The best Tuscan vintages of the last decade are already on sale: what to choose?

Little romantic Verona experienced perhaps the most stormy week of the year: the VinItaly exhibition was held here for the 47th time. Over the half-century of its existence, it has grown into one of the largest industry events in the world and the main marketing machine of Italian winemaking, with almost year-round off-site tours - from the USA and Russia to China, India and South Korea.

A month ago, the center of Italian wine life was Tuscany. “Actually, the season starts only in mid-March, but we couldn’t refuse the consortium and opened for these three days during the holidays,” Silvio, the owner of a nice hotel in the very center of Montepulciano, either complained or boasted. The powerful consortium, capable of forcing Italians who do not like to overexert themselves to interrupt their well-deserved vacation, does not unite gangsters or industrial magnates. And yet, without its members, Italy would not be Italy, and the economic situation in the country would be much worse.

“This, in general, is beneficial for us,” Silvio explained. “We depend on tourists, and they come to us primarily because of wine.” Yes, Silvio and several dozen other hotel industry workers were asked to come to work by winemakers from the Consorzio del Vino Nobile di Montepulciano , which unites the wine producers of Nobile di Montepulciano. Together with their colleagues - the producers of Chianti Classico and Brunello di Montalcino, the winemakers of Montepulciano turned the release of the wine of the next vintage into a large-scale event that went beyond the scope of technical narrow professional tastings. Three wine consortia have joined forces and for several years now have been organizing a large wine week, during which wine merchants, sommeliers, critics have the opportunity to taste the wines released on the market, evaluate the quality of the next harvest, doing this in a charming Tuscan context: hills, monuments, museums, well and of course, the cuisine - Chianina and Siena boar, pici and pappardelli, ribolita and carcerata.

Tuscan week at the end of February opened the big European wine tasting and business season. March began with the increasingly interesting Prowein in Dusseldorf, in mid-March the tasting activity moved to Burgundy, VinItaly has now ended, and the first week of April is en primeure in Bordeaux, tasting wines from the 2011 vintage. And although the fact that it all starts with Tuscany in this case is dominated by an element of chance, it very symbolically emphasizes the leading place that Italy has occupied in recent years in the world wine ranking. Well, the central position of Tuscany, in geographical and winemaking senses.

In the last decade, Italian winemaking has shown impressive progress. A couple of years ago, Italy took absolute first place in terms of wine production - 48.6 million hectoliters (2010 data), although not by much, but overtaking the number one wine power - France (45.3 million hectoliters). In 2011, the turnover of the wine sector exceeded €13 billion, showing, according to the Italian Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry, an increase of 12%. The export successes of Italian wine are even more significant. Italy is the world's largest wine exporter: 20.6 million hl. France is far behind with 13.5 million hl (third place), and Spain is in second (17.1 million hl). True, this is a leadership in physical volumes - the average price of an Italian bottle will be lower than a French one. But the Italians also have many wines that are in the top league of world winemaking. And most of them were born in Tuscany.

Chianti, Nobile and Brunello represent the history and pride of Tuscan wine. All three wines are made from Sangiovese grapes (in Chianti and Nobile it is possible to add up to 20% of other varieties, both local - Canaiolo, Colorino, and French ones that have successfully taken root in Tuscany - Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot) ), an autochthonous Tuscan grape. And it is in these wines that Sangiovese best reveals its berry juiciness and softness, enchanting no less than Tuscan landscapes and Renaissance churches.

This time the main charm awaited in Montalcino. Brunello, by tradition and now by law, can be drunk 5 years after harvest, so now 2007 is on the agenda. Brunello reserve category - one year older, 2006. And finally, the youngest wine, Rosso di Montalcino - 2010. All three harvests are five-star! But if in 2006 the wines were serious, powerful and now even too young, then 2007 turned out to be very drinkable, fruity, elegant. So keep your eyes peeled for the 2007 Brunello. These wines will be on sale soon, and of the last five vintages, this is perhaps the smartest choice - if, of course, you plan to open the bottle in the near future. 2010 promises to be similar in style, so the democratic rosso di Montalcino 2010 will also be a very good choice.

The 2010 Chianti classico also promises to be successful. True, for now it’s worth focusing on the 2009 harvest, which is no less good, but these wines have already matured in the bottle and are more ready. 2009 turned out to be a very good year for Nobile de Montepulciano. True, wines were produced here in 2008, unlike Chianti, where this harvest was very uneven.

So Tuscan winemakers (many producers have interests in two, or even all three, wine-growing zones) masterfully manage the diversity of the landscape and the occasional vicissitudes of the climate, and within a radius of some 40-50 km every (with very rare exceptions) year manage to produce wines that are different in style, but equally pleasant and high-quality.

Wine: go Italy!