Baudains: Wines from the Tuscan coast

The Tuscan coast stretches along the Tyrrhenian for roughly 275km; from the border with Liguria to the north, to that with Lazio in the south. Sharing the coastline are five provinces – Massa-Carrara, Livorno, Lucca, Pisa and Grosseto – and they all produce wine, although not necessarily on the coast itself.

After a visit to some wineries in Bolgheri, it’s possible to nip across the road for a dip in the sea, but this is not always the case elsewhere.

Although it is common to refer to the ‘vini della costa’, it would be more accurate to refer to the wines of the coastal provinces, since much of the production takes place some way inland.

From the medieval walls of Manciano in the hills of the Morellino DOCG, you can just about make out the sea on the horizon on a fine day, and the wine village of San Miniato in the province of Pisa is closer to Florence than the coast.

Scroll down for a selection of wines from the Tuscan coast

Diversity

Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the size of the area they cover, the common denominator of the coastal provinces is diversity. Altitudes range from sea level to over 500 metres, and soils vary greatly; from the sand and silt of the coast, through clay, to the stony calcareous marl of the inland hills.

Lucca and Massa in the northwest have some of the highest rainfalls in Italy, while parts of the province of Grosseto suffer the risk of severe drought and desertification.

The coastal provinces are represented by the catch-all IGT Costa Toscana and a total of around two dozen DOC/DOCGs, which embrace a plethora of grape varieties. Sangiovese is present, but this red variety does not dominate as it does in the central hills of Tuscany.

Across the five provinces, to name only the principle DOC varieties without citing the more obscure native grapes, the coast features an impressive diversity of vines.

White varieties include Vermentino, Ansonica, Trebbiano, Viognier, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and even Sémillon and Roussane.

For the reds, in addition to Sangiovese you can find Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Syrah and Alicante, as well as Ciliegiolo and Canaiolo.

The shrinking regions

A virtual tour of the wine-growing areas of the Tuscan coast could begin in the north, in Massa-Carrara, famed for its ancient marble quarries. The wines made here come from tiny plots (the average holding is less than 0.5 hectares) planted on the wooded hills inland.

According to Regione Toscana and ISTAT data, the area under vine in Tuscany’s smallest province has sadly declined over the past 10 years to a mere 460ha, which is a great shame because the Colli Apuani and Colli di Luni DOCs produce herby-minerally Vermentino of great character.

The neighbouring province of Lucca also has a shrinking vineyard area, which currently stands at just under 600ha. The mild climate of the Colline Lucchesi favours fruity Vementino and soft, mid-weight reds from Sangiovese-based blends, and at Montecarlo further inland, stylish Syrah.

Lucca is known for its nucleus of pioneering organic and biodynamic producers who planted their flag in the province over 30 years ago and have kept it flying uncompromisingly ever since.

Not just a leaning tower

The 2,700ha of vineyards in the next province of Pisa extend over a wide area with markedly different growing conditions, but in general the climate is warmer and drier than that of Lucca. In the past, the province was known (but not particularly widely) for the light, ‘everyday’ wines of the Colli Pisani.

The more recent Terre di Pisa DOC is giving the area’s production some coherence and raising the visibility of one of the most interesting and unexplored areas of the coast. The most representative estates produce structured, ageworthy reds from international varieties, but there are also pockets of excellent Sangiovese.

Pisa is inevitably over-shadowed by Bolgheri in the neighbouring province of Livorno, but it has a lot to offer.

Carte bianco

Bolgheri needs no introduction. The densely-planted 2,900ha of vineyards stretch along the coast. On the first range of hills inland it produces Cabernet of a silky elegance which puts Tuscany on the international map.

The top estates have become the source of blue-chip investment wines, but if you scale down from the Superiore category, Bolgheri DOC offers pleasing wines at humane prices. Bolgheri Bianco is a growing presence since revisions to the DOC gave producers carte blanche to mix and match varieties at will to create personalised estate wines.

White wines will never outclass the reds, but they add an attractive new dimension to the production.

If Bolgheri is about elegance, further down the coast at Suvereto – the province’s other great red wine denomination – it is all about power and structure, using the same Bordeaux varietals but in a more muscular style with robust tannins.

Wide-ranging southern vineyards

With its 9,500 hectares, Grosseto has the third biggest vineyard area in Tuscany after the provinces of Florence and Siena, and in terms of volume of production, Grosseto’s Maremma Toscana DOC is the third most important in the region.

It is also the one province along the coast which has seen significant expansion in the past 10 years, mainly thanks to the boom of Vermentino planting.

Among the Sangiovese-based denominations, the soft and fruity Morellino di Scansano DOCG catches the eye. The inland hills are also home to a renaissance of the dry, cherry-scented Ciliegiolo.

White variety Ansonica has its own DOC on the Grosseto coast and on the island of Elba, and it is also the protagonist of the heroic viticulture of Giglio.

The Trebbiano-based Pitigliano comes from the volcanic soils around the town of the same name.

The location is spectacular; the quality of the wines of this historic DOC generally less so – but in the hands of a producer who treats it seriously, Pitigliano is a terroir wine with a striking mineral intensity.

Wines from the Tuscan coast: Baudains’ top 20 picks

What follows is a selection of my favourite wines from the excellent Vini delle Coste event, held every year in Lucca, supplemented by a couple of notes from the Vinitaly trade show in Verona. To give the selection a sense of place, and at the cost of excluding some outstanding bottles which are released under the generic Toscana IGT, I have included only wines from the DOC/Gs of the coastal provinces, or those which use the easily identifiable Costa Toscana label.

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