| Montescudaio Bianco | white | no | Aperitif light dishes with no tomato, soups, fishes, eggs, vegetables |
| Morellino di Scansano | red (ruby) | 2/3 years | Rosted or grilled or stewed meat, game strong cheese |
| Moscadello di Montalcino | white/yellow | no | Dessert wine |
| Parrina Bianco | white | no | Fishes |
| Pomino Bianco | white | no | Hors d'oeuvre, light first courses,vegetables, fishes |
| Sarmento | red (ruby) | no | Light first courses,vegetables, fishes and light meat |
| Val d'Arbia | white | no | Aperitif light dishes with no tomato, soups, fishes, eggs, vegetables |
| Vernaccia di San Giminiano | white | no | Hors d'oeuvre, fishes, grilled chicken |
| Vino Nobile di Montepulciano | red | 2 years and more | Rosted or grilled or stewed meat |
| Vin Santo | white/yellow | 5 years and more | Dessert wine |
CHIANTI E CHIANTI CLASSICO
Chianti is named the wine produced in 4 provinces and 104 communes in Tuscany, this is the symbol of Italian wine in the world.
Chianti Classico is the wine produced in the area from Florence to Siena. In this web site you can find more about the Chianti Classico.
BRUNELLO DI MONTALCINO
This is one of the most important wines in Tuscany and in Italy (and also one of the most expensive)
In this web site you can find more about the famous Brunello di Montalcino Tuscan wine.
VINSANTO
The true Vinsanto must be expensive and not sweet.
Choose the best ripe bunches , they must have a warm colour near to the pink, put the branches on a mat and let them wither in a ventilated and not humid room.
In December the grapes are hand separated from the grape stalk and then pressed in a special wooden wine press. The liquid is left 24 hours in a tank to decant. The must is then poured into a keg which must not be completely full, This keg is then immured with cement and put in a special room where remains for several years (more than 5).
You can understand why a good Vinsanto is very expensive, and if it is not very expensive it not Vinsanto but just a dessert wine. Vinsanto is good with desserts but typical is “Vinsanto and cantuccini di Prato” these are little florentine biscuits with almonds. You can taste them in many restaurants or trattorie of Florence (Latini is a famous one).
THE TABERNACLES OF THE WINE IN FLORENCE
If you like wine and you are in Florence, you cannot miss to see the tabernacles of the wine. This is a phenomenon you can find only in Florence, mainly in the city centre, on the most important palaces. The tabernacles of the wine are the little holes, with a wooden door you can see near the entrance of ancient palaces, though this door ancient Florentines bought the wine, wine which was the product of the farm which the owner had in the neighbour. The measure of these doors was right to allow a flask to pass through (a flask = 1 lit and ¾). Chianti wine was sold in flasks and but they could also buy only one glass of wine.
These little doors were used also to collect foods and drinks to give to the poors.
In the Tabernacles which had this use you can read the word “limosine” which means charity. Along your walking in Florence you surely will arrive in Piazza San Martino there you can see one of these charity tabernacles. When the food was over, the friars of the church put a little light to let people know that they had no more food for the poors. Also today in Florence if you say “Essere al lumicino” (lett. To be up to the little light) it means: to be nearing rock bottom.
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