Tuscany

DOCG for dry white wine in the wine-growing region of Tuscany in Italy. The zone includes the good sloping hillside sites at an altitude of no more than 500 metres above sea level in the commune of San Gimignano in the province of Siena. This was the first wine to be classified as DOC in Italy in 1966, and was elevated to DOCG in 1993. White wines have been produced here since the 13th century. A Vernaccia wine was the favourite wine of the famous painter and sculptor Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564), whose comment on the wine in 1543 has survived in written form: „It kisses and caresses you, it bites and throws you!“ The wine is made from a special variant of Vernaccia grown only here, and known as Vernaccia di San Gimignano (90-100%), as well as optionally from other permitted white varieties (up to 10%), and has a minimum alcohol content of 11% vol. If it is matured for 14 months in barrel and for a further 4 months in bottle it may be called Riserva. Red and rosé wines grown in this zone are classified as DOC San Gimignano klassifiziert.