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Italy's glowing reputation with wine is due not only to the fact that it produces and exports more than any other country but that it offers the greatest variety of types, ranging through nearly every color, flavor and style imaginable.
Italian producers have moved rapidly to the forefront of world enology, improving techniques to create wines of undeniable class in every region, north and south. Their wines derive not only from native vines, which represent an enormous array, but also from a complete range of international varieties.
In the past it was sometimes said that Italians kept their best wines to themselves while supplying foreign markets with tasty but anonymous vino in economy sized bottles. But markets have changed radically in recent times as consumers in many lands-most importantly in Italy itself-have insisted on better quality.
For a while it may have seemed that the worldwide trend to standardize vines and wines was bound to compromise Italy's role as the champion of diversity. But, instead, leading producers in many parts of the country have kept the emphasis firmly on traditional vines. They have taken the authentic treasures of their ancient land and enhanced them in modern wines whose aromas and flavors are not to be experienced anywhere else. Getting to know the unique wines of Italy is an endless adventure in taste.
Experts increasingly rate Italy's premier wines among the world's finest. Many of the noblest originate in the more than 300 zones officially classified as DOC or DOCG or, more recently, in areas recognized for typical wines under IGT. But a number of special wines carry their own proudly individualistic identities. Wine drinkers abroad, not always aware of the wealth of types (or perhaps overwhelmed by the numbers), have not always taken advantage of this unmatchable variety.
From the Adriatic to Mont Blanc
The five regions of north-central and northwestern Italy cover much of the great arc of the Alps and Apennines that walls in the Po as it flows east through its broad valley to the Adriatic. The types of wine, like the topography, soil and climate, vary to extremes in these regions, which are grouped rather loosely as neighbors but, in true Italian style, maintain their own proud identities.
This most affluent part of Italy comprises the "industrial triangle" between Milan, Turin and the Mediterranean port of Genoa and the agriculturally fluent flatlands of the Po and its tributaries. Since property is valuable and mountains take up a major share of space, vineyards are confined and wine is a commodity that must be either financially or spiritually rewarding. Yet between the cool terraces of the Alps and the often torrid fields of the Po basin, contrasts abound. Along with some of Italy's most revered bottled can be found some of its most frivolous. But whether the label says Barolo or Lambrusco, the winemaker no doubt takes his work seriously.
Between them, the five regions produce about 20 percent of Italy's total wine but account for more than a quarter of the DOC. Emilia-Romagna contributes heavily with the fourth largest output among regions after Veneto, Sicily and Apulia. Piedmont stands tall in the quality field with the most DOC and DOCG zones of any region, even though it ranks only seventh in over all production.
Still, Piedmont dwarfs its neighbors of Valle d'Aosta and Liguria, which, by Italian standards at least, are mere dabblers in wine. Valle d'Aosta, the smallest region, produces by far the least volume of wine from its rocky slopes. Its DOC output is surpassed by some single wineries in other regions. Liguria, with little space for vines between the mountains and the Mediterranean, is second from the last in production, offering wines that are rarely more than esoteric.
Despite the proximity of France, whose vines have been warmly welcomed elsewhere in Italy, growers in Piedmont, Valle d'Aosta and Liguria prefer their own vines and tend to make wine in their own style. Piedmont's host of worthy natives includes Barbera, Dolcetto, Grignolino, Freisa, Cortese, Arneis, Brachetto, the Canelli clone of Moscato (for Asti Spumante) and the noblest of them all in Nebbiolo (source of Barolo, Barbaresco and Gattinara).
The vines of Valle d'Aosta often have French names, Petit Rouge, Gros Vien, Blanc de Valdigne, for instance, due to the Savoyard history of the region. Liguria favors the local Rossese, Pigato and Vermentino, while working with its own version of Dolcetto, known as Ormeasco.
Lombardy, the most populous region, ranks only twelfth in wine production, but it does boast a major concentration of Nebbiolo vines for the DOC reds of the mountainous Valtellina and spreads of Chardonnay and Pinot vines for sparkling wines of Franciacorta and Oltrepò Pavese.
Emilia-Romagna had been a leading exporter of wines with shipments to America of sweet and bubbly Lambrusco, whose vines spill over the fertile plains of Emilia. But lately growers have been concentrating on distinctive wines from the hills. Best known are the Albana and Sangiovese of Romagna, but gaining notice are Barbera, Cabernet, Chardonnay and Sauvignon from the Apennine foothills of Emilia.
