Il Morellino, the beating heart of the Maremma, in the “wine house” of Tuscany

In the Tuscan Maremma, which imposes itself as the great challenge, but also the great novelty, of the wine panorama of the Region of Tuscany, there is a denomination that, for at least 42 years, has been a point of reference and qualitative summit of the whole territory: Morellino di Scansano, the beating heart, at least historically, of viticulture in the area, which in “Chianti Lovers”, in Florence, presented a preview of the 2019 vintage and the 2018 Riserva, reflecting on its role not only within the Maremma, but also in relation to the Tuscany of wine, as the director of the Consorzio del Morellino Alessio Durazzi tells WineNews. “The Maremma is our home, and the Morellino has always been in the Maremma: we want to be exactly what we are, a point of reference and a driving force for all winemaking in the Maremma, so that it can emerge. There are already excellent examples in other Maremma denominations, and we want to be, in this sense, a complement and a cue for others”.
An example and a driving force for all, with deep roots in their own territory, because “we believe in the Morellino integrated in its own territory, in synergy with its land, so that we can promote a unicum. We believe, for example, that the added value of the Maremma as a territory that is difficult to reach, even on a logistical level, as a place without industry, with low anthropisation - aspects that in the past have weighed down in a negative way - we are an extra trump card. That we wanted to play immediately, already a year ago, when we presented the “Morellino Green” project, a small step but a great signal, for example by creating electric charging stations within the denomination, in the Consortium and in various companies, so that Morellino becomes one of the first green Docg in Italy. It is a seed, planted in the land of sustainability, to grow in the coming years”.
However, if it is true that Morellino has learned to move in synergy with the Maremma, the added value could be created by Tuscany, the regional brand known throughout the world, often in the background when it comes to names on the crest of the wave, but potentially a business card of apical importance in less mature markets, why not, to put on the label. “The Tuscan brand - continues Alessio Durazzi - is the strong brand, an added value for everyone. Putting it on the label could turn out to be a positive operation, able to give impetus to the name in markets where we are less known, Il Morellino is very well known in Italy, where it would not be so useful, from the point of view of expanding the audience, but there are countries where the word Tuscany, obviously maintaining the centrality of the Morellino brand, can certainly help, and I imagine that the Region of Tuscany is favorable, in view of a territorial development that is a common good, which would benefit everyone”.
In this sense, making a Pindaric flight and a parallelism that may sound excessive, but far from disrespectful, we can imagine, for numbers, production potential, stylistic similarities, despite the many differences, Tuscany like Bordeaux, and maybe the Morellino di Scansano like Graves, just to give an example, so as to be strong and recognizable abroad with a unique brand - that of Tuscany - learning to communicate and enhance the differences and peculiarities of each denomination. “It’s a complex reasoning, which implies evaluations by all the stakeholders, but from my point of view Tuscany is the common home of all the wines of the Region, it seems natural to be able to use it, then the subsequent development is complex and should not be trivialized, because there are specificities to take into account. For us, however, being able to use the Tuscan brand would certainly be an advantage on the international wine industry.