Ian D’Agata is generally considered to be Italy’s most prominent and credible wine expert and the author of the www.iandagata.co

In fact, the diversity sangiovese offers is truly one of the great things about it: much like pinot noir, it is uniquely capable of translating soil differences into the wine and hence your glass. A sangiovese grown in sandy soils is remarkably different than one grown on gravel or limestone, and the same is true of those wines made in cooler climates as opposed to those of warmer areas in Italy. If you add to these variables the fact that many sangiovese - based wines are in fact blends, then the wine lover benefits from a plethora of different and exciting choices.

For example, there is not just one Chianti, but many different ones, and this goes beyond simple differences in winemaking style, amount of oak aging or if oak was used at all. The wines of Chianti Classico (the area around the little towns of Castellina, Radda, and Gaiole were Chianti was historically first made) are elegant and perfumed and are fuller bodied compared to the Chianti of the Colli Fiorentini, those Chiantis made on generally sandier soils around Florence. Even more different, and very interesting, are Chianti Rufina: Rufina is a much cooler area located north east of Florence and at higher altitudes than the rest of the Chianti production zone. The wines are singularly perfumed and vibrant, with laser-like acidity and great aging potential. If you didn’t think a Chianti from the 1950s or 1960s could still be great, try a well stored Rufina, and get ready to be amazed.

Of course, for truly long-lived sangiovese and bigger, full-bodied wines it’s hard to beat either Vino Nobile di Montepulciano or Brunello di Montalcino. While the former wines can include cabernet sauvignon, merlot and other international varieties in the blend, as well as local ones such as mammolo that was historically used to give Vino Nobile it’s unique aromas of violets (today the variety is being used less and less because it tends to oxidise easily and doesn’t allow the wine to age as well or as long), Brunello is, at 100% sangiovese only, the purest expression of sangiovese possible, and also one of Italy’s most expensive and collectible wines.

Sangiovese however is not typical and unique to Italy. Due to its unique characteristics and the large spectrum of different wines it can give rise to, from easy drinking, inexpensive light reds to very important, full bodied wines that can age seemingly forever, sangiovese has been planted all over the world. In fact, it is one of the world's fifteen most planted grape varieties. It is found in as far away places as Australia, California, Argentina and even the island of Corsica, where it is called nielluccio. However, due to its finnicky-nature and the difficulties in reproducing its magical charms outside of Italy (not unlike pinot noir, which gives truly great results only in Burgundy, Oregon, New Zeland, with only occasional great bottles elsewhere), producers in some parts of the world, such as California (where sangiovese enjoyed a real heyday in the 90s with greatly increased plantings) are now looking to other grape varieties that are easier to work with. It may well be that one day we shall be able to drink wonderfully fantastic sangiovese wines from other parts of the world: but for now, if you want the real thing, Tuscany and Italy remain your best bets.

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