The Winery Buttero of Chianti Rùfina of Toscane

Most of the Italian masterpieces of the Renaissance in the 15th and 16th centuries were carved out of marble. Since the 1980s, Italian viticulture has had its Renaissance in the form of wine, but not much was often thought about combining the two. ‘Man needs to realise his dreams,’ said Yannick Alléno, presenting Fuori Marmo 2019, a unique marble-aged Cabernet Sauvignon from the Costa Toscana IGT at his three-star Michelin restaurant, Pavillon Ledoyen, in Paris last week. The idea was born in 20 ...

The wines from Chianti Rùfina, a unique, high-quality sub-region of the greater Chianti area, are overshadowed by those of its larger brother, Chianti Classico. Now, Rùfina producers are striving to change that with Terraelectae, a category of wines that will sit at the pinnacle of the Chianti Rùfina quality pyramid. Each producer – there are only about 20 of them in all of Chianti Rùfina – will be able to designate a single-vineyard wine made entirely from Sangiovese as ‘Terraelectae’ and will ...

In 1932, the Italian government expanded the boundaries of Chianti to incorporate neighbouring territories where grapes and chianti-style wines had long been produced. And in 1967, four years after the enactment of the Italian DOC system (Denominazione di Origine Controllata), the first official Chianti DOC was created, including seven sub-zones: Colli Fiorentini, Colli Senesi, Rùfina, Colli Aretini, Colline Pisane and Montalbano, plus the original Chianti Classico. The entire area was elevated ...