The Tuscany region covers around 63,633 hectares of vineyards. Just as Bordeaux and Burgundy are the most famous wine-growing regions in France, this is true in Italy - alongside the Piedmont region - for Tuscany. The main grape variety in Tuscany is Sangiovese. In Chianti, the most famous wine in the area, this variety has a share of at least 75%. The very expensive Brunello di Montalcino and the Rosso di Montalcino, often referred to as its little brother, are made 100% from a subspecies of the Sangiovese grape, the Brunello grape, which is also called Sangiovese Grosso.
Cabernet grapes such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc have also been grown on the Mediterranean coast since the late 1960s and early 1970s. What began as an experiment and as a pleasure later developed into the phenomenon of the Super Tuscans. The Sassicaia from the Tenuta San Guido winery, for example, was one of the most expensive table wines in the world for years, as these wines did not enjoy DOC status in Tuscany. In the meantime, however, he has been awarded the DOC as Bolgheri, sub-zone Sassicaia. In contrast, the Tignanello from the wineries of the Marchese Antinori, the Ornellaia and the Masseto from the House of Tenuta dell’Ornellaia and the Monteverro from the winery of the same name are still not DOC wines.