📍 Tuscany

Tuscany is a wine region in central Italy and also the geographical indication IGT Toscana of the same name. According to the official list of the Italian Ministry of Agriculture (March 2026), it has 52 designations of origin, 11 DOCG and 41 DOC, plus 6 wines with IGT status.

The region's leading variety is Sangiovese. According to the OIV, it is Italy's most widely planted variety: 54,000 ha in 2015, the only one above 50,000 ha. The best-known Tuscan wines rely on it: Chianti has to contain at least 70% Sangiovese, Chianti Classico 80%, and Brunello di Montalcino is made from it alone.

Chianti Classico is the oldest zone of Chianti. Its boundaries were drawn back in 1932, and grapes for ordinary Chianti may not be planted there. Every bottle of Chianti Classico bears the Gallo Nero, the black rooster. A riserva is aged for at least 24 months, and a Gran Selezione for 30.

Brunello di Montalcino is aged for at least two years in oak and may be sold only from 1 January after five years from the harvest. Vino Nobile di Montepulciano contains at least 70% Sangiovese, known locally as Prugnolo Gentile. Among the white DOCGs is Vernaccia di San Gimignano. On the coast lies Bolgheri, with DOC status.

Why it matters to you. DOCG is a step above DOC: it is granted only to a wine that has held DOC status for at least seven years and follows stricter rules, and every DOCG bottle carries a state control mark. The word “Classico” means the oldest zone of an appellation, and riserva on a red wine means ageing of at least two years.