Creation of the “Comitato Historical Super Tuscans”, with 16 big names from the Chianti Classico

The ability to express the creativity of producers and oenologists through mainly international (i.e. French) grape varieties that are well-known and have an established taste worldwide, yet are capable of expressing typicality, uniqueness and territory: this is, in a nutshell, the “secret of success” of the “Super Tuscans”. Wines that, from the 1960s onwards, have, in some ways, marked the rediscovery of Tuscan and Italian wine, bringing the Belpese wine industry into limelight it had never had before, and giving impetus to a sector that is the prosperous and media-savvy one we know today. And to celebrate this history, the “Comitato Historical Super Tuscans” (Historical Super Tuscans Committee) was founded today in Florence, the “cradle of the Renaissance”. The association is made up of the wineries that created the Super Tuscans in the Chianti Classico area, with Marquis Piero Antinori (Marchesi Antinori) as “honorary founder”, Paolo Panerai (Domini di Castellare) as president, and Davide Profeti (San Felice) as vice-president.
Sixteen are the founders, wineries such as San Felice, Antinori, Montevertine, Castello di Monsanto, Castellare di Castellina, Isole e Olena, Badia a Coltibuono, Querciabella, Castello di Fonterutoli, Ambrogio & Giovanni Folonari, Riecine, Felsina, Castello di Volpaia, Castello di Ama, Castello di Albola and Brancaia. “The “Historical Super Tuscans” Committee”, explains a note, “brings together the wineries that have been producing wines of excellence in the Chianti Classico area since before 1994, i.e., before the establishment of the IGT Toscana appellation, and, in particular, at least one Super Tuscan recognized as such by the market and by critics, primarily Anglo-Saxon, who coined the appellation”.
“The history of the Super Tuscans”, stresses the “Historical Super Tuscans” Committee, “is closely linked to the Chianti Classico territory, and is the result of an intuition of Enzo Morganti, the territory’s historic oenologist, who was the first to understand the need to aim for high quality in a changed oenological context increasingly oriented towards product excellence. This idea took shape in 1968, with the launch of the first Super Tuscan. Morganti, together with other enlightened Chianti winemakers, realized that the rigid production regulations of the Chianti Classico DOC did not allow for the expression of all the qualities and nuances of this great terroir. Thus, renouncing the rules of the appellation then in force, they agreed to downgrade their wines to “Vino da Tavola”, the lowest level of the wine quality pyramid, even though they were made with grapes from the vineyards of the “then” Chianti Classico DOC. It was only during the mid-1980s that the Anglo-Saxon press coined the term Super Tuscan to define a new category of great quality reds, recognizing their full value. Since that time, the producers of Historical Super Tuscans have paved the way for the revision of the production regulations of the Chianti DOC and are still the custodians and representatives, as well as the forerunners, of the great wines of Tuscany”.
The Committee, set up with the assistance of lawyer Ugo Franceschetti (Studio Laroma Jezzi & Partner), aims to protect and enhance the value of the Super Tuscans, making known the history and courage of the winegrowers who created them, renouncing the value of an already established Denomination to pursue the dream of producing great wines at international level, capable of expressing the cultural values and potential of the territory.
The wines which, in chronological order, have marked the path of the Super Tuscans, specifies the “Historical Super Tuscans” Committee, are Vigorello (1968, San Felice), Tignanello (1971, Antinori), Le Pergole Torte (1970, Montevertine), Fabrizio Bianchi (1974, Castello di Monsanto), I Sodi di San Niccolò (1977, Castellare di Castellina), Cepparello (1980, Isole e Olena), Sangioveto (1980, Badia a Coltibuono), Camartina (1981, Querciabella), Concerto (1981, Castello di Fonterutoli), Cabreo (1982, A&G Folonari), La Gioia (1982, Riecine), Fontalloro (1983, Felsina), Balifico (1985, Castello di Volpaia), L’Apparita (1985, Castello di Ama), Acciaiolo (1988, Castello di Albola), Brancaia il Blu (1988, Brancaia). “The Committee’s statutes provide for the possibility that producers of Super Tuscans born after 1994 may also apply for membership. The association of the 16 wineries is based in Castelnuovo Berardenga (Siena), Località San Felice, and is open to all individuals and wine producers who wish to contribute to promoting the area and enhancing the value of the Super Tuscans as a tribute to the great terroir of Chianti Classico”. A partnership with Intesa Sanpaolo was launched on the occasion, one of the Committee’s first acts to kick-start promotion of these historic labels.
“The so-called “Super Tuscans” represent a decisive chapter in the “renaissance” of Italian wine. In addition to attracting the attention of opinion makers around the world to the potential of Italian wines, it has also helped to evolve the regulations of many DOCs that did not take into account a new, rapidly evolving reality, oriented, unlike in the past, more towards quality than quantity”, said Piero Antinori, founder of honour of the Historical Super Tuscans Committee. “It is unprecedented that the naming of a wine is decided by the critics and not by the rules. In this sense the name Super Tuscan, to define the highest wines of Tuscany, is a unicum for which it was necessary and appropriate to codify and transmit its history. We did this with the Committee, we producers of the historic wines, who pushed the critics to explain, with the name Super Tuscan, that in Tuscany a sort of revolution had taken place, all aimed at the highest quality. As the producers of those first wines that created such a unicum, with the foundation of the Historical Supertuscan Committee we also want to pay homage and thank the Anglo-Saxon critics who coined the definition in the 1980s that has done so much good for Tuscan and Italian wine around the world”, continued President Paolo Panerai. “The pride of seeing the Historical Super Tuscans Committee come to fruition is great, especially as the idea originated in San Felice, which gave birth to the forerunner of these great wines. Fifty vintages after the first launch of the first Super Tuscan, in the name of the product quality so sought after by the winegrowers of the time, today more than ever we want to enhance the precious winemaking heritage we have inherited, pay homage to the wisdom and foresight of those who came before us and continue to raise the great prestige of Super Tuscans. This association aims to make a strong contribution to the promotion of the excellence of Tuscan wines” concluded Vice President Davide Profeti.