It’s not really a movement anymore. It’s a relic of the past that pops up once in a while
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Pergole Torte is a Chianti Classico from Radda and the reason it isn’t actually called that has nothing whatsoever to do with the wine. Flaccianello and Fontalloro are two generally very good wines that have historically seen maybe a bit too much wood for their own benefit 
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I appreciate this info because I actually have long operated under the impression of a definition more along the lines of what David C. indicated. For me the term meant a wine that was outside the scope of the rules (namely at least in part with grapes like Cabernet or Merlot) and also one that was on the expensive side.
Would Tignanello and Soldera be considered Super-Tuscans? They would seem to fit the definition provided, but I never really thought of them in that light (the former for not being super-pricey and the latter for being more a personal self-exile than a breaking of the rules.)
Not counting Sassicaia, Tignanello is the first Super-Tuscan, ie. the first wine with which the whole movement began in CC began.
If Tignanello isn’t Super-Tuscan, I don’t know what is.
As for Soldera, I wouldn’t count it. After all, it was originally made under the Brunello appellation and then they chose to forgo the appellation - to my understanding they could still bottle it as a Brunello, if they wanted to.
The point of Super-Tuscan wines was to make wines against the restrictive appellation laws, ie. you made the wine even if it meant losing the appellation and bottling the wine as vino da tavola. You didn’t even have the IGT classification back in the 1970’s - the whole intermediate appellation was created to accommodate these new wines so that they didn’t need to be simple table wines.
Choosing to suddenly bottle the wine later on as IGT of one’s own volition, even if they were allowed to use the appellation name instead is just a statement, not being a part of the Super-Tuscan movement anymore. It’s a different thing compared to how back in the 70’s you weren’t allowed to make a CC from 100% Sangiovese and the producers just went “watch me” and did it anyway, not caring if the wine wouldn’t get the DOCG Chianti Classico seal.
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We’ve had this discussion ourselves in our wineclub regarding the Super Tuscan term. For our upcomming tasting the following definitions have been agreed on:
Not allowed / Not super tuscans
Brunello di Montalcino DOCG
Chianti DOCG
Allowed
Wines produced in Tuscany containing one of the following:
- Pure Bordeaux blends
- Bordeaux blends + Sangiovese
- Singular Bordeaux varieties eg. 100% Merlot
- 100% Sangiovese, not labeled or produced under the Brunello or Chianti DOCG’s
From either
- Bolgheri DOC
- Bolgheri Sassicaia DOC
- Toscana IGT
The allowed sector also coinciding with my personal definition of what can be labelled as a Super Tuscan.
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And these are the definitions I’ve commonly seen as the defining traits of contemporary Super-Tuscans elsewhere as well!
Since some of the first Super-Tuscans were 100% Sangiovese, I find it a bit weird that some people want to exclude them from the contemporary definition. But hey, whatever rocks their boat.
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One thing ive personally had a hard time with is the Soldera Case Basse, which sometimes is labelled as Brunello di Montalcino DOCG and other times not.
To my understanding they simple vinify the way the find best, and if it fits the Brunello di Montalcino DOCG then it is bottled as so, but if not no…
But is it a Super Tuscan in the non BdM years? Hmmm…Personally yes, but it would be weird to call it a Super Tuscan in some years and not in other years.
Is this correct? To my understanding they just chose to bottle their Brunello under IGT Toscana starting with the 2007 vintage. I tried to google for any Soldera Brunello labels, but couldn’t find any post-2006.
However, I find it weird to call Soldera a Super-Tuscan, when the wine used to be bottled under Brunello name and - as far as I know - they haven’t changed anything in their winemaking, so the wines are still technically Brunello.
I think opting out from the appellation of your own volition is a different thing from attempting to make an exceptional wine and are not permitted to bottle the wine under the appellation name for this reason. This is the reason why I call wines like Montevertine and Pergole Torte both Super-Tuscan and Chianti Classico, but I’d call Soldera just a Brunello or “IGT wine formerly known as a Brunello” - not a Super-Tuscan wine. I wouldn’t call any other 100% Sangiovese that arrived at the scene only after the appellation rules had been already amended to permit 100% Sangiovese wines a Super-Tuscan, either (and Brunello is, by definition, a 100% Sangiovese, so even that point here is moot).
But if someone wants to call Soldera a Super-Tuscan, they’re free to do so. I think it makes more sense than to say Tignanello or the likes are not Super-Tuscan!
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Hah i like this!
I agree wholeheartedly with everything you say. And yes you are probably right with the post 2007 vintage comment about them bottling under IGT Toscana.
I think the “what is a Super Tuscan” discussion will continue on, but as of now i will proceed with my comment from above regarding what I personally believe fits the term best 
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For the full story, best to Google Gianfranco Soldera by name and also some term referring to the vandalism at the estate a few years ago. There were several articles with varying accounts.
Soldera was a true genius- with all the impatience and perfectionism that often comes with that degree of intelligence. There was a time when he had to personally approve every firm that wanted to buy and resell his wines. He once commented that the French should go back to growing potatoes and some other crop I forget rather than wasting their time growing wine grapes (loose paraphrasing by me.) He was similarly frank in his assessment of many of his peers in the organization under which Brunello was organized- and that created much ill will over the years.
Several years ago, a former disgruntled employee broke into the winery and emptied several vats. This left just enough 2010 for a few magnums to be bottled which are only sold at auction events, and it also materially impacted supply of the 2011, 2012 and I think the 2009.
Despite tense relations, several fellow Brunello producers- acting through their DOCG (I think that is the organization)- offered to give Soldera some of their product (I do not know if it was grapes, must, or finished barrels) to make up the shortfall, and he reacted rather heatedly to the offer on the basis that what was being offered would downgrade the quality of Soldera (which it would have almost certainly.)
Accounts vary on who broke it off from there, but that incident led Soldera and the DOCG to part ways. And so post 2006, the wine is labeled as Toscana IGT. This all happened well after the 2006 vintage obviously, but it was 2007 about to be bottled when the break happened in the 2010s.
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Maremma?
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You are absolutely correct, I forgot Maremma DOC. A lot of varieties being grown there, but yes it would fit under the terms
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