Morellino di Scansano

So I sent an email with inadequate Italian (I used Google translator), to an Agriturismo in the Maremma region of Tuscany. (I am planning a Tuscan road trip with my family: 6 days of driving around to see everything an adolescent boy would want to see: Etruscan caves, Napoleon’s castle, a mining museum full of gemstones, hot sulfur hot springs, Leonardo da Vinci’s house and San Galgano where there really IS a sword in the stone).

Anyway, we need places to stay along the way and since it is off-season, we can get better deals (there goes the Dutch in me). Who cares if it is freezing outside? The hot springs are warm! Since I don’t know how smoothly ferrying off of Elba will go, I am planning for a late arrival at an Agriturismo near Saturnia (hot springs) and Soverno (Etruscan caves). They sent me back an email, explaining that we could reserve dinner—which would of course be served with their Morellino di Scansano.

Morellino di Scansano?

Little did I know. Maremma is the wine region in southern Tuscany. And here I have been focusing on Montalcino, Montepulciano and Chianti wines… Morellino here I come!

But seriously. There are hoards of sites and rich information about specific wines. And, well, I have a specific wine. So here is what I gathered (and some fantastic wine sites):

The cliff notes: think coastal—this Tuscan wine has the influences of the Sea. Morellino is Maremma’s name for Sangiovese grapes. It boasts DOCG status (to earn that stamp, they must be 85% sangiovese).

• from the site www.intowine.com, an overview of Morellino di Scansano, Maremma wines, etc.
• the ItalianMade site is very well organized, includes wonderful wine-region maps and classic Italian food pairings (and recipes!).
• this is not the first time the Italian Wine Blog – Wine90 crossed my plate screen; worthy of a visit if you want to learn more about Italian wines.
• a history of the region, wine, DOCG and more… from Poggio al Toro—winemakers of this said wine.