nce you have had your fill of the masterpieces of Renaissance art and architecture of Florence you might wonder what lies beyond the city limits. Quite simply there awaits the varied wonders of one of Italy’s largest and most beautiful regions, Tuscany. Surrounded and crossed by major mountain chains, and with few but very fertile plains, Tuscany is dominated by hill country so that, not surprisingly, the vast majority of its inhabited communities are the Tuscan hilltop towns and villages that are among the most associated images of Tuscany beneath which roll winding, tree-lined roads amid a myriad of vineyards, olive groves and bright fields of sunflowers with a peppering of working farmsteads, votive chapels, ancient monasteries, elegant country estates and numerous holiday homes all basking under the warm caress of the Mediterranean sun. The north of Tuscany is a mountainous area of forests and verdant valleys, known as ‘the land of a 100 castles’. It is still reasonably off the tourist mainstream and is an area that would appeal to those who love nature and tranquillity, this is authentic Tuscany without much fuss. Similarly, eastern Tuscany (Arezzo Province) also remains largely undiscovered and offers a serene countryside with many medieval monasteries and churches as well as characterful towns like Cortona and Anghiari as well as the ancient forests of Casentino in the foothills of the Apennines at the source of the Arno River that flows eastwards to Florence. O The bold use of international varieties is perhaps what defines the Super Tuscan the most, unlike Chianti which is strictly defined by Sangiovese, ‘named’ wines like Tignanello and Sassicaia use both international grapes as well as indigenous in their blends. These breakout blends first achieved notoriety in the 1970's and 1980's when winemakers, frustrated with the restrictive Italian wine laws, took matters into their own hands and began experimenting with blending wines in spite of the outdated legislature. Finally, in 1992, the laws were changed to allow winemakers more flexibility and options when it came to making wine. What are Super tuscan Wines? tuscany 48
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