The name, Maremma,
suggests the sea, or mare, and when you talk about
the wines of the Tuscan Maremma you’re talking about wines
that are shaped by the heat and light of a maritime climate
and infused with the flavors of the nearby sea.
But what is the Maremma, exactly? As people have gotten to
know the great-value red wines of the Morellino di Scansano
DOC, they’ve come to think of the Maremma as the southern-most
reaches of Tuscany — in short, the province of Grosseto, which
reaches down to Tuscany’s border with Lazio. But, as the name
suggests, the Maremma is really about the coast, and it’s
a frontier that extends from those southerly border towns
all the way up to the port city of Livorno. This coastal stretch,
dotted with wetlands that give way to rocky, low-rising hills,
was once a real backwater — an area rife with mosquitoes and
malaria that wasn’t widely habitable until the Fascists, of
all people, reclaimed much of the coast by draining the marshes
in the 1930s.
In wine terms, it’s easiest to break the Maremma into two
provinces: Livorno, which is typically referred to as the
alta, or upper, Maremma; and Grosseto, which is considered
the bassa, or lower, Maremma. In the alta Maremma
you’ve got the legendary wine town of Bolgheri, made famous
by the pioneering Mario Incisa della Rocchetta, creator of
Sassicaia. In the bassa Maremma, you’ve got the village
of Scansano and its surrounding environs, where the hot, dry
climate and relatively cheap real estate have attracted big-name
investors from all over the Italian wine world, and where
new and noteworthy wines are as plentiful as the wild boar
who love to hide in the scrub-brush of these coastal hills.
In wine terms, it’s easiest to break the Maremma into two
provinces: Livorno, which is typically referred to as the
alta, or upper, Maremma; and Grosseto, which is considered
the bassa, or lower, Maremma. In the alta Maremma
you’ve got the legendary wine town of Bolgheri, made famous
by the pioneering Mario Incisa della Rocchetta, creator of
Sassicaia. In the bassa Maremma, you’ve got the village
of Scansano and its surrounding environs, where the hot, dry
climate and relatively cheap real estate have attracted big-name
investors from all over the Italian wine world, and where
new and noteworthy wines are as plentiful as the wild boar
who love to hide in the scrub-brush of these coastal hills.
In the alta Maremma, the wines to look for are those
from Bolgheri (which now has its own DOC designation) and
those from Suvereto (a village just south of Bolgheri that
anchors the Val di Cornia DOC zone). Bolgheri, of course,
is loaded with famous names: Sassicaia, Ornellaia, Grattamacco,
Guado al Tasso, Le Macchiole, and Michele Satta are some of
the best known, and more recently Piedmontese Barbaresco-master
Angelo Gaja joined the fraternity with his new Bolgheri estate,
Ca’Marcanda. As Mario Incisa della Roccheta of Sassicaia proved
decades ago, the sandy, rocky soils and hot (yet moderated)
maritime climate of Bolgheri drew more than a few comparisons
to Bordeaux, and his success with cabernet sauvignon in the
area effectively shaped the wine culture of Bolgheri. Before
Sassicaia, in fact, Bolgheri had no wine culture, but today
that culture is defined by big, velvety red wines made in
a slick, “international” style. Bolgheri was where “super-Tuscans”
were born, and while the phenomenon has since spread to every
corner of Tuscany, this is still the place where cabernet
sauvignon, merlot, and, more recently, syrah, have made their
biggest splash. Recently, we added the top wine of Gaja’s
new Ca’Marcanda estate to our list (called “Ca’Marcanda,”
it is a blend of cabernet sauvignon, merlot, and cabernet
franc), and it joins an ever-expanding roster of slick, velvety
Bolgheri reds that includes giants like Ornellaia’s “Masseto”
(a merlot that is as rich as dark chocolate); the Rosso from
Guado al Tasso (a spicy mix of cabernet, merlot, and syrah);
and Le Macchiole’s “Scrio” (a meaty syrah). From Suvereto,
meanwhile, the superstar is the boutique estate called Tua
Rita, whose tightly allocated “Redigaffi” is a little too
pricey but undoubtedly delicious.
Down in the bassa Maremma, the international varieties
like cabernet and merlot are less dominant, as sangiovese
(known here as morellino) remains more on center stage. There
are also some great local varieties, such as the berry-scented
ciliegiolo and the tangy alicante (grenache), which give some
of the reds down here a spicier, tangier, more Mediterranean
flavor. No doubt the sangiovese-based Morellino di Scansano
is the best-known to Americans, who have come to appreciate
the softer, more fruity contours sangiovese takes on in Scansano’s
hotter, drier climate. With producers working on a larger
scale on cheaper land, the economics of Morellino di Scansano
work out in favor of the consumer: you get ripe, rich, ready-to-drink
red wine at, for the most part, a fraction of what you’d pay
for a Brunello di Montalcino or Chianti Classico.
While we wait for the first produce of the latest Batali-Bastianich
venture, check out these luscious Maremma reds already on
the market:
Morellino di Scansano “Poggio Bronzone,”
Tenuta Belguardo 2001
The Mazzei family’s
estate in Maremma is producing some of the richest, slickest
Morellino di Scansano available. This is a smoky, chocolatey
sangiovese sweetened up with a liberal dose of cabernet and
merlot.
“Guidalberto,” Tenuta San Guido 2000
Tenuta San Guido,
home of the pricey Sassicaia, has released this “second” wine,
of sorts, from vineyards at the Tenuta La Commenda, adjacent
to Tenuta San Guido. It is a blend of 40% cabernet, 40% merlot,
and 20% sangiovese and offers some of Sassicaia’s power and
breed at a fraction of the price.
“Saffredi,” Fattoria Le Pupille 2000
Famous for their inexpensive and always quaffable Morellino
di Scansano, Le Pupille also makes this silky super-Tuscan,
a blend of cabernet, merlot, and alicante (grenache). It’s
explosive stuff but also very soft around the edges. In the
pricey world of super-Tuscans, it remains a relatively good
value.
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