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Market value has little to do with quality, but all the more with communication. If the Rùfina had to manage largely without outside inspiration and funds, the insurance companies, the foreign would-be winemakers with a lot of money and little knowledge of winemaking, the fashionistas from Florence and the well-heeled early retirees from all over the world were drawn to the Chianti Classico and later to the Maremma. Like yeast to wine, they made these wine regions bubble. Besides a lot of foam, this movement also created lasting things. But it was above all the foam that was glorified by the media as a so-called wine miracle

Communication took place, and suddenly it was chic to pay a lot of money for wines that had given you heartburn and headaches for a fraction of the price a decade earlier. The wines were no longer called Chianti but Vino da Tavola and had undergone a miraculous purification and increase in value as a result of the "wine revolution". But the big talk was always only about areas that were considered hip. First Classico, then Montalcino, briefly Montepulciano, and of course Bolgheri. But what was not served up in Vinum, Geo-Saison or Feinschmecker in large format as "genuinely Tuscan" was doomed to remain genuinely Tuscan, which means: economically disadvantaged in wine terms, in oblivion.

Such an original piece of Tuscany can be found a few minutes' drive east of Florence, in Rùfina. The originality of this manageable area is expressed not only in the less conspicuously spruced-up wine yards, in simpler cellar technology, in a lower density of swimming pools per square kilometre, in more numerous vineyards in need of renovation, in fewer tourists and fewer offers for them. I also sensed a certain originality in the people: I met people in Rùfina, Pelago, Pontassieve and Dicomano in whose company I felt extremely comfortable: real, normal Tuscans who live in a normal world, struggle for their existence in a normal way and do not turn up their noses when wine tourists "bother" them by buying a few bottles of wine.




Sometimes a bit too rustic

My sympathy for Rùfina may also stem from the fact that I generally find people with worn shirt collars, in houses with weather-beaten facades in surroundings that tell everyday stories, more exciting than others. Perfection and aesthetics may impress at first glance, but they quickly bore. But it is not only the originality of the land and the people that attracts me; the wines are also different from those of the rest of Tuscany.

The rusticity of the climate suits the landscape and the wines. It is true that busy oenologists have already struck here, too, and in their youth planed down somewhat uncouth nature boys into uniformed softies, but the Chianti Rùfina has more character by nature than other Chianti. Only the wines from the high Classico sites can compete with it. Unfortunately, the originality of the Rùfina is still expressed as backwardness in some cellars, so that the special potential of the Rùfina Chianti is sometimes still buried by a lack of purity.




Unique climate

The valleys of the Rùfina are framed by mountains and their proximity shapes the climate: the summer heat common in Tuscany gives way to cooler temperatures in the evening. Federico Giuntini (Selvapiana): "The Rùfina has little to do with the rest of Chianti. It is a foothill zone, closer to Forlì in Romagna than to Siena. The mesoclimate of our vineyards is determined by a lot of wind, the harsh climate of the nearby Apennines, high differences between day and night temperatures and the abundance of woods." Even in July, temperatures drop to 14, 12 degrees Celsius at night, while much of Tuscany is ten degrees warmer. Although the vineyards are situated at an average altitude of between 250 and 350 metres, i.e. not particularly high, the special climate ensures significantly longer growing seasons. When I visited Rùfina in mid-October, not all the winegrowers had finished their harvest, whereas in Maremma the Sangiovese harvest had already started at the beginning of September and in Montalcino in mid-September!

Longer growing seasons = better quality. An equation that applies everywhere and which can manifest itself in Rùfina with higher acidity, fresher aromas, fierce tannins and greater storability. The harsh climate can have a negative effect in cold-wet autumns. Especially if the ripening of the grapes is hindered by high yields - as was the case until the mid-1980s - a bad autumn can result in tannin-harsh, acid-rich thin grapes. Lamberto Frescobaldi: "The Rùfina wines have a stronger character, are more elegant, storable and never broad. We try to give them a little more breadth, also in a very natural way: They work more carefully in the vineyard, keep the harvest under control. Today, no one wants sour, biting, bitter wines any more." Stefano Casadei (Castello del Trebbio): "The clayey, cold soils, the high altitudes, the extreme climate for Tuscany are made for Sangiovese. Nowhere else is Sangiovese shaped by the terroir as much as here."

Anna Baj Macario and Stefano Casadei also have vineyards in Sardinia


Anna Baj Macario (Castello del Trebbio): "If I had to name one disadvantage of our climate, it's that the wines are slow to ripen and always a bit hard when young." Her husband Stefano replies, "Yes, but if I want to make a full, soft wine, I certainly don't come to the Rùfina, it's much easier in the Maremma!" In these years, when plump, contourless wines succeed, a wine like Chianti Rùfina has a hard time. Those who do not immediately pander to modern tastes with new wood or massive additions of foreign varieties at least try to counteract the natural angularity somewhat by harvesting later.

Lorenzo Mariani is half farmer half lawyer and produces about 50,000 bottles

If over-ripening in areas that are too mild leads to a loss of fruit freshness and acidity and makes the wines jammy and lacking in temperament, then in areas with cold nights - high Classico sites or Valtellina or Rùfina, for example - the positive sides of delaying the harvest predominate. If the aroma remains fresh thanks to the cool temperatures, the acidity is somewhat reduced and the sugar content is concentrated. Lorenzo Mariani (I Veroni): "Here in the Arno Valley we start the harvest in the morning at ten degrees, in the Sieve Valley it is even cooler."

For the high altitude vineyards - around 400 metres - such as Frascole and Colognole, the special characteristics of the Rùfina are enhanced. Sufficient ripeness and balanced wines can only be achieved here in difficult years if perfect work is done in the vineyard. In good years, on the other hand, wines of extreme delicacy, aromatic intensity and complexity can be produced here. Cesare Coda Annunziante (Colognole): "The proximity to the mountains characterises the wines of Rùfina far more than the sites and the soils. The night temperatures can sometimes drop to five degrees as early as September. This August we had heavy rainfall, but thanks to sunshine at low temperatures there was no rot. The grapes were still healthy and could be harvested in mid-October

Even in the cellar, at least at the top wineries, people seem to realise the value of the speciality of the wines. Federico Giuntini (Selvapiana) about his Rùfina Cru Bucerchiale: "We have constantly reduced the use of barriques in these years, this year we will probably do without new barriques altogether." Rùfina wines are not for everyone, for many they are too austere. With little more than two million bottles, Chianti Rùfina is a dwarf in the Tuscan wine landscape anyway; the quantity is by no means sufficient to satisfy all lovers of such character wines.

What agronomist Stefano Casadei says for himself as a producer also applies to buyers: Why do I have to look for full-bodied, overripe wines in the Rùfina, of all places, when there are plenty of them elsewhere? The Rùfina really has more interesting things to offer!

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The above article was kindly made available to us by the Merum editorial team. Many thanks for this. If you would like to order a subscription to Merum, you can do so here

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