SommSelect Editorial Director David Lynch has spent a lot of time in Tuscany’s Maremma, land of ‘spaghetti westerns,’ wild boar, uninhabited Mediterranean beaches, and some seriously world-class Cabernet Sauvignon. Does the name “Sassicaia” ring a bell? Here’s a much-lower-budget alternative with a wilder, more laid-back personality.
A lot of Tuscan wine purists would prefer the red wine discussion begin and end with the Sangiovese grape. Now, I’m a died-in-the-wool Sangiovese guy, but let’s not be too dogmatic: Much of coastal Tuscany, known as the Maremma and reaching roughly from Livorno to the border with Lazio to the south, has shown more aptitude for grapes other than Sangiovese—including, but not limited to, the Bordeaux varieties that defined the early “super-Tuscans” from the Maremma stronghold of Bolgheri. People like the marchese Mario Incisa della Rochetta, who birthed the Cabernet-driven “Sassicaia” on his Bolgheri property in the late-1960s, didn’t act solely out of an aristocratic desire to emulate Bordeaux, but on the belief that, while Sangiovese was ubiquitous in the area—much of it reclaimed wetland, with sandy/clay soil and a warm maritime influence—it wasn’t necessarily the best choice for the terroir. We’ve since seen many world-class Cabernets from this area, and I think they work as real wines of place, regardless of their “international” grapes. What I appreciate even more about this wine from Montepeloso—an estate headquartered in Suvereto, about a half-hour south of Bolgheri—is that it embraces its place even more fully, incorporating not just Cabernet but distinctly local, Mediterranean varieties such as Marselan (a Grenache-Cabernet cross also found in the Languedoc and Provence) and Alicante Bouschet. It’s not adequate to call this wine “super-Tuscan.” It’s “super-Mediterranean,” super delicious, and super affordable. I urge you to jump all over it—I can think of about a dozen great reds of the world it pays homage to, without being beholden to any single one.
The heart of Tuscany’s Maremma is the province of Grosseto, an arid, scrubby, more wide-open landscape than what’s found in the thickly forested hills around Florence and Siena. It was indeed the backdrop for many so-called ‘spaghetti westerns’ directed by Italians like Sergio Leone (“Fistfull of Dollars”), and up until fairly recently was dominated by large, largely untouched land tracts that didn’t have much wine history. The Sangiovese-based Morellino di Scansano is the region’s best-known ‘traditional’ appellation, but it was really the wines of Bolgheri—many of which were originally labeled as table wines, because few proper appellations existed in the area at the time—that put the Maremma on the map. Over the last few decades, places such as Bolgheri, Suvereto, and especially the areas further south around Grosseto have seen a huge surge in investment, thanks in large part to the relative affordability/availability of land. It has been an area brimming with innovation and value, but, aside from the success of Morellino di Scansano, Tuscany’s native son, Sangiovese, has not typically been the star of the show. Instead it’s been the Cabernets (Franc as much as Sauvignon), Merlot, Syrah, and, more recently, Grenache and other varieties that speak to the region’s time under Spanish rule. And then there are the hyper-local, ‘Italian’ varieties such as Montepulciano (the juicy signature of Abruzzo to the east) and Ciliegiolo (a blast of ripe black cherry fruit used to deepen blends and occasionally found in ‘varietal’ form).
The 15-acre Montepeloso property is situated very close to another Suvereto-based “super-Tuscan” icon, Tua Rita, and was purchased in 1998 by Swiss-born Fabio Chiarelotto—who, immediately upon arrival, began restructuring the property’s vineyards to find the ideal mix of varieties for the location. Suvereto, while close to the Mediterranean, is at a point where the landscape begins to rise and soils become less fertile and rockier, with enough altitude to mitigate some of the heat and provide superior drainage to the heavier soils of the sites on the plains. “A Quo” is Chiarelotto’s introduction to his lineup, combining 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Montepulciano, and smatterings of Sangiovese, Marselan and Alicante Bouschet (this last one a teinturier—a red grape with red pulp—that lends color and depth). It is aged four months in used French oak casks.
As I said above, this wine throws a lot of different looks at you—one moment it feels a little Spanish, like something from Priorat or Montsant; then it’s off to the Left Bank of Bordeaux; then there’s a wild, herbal, underbrush-y note that pulls you to the Mediterranean. When I think of the Maremma I think of hiking through a grove of umbrella pines to emerge on a completely uninhabited beach (yes, there are some swanky resort towns, but also many wild and untrammeled national parks). In the glass, the 2014 “A Quo” is a deep, nearly opaque ruby at its core with garnet reflections at the rim, with aromas of black plum, black cherry, cassis, lavender, dried herbs, and a hint of tobacco. It is simultaneously juicy and firm, lush and elegant—rather than go for an inky blockbuster, Chiarelotto went for supple texture and lifted perfume. It is delicious to drink now with about 30 minutes in a decanter; serve it at 60 degrees in Bordeaux stems with something gamey—wild boar would be the ultimate “thematic” choice, but pheasant or rabbit would work, too. The great New York/Tuscan chef Cesare Casella, whom I remember fondly from his days hanging out on the Babbo stoop with Mario Batali after work, is the perfect guy to go to for a recipe—this is his wheelhouse! Enjoy!
— D.L.
