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Central Italy sits beyond the wide Pò River Valley where the dramatic hills of the Apennine
mountain range lie beneath the brilliant Mediterranean sunshine for which Italy is widely
beloved. Here is where stone farmhouses and cypress-lined drives share the landscape with
olive groves, sunflowers, wheat fields, and grape vines. Home to the likes of Montalcino,
Chianti Classico and Bolgheri, Tuscany is the best known of Central Italy’s regions. Yet beyond
Tuscany’s borders many vinous rewards await the adventurous taster. To the north and east
Emilia-Romagna is often regarded as the food capital of Italy, a significant title in a country
that lives to eat. Here bubbly Lambrusco and soft Sangiovese accompany rich pasta and meat
dishes. In the Marche, to Tuscany’s east, the white Verdicchio grape produces tenuous and
electric wines that age for decades. Further south still, the mountains of Abruzzo are home
to the rustic and earthy Montepulciano grape while Molise’s coastal vineyards yield decadent
blends and single-varietal reds. Heading back west national capital of Rome in the region
of Lazio is a collision point for politics, fashion and cuisine. From the Super Tuscans of Tua
Rita to the spontaneously-fermented Montepulciano of Valle Reale and the category-defining
Brunello di Montalcino of Altesino, the wines that comprise the Leonardo LoCascio Selections
collection of Central Italian wines represent the best in their class.
Wines of Central Italy