THE THOMS SUNDAY TRAVEL SECTION
Chianti, Valpolicella, Lambrusco, Pinot Grigio, even if you are not a wine connoisseur, you may have heard these names.
And if you do enjoy Italian vino, perhaps Nebbiolo, Montepulciano, Sangiovese, prosecco, and others are in your vocabulary.
But even these are just the tip of the iceberg.
Italy has 20 regions, and just about everyone makes some wine, even if it’s only for self-consumption.
There are more than one million wine-makers in Italy. Once again, some are single winemakers, but many are growing vineyards.
There are close to two million acres under cultivation and over 800 varieties of grapes. After some vino, locals will tell you over 2,000.
There are somewhere around 350 varieties of wine, and each one a little different than the next.
I hope you are taking notes. There is going to be a quiz at the end.
These are some of the reasons that over the last few years, Italy has become Europe’s largest wine producer. Yes, even more than the French.
Vino
So, where do you start? Take out a piece of paper and number one to 1,350. Seriously, we need to do a little thinning, or it is too overwhelming on a Sunday morning or any day.
Let’s remove table wine. Why? Because often these are the small winemakers who only make enough for themselves and their customers. Some of these are incredible, and you should enjoy them while you’re there.
Vermouth, vinegar, and cooking wines, like marsala, are more for mixing.
So, where do we stand? Still close to a thousand wines.
What is a Vino I.G.P.?
We need to start with an I.G.P. Weren’t they a grocery chain?
An I.G.P. is an Indicazione Geografica Protetta. In English, it means they can trace some part of a product back to its geographical origin.
With wine, it can include the region where the grapes grow, they process them or where they produce the wine.
These wines have a do and don’t list of how to grow the grape, harvest, process, etc. Even what they can and cannot say on the label.
If an I.G.P. wine proves itself, it can aspire to become a D.O.C. wine
D.O.C.
D.O.C. (Denominazione di Origine Controllata) or Denomination of Controlled Origin is a label from the 1960s. In an attempt to organize their wines, similar to the French, they began regulating.
Or if you ask an Italian vintner, controlling and taxing.
The D.O.C. wines undergo even more scrutiny than the I.G.P. They mandate the production area, grape varieties, and styles of wine. But wait, there’s more.
They tell the winemakers what proportions of each grape they can use, the alcohol levels, and even the color. It sounds like a lot of work for the winemakers, but it makes for some tasty vino.
So we have good and better wine. But there’s always somebody that needs to prove themselves.
D.O.C.G.
In the 1980s, several regions decide it is not fair to lump them in with all the other wines.
The Ministry of Agriculture was more than happy to step in and add more regulation and more taxes. Now we have the D.O.C.G. status.
Not only do these wines meet all the regulations of the D.O.C.s, but they Guarantee the Origin.
In the beginning, there are only five wines that can make the class.
- Barolo (from Piedmont)
- Barbaresco (from Piedmont)
- Brunello di Montalcino (from Tuscany)
- Chianti (from Tuscany)
- Vino Nobile di Montepulciano (from Tuscany)
Italian Vino Made Easy
Alrighty, we have the wines thinned down to the I.G.P., the D.O.C., and the D.O.C.G. These are great wines, and there can only be a few of them, right?
At last count, there are close to 120 I.G.P., more than 300 D.O.C., and over 70 D.O.C.G. wines. Hey, we’re below 500 for now.
Maybe that’s why I gave up trying to understand Italian wine many years ago.
I usually drink the house wine and rarely are they disappointing, although the few times were spectacularly disappointing.
But if you are currently not sitting in a trattoria in Tuscany, getting a house wine may be difficult.
Do not fear. Your hometown probably has one good wine shop that can help you find excellent Italian wine. If not, go to Italy. I think that’s a valid reason.
Where The Grape Is Growing
The subject of Italian wine is so vast that there are whole institutes to grapes, wineries, and production.
The University of Gastronomic Sciences, set up by the Slow Food Association, even has a wine bank nearby.
