Follow along on my wine journey.
It has come to my attention that I am falling short on my reds. So let's chat about it. We currently have 49 red wines showing on our website.
Our broadest selection is currently coming from France and Italy, so I thought we could deep dive into Italy and its regions and which grapes are growing there.
Red wine and I are kind of in our "getting to know you" phase. For the longest time I have mostly reached for whites, the occasional orange, lighter, fresh things, and then suddenly I realised how few reds I actually drink. So I decided to change that and, without really planning it, I have been speed-dating one grape in particular: Sangiovese.
So this is not "expert tells you everything about Sangiovese." This is more "newbie trying to connect the dots out loud." Maybe you are curious too. Maybe you are also wondering: what even is Sangiovese? Why does Tuscany come up so often when people talk about red wine?
Nice to meet you
Tutto Anfora from La Ginestra. Somehow you feel like the perfect date for a sunny spring day, as I sit here on the balcony soaking up the sun, dreaming and planning a trip to Tuscany. We all need a little inspiration sometimes. As I stick my nose in the glass you seem friendly, approachable and inviting. A gentle smile to put me at ease.
Tasting notes
On the nose I am getting floral notes, red cherry, perhaps a hint of plum, and then something that stops me: could there be liquorice? I am not entirely sure. Being Danish, I have a personal obsession with liquorice, so perhaps it is just the earthiness playing tricks on me, resembling the sweeter, more approachable kind of liquorice rather than the hardcore salty version often associated with Scandinavia.
On the palate it opens with red cherry and something floral, then gets more serious: earthy, mineral, a hint of dark chocolate. The acidity keeps pulling you back. It is definitely a high acidity kind of wine, but that is what masks the 14.5% ABV. It does not feel like a high alcohol wine at all. Deceiving, and it makes me want to pour another glass whilst sitting here in the sun.
La Ginestra
La Ginestra is not just a winery. It is a proper working farm sitting in the Chianti hills between Florence and Siena, run by a close-knit group of young people who also grow ancient grains, keep bees, raise pigs and cows, press olive oil, and somehow find time to make wine. The farm was founded in 1978 by a group of enthusiasts who settled on wild, uncultivated land with the dream of renewing the Tuscan countryside. The younger generation kept that spirit going, and then some.
They have been organic since 1989 and shifted to natural winemaking in 2012. The Tutto Anfora is exactly what the name promises: aged entirely in clay amphora, no oak, nothing added. But what is amphora? It is essentially a large clay vessel, the kind ancient Greeks, Romans and Etruscans used to store and transport wine thousands of years before oak barrels were ever a thing. Winemakers in the natural wine world have been rediscovering it, partly because it is about as low-intervention as you can get. Clay is slightly porous, so there is a gentle exchange of oxygen happening, but unlike oak it adds no flavour of its own. What ends up in your glass is just the grape, the soil and the vessel, which is about as honest as wine gets. For a producer like La Ginestra, who goes to all that effort in the vineyard, it makes complete sense not to impose anything extra in the cellar.
Getting to know Sangiovese
So, what is Sangiovese, beyond a name that is surprisingly fun to say after one glass? It is the main red grape of Tuscany and the backbone of many famous wines from the region, including Chianti. In the glass, it usually comes with red cherry and plum flavours, some dried herbs and a kind of dry, gripping structure that makes you want to eat something alongside it.
For a beginner like me, the easiest way to describe it is: bright red fruit, a little savoury, and a firm handshake from the tannins, although softer ones can also be found. Not as plush as many New World reds, not as dark and heavy as some Cabernet-based wines.
A simple history of Tuscan reds
Tuscany has been making wine for a very long time. Long before anyone talked about Chianti on a label, there were Etruscans growing grapes and trading wine in this part of Italy. Later, monasteries and noble families took wine more seriously and, in 1716, the Grand Duke drew the first official lines around the Chianti region. That is one of the earliest examples of a legally defined wine area anywhere.
Fast forward a few centuries and the usual modern story kicks in: higher yields, more chemicals in the vineyard, lots of steel tanks and a push to make "clean", reliable wine at scale. Some of that is still around, but there has also been a big swing back the other way. Farmers started going organic again, paying more attention to old vines and older styles, and making wines that taste more like specific hillsides and less like a generic "Tuscan red."
Tuscany in three ideas: hills, sun and breeze
If I had to picture Tuscany in wine terms, it would be rolling hills, warm days and evenings where the air finally cools down. Most vineyards sit on slopes rather than flat land, and that makes a big difference. Grapes ripen better in the sun, but the elevation and the night-time breeze help them keep some freshness, so the wines do not turn into heavy jam bombs.
The soils are a patchwork, which sounds geeky, but some say you can feel it in the glass. Some areas have lots of limestone and marl, which seem to make Sangiovese taste brighter and more lifted, with more acidity and a bit of a salty edge. Other plots have more clay or sand, which can give the wine a rounder, deeper feel. As someone still learning, I find it helpful to think: same grape, different outfit, depending on where it is rooted.
For natural growers, all this matters even more. If you are not planning to fix the wine later with additives or heavy oak, the place itself has to do the heavy lifting. Good sunlight, healthy soils and cool nights become the tools you lean on.
Three names to keep an eye on
As I slowly piece together this puzzle from Zürich, here are three producers currently in our selection.
La Ginestra — you have already met them above. Start with the Tutto Anfora if you want to understand what amphora-aged Sangiovese actually tastes like in the glass.
Buccia Nera — a family estate in eastern Tuscany where the younger generation has pushed the vineyards into organic farming and a more low-intervention style in the cellar. Their Sangiovese-based reds tend to feel honest, bright and very drinkable, the kind of wines that make you think "oh, I could finish this bottle without noticing."
Mutiliana — this one is a little different, and I want to be honest about that, I've been drinking their Ibbola. It is not technically Tuscan at all; it comes from Modigliana in Emilia-Romagna, just over the regional border, where the sandstone soils push Sangiovese in a leaner, more austere direction. I spent most of January and February serving (and drinking) their Ibbola at the restaurant, constantly asking myself whether I actually liked it. I still do not have a definitive answer. But I think that ambivalence is part of what makes it interesting. It is not an easy wine; it asks something of you. If you are after something immediately generous, start with La Ginestra. If you want a challenge, pick up the Ibbola.
