Research uncorks new insight into the famed, but little understood, Sangiovese

Anyone who follows the world of Italian wines knows Sangiovese. It is Italy's highest-profile red grape, the one Italian grape that winemakers in other countries have most admired, to the point of growing it in their own vineyards. But recent research suggests that Sangiovese is an extremely complex variety that is far less understood than it is famous.

Sangiovese is Italy's most-planted variety. It makes many decent everyday wines in regions such as Emilia-Romagna, Marche and Tuscany. Its claim to fame, however, is the trio of great wines that this variety makes in Tuscany: Chianti Classico, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and Brunello di Montalcino.

A symposium on Sangiovese in May, organized by the Ruffino wine company, focused on these three classic wine zones as arenas for exploring such issues as the best clones of Sangiovese, soil compatibilities, growing methods and winemaking techniques.

What became clear to participants in the symposium is that Sangiovese and its history in Tuscany hold more questions than answers. According to professor Attilio Scienza, one of Italy's top viticultural authorities, perhaps by 2015 experts will understand Sangiovese as much as they now do Cabernet Sauvignon.

The three wine zones where Sangiovese excels are each different from one another in soil and to some extent climate — and each of the areas is complex in its own right, featuring a range of climate and soil variations. In fact, specific manifestations of Sangiovese have evolved in different areas in response to the local growing conditions. In the Montepulciano zone, the grape is traditionally called Prugnolo Gentile, while the Montalcino version — sometimes informally, but not technically, called "Brunello" — is Sangiovese Grosso. Actually, each of these areas — and every other area where Sangiovese grows — has multiple clones of Sangiovese.

Recent clonal research has sought to identify all these clones and to determine the individual characteristics of each. Younger vineyards in all three areas now are likely to have clones of Sangiovese that are not necessarily the traditional ones for the area.

For example, some properties in Chianti Classico have clones originally from Montalcino — with names such as Janus 50 and Tin 50 — that make rounder, more substantial wines than the traditional clones of the Chianti area. Where nature once determined which form Sangiovese would take in a particular area, man now decides, according to his concept of what would make a "better" wine.

Viticultural research also has sought to fine-tune how Sangiovese performs in the vineyard, mainly with the goal of growing grapes with richer color and riper tannins. This research has involved issues as broad as the density of vines per acre and as specific as the optimal temperature that the grape bunches should reach in the vineyard, and the optimal average age of a vine's leaves for maximum photosynthesis. Based on this research, wineries are tweaking their pruning and other aspects of managing their Sangiovese vineyards.

While the main thrust of the effort to understand Sangiovese seems to involve the vineyard, winemaking practices, too, are under scrutiny. Relatively new techniques such as microxygenation are considered to be particularly useful in extracting color and soft tannins from Sangiovese, for example. And blending with other grape varieties continues to be a key method of crafting Sangiovese-based wines.

Only Sangiovese may be used to make Brunello di Montalcino or its younger version, Rosso di Montalcino. But in both the Chianti Classico area and the Vino Nobile di Montepulciano zone, producers are blending Sangiovese with Merlot, Cabernet or Syrah, as well as with its native blending partners such as Canaiolo, Mammolo and Colorino. The goal is to make a higher-quality wine, which winemakers generally define as a wine that is richer in color and flavor, with softer tannins than Sangiovese wines traditionally have had.

Behind all the research and experimentation is the fundamental belief that in most cases, Sangiovese has not been living up to its true potential, and can do better. Longtime aficionados of Brunello di Montalcino, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and Chianti Classico might not appreciate the changes that are underfoot, but the international marketplace — which values dark, powerful red wines — is likely to respond favorably to the modern versions of these wines. Given Sangiovese's tendency to produce wines of high acidity and subtle flavor, however, it is likely that these wines will remain among the food-friendliest of all reds.

This article found at:
http://www.nrn.com/newsletter-bt/story.cfm?ID=3564606183&SEC=Beverage%20Trends%20Newsletter&CFID=9029926&CFTOKEN=74283752