The local cheeses of Tuscany with the local wines that suit them, and why they work.
The cheeses of Tuscany with the wines made beside them. Pairings marked as a local tradition are the ones a regional source names; the rest are our own picks, and say so.
Aged Pecorino Toscano is firm and fragrant, with a sweet rather than salty taste. Chianti's high acidity and cherry fruit cut through the paste, and the cheese's mildness leaves the wine's grip intact.
Bottles to try:
A semi-aged Pienza is slightly savoury with herbal notes, an aged one intense and well salted. Vino Nobile, Sangiovese with high acidity and a tannic grip, handles the salt and keeps the herbal notes in view.
Bottles to try:
The stagionato and da asserbo (6 to over 12 months) are firm, herbal and peppery. Gran Selezione, the top Chianti Classico tier, is full-bodied with firm tannin and high acidity, so a wheel of that age is not overwhelmed.
Bottles to try:
The stagionato and da asserbo styles are firm with herbal notes and a peppery finish, enough to meet a Brunello's tannin and length. Choose a cheese aged 6 months or more so the wine is not left alone.
Bottles to try:
Aged Pienza has an intense aroma and good saltiness. A Chianti Classico Riserva, Sangiovese with high acidity and the grip of longer ageing, has the structure to hold its own against that salt.
Bottles to try:
A younger stagionato is sweet and fragrant rather than salty. Rosso di Montalcino brings Sangiovese cherry with moderate tannin, light enough that the cheese's gentle sweetness is not lost.
Bottles to try:
Marzolino is fragrant and savoury, getting slightly peppery with age. Chianti Classico's acidity handles the savoury paste, and the sheep's-milk fat softens the tannin.
Bottles to try:
The stagionato and da asserbo are firm with a peppery finish. Bolgheri reds, built mainly on Bordeaux grapes, bring tannin and high acidity, enough structure for a wheel of 6 months or more.
Bottles to try:
An aged Pecorino Toscano is firm, fragrant and pronounced in flavour, beside Vin Santo's dried fruit and caramel. The wine is much sweeter than the cheese, which the DOP product sheet calls sweet, never salty.
Bottles to try:
An aged Pienza with its good saltiness against a Vin Santo of caramel and dried fruit: salt and sugar set each other off, and the wine's high acidity keeps the sweetness from cloying.
Bottles to try:
Marzolino is fragrant and savoury, slightly peppery with age. Chianti Rufina, a Sangiovese red with high acidity and medium to firm tannin, cuts the savoury paste without burying its fragrance.
Bottles to try:
An aged Pecorino Toscano is firm and fragrant, sweet rather than salty, so it does not sharpen the tannin of these structured Sangiovese-led reds. Their high acidity cuts through the paste.
Bottles to try:
A fresco is tender and delicately sweet, so a tannic red would dominate it. Vernaccia's high acidity and almond-bitter finish clear the palate between slices.
Bottles to try:
Both come from the Maremma. Morellino is a Sangiovese red with cherry fruit, tannin and high acidity; choose a pecorino at the older end of the 20 to 180 days and beyond range, so the cheese is firm enough to meet it.
Bottles to try:
The riserva end of this raw-milk sheep cheese, 180 days and beyond, is firm enough to meet Tuscan reds built on or blended with Cabernet, Merlot or Syrah, whose tannin and high acidity cut through the fat.
Bottles to try:
A semi-aged Pienza is slightly savoury with delicate herbal notes. Rosso di Montepulciano, an 8-month Prugnolo Gentile with medium tannin and high acidity, is lighter than Vino Nobile and leaves those herbs audible.
Bottles to try:
A fresco of 7 to 44 days starts sweet and turns to fresh vegetal, herbal notes. Vernaccia's crisp acidity and lightly bitter finish keep pace with that herbal edge without weighing on the sweetness.
Bottles to try:
Raveggiolo is milk-white, soft, buttery and gently sweet, and it keeps only days, so it wants a fresh white. Vernaccia's acidity lifts it without covering it.
Bottles to try:
This raw-milk mountain sheep cheese, from flocks on summer pasture, wants a red with structure. Carmignano, Sangiovese with a little Cabernet, is full-bodied with firm tannin and high acidity to meet the sheep's-milk paste.
Bottles to try:
A semi-aged Pienza is slightly savoury with herbal notes. A full-bodied, oak-aged Chardonnay blend from Pomino or Toscana IGT has the weight for it, with high acidity to lift the savoury paste.
Bottles to try:
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Fresco must age at least 20 days and stagionato at least 4 months, according to the Qualigeo product sheet.
Mostly, but the DOP area also covers bordering communes in the Viterbo province of Lazio and the Perugia and Terni provinces of Umbria.
Qualigeo describes the taste as sweet, never salty or spicy, and credits a salting much shorter than other pecorini: on average about 16 hours for a fresco and about 24 hours for a stagionato.
Italy recognised Pecorino Toscano as a denominazione di origine by presidential decree on 17 May 1986, and the EU registered it as a DOP in 1996.
Fresco from 7 to 44 days, semistagionato from 45 days to 6 months, stagionato from 6 to 12 months and da asserbo over 12 months.
0.6 to 2 kg for the fresco, semistagionato and stagionato, and up to 7 kg for the da asserbo.
Raw whole sheep's milk from Sardinian-breed sheep, with vegetable rennet.
Italian sources link the name to March (marzo), when spring milk and production traditionally began. Production at Chianti dairies is said to run from November to June.
