Super-Tuscan
You may have heard of this class of wines and thought: what makes them more ‘Tuscan’? These wines come in heavy bottles, with heavy price tags – is it just in-crowd aspirational marketing? Are Super-Tuscans respected in Italia, or is it the stuff of comic books?
Remember: wine culture is essentially borderless, with grapes and techniques thriving where they didn’t necessarily originate. Veronica helps us suss out the origins of Super-Tuscan.
Goes great with: a room with a view, a meal of many courses, a playboy with a title to pick up the tab.
Let’s talk about Superman (the guy in the cape, not the Nietzschean from sophomore Philosophy). Came from somewhere else, landed in the heartland, was hardworking, fought for Truth, Justice and the American Way. Muscular, great abs…a tad fruity in that get-up. Now picture this: it’s 1975. You’re a hardworking Italian farmer in Chianti eking out a living making lowly wines via government-mandated grape blends. Who do you want to land in your vineyard, to grow up strong, hang with the fabulous and turn envious heads? That’s right: Super-Tuscan!
About 30 years ago, Italy’s stringent bureaucratic wine rules convinced some inventive indie winemakers to go underground to make better blends – right in Tuscany. They planted new varieties and used unorthodox techniques (Bordeaux calling) to improve their lot. Well, the wines learned to fly – they got good, typifying the New World palate: fruity, but with body and strong as an oak (barrel).
Production is small, and these innovative wines are expensive. While still an unofficial category, Super-Tuscans did help save the day by bringing the world’s attention back to what was possible in Italian wines, taking Chianti out of the rafia-bottle-candle-holder phase, and making Sangiovese legit.
A night with a Super-Tuscan may not be all it’s cracked up to be: remember, it was international grapes likes Cabernet and Merlot that unlocked their potential. Italy’s numerous own varietals offer a lot to explore, and for the price, a Super-T may strike you as uneventful. They are envied, though: finally, a son who can run with the paparazzi in Roma, and still come back to the farm.
Veronica….give me a list of the Super Tuscans that don’t use “international grapes”. That way I can objectively assess the missing “potential”.