The workhorse grape of central Italy, producing a variety of styles from everyday drinking lines to premium wines, from still dry red wines, through rosato to semi-sparkling frizzante and the dessert wine Vin Santo, Sangiovese, from the Latin sanguis Jovis, (blood of Jupiter), seems to have originated in Tuscany, was possibly cultivated by the Etruscans, is definitely one of Italy’s oldest red varieties and was well known by the sixteenth century.
By the eighteenth century Sangiovese was widely planted, along with Malvasia and Trebbiano, throughout Tuscany but the genetically unstable variety allegedly split into two families along the way. Research in the early twentieth century suggested the grape known as Sangiovese was a number of distinct clones which were broadly classified as Sangiovese Grosso (San Gioveto in Tuscany and Prugnolo, Brunello, Calabrese, Uvetta and Montepulciano in other parts of Italy) and Sangiovese Piccolo, with Sangiovese Grosso producing the highest quality wine. Most of the identified clones fell into the lesser quality Sangiovese Piccolo family, some of which add a place name to Sangiovese.
From there, however, we’re venturing into complex territory. DNA profiling in 2004 suggested the grape was a cross between Tuscan Ciliegiolo and Calabrese Montenuovo, which originated in southern Italy. More recent genetic studies confirmed a South Italian origin for Sangiovese, most likely in Sicily and Calabria, but suggested Ciliegiolo is an offspring of Sangiovese, rather than the other way around. This seems to be supported by the historical record, with references to Sangiovese some three centuries before mentions of earlier than Ciliegiolo.
Another study published in 2008 showed a close genetic relationship between Sangiovese and ten other Italian varieties and while the ancestry of Sangiovese remains unclear, since the grape varieties are spread across Italy, including Apulia, Calabria, Sicily and Tuscany, it confirms Sangiovese as a key element in the pedigree of Italian grape varieties.
In any case Sangiovese is the most widely planted red variety in Italy, accounting for 10% of all vineyard plantings, admittedly under a variety of names. It is only grape permitted in Brunello di Montalcino (the Brunello or little dark one strain of Sangiovese Grosso) and the main component of Chianti, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and most Super Tuscans. Outside Tuscany, it is found throughout central Italy and significant plantings can also be found in Lombardia, Emilia-Romagna, Valpolicella and as far south as Campania and Sicily, where it is mainly blended with local grapes such as Primitivo and Nero d'Avola.
Italian immigrants spread the variety across the globe and the CSIRO brought cuttings into Australia in the late 1960s, with other clones introduced in the 1980s and further importations in 1990. Early plantings seem to have used inferior clones, vineyards are being grafted over to better clones and promising regions include Karridale and Margaret River; McLaren Vale, Langhorne Creek, Strathalbyn and Port Lincoln; Mudgee, Canberra and Young; Stanthorpe and the King Valley and the western edge of the Great Dividing Range in Victoria.
Sangiovese needs plenty of sunlight and a long growing season since it buds early and ripens late, does best on well drained south and southwest facing slopes in a dry climate and is vulnerable to harvest rain due to the grape's thin skin. Clay soils yield good wines, but the best come from crumbly shale and limestone clay. To maximise quality, yields need to be controlled as high-yielding vines produce lightly coloured wines with high acidity. Less fertile soils help control the vigour, but dense plantings to achieve the same result increase foliage and limit the amount of sunlight reaching the grapes.
Small to medium sized, blue-black berries produce light-coloured, slightly bitter juice with a distinctive nose. Sangiovese produces spicy medium-bodied wines with high levels of acid, moderate to high tannins, smooth texture and a dry, earthy palate. To add body and texture, winemakers use grapes from low yielding vines, extend maceration to give the must more time to leach phenols out of the skins, and adjust the temperature and length of fermentation. Using new oak barrels for malolactic fermentation gives a softer, rounder mouthfeel as Sangiovese soaks up vanilla and oak compounds from the barrel. To age the wine, some producers use new French oak rather than the traditional botti barrels and some producers still use chestnut barrels in their cellars.
Sangiovese can produce lively young reds with juicy, cherry flavours, as well as more concentrated, long-lived, oak-matured reds with savoury, herb and spice flavours and great finesse.
Most Italian Sangiovese goes into Chianti and Chianti Classico blends with small amounts of Cannaiolo, Trebbiano and Cabernet Sauvignon. Sangiovese is also an important component in Super Tuscan wines, blended with Cabernet, Merlot and Syrah. Of these,
Cabernet can exert a disproportionate influence on the wine, with black cherry, black currant, mulberry and plum fruit overwhelming Sangiovese character in percentages as low as 4 to 5%.
Acidity and moderate alcohol makes Sangiovese a food-friendly wine and Chianti works well with tomato-based pasta and pizza sauces. Varietal Sangiovese or blends where the Cabernet influence isn’t overdone add interest to relatively bland dishes like meatloaf and roast chicken, while herbs such as basil, thyme and sage play off herbal notes in the wine. If Cabernet, Merlot or Syrah plays a dominant role, treat the blend as a full-bodied red and pair with dishes such as steak and thick soups.
