This is a guest review from Mark Evitts.
Subtitled “Wine Tales from the Heart of Italy”, On Tuscany is a compilation of short pieces from over 30 authors and wine experts. Interspersed with beautiful images the book is a fascinating exploration of this incredible region: its history, its culture, and – of course – its complex wine tradition.
Table of Contents
A Collection Of Journeys
Tuscany is rightly regarded as a cultural mecca, with over 50 million visitors every year. It is famed for its history and architectural beauty, and also for its rollcall of illustrious residents through the ages (Galileo, Dante and da Vinci to name just a few). But it is also, as David Gleave (a Master of Wine) says in his foreword, “perhaps the most resonant and evocative of all wine-producing regions” (read more about Wine Tasting in Tuscany).
On Tuscany is described as “a collection of journeys” around the region. The authors and experts featured are predominantly from the world of wine, but also include poets, writers, restaurateurs, and travellers.
You will find wine experts like Hugh Johnson and Jancis Robinson alongside food writers and literary greats. Together they take us on a voyage around history and wine production, with a few quirks along the way.
From The Etruscans To Sangiovese
The scene is set in the first collection with a poetic description of the various winds of the region by a famed local writer from the 1930s. This is followed by a piece from D H Lawrence on the comparatively unknown Etruscans, the indigenous forebears to the Romans.
This is followed by a series of essays on Italy’s most planted grape variety, Sangiovese. Tuscany in particular has this chameleon grape at the heart of its most famous wines: Chianti, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, and Brunello di Montalcino.
Indeed, there is a chapter dedicated to Chianti Classico, premium wines from a very specific part of Tuscany, where the writers discuss revolution, tumult, and progression. We are also given an excerpt from a 15th century poem titled Bacchus in Tuscany.
We discover that the bulbus bottle with a woven straw base associated with Chiantis of old were called fiaschi and that Tuscans never threw them away (saving them as decorative holders for not only wine but olive oil and other liquids). And explanations are offered for the belief that the word fiasco derives from these unusually shaped bottles!
Makers And Mavericks
Later chapters explore the power of the “Super Tuscans”, then move on to look at the different wine producing regions of Tuscany. Super Tuscans are literally and metaphorically impactful blended red wines controversially produced using international grape varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. These wines sit outside of any protected designation of origin, but are generally very good quality and also highly priced.
A section is devoted to the makers and the mavericks in Tuscany’s wine regions, the key players and personalities contributing to the success of the region. These include the current generation of the Frescobaldi Family whose ancestors traded wine for works of art with Michelangelo and supplied wine to the kings of England, including Henry VIII. We also meet modern day pioneers who are eschewing international wine styling for more terroir sensitive wines.
Tuscan Food And Wine
No book on Italy is complete without reference to its food and cultural associations with food and wine. So it is fitting that On Tuscany should conclude with essays on food and a celebration of the Tuscan olive.
On Tuscany can be read as a casual plunge into centuries of progress in this historic region and its wines. But it can also serve as a significant reference book for wine, history and travel enthusiasts.
On Tuscany: Wine Tales from the Heart of Italy, compiled by Susan Keevil, Académie du Vin Library, 2024, 9781913141981. Readers of this website can claim a 15% discount when they order direct from Académie du Vin – use discount code BEWITCHED15.
Mark Evitts is a wine educator based in Bath, UK. He holds a postgraduate diploma in wine science from Auckland University and WSET Level 3.
