What if Italy came to you via the wine route, and more specifically the Tuscany wine route?

The latter have managed to do well in recent years, after a revolution in grape varieties.

Return on the history of these vines with Olivier Poels in the Laurent Mariotte program "La Table des bons vivants".

For a long time, Tuscan wines had a bad press.

Indeed, they were relegated to the wines of pizzerias of no great interest.

Fortunately, in the 1970s, farmers wanted to restore the reputation of the vines in this region.

A story explained to us by Olivier Poels in the program

La Table des bons vivants

on Europe 1.

>> Find La Table des bons vivant in podcast and in replay here

The wine revolution 

"There are many winegrowers who, in the 1960s and 1970s, began to sweep away the entire past of the Tuscany region and wanted to adopt a more modern approach by notably introducing grape varieties that were not historical grape varieties. ", comments Olivier Poels.

"We have seen the arrival of Cabernet, Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, for example, these great international grape varieties which, at the beginning, were not allowed to be included in the appellation of wines from Tuscany because they were 'ultimately had nothing to do with it. But these wines have met with incredible success. And then, under pressure from consumers, most of them have finally been integrated. And today, we are talking about a category apart that 'we call the super Tuscans. " 

For tasting, Olivier Poels advises Caiarossa 2018: "It's a very mineral wine."

The nose is very elegant and complex, with notes of vanilla, butter, criollo chocolate, fresh cherry and dried rose.

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Always the tradition

"If you still want to taste a typical Tuscan wine, that is to say the old grape variety, you can", comments the columnist.

"There is a real return of Sangiovese, which is an extraordinary grape, it must be said, but it has been badly done for too long. They were not harvested ripe. The vines were pissed, as they say. Today hui, there are magnificent Chianti, incredible Brunello di Montalcino and a whole series of appellations that I advise you to try. "