In the southern corner of Tuscany, about 50 kilometers inland from the coast, a fox with a chicken in its mouth can cross the road in broad daylight. The idyllic area between the rivers Amarone and Albegna is sparsely populated. Small towns and villages built of centuries-old stone sit enthroned on soft hills. There is no industry, but agriculture and above all wine. “It is not easy to keep the population. Young people who want to make a career move away, so it’s even better that we have the wine,” says Maria Ginesi, the mayor of Scansano. The town owes its largely stable population of around 4,500 to the influx of Albanian, Moroccan and Romanian harvest workers.
Scansano makes every effort with its wine-growing heritage, which dates back to the Etruscans. One of the most modern buildings houses the local wine consortium. Recently, it invited industry representatives and wine connoisseurs to an event with discussions and wine tasting. Even a colonel from the finance police was present to warn against unclean machinations. The listeners should take away several messages: The Morellino di Scansano, as the wine-growing region is called, is no longer just an average wine. This is attested to by the highest Italian quality class DOCG (“Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita”), which has been owned since 2007. Since then, the range has been refined and expanded.