Super Tuscans: The Unauthorized Stars of Italian Wine - All Stores

Out of all of Italy’s most famous wines – Barolo, Brunello, Chianti Classico – “Super Tuscan” remains one of the most heard-of, but amorphous, categories. Ask any American wine commentator, or any Italian winemaker for that matter, and you’re bound to get a different answer. Are they all Cabernet? Do they all come from Tuscany? When did they originate? Heck, why are they even called “Super Tuscan?”

Clearly, a tasting is in order. Let’s explore this majestic and powerful, yet cloaked in mystery, array of wines. 

At this tasting we will explore the initial breakout of Super Tuscans and their rise to stardom in the 1970s and 1980s by exploring the flavor relationships between Chianti and Super Tuscans. This will allow a delicious journey through history, exploring how and why these wines first started being made.

We will then ask our glasses the question, “What is a Super Tuscan?” We’ll break down the flavors of exactly what it means to be Super, or Tuscan, or both, and how winemakers and Mother Nature have created wines that do or do not fit into these categories as well as the Italian government’s reaction to them.

Finally, we taste forward to newly made Super Tuscans in a wide-ranging survey of geology and grape varieties. How are these new wines changing the Super Tuscan label? And to conclude, we’ll return to what has recently been crowned the Top Wine of Chianti – Chianti Classico Gran Selezione – or is it? Let’s taste together and make sure.

Wines to be tasted (list is from a previous year, new wines TBA):

Flight one:

2018 Podere Il Palazzino Grosso Sanese Gran Selezione $79.99
2022 Ciacci Piccolomini d'Aragona Ateo
2020 Argiano Solengo $99.99

Flight two:

2021 Tenuta San Guido Guidalberto $65.99
2018 Grattamacco Bolgheri Ross Superiore $159.99
2018 Castellare Poggio Ai Merli $114.99

Flight three:

2021 Ornellaia Le Volte dell'Ornellaia $34.99
2019 Allegrini Poggio Al Tesoro Sondraia $129.99
2021 Tenuta Sette Cieli Yantra $29.99

All prices listed shown are regular retail. Significant discounts offered on all wines at the tasting.

Due to the their highly allocated nature, some wines may change without notice.