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Tuscany (Toscana) is the quintessential Italian wine region and the sangiovese heartland — the birthplace of four of Italy's most important red wines: Chianti, Chianti Classico, Brunello di Montalcino and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, all built on the sangiovese grape (for centuries the region's single greatest variety).

The wines nonetheless taste quite different, because Tuscany is a plethora of distinct mesoclimates thrown up by an endless succession of twisting, undulating hills (the region is roughly 68 percent hills, so nearly every vineyard sits on a slope), and because sangiovese — a finicky, demanding grape, like pinot noir high in acidity and exacting to ripen — has begotten hundreds of clones that have adapted to their local sites.

Most important wine zones lie in the central belt from Florence south through Siena to the hill town of Montalcino (famous for Brunello); the climate there is warm but tempered by cool nights that preserve sangiovese's natural acidity.