Small area that was recently upgraded to DOCG status. It’s one of only a small number of DOCG areas in Italy and one of six (along with CHIANTI, CHIANTI CLASSICO, BRUNELLO DI MONTALCINO, VERNACCIA DI SAN GIMIGNANO, and VINO NOBILE DI MONTEPULCIANO) in the TUSCANY region. It’s located just west of Florence inside the northeast section of the CHIANTI Montalbano sub-zone. These red wines, which are similar to those from Chianti, use a variety of grapes—SANGIOVESE being predominate. Carmignano wines differ from Chiantis in that they must include between 10 and 20 percent CABERNET SAUVIGNON/CABERNET FRANC grapes, which have been justified for DOCG qualification because they’ve been grown here since the 1700s. ROSATO and VIN SANTO wines from Carmignano have DOC status. Barco Reale di Carmignano, a lighter version of the Carmignano DOCG red wines, received its DOC status in 1994.