Super Tuscan

Super Tuscan is not a grape variety — it is a category born from rebellion. In the 1970s, a group of Tuscan producers, frustrated by the restrictive DOC regulations that governed Chianti production and forced the inclusion of white grapes in red wine blends, began making wines outside the rules entirely.

Sassicaia, the first and most famous, was built on Cabernet Sauvignon planted in the coastal Bolgheri area — a variety not permitted under any existing Tuscan DOC. Tignanello followed, blending Sangiovese with Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc in proportions the regulations did not allow. Because these wines fell outside the official classification system, they were legally required to be labelled as Vino da Tavola — table wine, the lowest possible designation — despite being among the most ambitious and expensive wines produced in Italy.

The market responded to quality rather than classification, and the category that came to be known as Super Tuscan became one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed in the world.

The regulations eventually caught up, and most Super Tuscans now qualify under the IGT Toscana designation, but the spirit of the category remains the same: Tuscan ambition, international varieties, and a complete indifference to the rules.