Moving in a very different direction, many wine enthusiasts cringed when the Langhe DOC was established last year to cover wines that do not fall into the established categories of wines made around Alba (Barolo, Barbaresco, Roero, Dolcetto, and Barbera, to name a few), because they feared other regions would follow suit. Indeed a group of Tuscan producers, cooperative cellars, and local authorities did, proposing a DOC Toscana for all the wines that aren't already covered by existing DOCs and DOCGs (which include Chianti Classico, Brunello di Montalcino, Vernaccia di San Gimignano, Carmgnano, and many more). Wines from all of Tuscany would qualify, and the list of kinds of wine covered ranges from sparkling and still white to rosé, through a variety of reds, to close with vinsanto. In short, just about everything. But is it necessary? "Doing so will let us give the Supertuscans the recognition they deserve," was one of the main arguments.

However, one wonders why Supertuscans, which have achieved tremendous renown and often command better prices than DOC or DOCG wines despite being classified IGT (Indicazione Geografica Tipica, the step below DOC) or VDT (Vino da Tavola, table wine, bottom of the heap) need further recognition. They're doing quite well as is, and many producers are sold out of their Supertuscans even before they've released them. Then you look at the promoters and the opponents of the DOC, and things become clearer. Promoting it are some of Tuscany's largest wineries, wine coops, and towns in marginal areas whose wines aren't good enough to achieve DOC status. Opposing it are all the major Consorzi (Gallo Nero, Brunello, Vernaccia and so on), and most of the high quality producers.

In looking at the promoters, one can understand the towns whose wines aren't very good wanting to get a DOC for their wine any way they can, and the same holds true for the wine cooperatives, most of which produce high volumes of plonk that, as things stand now, aren't good enough to be considered DOC. The rules for the proposed Toscana DOC are instead lax enough that most would qualify. The large wineries? In particular, there are Frescobaldi and Antinori, both of whom make relatively small amounts of a number of good to superb wines from specific estates, on the one hand, and huge amounts of humdrum wine from grapes that come from a variety of areas on the other. Millions of bottles of DOC wine are worth much more than the same volume of IGT or VDT wine, so for them it's a matter of simple economics. In other words, they see the Toscana DOC as a marketing tool with which to get higher prices.

The opposition, established wine producing areas and quality producers, of course see the Toscana DOC as a threat, because it would elevate a vast amount of mediocre wine to DOC status, which is supposed to be superior. This flood of wine would, they contend, damage the reputation of the region, and I think they're right. Fortunately, Ruffino, another major winery that had promoted the Toscana DOC, announced that it has changed its mind and is opposing it. At this point the whole thing may founder, and if it does it will be very good for Tuscan wines. We don't need an all-encompassing DOC whose major function is to grant DOC status to wines that otherwise wouldn't deserve it, thus allowing producers to raise their prices.

The other important bit of wine-related news is that the courts have recently ruled that Chianti must be bottled within the production zone. This is a major step forward, because until now bottlers could truck the wine elsewhere to bottle it, and while this did allow them to save on shipping costs, it also provided those who were dishonest with a golden opportunity to doctor the wine. There'll be less really bad Chianti out there from now on.

A presto,
Kyle Phillips
Webweaver, About Italian Cuisine

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