Colli della Toscana Centrale is a key Italian IGT title which covers, as its name implies, the hills ('colli') of central Tuscany. Wines marketed under the title can be red, white or rosé in color, and still, sparkling, dry or sweet in style. In practice, the majority are dry red wines made from the classic Tuscan varieties (most obviously Sangiovese), in combination with internationally famous French grapes such as Cabernet Sauvignon.
The area covered by this IGT title is relatively large (particularly when compared to the neighbouring Alta Valle della Greve IGT zone), and spreads into five of the provinces that make up the Toscana region. The landscape in this area is, by definition, classic Tuscany: rolling, vineyard-lined hills disappearing into the hazy distance, marked occasionally by a neat row of cypress trees or pink-roofed town. The same is true of the climate, which gives warm, bright sunny days throughout the summer, but a cold, harsh winter.
The hills known as the colli della Toscana centrale form the main production area for Chianti. It is not surprising, then, that many Colli della Toscana Centrale wines bear more than a passing resemblance to this, Italy's most famous red wine. As is the case with the Alta Valle della Greve zone, a number of local producers use the IGT category's stylistic flexibility to experiment with variations on the region's traditional, long-established styles. A good example of this is the blending of Merlot and/or Syrah (neither of which is permitted for use in Chianti) with Sangiovese. These are the wines the growers would like to produce as 'Chianti', were the Chianti DOC rules more relaxed.
The producers who feature Colli della Toscana Centrale wines in their portfolio are a comprehensive mixture of co-operatives (both large and small), small-scale boutique wineries and the region's bigger, better-known producers. Prices and quality vary greatly too; the title's cheapest wines can be bought for just a few euros, but the most respected bottlings fetching well over $100 on the United States market.
Refreshingly, a few white wines are produced under this red-dominated appellation. These are based on Chardonnay or Vernaccia. The former needs no introduction, but the latter is, significantly, the grape behind Tuscany's only DOCG-quality white wine, Vernaccia di San Gimignano.
