My Article: 12 Most Collectible Tuscan Wines

It’s been a little more than 10 years since I last ranked the best wines of Italy for a cover story in The Wine Spectator. So, I thought it was time to see how things have changed – at least in Tuscany. A lot has happened in the last decade in viticulture and winemaking in Toscana. Some of the best producers barely even made wine in 2001, and some of the best wines a decade ago have been eclipsed by others.

I put together my list of the 12 best Tuscan wines for a special report this month on www.jamessuckling.com. This was based on my more than three decades of tasting Italian wines, as well as a general perception in the global market for Italian wines.

Of course, the list is subjective, but I have an idea of what is sold in top restaurants and wine stores in the world, from Milan to London to New York to Los Angeles to Hong Kong, and finally Moscow. I also know many top wine collectors, and I understand what Tuscan wines they buy and drink.

Film director James Orr and I were in Tuscany in June and visited all the producers who make the wines on my list. I walked the vineyards, visited the wineries, interviewed the owners and winemakers, and tasted the current releases of the wine in bottle.

This is all on video this month. Each winery has two videos. The first video covers the vineyard and winery and why the wine is special. The second includes a tasting of the wine with the owner or winemaker as well as a written tasting note of the current wine on the market.

Can you guess the wines? And in what order I have listed them?

I will give you a clue. My top dozen Tuscan wines more than a decade ago were in the following order:

Altesino Brunello di Montalcino MontosoliTenuta dell’Ornellaia Toscana MassetoAntinori Toscana SolaiaArgiano SolengoCastello dei Rampolla Toscana VIgna d’AlceoTenuta San Guido Bolgheri-Sassicaia SassicaiaAvignonesi Toscana Vin SantoTua Rita Toscana RedigaffiTenuta dell’Ornellaia Bolgheri OrnellaiaCastello dei Rampolla Toscana Sammarco

Try posting your list of the 12 most collectible Tuscan wines in the comments section below.

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