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Tuscan legend has it that when Catherine de’ Medici of Florence was married to King Henry II of France in 1533, they exchanged important wedding gifts. The Medici family gifted the French royals forks, which were already widely used in Italy, but unknown in France; and the French gifted the Medicis Cabernet grapes, which were subsequently planted in their vineyards at Carmignano! The wines of Carmignano at the time were already quite famous—documents going back to the 1300s attest to them as the most prized and costly wines available in Florence. And it’s no wonder. Protected from the cold of the north by the Apennines, and from the vagaries of coastal weather by the Montalbano hills, the area still boasts great thermal excursion, with soil rich in clay and schist. In short, it’s a perfect growing area for Sangiovese.
In the 1700s, Carmignano’s fame became such that Grand Duke Cosimo III de’ Medici issued two revolutionary proclamations; one specified the borders in which Carmignano could be produced, and the other formed a commission to assure the integrity of the wines destined for export. After all, it’s fame had reached far beyond the borders of Tuscany– Queen Anne of Britain was serving it at court! Cosimo III’s edicts were the very first examples of a protected designation of origin for wine, preceding France’s Appellation Controlee system by almost 200 years!
And though today Carmignano may not be the first DOCG that comes to mind when you envision the wines of Tuscany, it really should be. It’s tiny size— only 110 hectares in total, compared to Montalcino’s 1200 hectares, or Vino Nobile’s 1300 hectares—allows it to remain a hidden gem. But consider this: Carmignano was cultivating Cabernet to blend with Sangiovese for hundreds of years before the moniker “Super Tuscan” was born. When the rest of Tuscany was desperate to be taken seriously as a producer of quality wines, they looked to Carmignano’s model (whether they knew it or not). And even Bolgheri, for which the critics all swoon, can’t claim the deep history or profound terroir that Carmignano enjoys.
This wine truly tastes like the love child of Tignanello and Ornellaia, yet technically should be called their daddy... We have just 36 bottles to go around!
Cheers and all my best,
—James Tran
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