Winefriend

The villa of the Tuscan dream

Why the Maremma?

For the English, Tuscany means the inland delights of Chianti – the gently rolling hills between Florence and Siena, now a perfectly groomed and idyllic mix of woodland, vines and olives, punctuated by expensively restored farms and castles.  Further south are the moody, swirling plains of the Crete Senesi and the wonderful hill towns of Montalcino, Montepulciano and much more.   In wine terms Sangiovese is king in these areas, exemplified by the elegance and austerity of great Chianti and the deeper tones of the two Monty’s. In reality Tuscany is a large province with many areas, from the wild Lunigiana in the North, via unsightly industrial and seaside ‘developments’, to the picturesque Etruscan landscapes of the South which border on Lazio and lead to Rome.

The Tuscan Maremma runs in a broad swathe south of Pisa, and includes the provincial capital, Grosseto.  It takes in both the coastal strip and the inland zone which runs into the foothills of the Apennines.  It is now a relatively rich area, with large coastal towns, some industry and much tourism, and swathes of forest and mixed agriculture.  The hills were famous for their metal mines but these are very much in decline.

These pages seek to outline the special character of the Tuscan Maremma and its wines.  I hope they communicate something about this special area based on the seven visits Janet and I have made since August 2006, having visited many other parts of Italy. Each visit was between a week and three weeks in length for a mixture of learning the language, enjoying the culture and the countryside, teaching wine appreciation and of course, most importantly, visiting the wineries.

Medieval jewel: Massa Marittima

Quality wine production is a relative newcomer in the Maremma - at least in recent centuries.  But the area has ancient viticultural form.  There is good archeological evidence of wine production in the pre-Roman, Etruscan period, both in terms of a bronze harvesting figurine found at Ghiaccio Forte (Etruscan harvester)  and of the remnants of grape seeds which can be identified by modern science.  There is of course no word on the quality of Etruscan wine but we do know that there was a thriving trade in wine in the area in Roman times.  The important Roman family, the Sestii, had estates at Cosa (modern Ansedonia) and their stamp appears on terracotta amphorae with distribution in N. Italy, Sardinia, France and Germany.

In the middle ages, the area became better known for its cowboys and above all its mosquitoes.  The latter made summer impossible to the extent that the impressive hill towns were built. The entire administration could move inland for the summer months.  (Paradoxically, this is exactly the opposite migration to the flight to the coast that happens today.)  Much of the vast coastal plain remained a mosquito ridden swamp well into the nineteenth century and in fact was only finally reclaimed under Mussolini.   The coastal plain now is a mixture of some industry, general agriculture, specialised vine and olive farming, and tourism.

The new Maremma: Petra winery, Suvereto

The Maremman wine scene was revitalised in the 1980s and 1990s with large-scale inward investment from other parts of Tuscany and Italy, as well as from France, Holland and Japan.  It now makes outstanding everyday wines, both white and red, and an increasing number of world class wines.  There is lots to discover here …

Outline

1. Introduction – why the Maremma?
2. The wine zones – basic orientation
3. From the Etruscans to today: 2500 years of wine in the Maremma
4. Wine styles in the Maremma - what the area does best with features on the most important grape varieties
5. Sangiovese – the great red grape variety of Tuscany
6. Key wineries by zone – the most important section featuring wineries great and small and the people who run them:
   • Maremma South: Pitigliano, Scansano and Argentario coast
   • Montecucco: inland Maremma, adjoining Montalcino
   • Massa Marittima: medieval city and new wine zone
   • Bolgheri – home of the Super Tuscans
   • Val di Cornia – from the coast running inland behind Bolgheri
   • Montescudaio – the most northerly part of the Maremma
7. Other local grape varieties
8. Other international grape varieties
9. Geology – should come earlier but very difficult to find out about!
10. Maremma DOC rules – what the law says about the grape varieties you are allowed to use
11. Explore more – books, magazines, websites, wine merchants

Quick glossary of Italian wine law

• Costanza:

  25 March 2011 at 8:29 pm

  Hallo David,
  I see this website is really improved in a short of time.
  I can find many information about wine, obviously, but much more!
  Thanks a lot for your job and your passion
• winefriend:

  8 March 2010 at 11:46 am

  thanks for your comments – I hope you continue to enjoy the site and the great wines of the area
• winefriend:

  2 January 2010 at 5:11 pm

  thanks, Erica – that’s really kind. Glad you like the site. A lot of the quality must be properly attributed to WordPress, who run the blog, which is pretty easy to work with – though, for writing for the blog itself, Windows Live Writer (much abused by those who don’t like Microsoft!) is really excellent and handles photos excellently. It is great fun to do …
  David
• erica moody:

  2 January 2010 at 9:26 am

  Hello David, what a fabulous thing you’ve created. It looks really good and is easy to navigate around. I’m impressed!
  Love from Erica.

  Happy New Year.