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Tuscany · DOC
Val di Cornia DOC The Iron Valley's Sangiovese, from Rosso DOCG to Baratti Whites
The iron valley behind the Etruscan Coast: Val di Cornia runs inland from Piombino through Suvereto and Campiglia Marittima, mining country turned vineyard. Sangiovese-led reds rose to their own DOCG in 2011, while the DOC keeps the valley's whites and rosato.
Decode the label
What the label tells you
One word on the front changes the ageing, the strength and the price.
On the label
Rosso DOCG
Sangiovese in charge
12.5% minimum alcohol
1 May of year two, earliest sale
The valley's summit tier since the 2011 harvest.
No bottles in stock right now
On the label
Rosso Riserva
Wood, bottle and patience
18 + 6 months wood, then bottle
13% minimum alcohol
Held until the third New Year after harvest.
No bottles in stock right now
On the label
DOC bianco and rosato
The valley's fresh side
Vermentino leads the whites
Drink within two summers, ideally at Baratti.
No bottles in stock right now
The boundary
Where it is
Everything on this page, the estates, the bottles, the sub-zones, sits inside this line.
Val di Cornia DOC zone
Wine route
The zone follows the Cornia river from the Colline Metallifere down to the sea at Piombino: Suvereto and Sassetta entire, plus the vine-bearing parts of Campiglia Marittima, San Vincenzo and Piombino. Iron-streaked soils, hot summers tempered by the Tyrrhenian, and the Etruscan mining park at the valley mouth explain both the wine's colour and its name recognition.
Inside the zone
5
communes, Livorno province
2011
the Rosso's first DOCG harvest
40%
minimum Sangiovese in the DOCG
12.5%
minimum alcohol (13% Riserva)
Towns worth knowing
Suvereto
Campiglia Marittima
San Vincenzo
Sassetta
Piombino
Suvereto's walls and Campiglia's terraces hold most of the cellars; San Vincenzo is the shore.
In the glass
What it tastes like, by style
One profile at a time, never blended into a single set of bars.
Black cherry
Plum
Tobacco
Lemon
Green Apple
The disciplinare
The rules that define it
The same table on every denomination page, straight from the production rules.
Grape & its role
Share of the blend
050100%
Solid means the rules demand it. Striped means optional, up to that amount. The words on the right say the same rule.
Sangiovese stays in charge at least 40 percent of the DOCG rosso, the valley's answer to Suvereto's Bordeaux lead.
Two dates to remember rosso sells from the 1st of May of year two; the Riserva from the New Year after, with 18 months' wood behind it.
Twin promotions Val di Cornia Rosso and Suvereto rose to DOCG together in 2011, both carved from the 1989 DOC.
No Aleatico in the blend the sweet grape is fenced out of the rosso by name.
Ageing and alcohol minimums per tier are in the label guide above.
Vintage provenance
Why there is no vintage chart
No denomination-wide vintage chart is published for Val di Cornia; quality is tracked producer by producer.
What to check instead
The producer: quality here is tracked estate by estate rather than year by year.
On the table
What to eat with Val di Cornia
The home country leads; global pairings that genuinely work follow.
In-depth guide
Val di Cornia, answered
Twin DOCGs promoted together in 2011 from the same 1989 DOC. Val di Cornia Rosso keeps Sangiovese in charge at 40 percent minimum; Suvereto lets Cabernet and Merlot lead. The wider Val di Cornia DOC still covers whites and rosato.
Dark cherry and plum over an iron edge from the Colline Metallifere soils: firmer than Bolgheri's polish, 12.5 percent minimum, with the Riserva adding 18 months of wood.
Suvereto and Sassetta entirely, with parts of Campiglia Marittima, San Vincenzo and Piombino, all in Livorno province behind the Etruscan Coast.
Explore more Tuscany
Same region only: the denominations Val di Cornia drinkers reach for next.
Multiple varieties permitted
