My taste for Italian wines skews heavily towards the country’s indigenous grape varieties, and for good reason. They are not only unique and rarely found elsewhere, they’re inherently gregarious, often touching every zone of the palate, and shying away from nothing. They also make for a compelling story: they’re survivors, they’ve endured. They didn’t so much as create a market as a market found them.
If you love this kind of wine, its worthy of your table.
Yet in recent years, I’ve found myself tipping my chapeau more and more to a handful of wines from international varieties that succeed. Pinot Grigio from Alto Adige; Merlot, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Bianco from Friuli; Cabernet Sauvignon from Carmignano … It is not that these wines are novel. Far from it. Some are historical, and some merely tapped into popular trends in the 20th century and have hung around. In the 1990s and even into the 2000s, international grapes were the proving ground in Italy for international media attention. Want point scores? Show us what you can do with Cabernet, or Merlot or Syrah. Few people cared about Kerner or Schioppettino.
Yet throughout the course of my wine writing career, which started in 2014, the opposite has been true. Articles on indigenous grapes have garnered far more clicks than those on Bordeaux or Burgundian varieties. For a few years, I even refused offers of samples of Bordeaux-based blends from Italy. My time and attention was that firmly entrenched elsewhere.
Yet good work should be rewarded when you come across it, and at a recent portfolio tasting with an Italian press agency, I did not expect Tua Rita’s “Giusto di Notri” to steal the show. Red wines from the Tuscan coast are often brash, noisy and ambitious, and here I was, jet-lagged and 25 wines into a marathon session, having one poured for me.
But this proudly hedonistic wine strikes an incredible balance. The aromas were exemplary Cabernet Sauvignon: measured cherries and plums, peppercorn spice, sweet herbaceousness. This was a wine that introduced itself by saying “you are in good hands.” So I went along for the ride, and it was so balanced and composed, it overrode my exhaustion and palate fatigue. This doesn’t often happen with wines like this.
If you love this kind of wine, its worthy of your table.
2022 Tua Rita “Giusto di Notri” Toscana Rosso
Toscana IGT (Tuscany )
Grapes: Cabernet Sauvignon (80%), Merlot (10%), Cabernet Franc (10%)
Alcohol: 14.5%
Food-friendliness: Selective
Value: Pricey
A beginner might like … having a muscular, robust red wine that doesn’t fatigue. Just note that this young vintage’s tannins may need ample aeration to show their best.
A wine obsessive might like … adding this wine to their collection. This was my first encounter with Tua Rita’s wines, so I don’t have other vintages to compare it to, but balance is balance, and the 2022 rides such a fine line between opposing elements, it should nicely tolerate the test of time.
