Tasting Report: A Bounty of Outstanding Tuscan Wines

I tasted about 1,000 Tuscan wines this year, and there are so many outstanding wines to buy in 2014. The big news will be the 2010 Brunello di Montalcino, but the actual bottles will not be released on the global market until January 2015. So, I didn't include the 100 or so 2010 Brunellos that I tasted this summer in Italy in this report. (I will post those notes in November as a prelude to a complete report in January.)

What I posted in this report are some amazing new wines on the market as well as some beautifully aged Tuscan bottles. Masseto leads the report with two 100-point wines – the legendary 2001 and the new iconic 2011. Both wines have an unyielding quality that defines what great Tuscan wine can be. They show incredible depth and intensity yet remain agile and energetic. This is what Tuscany produces in great red wines due to its hot days and cool nights during the grape growing season. I only wonder which vintage of Masseto will turn out the best when tasted together in 20 or 30 years?

Merlot and cabernet sauvignon weigh in heavily at the top of the list with so many superb wines made, including the tiny production 2011 Petrolo Campo Lusso (cabernet sauvignon), 2012 Tua Rita Redigaffi (merlot), 2010 Castello dei Rampolla Sammarco (cabernet sauvignon and sangiovese), 2011 Orma (mostly cabernet sauvignon), and 2012 Sette Ponti Oreno (mostly cabernet sauvignon). There are many others, from 2011 Solaia to 2012 Sassicaia, and more.

There's also a number of cool syrahs and cabernet francs not to miss including the 2011 Duemani cabernet franc from the coastal hillsides near the village of Riparbella, as well as all the Fabrizio Dionisio syrahs from near the town of Cortona. They are both made from biodynamically grown grapes and show an incredible depth of flavors with a poised, precise backbone of tannins and fresh acidity.

I am sad when I hear that nobody buys or drinks syrah in the United States. Tuscan syrah is certainly something to consider, not to mention its counterparts from France's Rhone Valley as well as parts of Australia and New Zealand, but that would be another column.

Rock star Sting and his wife Trudie also make wine in Tuscany about 30 minutes south of Florence with their own biodynamically grown grapes, although it's all cabernet sauvignon, merlot and sangiovese. Their Il Palagio Sister Moon is their best wine ever and shows such wonderful polish and finesse with a depth of fruit and flavor.

Tuscany is truly an amazing wine region that puts its stamp on international varieties. In other words, there is a Tuscan style to them. It's that tension between intense ripeness and wild fresh acidity that Tuscany does so well. In winemakers' language, the wines have relatively high alcohols yet maintain strong acidity, or low pH. I remember Napa winemaker Tim Mondavi explaining it to me about 15 years ago when his family was then part of Ornellaia on the Tuscan Coast, and he had a look of awe as he described how the wines could be so rich and fresh at the same time.

Of course, the real "awe-some" wines of Tuscany remain primarily sangiovese, and a number of terrific bottles were released this year. One category in particular is the new designation of Chianti Classico Gran Selezione. These wines are Brunello di Montalcino equalizers for a region that has suffered from a confused identity, to say the least. The main difference from riserva Chianti Classico is that the grapes must come exclusively from a given estate’s vineyards, and a level of quality must be attained relative to certain technical criteria, such as 30 months of aging and a minimum alcohol level of 13.5 percent. Overall, I had a slight preference for the 2010 vintage compared to 2011; they had more brightness and intensity. But this new designation really rocks for Chianti Classico. Buy them.

I also want to mention Rosso di Montalcino 2012. The secondary wine of the town of Montalcino, Rosso, seems finally to be getting its act together. I found a number of outstanding Rosso di Montalcinos from the 2012 vintage and I recommend buying them for current drinking as an alternative to other early-drinking pure sangioveses made in Tuscany.

It's hard to make a choice this year when buying Tuscan wines. There are so many outstanding bottles to choose from.