Region: Tuscany

Zone:

Colline Lucchesi DOC

The wine zone Colline Lucchesi lies in the delightfully hilly landscape north/northeast of the pretty medieval city, Lucca, in northwestern Tuscany, and the area actually looks like it was meant for wine cultivation.

Wine has been cultivated here since the Etruscans, but production increased when the Ligurians overtook the area. It’s widely known that this people had considerable experience as wine cultivators.

Ancient Rome brought more advanced cultivation methods to the area, which laid the foundation for considerable economic growth and prosperity. According to ancient records, the hills north of Lucca were covered with vineyards as early as the 9th century A.D. Records provide specific information, e.g. 168,300 barrels of the "clear Vermilion, pure and honest wine” were sent from Lucca in 1334, and that most of it came from the surrounding hills.

The quality of Colline Lucchesi’s wines were praised by several leading personalities of the time. As so often before in Italy’s history, the clergy were quite fond of wine, and during a visit to Lucca, Pope Pave Paolo d. III Farnese, who ruled the church from 1534 to 1549, became rather taken with the wine.

A wine-drinking clergy is not necessarily a guarantee for the wine’s quality, but they do actually make interesting wine in Colline Lucchesi. Despite its close proximity to the Mediterranean Sea, the wine hasn’t developed that ”coastal influence”, due to the protection from the surrounding mountains.

The zone’s ridge often experiences rainy weather, which can create problems for the harvest. They thus use different grape varieties, including the traditional Tuscan red Sangiovese, and Merlot too, and they’re also allowed to add a small portion of green grapes to the red wines.

Read more about the wines from Colline Lucchesi DOC by clicking i the top menu in the right side.