Many Swedish tourists travel to Italy and Tuscany every year just to enjoy and learn about well-known fantastic wines such as Chianti. But Terre di Pisa has only recently emerged as a strong up-and-coming wine frontier yet to discover.
Your Living City was invited to a presentation about the wonders of the region, held by Consorzio Terre di Pisa, and a wine tasting to try their best wines and this is what we learned.
Italy consists of 20 regions and each region has its local wines. There are over 300 grape varieties. Tuscany is of course one of the most important wine regions in Italy with characteristic grape varieties such as Montepulciano and Canaiolo.
Pisa and its province distinctively attract Swedish and other travellers from around the world who want to see the numerous historical, architectural and gastronomic attractions. In the heart of Pisa you can find one of the world’s most famous and most visited monuments: The Leaning Tower, a world famous icon, together with a whole museum complex. Yet Terre di Pisa hasn’t extended its popularity into a wine destination, until now.
The wine-making history of Pisa is rooted in ancient times, when the Etruscans who lived there began to cultivate vines.
Thanks to the Romans, trade was already very flourishing in those days, as evidenced by the discovery of about 30 Roman ships at the end of the 1990s. Today these beautiful finds can be admired in the museum of Le Navi Antiche located in the Arsenale Pisano.
Over the centuries this area has proved to be very dynamic, supported by the resourcefulness of the Pisan wine merchants and the political skills of the Medici family, so that over time production has spread throughout the world and consolidated its own precise identity.
In 2018, the Consorzio Vini Terre di Pisa was established with the aim of protecting and promoting the appellation of the same name and acting as a catalyst for the enhancement of quality wine production in Pisa.
The DOC Terre di Pisa established in 2011 was conceived to further define the special features of the territory through its wines. Today it represents the real challenge for the Terre di Pisa, with wineries that are present in the varied territory that stretches from the hills to the sea, into unexpected wonders of Tuscany that offers different landscapes of great visual impact.
The DOC is characterised by a predominantly hilly landscape influenced by the sea, in which the vine is inserted and integrated into a unique eco-system, with vineyards alternating with woods, olive groves and arable land. This conformation has proven to be an ideal condition for both organic viticulture and viticulture allowing environmental impact, which a significant number of participating wineries have in common. The soil on which their vines are cultivated originates from the rise of the Pliocene seabed. Its clayey to loamy texture makes it particularly suitable for this type of cultivation, allowing an optimal water potential and calcareous contribution, given by the large sediments of Pliocene shells and corals, which make this area complex and distinctive.
The current regulations (in the process of being modified to include the categories white, rosé and vermentino) currently allow for two interpretations of Sangiovese:
- Terre di Pisa Sangiovese DOC: with a minimum percentage of 95% of Sangiovese
- Terre di Pisa Rosso DOC: which includes sangiovese, cabernet sauvignon, merlot and syrah alone or combined, at least 70%.
The wines we tried at the wine tasting were most of them organic, very fruity in the nose and palate, smooth, elegant, with structure but easy to drink.
This wine-growing region is now represented by young winemakers and important investors who have revalued the production of the entire Terre di Pisa area.
Terre di Pisa offers naturality and great tourism opportunities and the wines of the DOC introduce us to this with increasing strength and determination. The Consorzio Terre di Pisa constantly organises promotional activities and you can contact them to learn more about them, the wineries and their wines and find inspiration to plan your next trip to this up-and-coming wine destination in beautiful Toscana. https://www.viniterredipisa.com
