10 best red wines from Tuscany, one of Italy's best grape producing regions 

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The rolling hills of Tuscany’s picturesque countryside is home to some of the country’s most celebrated wines. Predominantly red and more often than not, made from sangiovese grapes – it can be a confusing wine region to get your head around with labels often not revealing very much.

You may be familiar with some of the more well-known appellations including chianti classico, brunello di montalcino and vino nobile di montepulciano although there are also lesser-known local styles to contend with too. While chianti classico must include at least 80 per cent sangiovese grapes, brunello will always be 100 per cent so you can normally expect that to be a more brooding, intense experience.

You may also have heard the term "super Tuscan" used when talking about this region. It’s a phrase that refers to some of the finest Italian reds, made from either a blend or entirely, from non-indigenous grape varieties such as merlot, cabernet sauvignon and syrah which fall outside the strict wine classification system.

Highly-regarded in wine circles, they often come with quite eye-watering price tags, however, we’ve included some affordable ones below.

It’s not all sangiovese however, nebbiolo is a grape high in alcohol, acidity and tannins which make the celebrated barolo wines. Sadly however they come from such a small area and are in such high demand that these high-end wines can often be quite an investment. Aside from the higher price points, due to the prominent tannins, barolo often benefits from further ageing (it can very often take another 10 years for them to soften sufficiently) so for this reason we’ve chosen to exclude them from this round-up.

And although Tuscany is more well known for their big juicy reds, they do also produce some excellent crisp white wines – however, on this occasion we’ll be focusing our round-up on the former.

When making your selection, check the label. DOCG (designation of origin and guaranteed) is the highest grade, followed by DOC wines which have to be made in a designated area, adhering to strict rules, followed by IGT which will still need to come from a specific area, although will often have more relaxed requirements.

As ever, when making our selection we were on the lookout for great value wines offering something a little special. Bottles which represent the region well and, we hope, you’ll remember long after the last sip. Like most food and wine pairing, if unsure what to serve, think about typical flavours from the region.

Tomato-based meaty stews, pasta and pizza will all work a treat here, as will buttery risottos and ribollita – Tuscany’s bread and vegetable soup.

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