Don’t know Italian wine? Super Tuscan saves the day

This column usually recommends excellent wines of everyday value. But with wine, as in most things, the notion of a bargain is relative. So on this, the fourth anniversary of Vino Veritas, please pardon my brief foray beyond my usual moderate price range. I simply must introduce the magical world of the Super Tuscan.

In the psyche of many American wine lovers, the world of Italian wine brings on paralysis and denial. We lack a familiarity with Italian wines, and that has created an irrational barrier and aversion to exploring them. Many of the native Italian varietals like Nebbiolo and Sangiovese haven’t spread to the newer wine regions of the planet on the same scale as other, better-known grapes. We know some of the names of the major wines (Barolo, Chianti Classico, etc.), but we don’t feel confident enough to purchase them at higher price points and have perhaps been disappointed when we’ve purchased at the lower ones.

To be sure, the sheer breadth and depth of Italian winemaking challenges even some of the most knowledgeable and confident wine connoisseurs.

But thanks to 40 years of progressive winemaking upheaval in Tuscany, there’s a way out of this paralysis: Super Tuscans.

To understand Super Tuscans, we have to travel back to the story of Marchese Mario Incisa della Rocchetta. In 1944, he did the unthinkable by planting Cabernet Sauvignon vines on his estate (Tenuta San Guido) in the coastal Tuscan village of Bolgheri. He saw in his stony soil parallels to Cabernet Sauvignon’s viticultural home in Bordeaux, France. Della Rocchetta had no realistic hope of being able to market his wines, with labeling laws requiring a designation of such untraditional wine as lowly “vino da tavola” (table wine). However, with its first release in 1968, that same wine became the celebrated “Sassicaia,” now recognized as one of the world’s finest expressions of Cabernet Sauvignon. Further affirming della Rochetta’s hunch, today “Sassicaia” even boasts its own legally defined growing region.

Cabernet and Merlot vines have seen an explosion in acreage in Tuscany, and their fermented juices are blended to great effect with native Sangiovese. These Cabernets and Merlots, with or without Sangiovese, are called Super Tuscans.

Della Rochetta’s cousins, the ubiquitous Antinori family, were also flouting Tuscany’s traditional styles. Among that family’s many notable Super Tuscans, the wines of the Tenuta dell’Ornellaia, San Guido’s neighbor in Bolgheri, are especially well-known.

The 2006 vintages of “Sassicaia” and “Ornellaia” (Tenuta dell’Ornellaia’s flagship) both retail upward of $150. 

Fortunately for most of us, each also offers a servants’ entrance.

Tenuta San Guido’s 2006 “Guidalberto” ($45): composed of 45 percent each of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot; the nose is of oak and grenadine, while moderate tannins and acid round out excellent structure on the palate.

Tenuta dell’Ornellaia’s “Le Volte” ($25): composed of 52 percent Sangiovese; the nose is earthy and herbaceous, with spicy and soft tannins on the palate and hints of blackberry.

Both wines are excellent introductions to the world of Super Tuscans and gateways to the pleasures of Italian wine.

Derek M. LaVallee, director of public relations at KG Partners and a certified wine buff, can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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