A Super Tuscan is a red wine from Tuscany made outside the region's traditional appellation rules, often with French grapes such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. The name is a nickname, not a legal category. Here is why winemakers broke the rules, what the labels mean, how the wines taste and what to eat with them, plus the three bottles we bring to Ontario.
What is a Super Tuscan?
“Super Tuscan” is not an official category on any label. According to the consortium that protects Bolgheri wines, the term was coined when Tuscan vini da tavola (table wines) began to outclass famous appellations. Its history of Bolgheri defines it plainly: “Super Tuscan describes superior quality red wines from Tuscany that often include non-indigenous grape varieties such as Cabernet and Merlot and that are not protected by an appellation.”
Even the official production rules for Toscana IGT, published by Italy's agriculture ministry, MASAF, use the nickname. They credit the so-called “supertuscans”, made from the 1960s onward, with promoting Tuscan IGT wine on the international market.
Why did Super Tuscan producers break the DOC rules?
In the 1970s, Chianti Classico came with a fixed recipe. Under its original DOC rules, as the Chianti Classico consortium records, Sangiovese made up 50 to 75% of the blend, the white grapes Trebbiano and Malvasia 10 to 30%, and other complementary grapes no more than 5%. Cabernet and Merlot only entered the Chianti Classico blend officially in 1984. A winemaker who wanted an all-red blend, or a serious share of Cabernet, had to sell it as plain table wine.
How did Sassicaia and Tignanello begin?
Sassicaia started with a hunch on the Tuscan coast. Mario Incisa della Rocchetta was experimenting with French varieties at Bolgheri and, as Tenuta San Guido tells it, concluded that cabernet “has the bouquet I have been searching for”. In 1944 he planted just over one hectare of Cabernet Sauvignon. Until 1967 the wine stayed private, poured for family and friends; the 1968 was the first vintage released for sale. In 1978 it took first place in a Decanter tasting of Cabernets from around the world, the estate notes.
Tignanello came from inside Chianti Classico. Antinori first made it in 1970 as a Chianti Classico Riserva from the Tignanello vineyard, with 20% Canaiolo and 5% of the white grapes Trebbiano and Malvasia. In 1971 it left the appellation, became a Tuscan red table wine and took the name Tignanello. Antinori calls it the first Sangiovese aged in barriques and the first modern red blended with non-traditional varieties such as Cabernet. White grapes left the blend for good with the 1975 vintage.
What does IGT Toscana mean on a label?
IGT stands for Indicazione Geografica Tipica, a typical geographic indication. The IGT “Toscano” or “Toscana” was approved by ministerial decree on 9 October 1995, according to its production rules. Grapes can come from anywhere in the ten Tuscan provinces, and the rules list 87 permitted grape varieties, from Sangiovese to Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot.
The rules describe that flexibility as something DOC and DOCG wines, by definition, do not get. Tignanello, for one, is now labelled Toscana IGT, while the label on our Tegolaia 1996 still reads vino da tavola.
What is Bolgheri DOC?
Bolgheri's rule-breakers later got an appellation of their own. Its first DOC rules, approved in 1983, covered only white and rosé wines, says the Bolgheri consortium. The area's reds were sold as table wines and called Super Tuscans. The 1994 revision finally approved red blends with grapes such as Cabernet and Merlot, creating Bolgheri Rosso and Bolgheri Superiore, with Sassicaia as its own subzone.
Since 2013, Bolgheri Sassicaia has been a DOC in its own right, which Tenuta San Guido describes as the only Italian denomination reserved for a single wine from a single estate.
Which grapes are in a Super Tuscan?
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Sangiovese with Cabernet: Tignanello blends Sangiovese with Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. Our Travignoli bottles pair Sangiovese with Cabernet Sauvignon.
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Cabernet and Merlot: Bolgheri reds are generally Cabernet (Sauvignon or Franc) and Merlot, often with Syrah or Petit Verdot, and only rarely Sangiovese.
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Mostly Cabernet Sauvignon: Bolgheri Sassicaia must contain at least 80% of it.
What does a Super Tuscan taste like?
The grapes set the style, so there is no single Super Tuscan taste. For Travignoli's Super Tuscan Rosso 2022, the bouquet is “intensely complex, featuring ripe cherry notes with hints of wild berries and forest fruits, accompanied by a subtle touch of spice”, with “velvety and consistent tannins that linger”.
Age changes the picture. After what its production notes call “29 years cellar maturation”, Tegolaia 1996 shows “complex aged notes of dried cherry, earth, cedar, sage, leather, and spice”, with “soft, fine-grained tannins and bright, supporting acidity”.
What food goes with a Super Tuscan?
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Younger bottles: duck pasta sauce, wild boar, game and barbecue, as our notes for the 2022 suggest.
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Older bottles: pasta with wild boar ragù, braised meat and aged cheese, as our notes for Tegolaia suggest.
What temperature should a Super Tuscan be served at?
Serve it at 16 to 18°C, as all three of our product pages recommend. Our notes call for 30 minutes of decanting for Tegolaia 1996 and none for the 2022.
Our Super Tuscans at Solo Cru
| Wine |
Grapes |
How it is made |
Alcohol |
Price |
|
Super Tuscan I.G.T. Toscana Rosso 2022, Travignoli |
Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon |
8 months in small oak barriques, then a further year in the cellar after bottling |
13.5% |
$33.70 |
|
Super Tuscan I.G.T. Toscana 2022 Jeroboam 3L, Travignoli |
Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon |
8 months in small oak barriques, then 3 months in the cellar after bottling |
13.5% |
$199.00 |
|
Super Tuscan Tegolaia 1996, Travignoli |
Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon |
8 months in small oak barriques, 29 years of cellar maturation |
13.5% |
$266.00 |
Prices are in Canadian dollars as listed in November 2026, and we deliver across Ontario. Start with the Rosso for a Sunday roast, bring the 3-litre Jeroboam to a holiday table, and open Tegolaia to taste what time does to the same grapes. To finish the meal, Travignoli also makes the wine in our Vin Santo guide.
