A day with an Italian vineyard expert – Riccardo Romolini
Perhaps surprisingly, the most common vineyard markets for our clients to request outside Bordeaux and Provence vineyards are not other vineyard regions of France but those of Italy and in particular the famous appellations of Tuscany.
Karin Maxwell and Michael Baynes have just been inducted into the ultra-prestigious Christie’s International Real Estate “Master’s Circle” in recognition of their authority with Bordeaux vineyards and winery transactions.
The Master’s Circle gathers top vineyard experts within the Christie’s family of international professionals, which combined, offer investors and buyers from around the world access to the most experienced and reputable experts in their respective fields of activity. In the context of vineyards and wineries, the Master’s Circle is the natural evolution of Vineyards by Christie’s founded with Christie’s International Real Estate by Karin and Michael about seven years ago.
One of the great pleasures of the Master’s Circle is the exchange of information and encouragement as we work together with fellow experts in other markets. During the harvest season of October 2019 Michael Baynes took a trip to Italy to deepen his understanding of its great vineyard regions and, in particular, Tuscany. Hosted by fellow Master’s Circle expert, Riccardo Romolini, Michael was in the best hands to learn about this fascinating region.
Here are some of the key things to know about the Tuscany Vineyard region.
What are considered the best vineyards of Tuscany
According to Riccardo these would include: Chianti Classico, Brunello and the Bolgheri regions.
Where is the most concentrated region of top Tuscan Vineyards
Probably the area between Florence and Sienna where there are 70,000 hectares of Tuscan vineyards. Some of the most beautiful vineyard scenery in the world can be found in this area and with vineyards located between 300 and 600 metres above sea level they have a different microclimate than Bordeaux (which rarely gets above 100m).
What is the difference between DOC and DOCG
Being very familiar with the very highly regulated Bordeaux wine region, we were surprised to learn that Italian vineyards are just as intensely regulated as reflected in their Denomination of Controlled and Guaranteed Origin (DOCG) which was created in 1980. The DOCG would be considered the highest designation of quality amongst Italian wines with tighter and more restrictive regulations to adhere to. DOCG wines are required to have detailed technical analysis with tastings by the Ministry of Agriculture and today there are 73 DOCG wine regions in Italy. The DOC (Denomination of Controlled Origin) was established in the early 1960’s would be most closely aligned to the French AOP (formerly AOC) system which defines the production region, the permitted grape varietals, production volume limits, ageing techniques and alcohol levels. Italy has 330 DOC wine regions.
What is the best indication of wine quality?
As with Bordeaux, the DOC or DOCG does not tell the whole story but only relates to the regulations. So it is helpful but it is not 100% reliable. We often see incredible wines being made in Bordeaux that do not necessarily come from the top appellations with the most rigorous quality regulations. We observed the same amongst the vineyards of Tuscany. Riccardo was quick to point out that the IGT (Indicazione Geografica Tipica) can often produce some of the best quality wines even though in theory it would sit below DOC quality regulations. The IGT regulations were introduced in 1992 to account for the fact that the DOC and DOCG regulations did not allow for certain top Italian wines to be included in a controlled region. A great example is the Bolgheri region where the Sassicaia subregion can be found and where many of the “Super Tuscans” are grown using Bordeaux grape varietals (in other words much less or no Sangiovese).
Is Irrigation permitted in commercial Italian vineyards
No, like in France, irrigation is illegal with the only exceptions being for drought conditions as defined by the vineyard regulatory commissions.
Which regions impressed us the most
We were completely seduced by the beauty of the Chianti regions between Florence and Sienna but from a wine making perspective the most impressive were the wines of Brunello where to adhere to the DOCG regulations wines must be aged for at least 5 years before they can be sold with the Brunello brand name. The care and attention to detail over such an extended production period is a testimony to passion and persistence despite the economic challenges that wine makers must face over such delays.
From an agricultural point of view, it was the regions of Bolgheri and Sassicaia that impressed the most. The vineyards rise from sea level to many hundreds of metres on excellent clay and limestone soils. But it was the microclimate that was most interesting with its constant offshore breeze laden with salty air flowing up the hill sides and through the vineyards keeping disease and pestilence at a minimum.
Which Italian wine region is the next rising star
According to Riccardo the region to watch is the newish Montecucco DOC only founded in 1998. These seemed like the AOP satellites of St Emilion where they share so many of the qualities of their famous immediate neighbour but do not have the price tag associated with St Emilion. Montecucco DOC is immediately next to Brunello – sharing many of its qualities and attracting some very big names to its vineyards – most notably the wine maker for Antinori.
For more information or to contact Riccardo please go to www.romolini.com