Colline Lucchesi DOC

The hills immediately north and east of Lucca, in parts of Lucca, Capannori and Porcari. The registered file makes an argument about climate that explains why the vineyard here looks the way it does, and it is one of the better pieces of reasoning in the corpus.

Two Weathers The zone, the file says, sits between the Apennines and the Tyrrhenian Sea, and the climate is variable according to whether the Apennine or the Mediterranean influence prevails. Then the conclusion: for this reason, historically, there is a strong presence of complementary varieties, which guarantee a constant quality. A mixed vineyard as insurance against an unpredictable season — that is what a field blend was always for, and it is rare to find it stated as policy rather than as tradition.

The Terroir The file continues: the Apennines bring abundant rains, well spread through the year, and nocturnal thermal excursion, while the Tyrrhenian gives intense light and good ventilation; together these give optimal ripening of colour and tannin and wines of notable softness and intensity. And a detail about land use: the estates are mostly situated in mezza collina, a position they share with the olives. Mid-slope is where both crops work, and in Lucca they have always shared it.

Grape Varieties Sangiovese leads the red with Merlot, Ciliegiolo, Canaiolo and Syrah; the white runs on Trebbiano, Vermentino, Grechetto, Greco, Malvasia, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. Varietal Sangiovese and Merlot are both permitted, with a riserva.

The Critical Take Colline Lucchesi is the more serious of Lucca’s two denominations and the less distinctive — where Montecarlo has its French white blend, this is Sangiovese country making wine that could be from several places in Tuscany. What redeems it is a small number of estates working at a level well above the appellation’s reputation, on mid-slope sites with real drainage and cool nights. Buy the producer.

Lucca The city kept its independence longer than any Tuscan state except Florence itself, and the walls that circle it — sixteenth-century, intact, now a park — are the visible reason. That independence shaped the countryside: the villas of the Lucchese merchant families, with their gardens and their vineyards, are scattered across exactly this stretch of hill.

Two Denominations, One City Lucca has an unusual arrangement: two adjacent small DOCs, Colline Lucchesi and Montecarlo, on hills a few kilometres apart, with overlapping communes and quite different characters. Montecarlo was built around a French white blend from the 1800s; Colline Lucchesi kept Sangiovese and treated the internationals as support. Between them they describe what a mercantile city does when it can afford to experiment.

At the Table Lucchese cooking: tordelli lucchesi, garmugia, farro from the Garfagnana, roast pork, and pecorino. Reds at 16–17°C, whites at 10–12°C.

Benchmark Producers Tenuta di Valgiano, Fattoria Sardi, Tenuta Lenzini.