Podcast 017 | Sangiovese - The red ruler among Italy's grape varieties

Sangiovese

Nina in Chianti | Salzburg

Buongiorno! Ciao! Here I am again with a new episode from the world of Chianti Classico. It's great that you're back again when it's time for a glass of wine with Nina in Chianti. I'm Nina, by the way, and I love Chianti Classico, and I want to take you into my Chianti Classico world again today. In this episode, I would like to talk about the most important ingredient in Chianti Classico, namely the Sangiovese grape variety. After all, every Chianti Classico must contain a minimum of 80 percent Sangiovese, and more and more winemakers are deciding to vinify their Chianti Classico using only Sangiovese grapes, i.e. without adding any other grape variety. The importance of Sangiovese for Chianti Classico is therefore fundamental. When we talk about Chianti Classico, we are talking about Sangiovese wines. But what exactly is Sangiovese? Where does this variety come from and what characterizes it? Where and how does it grow?

The Chianti Classico for the episode

Before I start, however, my glass of wine today comes into play, as always, because in keeping with the title of the podcast, I have a glass of wine with Nina in Chianti by my side. Today I have the Chianti Classico 2018 from the Le Cinciole winery in Panzano in Chianti in my glass. This wine fits perfectly with this episode, as Valeria and Luca from Le Cinciole have been making this wine from 100% Sangiovese for many, many years, and they have been working organically out of conviction since the early 1990s.

"The wine smells wonderfully of cherries and sour cherries, dark berries, delicate spices, a little citrus fruit can also be found. When tasted, it is just as fruity and spicy as on the nose, very easy to drink. You have a lot of fun with it. Fine tannins, fine acidity, everything that a good and typical Chianti Classico should have."

THE Sangiovese

But now I have a note on my own behalf. The correct word is THE Sangiovese, i.e. the male article. For some reason, however, I tend to say THE Sangiovese. For the purposes of this episode, I will try to say THE Sangiovese. However, it may well happen that I fall back into my old habits. I would like to apologize for that now.

What is Sangiovese?

The Sangiovese grape variety is a red wine variety. Legend has it that the name Sangiovese comes from "Sanguis Jovis". Loosely translated, this means something like the blood of Jupiter. But there are also other theories. Some claim that it is derived from "Sangiovannese", as it comes from San Giovanni Valdarno. Others instead trace it back to dialectal forms of "San Giovannina", an early grape planted because of its early emergence at the end of June for the feast of St. John the Devil. While others claim that it is derived from "Sanguegiovese" or "Sangue di Giove". The first reliable information about the grape variety dates back to the 16th century, when Giovan Vettorio Soderini wrote in his treatise "Coltivazione toscana delle viti e d'alcuni alberi" that "Sangiocheto or Sangioveto is a remarkable vine for its regular productivity". Cosimo Trinci also discussed the characteristics of the Sangiovese grape variety in his notes from 1738. Modern genetics show that the origins of Sangiovese probably lie in the south of Italy, between Campania and Calabria. It is apparently a cross between the Ciliegiolo and Calabrese Montenuovo grapes. However, recent research has revealed different origins of Sangiovese. It is therefore not entirely clear where Sangiovese comes from.

Two large groups - or more?

As early as 1906, Sangiovese was roughly divided into two groups: Sangiovese Grosso and Sangiovese Piccolo. Sangiovese Grosso included Brunello di Montalcino, Prugnolo Gentile, which stands for Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, and Sangiovese di Lamole, from Greve in Chianti. Sangiovese Piccolo included other areas of Tuscany and other areas of Italy. Sangiovese Grosso was considered the better quality. Today, we are convinced that this classification was far too simple, far too simplistic. A large number of clones can be found in the vineyards. A clone is something like a mutation of a grape variety. This diversity of clones in the vineyards resulted in considerable efforts being commissioned for clone research, including the Chianti Classico 2000 project, which I will come back to later. Today, there are 130 approved Sangiovese clones in Italy.

How do you recognize Sangiovese?

And how can you imagine a Sangiovese vine in the vineyard? How can you recognize it? Of course, it depends on what time of year you are in the vineyard. In spring, the shoot tips look very woolly, are whitish green and have a slight red tinge. Later on, the young leaves are light green and slightly bronzed. Basically, the leaves are medium-sized, five-lobed and then dark green in summer. The cluster itself is medium-sized, cylindrical to pyramid-shaped and shouldered. The berry is medium-sized, in most cases round, relatively thick-skinned and black-blue in color.

