Morellino di Scansano

It is warm and dry country: an average of about 15 °C, 620 mm of rain falling mainly between November and April in sudden storms, and springs and summers so arid that drought is the main limit on farming. The hills average 250 metres and top out at 566. To the west they are sandstone — macigno and pietraforte — with silty and sandy loams; to the east limestone and clay schists give heavier, more broken ground.

The wine must be at least 85 per cent Sangiovese, and new vineyards need at least 4,000 vines a hectare, trained on trellises or as bush vines. A Riserva ages at least two years from the first of January after the harvest, one of them in wood, and every bottle carries its vintage. Morellino di Scansano became a DOC in 1978 and a DOCG on 14 November 2006.