Super Tuscans

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"Masseto", IGT Toscana, a "super Tuscan" from Ornellaia

Super Tuscans (or Supertuscan ) is a non-official category of Tuscan wines that no DOC - or DOCG status have, but usually claim to the level of quality wines to match or surpass.

The name was coined by Anglo-American wine journalism, as there is no uniform wine profile, rather a market segment that is also called Supertuscan in Italian . The main characteristic of this category is the deliberate approach to an internationally established and commercially successful wine style.

Although there are also white wines known as super Tuscans, the term primarily means red wines. Super Tuscans were marketed as table wine (Vino da Tavola) for years, until 1992, when the new Italian quality wine category Indicazione Geografica Tipica (IGT) was created, into which they are classified today.

History and impact

The super Tuscans have their origins in the early 1970s, with the Florentine wine house Marchesi Antinori playing a key role . The then owner Marchese Piero Antinori revolutionized Tuscan viticulture in collaboration with the oenologist Giacomo Tachis .

In the historic core zone of the Chianti area , Antinori produced a wine, the production of which was not subject to the Chianti Classico production regulations . He was convinced that the DOC regulations of the time were too tight a corset to be able to produce red wines that met his quality expectations. The grapes from which the wine of the same name was made and marketed for the first time as the 1971 vintage were grown on the 57 hectare Tignanello vineyard near the village of Montefiridolfi . For the Tignanello, Antinori reduced the then obligatory proportion of white grape varieties and expanded it in the barriques, which were unusual in Italy at the time . He later decided not to add white grapes and also used the international grape varieties Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc for the assemblage . The main grape variety used for Tignanello, however, has always been Sangiovese .

Almost at the same time, the Antinori wine house was marketing the Sassicaia . This was produced in Bolgheri by Tenuta San Guido exclusively from the French grape varieties Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. The owner of this winery was Marchese Mario Incisa della Rocchetta, a cousin of Piero Antinoris. The Sassicaia began in the 1940s as an experiment in a zone that was outside the recognized wine zones and was also made from international grape varieties. The model of this experiment were the wines of Bordeaux , and originally the Sassicaia was only intended for private consumption. Piero Antinori marketed this wine from the 1968 vintage and, together with the oenologist Giacomo Tachis, also took responsibility for its production for some time.

The development of these two wines took place in an economically difficult time for Chianti, which was not valued on the international wine market and was in a quality and sales crisis. Since these wines were not produced according to the then valid DOC production rules, they had to be marketed as "Vino da Tavola". Regardless of this, both the economic success and the worldwide reputation were enormous. In the US, this wine was as Supertuscans called, hence the German name Super Tuscans derived.

For a long time, the super Tuscans were the guiding principle of international wine criticism, which dealt with Italian wines and thus had a major impact on the development and reception of other Italian wines such as the Barolo or the Brunello di Montalcino . The Sassicaia and the Tignanello show important characteristics that are characteristic of many super Tuscans:

  • The use of international grape varieties, the selection of which is mainly influenced by Bordeaux wines.
  • The aging in barriques to adapt to international tastes.

These wines have become a model for a number of other super Tuscans that are now being produced throughout the region. Among these are known: Solaia, Le Pergole Torte, Ornellaia, Masseto , Cepparello, Flaccianello, Solengo and Guado al Tasso.

criticism

In the literature there is agreement that the super Tuscans have positively influenced, perhaps even revolutionized, both the quality level and the commercial success of Italian wines. The successes of Sassicaia have shown that Italy is able to produce wines of international stature.

On the other hand, these wines represent individualistic experiments that deliberately place themselves outside the current production rules. There are wines that are made from 100% Sangiovese or a Bordeaux blend (Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot ) in all possible mixing ratios. There is therefore a lack of uniform, identity-creating taste and the wine scene is faced with problems that were similar to those of the New World wines - the lack of a historical and origin-related identity that the term “ terroir ” has always included.

Another point of criticism is the use of barriques to make the taste profile accessible to an international audience. As different as the composition of the grape varieties may be, the use of new wood is a common feature of the super Tuscans. This imitates a style of wine that the names Michel Rolland and Robert Parker symbolize. Last but not least, these wines are still a problem for the marketing of Chianti, as many Chianti wineries do not have a protected quality wine at the top of the price and quality hierarchy, but an IGT wine. There are voices in wine literature today who are critical of the super Tuscan phenomenon and refer to them as " wannabes " (New world wannabes) and "Bordeaux imitations".

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Glossary on wein-plus.eu
  2. ^ Marchesi Antinori. 26 generations of viticulture. , Tre Torri Verlag, Wiesbaden 2014, pp. 118 ff., ISBN 978-3-9446-2820-2 .
  3. ↑ Glossary on wein-plus.eu
  4. ^ Breve storia del Sassicaia - FISAR Firenze. Retrieved September 2, 2015 .
  5. ↑ a b Kerin O'Keefe Brunello di Montalcino. Understanding and Appreciating One of Italy's Greatest Wines , pp. 62 ff, University of California Press 2012 ISBN 978-0-520-26564-6
  6. ↑ a b Chianti and the Wines of Tuscany , Rosemary George, Sotheby's Publications, London 1990, p. 49 ff., ISBN 085667379X
  7. ^ Atlas of Italian Wines , Burton Anderson, Hallwag, Gräfe and Unzer, Munich 1990, pp. 192–193, ISBN 3-444-10372-7 .