Maremma, long, loosely defined strip of tuscan coastline south of Livorno (Leghorn) extending southward through the province of Grosseto. (Lazio also has its part of the Maremma, between Civitavecchia and the border with Tuscany, but this is not a viticultural zone.) Since 1995 it has also been the name of an igt which was elevated to DOC in 2011 but, perversely, without more rigorous production rules. Within its borders lie no fewer than eight DOCs and four DOCGs, but although the area is extremely extensive, in 2012 only 1,665 ha/4,113 acres were declared DOC Maremma—modest in comparison with chianti classico’s 6,818 ha/16,847 acres. It cannot be used for declassifying wines from the many DOCs within the region, therefore it is potentially attractive only to producers in obscure DOCs whose names do not resonate with wine lovers. The Alta Maremma (Upper Maremma) is the highest part of the region in the north between Massa Marittima and Roccastrada where vineyards are situated at elevations between 150 and 500 m (490–1,640 ft), providing a cooler mesoclimate than the warm Maremma plain, and resulting in more elegant wines.