Taste of the Future in the Venezie
The three northeastern regions, known collectively as the Tre Venezie or simply the Venezie, set the pace in Italy in the crafting of modern wines from a great range of varieties both native and international. They began in the 1970s by introducing new techniques for production of white wines, following up in recent decades with ever more sophisticated methods for reds.
Two of Italy's leading wine schools are located in the Venezie (at San Michele all'Adige in Trentino and Conegliano in Veneto). The world's largest vine nursery is at Rauscedo in Friuli. The nation's most important wine fair, Vinitaly, is held each spring in Verona.
Together Veneto, Friuli-Venezia Giulia and Trentino-Alto Adige produce less than a fifth of Italy's total volume of wine but account for about a third of the DOC. Veneto leads the way, after recently replacing Apulia and Sicily as the largest producer of wine among the 20 regions, while increasing its leadership with DOC, due in great part to the Verona trio of Soave, Valpolicella and Bardolino. Friuli-Venezia Giulia and Trentino-Alto Adige are modest producers in terms of volume but boast enviable percentages of classified wines in the total.
The determining quality factor in all three regions is the climate influenced by the Alps, of which the Venezie are on the sunny side, protected from the damp cold of northem Europe. Vineyard conditions range from cool at high altitudes to warm in the near the Adriatic Sea and along the valleys of the Po, Adige, Piave and Tagliamento rivers.
Although the culture of the Venezie, like the name, was determined by the ancient Venetian Republic, strong influences can be felt from Austria and the Balkans. One result is a cosmopolitan mix of vine varieties. Growers here work with an amazing assortment of native and imported vines to produce what are indisputably a majority of Italy's fine white wines and a multitude of reds, ranging from the young and simplistic to the aged and complex.
In contemporary times, white wines led by Soave and Pinot Grigio had become popular around the world. But producers in Friuli and Trentino-Alto Adige have fashioned wines of depth and style to dispel the notion that Italian whites are by nature light and fresh. Recently the trend that had favored whites in the Venezie has started to reverse with increased plantings of varieties for red wines.
Verona's Soave, Valpolicella and Bardolino derive from native varieties. But in the central and eastern Veneto and Friuli imported varieties, such as Merlot, Cabernet, the Pinots, Chardonnay and Sauvignon, share vineyard space with the local Tocai, Prosecco, Verduzzo, Refosco, Schioppettino, Ribolla Gialla and Raboso.
In Trentino-Alto Adige red wines still prevail, dominated by the ubiquitous Schiava or Vernatsch, though the more distinguished Teroldego, Lagrein and Marzemino hold their own against Cabernet, Merlot and Pinot Nero. White varieties have gained prominence there, led by Chardonnay, the Pinots, Sauvignon and Gewürztraminer.
Since so many varieties are grown, the practice in all three regions has been to group wines under a single DOC name for a large geographical area, such as Veneto's Piave, Friuli's Collio Goriziano and the province-wide appellations of Trentino and Alto Adige. Though the lists may be long, this geographical identity seems to aid consumers in connecting places with types of wine.
Renaissance in the Heartland
The historical hills at the heart of the peninsula, favored by ample sunshine and moderate temperatures, boast extensive natural conditions for fine wine. In the past, winemaking methods were often rustic. The practices of overproducing grapes and undervaluing scientific techniques sometimes squandered the excellent potential. But today the central regions, led by Tuscany with Chianti, Brunello and other noble reds, have moved to the forefront of Italian winemaking.
Between them, the six regions produce about 20 percent of the nation's wine and account for about 20 percent of the DOC or DOCG. The conflict between progress and tradition persists in places, but overall the renaissance in Italian wine has generated unrivaled momentum in the heartland. Still, there is no doubt that even greater things lie ahead.
The regions of central Italy are divided physically, and to some degree culturally, by the Apennines. To the west, on the Tyrrhenian side, lie Tuscany, Latium and landlocked Umbria. To the east, on the Adriatic side, lie Marches, Abruzzi and Molise. Viticulture on the Tyrrhenian side is dominated by the dark-skinned Sangiovese (whose various clones include some of Italy's noblest grapes for red wine) and the light-skinned Trebbiano and Malvasia (designed chiefly for quantities of tasty if rarely inspiring whites).