Where can you find Sangiovese?

With over 70,000 hectares under cultivation, Sangiovese is the most widely cultivated grape variety in Italy. Sangiovese is generally famous for the wines of Tuscany, but this grape variety can actually be found throughout central and southern Italy, even in Piedmont and on the French island of Corsica. There, Sangiovese is called Nielluccio, and not only in Corsica, but also elsewhere outside Italy. However, Tuscany is the largest Sangiovese growing region in terms of area and is home to the famous wines of Tuscany, each in varying proportions. For example, Sangiovese can be found in Chianti Classico, in Chianti, in Brunello di Montalcino, in Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, in Morellino di Scansano, in Carmignano and in many so-called "SuperTuscans", of course. But also in the wines from Umbria, which are called Montefalco and Torgiano, or in the Marche region, where they are called Rosso Piceno and Rosso Conero. But of course also in many wines from Emilia Romagna, Lazio and Campania. Sangiovese can also be found internationally, as I have already mentioned, because the Italian emigrants not only took their pizza recipes with them into the wide world, but often also Sangiovese vines. Sangiovese can be found in Greece, Malta, Switzerland, Turkey and Hungary, and I also know of a few vines in Austria. Outside Europe, there are areas of Sangiovese in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, Canada, New Zealand, the USA, Israel and a few more. However, these areas outside Italy are very small and of less importance. Italy's more successful export product was clearly pizza.

Other names - but always Sangiovese

There are an incredible number of other names for Sangiovese, a few of which I have already mentioned, such as Sangiovese Grosso, Prugnolo Gentile, Brunello di Montalcino, Morellino, Montepulciano, Sangiovese di Lamole, Sangiovese Romagna, Sangiovese Elba, Sangiovese Gentile, Sangiovese Toscano, Sangioveto and so on. There are more than 112 entries on Wikipedia.

What characterizes Sangiovese in general?

What makes it so special? Basically, you can say that it is a very sensitive variety that produces very different characteristics and qualities depending on the growing region. On fertile, water-rich soils, it is very productive, in quantity but with rather modest quality. But the great Sangiovese-based wines come from barren, stony hillsides. But that alone is often not enough for top quality, because Sangiovese is a very difficult grape variety, I like to call it a tricky grape variety. Many people say that the Sangiovese grape variety is like a woman. Only if Sangiovese is treated well will it produce the best results. True to the motto "Happy wife, happy life". Maybe that's where my tendency to say THE Sangiovese comes from?
I personally like to describe Sangiovese wines as strongly reflecting the character and philosophy of the winemaker, but without deforming or changing too much, always with a certain backbone and pride. Of course, the terroir has a significant influence on the character of a wine and I would like to discuss this a little later.

Important characteristics of a Sangiovese wine are that the wines are usually rather light in color. I would like to describe it as ruby red. The wines are characterized by a pronounced acidity and generally strong tannins. Sangiovese wines are generally fruity, drinkable wines that are perfect accompaniments to food. One with more ageing potential, the other with less. Depending of course on various factors, such as the treatment in the vineyard and cellar, the vintage and of course the great influence of the terroir.

Sangiovese, a sensitive wine

Sangiovese is difficult to cultivate because it likes to show itself very differently. It needs optimal conditions for top results, i.e. not too hot and not too dry, and balanced summers and a beautiful, long fall. Yes, who among us wouldn't want that? The grape variety is one of those that bloom rather early and ripen rather late, meaning it has a relatively long vegetation period overall. As recently as 20 years ago, the perfect harvest time for Sangiovese was from the beginning to mid-October, but climate change is shifting things around here, and in recent years it has not been uncommon for harvesting to begin as early as mid-September, with the wines also showing higher alcohol levels overall. Sangiovese is very sensitive, susceptible to fungal diseases, also susceptible to gray mold, and today we are seeing more and more reactions to drought and heat.

What is terroir?

In simple terms, terroir refers to the natural conditions that influence the vine. On the one hand, these are soil type, climate and microclimate, orientation and slope inclination. You could also call it "regional character". Man cannot create this, nature has made it. But only with human skill is it possible to express this regional character in the wine. There are various factors that make up this regional character, such as the surrounding forest. This usually has a very, very positive influence on the vines, as it cools the vineyards on hot summer days, so the surrounding forest air cools the vineyards, and overall it creates a more balanced climate. But this is just one of many examples of how influential the whole surrounding area is for the vines, so to speak.

