(Gerry Furth-Sides) Bold Italian Super Tuscans are like yams: They were named by savvy marketeers, and what a good thing this that it happened because they are both extraordinary additions to the food and wine world.
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Marketers coined the term Super Tuscan in the early 1980’s to describe a red blend from Tuscany. What makes “super Tuscan” wine different from other Tuscan wines (like Chianti) is that may include the use of non-indigenous grapes, particularly Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. The creation of super Tuscan wines was a result of the frustration winemakers had towards a slow bureaucracy in changing the wine law of Italy during the 1970’s. Winemakers began mixing ‘unsanctioned’ wine varieties (like Merlot) into their blends to make high quality wines. The legal system eventually yielded in 1992 with the creation of IGT, a new designation that gave winemakers the ability to be more creative.
The first and probably the most famous super Tuscan wine is called “Tignanello” and was created by Antinori in 1971. It was the first super Tuscan wine and today Tignanello is a blend of 80% Sangiovese 15% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Cabernet Franc. Tignanello costs about $80 a bottle with other wonderful Super Tuscans available as low as $20, and we found an excellent one for $11.
Super Tuscan Wines which were about 40 years ago continue to be popular and continue to improve
Charismatic, knowledgeable Diego Meraviglia is a Gold Pin professional sommelier and the Vice President and Director of Education for the North American Sommelier Association, a non-profit organization directly affiliated and partnered with the Italian Sommelier Association (AIS – Associazione Italiana Sommeliers).
Born and raised in Northern Piedmont, Meraviglia relocated to Los Angeles in 2005. He is one of the founders of the North American Sommelier Association, where he is in charge of the educational curriculum and teaches several courses across the U.S. and Canada.
In 2008, Meraviglia obtained the ‘Gold-Pin’ certification with the Italian Sommelier Association and the Worldwide Sommelier Association (WSA). He is a Certified Specialist of Wine (CSW) with the Society of Wine Educators in the United States. In 2009, he was awarded the prestigious international prize ‘AIS – Villa Sandi’, given to only 15 sommeliers worldwide for “innovation in the profession of Sommelier”. In 2013, at the WSA’s ‘Best Sommelier in the world’ competition, he placed 5th.
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