The realm of Sangiovese is Florence's region of Tuscany, where it prevails in Chianti, the nation's archetypal red, as well as in Brunello di Montalcino, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and most of the noteworthy classified and many of the unclassified reds known as “Super Tuscans.
White Malvasia reigns in Rome's regionof Latium. It is prominent in Frascati and the wines of the Alban hills, and combines with the ubiquitous Trebbiano in Est! Est!! Est!!! di Montefiascone and most other whites of the region.
Umbrians have had the chance to pick and choose, favoring Sangiovese for their reds and the Procanico strain of Trebbiano for their prominent white Orvieto.
A trend, more evident in Tuscany than elsewhere, is to introduce noble outsiders, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, the Pinots, Chardonnay and Sauvignon. But efforts are also being directed at upgrading such worthy natives as Vernaccia di San Gimignano, Umbria's Sagrantino and Grechetto and Latium's Cesanese.
The Adriatic regions have a rather neat and straight-forward structure of vines and wines. Vineyards are almost all planted in hills running in a tortuous strip between the sea and the mountains, where the climate is tempered by cool air currents.
Two native varieties stand out along the Adriatic coast, the white Verdicchio in the Marches and the red Montepulciano, which originated in the Abruzzi and is now widely planted elsewhere, including in Molise. The influences of Tuscany and Romagna can be tasted in Sangiovese (especially in the Marches) and Trebbiano (planted nearly everywhere that worthier varieties are not). Montepulciano can be remarkable on its own, though it also has a natural affinity for blends with Sangiovese in such fine reds as the Marches' Rosso Piceno and Rosso Conero.
Oenotria Revisited
The six regions of Italy's south take in the "sunwashed" vineyards that prompted the ancient Greeks to nickname their colonies "Oenotria", the land of wine. From Hellas they brought to Magna Græcia vines which are still planted today, under such names as Aglianico, Greco, Malvasia, Gaglioppo and Moscato.
The Romans in their turn recognized the potential of the slopes that gave them Falernum, Caecubum, Mamertinum and other heady wines that were eulogized by poets from Horace to Virgil. Pliny the Elder and Columella were among those who recorded methods of viticulture and enology that included descriptions of how to age and preserve wine and even to make it bubbly. But wine had its ups and downs under the Romans, too, reaching a low point when the Emperor Domitian ordered vines removed while restricting trade to combat excess production.
Many outsiders left their marks on these Mediterranean shores. Foremost among them were the Spaniards, who dominated until the Risorgimento (?) and brought vines into Sardinia, Sicily and other places centuries after the Arabs and Phoenicians planted what may have been the first “foreign” vines in Italy.
It might be argued that at times in the past the vineyards of the Italian Mezzogiorno were put to better use than they had been until just recently. Apulia and Sicily have been perennial leaders in volume produced, much of it in bulk blending wines shipped to northerly places.
Though the six regions produce nearly 40 percent of Italy's total wine, they account for only about 14 percent of the DOC/DOCG. Yet, after decades in which the emphasis had been steadfastly on quantity, producers in all regions have become increasingly convinced that the future lies in quality, as the class of wines steadily improves while volume steadily decreases.
Studied techniques of grape growing and methods of temperature controlled fermentation and maturation in oxygen-free conditions have permitted production of dry, balanced wines that can be attractively light and fruity. Several of Italy's most impressive red wines for aging originate in the south, led by Campania's DOCG of Taurasi. White wines of modern style have also come forth. There has been a welcome trend to upgrade the quality and status of the traditional sweet wines, such as Moscato and Malvasia, as well as Sicily's fortified Marsala and Sardinia's Vernaccia di Oristano.
The misconception that the Mezzogiorno has a universally torrid climate overlooks the fact that much of the territory is temperate and parts are downright chilly. Conditions depend on altitude and proximity to the Tyrrhenian, Ionian or Adriatic seas. Some good wines are made in hot places, the slopes of Vesuvius, the isle of Ischia, Apulia's Salento peninsula, Sicily's western coast and Sardinia's Campidano. But many wines of scope come from higher, cooler places, the hills around Avellino in Campania, Basilicata's Vulture, Sicily's Etna and central highlands, Apulia's interior plateau and Sardinia's eastern coastal range.
Major wineries from elsewhere in Italy have been investing in the south, where the climate permits consistent quality from year to year to offer wines of premium class at reasonable prices.
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