Sangiovese in Chianti

The decisive factor, however, is the soil, which is fundamental and has a fundamental influence on the vine and the grapes. In Chianti, the area where Chianti Classico grows, Sangiovese grows in a wide variety of soil and climatic conditions. After all, the area covers 72,000 hectares, and if we think back together, I mentioned that 70,000 hectares of Sangiovese are planted throughout Italy. This means that, in theory, you could put all the Sangiovese plants in the Chianti Classico area. But if you drive through Chianti with your eyes open, or as I like to say, "gondola", you drive through a lot of woodland. So you could also say that Chianti is a wooded area and perhaps less of a wine region, because only 10 percent is planted with vines and about 10 percent with olive groves, which means that the rest is more or less woodland. There are many different types of soil in Chianti and there will be a podcast episode about this at some point. I would just like to mention the most important ones here. We very often come across clay shale, called Galestro, limestone rock, called Alberese, but generally calcareous, clayey and sandy soils, such as Macigno, to name just the most important ones. In Chianti Classico, Sangiovese is planted between 200 and 600 meters above sea level, i.e. at very different altitudes. It should be noted that both soil type and altitude have a great influence on color, tannins and, of course, other ingredients.

It all depends on the right DNA

You can certainly see from my descriptions that it is not quite so easy to make the best Sangiovese. Many things, many circumstances are responsible for good quality. And as we have already learned, it literally starts in the vineyard. As I have already explained in previous episodes, you cannot simply plant Sangiovese in the Chianti Classico region and then later call the wine Chianti Classico. In order to be allowed to write Chianti Classico on the bottle, you need classified vineyards. The umbrella organization of the appellation, the Consorzio Chianti Classico, checks very carefully where the grapes for Chianti Classico come from. Quality-conscious as the Consorzio is, it commissioned a major research project back in the 1970s and 1980s, the Chianti Classico 2000 project. More than 200 clones, i.e. these sub-variants of Sangiovese, were found in the Chianti Classico vineyards. The research task was now to find the best clones, i.e. with the best DNA material, and to describe which soils these clones prefer in order to deliver outstanding qualities and which rootstocks are best suited to the respective clones.
In the end, the research project yielded nine clones as recommendations for winegrowers in Chianti Classico, and today, some 20 years later, more and more of these recommendations can be found in the Chianti vineyards. This is also reflected in the quality, and in more and more bottles and glasses of wine connoisseurs.

Sangiovese is much more than just Chianti Classico

So we can summarize: Sangiovese wine is an uncompromising reflection of what happens in the vineyard and cellar.

Andreas März, Editor of Merum magazine

Unfortunately, this quote does not come from me, but from the wine journalist Andreas März, publisher of the Merum newspaper, whom I hold in high esteem. And I can only agree with him wholeheartedly. So Chianti Classico is Sangiovese, at least 80 percent, and so you can also say Sangiovese is Chianti Classico, but Sangiovese is much, much, much, much, much more. You can see this for yourself by tasting different Sangiovese wines from different regions and different winemakers, even if my heart beats for Chianti Classico. As already mentioned, there are more and more Chianti Classico wines on the shelves that are made only from Sangiovese. To be honest, that used to be hard to imagine. Today, I see it as a kind of declaration of love for this important grape variety. And Sangiovese is masculine, at least as far as the article is concerned.

Even more great-sounding names next time

I hope I have been able to give you a better understanding of the important Sangiovese grape variety, and perhaps you will now be motivated to try different Sangiovese wines. A prospos tasting! You can of course find the link to today's wine in my show notes. In my online store. NinainChianti.com you will find lots of information about this wine and many others, and of course you can also order it there. Next time I plan to look at other typical grape varieties in Chianti and Tuscany. I'll be talking about such illustrious names as Canaiolo, Colorino, Mammolo, Malvasia nera and many, many more. If you have any questions about Chianti Classico by then, feel free to ask me, just use the link in the show notes. I hope I was able to take you into my Chianti Classico world, because this is my passion, my mission, at least that's how I feel. I say Ciao, see you next time! A presto!

Wine for the episode

2018 Le Cinciole Chianti Classico DOCG

Further links

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