Building a New Tradition in Tuscany

Italy is a land of tradition. Lionello Marchesi believes his three Tuscan wine properties will, in a few centuries or so, be viewed as great traditions.

Based on the quality of his wines, Marchesi may realize his wish a lot sooner.

Marchesi is a businessman from Florence. The businesses that made him wealthy are so diverse he lists them in groups: automobile accessories and spare parts; fabric and clothing; automated electronic equipment.

To this list can now be added wine, in the form of three first-rate Tuscan wineries that began to make great wine only after Marchesi took them under his wing.

Tuscany, one of the world’s great wine regions, was the first to commercially produce table wine. That was during the Renaissance. Today Tuscany boasts three of the nine regions certified by the Italian government to produce special wines, the denominazioni di origine controllata e garantita or DOCG. Chianti is the best known DOCG region. Its companions are Brunello di Montalcino and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, vying for runner-up spot in the recognition battle.

All three regions make their best wines from the Sangiovese grape, though clones of the variety are called by different names in each region. In Chianti they call the best grape Sangioveto; in Montalcino it’s called Brunello, and in Montepulciano they use the term Prognolo Gentile.

“I used to come every week to Tuscany, on business,” said Marchesi. “I immediately started to think about how to make the wine, and then I decided to be the only person to have properties in each of the three Tuscan DOCG regions.”

This is not as easy as it sounds; strict zoning laws limit new construction and expansion, so existing properties are dear. But Marchesi knew the region well and he watched carefully for signs of financial weakness.

In 1984, a run-down winery in Montepulciano ran into financial difficulties. Marchesi stepped in, bought it at a low price and changed its name to Tenuta Trerose. “The name means ‘three roses,’ and they are my wife and two daughters,” he says.

A year later, the respected Val di Suga property in Montalcino hit bottom financially and Marchesi acquired it. In early 1989, he realized his dream of being the first to own properties in each of Tuscany’s DOCG regions when he bought decaying Fattoria San Leonino I Ciperessi.

All the labels on these properties have since been changed. Today a few of the Marchesi wines are so fine that demand is brisk and prices are stratospheric.

“There are three components in a bottle of wine--the product, the package and the marketing,” he says. “And if you put all three things together, you will have a success, especially if you make the product very good.”

All of Marchesi’s wines are good, but he seems most smitten by the Montalcino property, Val di Suga. The leading light of that line is a spectacular red wine called Simposio. The first vintage of Simposio, from 1988, will be released in a few weeks at $40 a bottle. The wine is densely packed with fruit of black cherries and has a roasted, spicy complexity. It’s truly a spectacular wine.

Simposio is made entirely from Sangiovese and rivals some of the finest Sangiovese wines, including those from Antinori, a firm that has used the term marchese (marquis) to denote the head of the family. I asked Marchesi if Simposio was intended to challenge Antinori’s preeminence in such wines.

“Antinori?” he said in awe. “When I look at Antinori, well, he’s the marchese, I’m only the Marchesi.”

Other wines from Marchesi that I liked included:

1986 Val di Suga Brunello di Montalcino ($23): A good, solid wine already showing bottle bouquet and less expensive than a number of Brunellos.

1986 and 1988 Tenuta Trerose Vin Nobile di Montepulciano ($16): Excellent fruit and racy finish, great with richer dishes.

1988 and 1989 San Leonino Chianti Classico ($10): Attractive, lighter-styled wines that match well with pasta.

1985 Val di Suga Brunello Riserva ($27): A wine with a huge amount of fruit, spice components and a long, complex finish. A wonderful wine that will age very well.

1985 Val di Suga Vigne del Lago Brunello ($52): This is the wine that rivals the best red wines of Tuscany, an absolutely impeccably made, powerful wine with deeply complex fruit and amazing depth. Packaged in a showy extra-tall bottle, it is a most appealing wine that will age well.

1985 Tenuta Trerose Vin Santo ($35/500 milliliters): One of the finest dessert wines I have ever tasted.

The Malvasia and Trebbiano grapes were picked at normal sugar levels and then partially dried in the sun and pressed by hand. The juice was fermented and then left in small barrels for five years, with evaporation robbing 80% of the wine. The method, which is rarely used because it is so expensive, was an idea of Antinori’s heralded winemaker, Giacomo Tachis.

The wine is reminiscent of Sherry, with a hint of tawny Port and a fruit element that’s like dried pears. It comes in a tall, thin, tapered bottle that would be a great gift.

Wine of the Week

1990 Chateau Souverain Sauvignon Blanc ($7.50) --California grape growers and winemakers have been working hard to make Sauvignon Blancs with less of the grassy, herbal character that once dominated this variety. This wine exhibits the newer style; it has lemon-lime spice with a trace of hay in the background. Winemaker Tom Peterson used fruit from sloping hillside vineyards in Sonoma’s Alexander Valley to craft this wine, which is an excellent value; the wine can be found discounted to less than $7.