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Tuscany is a breathtakingly beautiful cultural landscape. Not only has it written an essential piece of Italian winemaking history, it is also blessed with a great variety of styles of excellent wines. Their best representatives have achieved world fame and cult status. Historically, climatically and in terms of varieties, Tuscany is divided into two parts. The traditional wine-growing areas extend inland from Florence and Siena to Montepulciano and Montalcino. Here sit some of the oldest families practicing viticulture in the world. The Antinori, the Frescobaldi but also the Mazzei and the Ricasoli can trace their roots in viticulture back to the High Middle Ages. Sangiovese is the dominant variety in these areas. This results in Chianti Classico, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and, of course, Brunello di Montalcino. For the latter, Sangiovese must be single-varietal; for Chianti Classico and Nobile, it can be exclusively Sangiovese. The second center of the wine region is the Maremma, the coastal strip between Livorno and Grosseto. In Bolgheri, in the late 1960s, the Sassicaia was born, not a trace of Sangiovese, but of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. Its success made the region a magnet for many winemakers who produce wines with cult status here from Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Petit Verdot and, more recently, Cabernet Franc.
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