The “bank” holds more than 100,000 bottles of Italian wine intending to preserve Italian wine’s historical importance. It is open to the public and does host tastings.
It seems like you could make a day of Italian vino. Well, you can. Or a weekend, a week, a month…
There is not enough space here to mention all 20 regions. But let’s look at the top three for wine exploration.
Veneto Vino
This region currently produces the most substantial amount of Italian wine, and most people have no idea where it is. It surrounds Venice on the west, north, and east. People go to Venice and have no idea what lies just across the lagoon.
The “big three” wines from this region are Amarone, Soave, and Prosecco.
Amarone is a vibrant dry red that they make in the Valpolachello region near Verona.
Soave is a white wine that improves with age. It comes from the region in Northeast Italy around the town of the same name.
Prosecco, the Italian sparkling wine, is in numerous provinces across the Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia wine regions. The village of Prosecco is just north of Trieste.
You could easily make a long weekend out of touring any one of these regions. Don’t forget to try the local cuisine, the perfect pairing for these wines.
Then there are the medieval towns, UNESCO sites of Andrea Palladio, and the Alps to explore.
Tuscany (Toscana) Vino
Although not one of the biggest vino producing areas, it certainly makes up for it in quality.
Super reds include wines from the Chianti and Montalcino (Brunello and Vino Nobile) regions.
In the 1970s, the Super Tuscans make a big splash. They are “table wines” from the winemakers in Chianti. Table Wines?
The winemakers snap from the meddling of the government into how they could and could not make Chianti. By calling them table wine, they could go back to their way.
Today, many of them are D.O.C. wines due to the Ministry of Agriculture softening the regulations and tariffs.
So is Tuscany only for hearty reds? Hardly! They also excel at dessert wines such as the Vin Santo.
White wine lovers need to sample the Vernaccia.
Pair it with Tuscan cuisine in between touring Sienna, San Gimignano, or Florence.
The Tuscany region stretches from the border of San Marino west to the shores of the Ligurian Sea. This area includes Livorno, Lucca, and Pisa.
Piemonte (Piedmont) Vino
Locals call it pee-ay-MON-tay, tourists call it peed-mont. And too many non-Italians have no idea where or what it is.
It stretches from the Swiss border to the north to the French border on the west. The coastal region of Liguria (Genoa) is to the south and Lombardy (Milan) to the east. Torino (Turin) sits almost in the middle. That answers the where, but what about the “what?”
Here you will find a new region with many grapes you do not see in other parts of Italy.
Reds make up almost 70% of the Piemonte wines. Barbera, Nebbiolo, and Dolcetto being the front runners.
But do not count the whites out. Moscato, Cortese, and Arneis are all worth a taste.
How vital is Piemonte in Italian wine history? UNESCO includes it in their Vino vineyard Landscape of Piedmont: Langhe-Roero and Monferrato World Heritage listing.
As for sightseeing, the UNESCO Royal House of Savoy has more than 20 palaces and villas to explore.
The cuisine is also incredible. Let me sum it up in three words, cheese, chocolate, and truffles — almost all of my food groups.
Italian Wine Summary
By narrowing it down to one region, it must be easier to get a grip on Italian wine now, right? Well…
Venato has 10 I.G.P, 29 D.O.C., and 14 D.O.C.G. zones.
Tuscany has 6 I.G.P, 41 D.O.C., and 11 D.O.C.G. zones.
Piemonte has no I.G.P. wines currently. However, they have the most Italian D.O.C. 42, and the most D.O.C.G. zones, 17.
Is it still overwhelming? Thank goodness for the Strada del Vini, the wine route.
Starting with the Prosecco wine route in 2010, Italy now has more than 140 wine routes. There’s one for just about every wine drinker.
Salud (Health), not salut, is one Italian toast.
Cin-Cin (Chin Chin) is the informal Italian toast for Cheers!
To read more on Italian wine, click here.
“See the World” Continued on Page T3 “Taste the World” Continued on T11
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