The king of all Tuscan wines justified our trip to new Labour country

Yes, the rumours are true: the Scrutons did visit Tuscany this summer, and yes,we did stay in the heart of new Labour country, siding with the natives of course, but unmistakably part of the invasion. We had an excuse, however, in the form of an invitation to the Cortona Tuscan Sun Festival - and we never strayed into Chiantishire proper, but remained hugging the olive groves of Cortona and creeping along the hillside to the cell of Saint Francis at Le Celle. In the evenings, it is true, our drinking took us further afield. Even so, we stayed within the reaches of the Sangiovese grape and explored the countryside with the lightest possible footsteps, interrogating bottle after bottle in good-natured curiosity as to its provenance, and wishing every square inch of Tuscany to be free for ever from people like ourselves.

The Sangiovese grape, which is the grape of Chianti, has several locally variant clones, so that the Sangiovese of Montepulciano, for example, which is itself divided into two or three sub-varietals, is both fuller and more fleshy than that of Chianti; while the Sangiovese of Cortona, which has as yet to make its mark on the international market, has an altogether darker and more brooding complexion.

Montepulciano has been famous for its red wine for centuries. In his poem of 1685 "Bacco in Toscana", dedicated to the wines of Tuscany, Francesco Redi wrote that "Montepulciano d'ogni vino e re" - a judgement repeated by the locals at every opportunity. It was not until the 20th century, however, that their wine was called Vino Nobile by the Poliziani. (The townspeople take this name from Poliziano, the famous Renaissance writer who was born in Montepulciano, and who adopted the Roman name of his birthplace.) The term Vino Nobile has now become part of the official denomination and is subject to strict legal control. Only selected vineyards that use selected grapes can describe their product in this way, and the best of them surely justify Redi's description - assuming that he meant to describe Montepulciano as king of all Tuscan wines, rather than king of all the wines that there are.

The Vino Nobile is a rich ruby colour, with an alluring fragrance of ripe peaches above sun-drenched stones. To prepare the way for it after a stunning performance of the Beethoven Violin Concerto from Midori, we drank the local white frizzante, served in the restaurants in heavy jugs, where it froths and foams like the Cumean Sybil. After such a preparation, the Vino Nobile made its entrance with suitably regal pomp, taking up the grand themes and exquisite touch of the Beethoven and persuading us that we had every right to be in Tuscany, with or without Tony Blair.

Post your comment

Please note: you will need to login or register before you can comment on the website