Tuscany: Chianti, Brunello, Rosso and Super – a mixed case

In the Middle Ages, Tuscany was the crucible of Italy's language, literature, art - and arguably also its wine culture. Aristocrats, merchants and monasteries all managed vineyards, and the wine trade was vital to the economy of medieval Florence. While wheatfields and olive groves commanded the flat, the slopes between Tuscan hilltop towns offered vineyards a concentration of sunlight ideal for expression and intensity. Sangiovese grapes lapped it up. By the eighteenth century, Chianti became one of the first wine zones anywhere to be formally demarcated (between Siena and Florence). The mid-twentieth century saw Montalcino hit the big time with its own Brunello clone of Sangiovese. Meanwhile, other producers were exploring the affinity between Tuscan soils and French grape varieties in a category that became known as SuperTuscan.

We've put together a mixed case with six of our favourite expressions of Tuscany, and we're throwing in money off and free delivery. /NT

Tuscan Mixed Case
6x75cl
£240 case inc duty and VAT
Saving £29.70 inclusive of delivery

Contains one bottle of each of the following wines:

2020 Fontodi Chianti Classico

In the heart of Chianti Classico, the Fontodi winery has a commanding view down into the Conca d'Oro, the 'Golden Shell'. This amphitheatre of a vineyard has everything a winemaker could want: elevation, aspect, complex soils, and a local climate that encourages sharp variation between hot days and cool nights. The result is one of Chianti's most favoured properties. 

2021 Rocca di Montegrossi Chianti Classico

Rocca di Montegrossi is located near Monti in Chianti, in one of the finest sections of Chianti Classico. Proprietor Marco Ricasoli-Firidolfi has Chianti in his blood; his great-great-great grandfather Baron Bettino Ricasoli found time in between being Prime Minister of Italy (twice) to draw up the rules governing Chianti. It's no wonder that Marco has a keen sense of history, and is determined to make a Chianti among the very best. 

2022 Le Potazzine Rosso di Montalcino

The most striking thing about visiting the home vineyard of Le Potazzine is the sense of altitude, with the vineyards exposed and open to the winds in every direction. That sense of freshness and energy carries over into the wine. Rosso di Montalcino suggests the power and intensity of Brunello, but is given shorter aging for a fresher, lighter-bodied style. Think of a raspberry sorbet. 

2019 Il Poggione Brunello di Montalcino

In the early 1900s, Il Poggione was among the very first estates to bottle and sell Brunello, and in the 1960s, it was a founder of the Consorzio (the regional wine governing board). It still operates at the cutting edge, with an ongoing research programme that has supplied two of Brunello's most widely-used Sangiovese clones. 2019 was a fabulous vintage here, and the wine is complex and expressive.

2019 Pietroso Brunello di Montalcino

A small family-owned estate, Pietroso has been on the Brunello scene since the 1970s. While in the 1990s and early 2000s many estates fell for the fashion for small format, toasty new oak barrels, Pietroso never veered from the traditional model of large, old barrels that don't impart flavours that mark the wine. It makes for a refined and elegant style of highly-expressive Sangiovese. 

2021 Argiano Solengo

Argiano make a wonderful Brunello, but they have also worked out that some of their vineyards are just a little on the warm side for Sangiovese. That's where Solengo comes in. It's a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Sangiovese, and yet another proof of how well French grapes can do in Tuscan vineyards. The name means 'solitary wild boar', and it comes about because boar sometimes terrorise vineyard workers here. 

Offered subject to remaining unsold. To place an order, click on the mixed case below, or call 020 7638 5998