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LEXPERT MAGAZINE | JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2017 69 TRAVEL Looking for a surprising getaway? Go West Tucson is giving Phoenix and Scottsdale a run for their money e phenomenal success of Tignanello on the international market spawned a plethora of Su- per Tuscan wines that thumbed their noses at the DOC appellation. e Italians are nothing if not pragmatic. To herd these bastard Sangiovese wines back into the fold and to resolve the vino da tavola anomaly, in 1992 the Italian government created a new wine denomina- tion: indicazione geografica tipica (IGT). e newly minted regulations allowed producers to use 100 per cent Sangiovese if they so desired or to blend with up to 15 per cent of such international varieties as Cab- ernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah. e result is that today there are literally hundreds of IGT wines pro- duced in Tuscany. e heartland of the Chianti region is Chianti Classico, 260 square kilometres of hilly woodland and great vistas of vines between two of Italy's most beautiful cities: Florence in the north and Siena in the south. e driving distance between the cities, through some of the most spectacular winescape on the planet, is 78 kilometres. If you're in a hurry it's an hour and a quarter on the motorway — or 30 min- utes the way the locals drive. Only those producers within the Classico zone can put the Gallo nero symbol on the neck of their bottles. e black rooster dates back to 1384 when it was chosen as the emblem of the League of Chianti, an association of the villages of Gaiole, Castellina and Radda, arguably where the best Chiantis still come from. But today there is more than one Chianti. In 1932 the map of the Chianti region was redrawn and six satellite areas were added around the Classico zone: Colli Aretini (around the town of Arezzo), Colli Fio- rentini (Florence), Colline Pisane (Pisa), Colli Senesi (Siena), Montalbano (south of Pistoia) and Rùfina (northeast of Florence). e Chianti zone shares the Sangiovese grape with other regions within Tuscany: Brunello di Mon- talcino (80 kilometres south of Florence, where the wines are made with 100-per-cent Sangiovese); Vino Nobile di Montepulciano (40 kilometres southeast of Siena, where they call the grape Prugnolo gentile); and Maremma on the Mediterranean coast (where in addition to Sangiovese they grow the region's best Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot grapes). But it is the Chianti Classico zone that reverber- ates in the mind and its wines that charm the palate. No visitor can forget the views of those hilltop towns with their red-tiled roofs and elegant cedars. e English discovered the delights of this region years ago and bought up its farmhouses, so much so that it is known in England today as Chianti-shire. FOR YEARS Phoenix and Scottsdale remained squarely in the Canadian spotlight as the Arizona getaways, and as a result little attention was paid to Tucson, their southern sister. at's no longer the case. A serious investment in the city's downtown infrastructure, a plethora of new restaurants and the resorts that have long lured serenity seekers to great spas and sunsets means that Tucson is ready for its moment in the vacation spotlight. Aer your client meet- ing in Phoenix, consider a weekend in Tucson. > Eat: A 4,100-year continuous history of agriculture garnered Tucson a UNESCO City of Gastronomy designation in 2015. It's the only city in North America with the designation and recognizes Tucson's commitment to keeping the produce once relied on by Native and Latin cultures alive and well for future generations. e work of Native Seed Search, a local non-profit repository, has also spawned a restaurant revival. Among the chefs you'll find embracing the movement here are James Beard Award-winning cook Janos Wilder, who showcases local history and world cultures at his Downtown Kitchen + Cocktails restaurant. > Drink: Stephen Paul credits his wife for coming up with this idea: why not take the mesquite wood he was using to create handmade furniture and use it to malt barley instead? e result is Whisky Del Bac, where everything from malting the barley right through to the bottling happens under one roof. Pop in for a tour and a taste of its award-winning regional single-malt whisky. > Sleep: A multimillion-dollar renovation to a former girls' ranch school has added high ceilings, patios and outdoor showers to the already gorgeous Hacienda del Sol Guest Ranch resort. Mountain views and gorgeous sunsets still come standard. Save time to peek at the historic photos on corridor walls. Among the famous visitors during the property's almost 90-year-old history are Sandra Day O'Connor, who came as a child, and Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, who slipped away here as adults. Don't miss dinner at e Grill, where chef Bruce Yim works magic with every morsel. | DETOURS | Heather Greenwood Davis is a lawyer and freelance writer. Reach her at hgreenwooddavis@gmail.com. Tony Aspler is the author of 17 books on wine, including his latest, Canadian Wineries. PHOTO COURTESY OF HACIENDA DEL SOL GUEST RANCH RESORT