Morellino di Scansano DOCG

Sangiovese on the southern Tuscan coast — and a wine whose identity, name, and reputation have all been shaped by the wild, sunny Maremma rather than the austere inland hills of Chianti or Montalcino. Morellino is the local nickname for Sangiovese, possibly referring to the “morello” cherry the wine resembles, or to the dark Maremman horses once bred in the region.

The Territory The hills around Scansano (Grosseto province), at 120–500 meters, with the Tyrrhenian Sea visible from the higher vineyards. The combination of warm maritime air, sandy soils over limestone, and significant diurnal temperature variation gives the wine a character entirely different from its inland cousins: riper fruit, softer tannins, and a savory, sun-dried herb quality.

The Wine Minimum 85% Sangiovese (Morellino), with up to 15% other red varieties permitted. Standard release after one year; Riserva requires two years with at least one in oak. The profile is consistently approachable: marasca cherry, leather, rosemary, dried tomato, and a warmth from the coastal sunshine that Chianti Classico rarely shows in youth.

The Critical Take “Sangiovese with a tan.” These are wines for earlier drinking than Brunello or Chianti Classico, but the best Riserva bottlings from Le Pupille or Poggio Argentiera can age 10+ years and develop real complexity. One of the great value DOCGs in Tuscany.

The Maremma Worth understanding as a place, because it explains the wine. The Maremma was malarial marshland until the Grand Dukes began draining it in the eighteenth century, and the work was not finished until the 1930s; it remained among the poorest and emptiest parts of Tuscany well into living memory, which is why the vineyards here are young and the estates large by Tuscan standards. Scansano itself sits inland and uphill, and the town’s elevation is what saved it — families moved up out of the plain each summer to escape the fever, a seasonal migration that kept viticulture on the hills where it belonged.

At the Table Maremman cooking is game and grill: wild boar in dolceforte, acquacotta, grilled lamb, pappardelle with hare, and pecorino toscano. The softer tannin and riper fruit make it a friendlier match for tomato-based dishes than Chianti Classico, and it copes with the local habit of cooking almost everything with rosemary and garlic. Serve at 16–17°C. Drink the standard bottling within four or five years; a good Riserva will take a decade, and the best of them develop the leather and dried-herb character that people travel to Montalcino for.

Benchmark Producers Fattoria Le Pupille, MorisFarms, Poggio Argentiera.