Tuscany is a region famous also for its wines, both reds and whites, and the Chianti area south of Florence is one of the most famous wine regions in the world. There are many good Chianti vineyards and wines near to Florence and the quality has improved immensely over the last few decades.

Tuscan wines include the most famous reds such as 'Brunello di Montalcino', 'Nobile di Montepulciano' and various Chianti's produced in the hills and bottled in the Sangiovese vineyards. White wines from Trebbiano vineyards, like the light and sparkling Galestro' and the simple 'Tuscan white'. There is also the very flavoured 'Vernaccia of San Gimignano' from the area close to this famous town and obtained from Vernaccia grapes. There is also the sweet dessert wine 'Vin Santo' made with raisins from Trebbiano and Malvasia and aged for several years in small casks and then bottled.

However, Florence and Chianti are inseparable and are reminiscent of the rolling hills and countryside around the city and typified in may beautiful pictures. It is in the Chianti area that the hills, as far as you can see, have row upon row of grapevines ripening in the sun to produce the Sangiovese grapes which make the fine red wine called 'Chianti Classico'

The Sangiovese is a grape which is not particularly easy to grow, and which yields very different results depending on the microclimate and the soil in which it is cultivated; this was the main reason for the variation in quality in the past and which has now been rectified by the much stricter controls. All the great Tuscan wines are based on Sangiovese: Chianti and Chianti Classico, Brunello di Montalcino and the Nobile di Montepulciano


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