Top 10 Tuscan Wines

Top 10 Tuscan Wines

11/22/2013 | Food and Wine

Tus­cany is not only a land of great artists and cul­ture, but also of good food, well-be­ing and – more es­pe­cially – of good wine. Al­though this re­gion pro­duces fab­u­lous wines, greatly ap­pre­ci­ated through­out the world, which are the ab­solute top Tus­can wines?

Here are the Top 10 bot­tles that will not be lack­ing in any true con­nois­seur’s cel­lar, to­gether with a few hints about com­bin­ing them to the best ef­fect with meat and cheese dishes.

Castello Banfi Can­tine: an in­tense and spicy red wine made of sev­eral va­ri­eties of grape, such as San­giovese, Mer­lot and Caber­net Sauvi­gnon. It goes very well with roast meat, game and cheeses that are not too ripe.

Podere Bran­caia Tre Rosso is a wine that ma­tures in 12 months and is par­tic­u­larly suited for dishes whose main in­gre­di­ent is pump­kin.

The Crog­nolo from the Sette Ponti Es­tate is a San­giovese that re­calls the aroma of cher­ries and oak wood. It is ex­cel­lent with pork and mush­rooms.

The wine from the Tenuta dell’Or­nel­laia is a mix­ture of fruity Caber­net Sauvi­gnon and Mer­lot, much loved by ladies.

An­ti­nori’s Tig­nanello was the first San­giovese to be made with non-tra­di­tional va­ri­eties, such as Caber­net, and is among the first red wines in Chi­anti not to use white grapes. This wine is silky on the pal­let, and is per­fect to ac­com­pany risot­tos, pasta dishes and os­sobuco.

The wine of Villa di Capez­zana rep­re­sents the Carmignano area and his­tor­i­cally has al­ways been pro­duced by the Bona­cossi fam­ily firm. This truly fan­tas­tic wine com­bines the fruit with all the el­e­gance of Mer­lot and Syrah. It is a per­fect ac­com­pa­ni­ment for roast meat.

Rocca delle Macìe is a wine that has char­ac­ter and a fresh qual­ity, a lively ruby red in colour, with notes of cher­ries and vi­o­lets.

Luce della Vite has a very dense ruby red colour, and is ideal for tast­ing with desserts.

The 2004 vin­tage of Isole e Olena di Cep­par­ello is one of the best wines on the mar­ket. It has all the typ­i­cal acid­ity of San­giovese, ready to sus­tain the pal­let with­out being ex­ces­sively in­tru­sive. Its fin­ish is bit­ter and long-last­ing.

Fontal­loro di Felsina comes from a vine­yard in the Chi­anti val­ley, and is ex­cel­lent with any kind of meat-based first course.

Are you fa­mil­iar with these fan­tas­tic Tus­can wines? Let us have your com­ments!