Located on the Tuscan coast in the province of Livorno, the picture-perfect village of Bolgheri, dominated by its iconic cypress-lined avenue, now turns out some of Italy’s most celebrated wines. But it once seemed an unlikely place to birth Italy’s 20th-century quality-wine revolution.
Up until the mid-1900s, when its marshes were drained, Bolgheri was a malaria-infested backwater. Then, with no tradition of quality wine production, it became home to insipid whites and lackluster rosatos for decades. That reputation changed almost overnight in 1971 with the first release of Sassicaia, proof that Bolgheri’s microclimate and soils were ideal for red wines made from Bordeaux grapes.
The region’s stellar reds had to be labeled “table wines” despite their burgeoning reputation, since the zone’s antiquated DOC (Denominazione di Origine Controllata) regulations had no provisions for the Bordeaux varietals (or any reds at all). In 1994, the Italian government updated the rules to include these celebrated bottlings and created Bolgheri Rosso DOC and Bolgheri Superiore DOC (those must age at least two years before release). But the various Bolgheri DOC reds still had to be blends, until a modification in 2011. Many of Bolgheri’s celebrity reds are varietal wines created years before the revamped
