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How To Buy Italy
HOW TO BUY ITALY
Italy's wines are wonderfully diverse. The Italians' individuality and long history, and stubborn
campanilismo (hometown pride) has developed 330 recognised DOC (Denominazione di Origine
Controllata) wine denominations, not to mention 70 DOCGs (Denominazione di Origine Controllata e
Garantita) with more rigorous rules, and over 120 broader regional district IGTs (Indicazione Geografica
Tipica). There are more than 100 different grape varieties in commercial use – and while it is not possible to
describe them all here, we can give broad pointers to help you understand the most important differences
between the regions, flavours and most widespread grape varieties.
Sebastian Payne MW
Buyer
The Author
Nicolas Belfrage became a Master of Wine in 1980 and is widely acknowledged as an
authority on Italian wines. He writes for numerous wine publications and has published
several books, including: Life Beyond Lambrusco; Barolo to Valpolicella, the Wines of
Northern Italy; and Brunello to Zibibbo, the Wines of Tuscany, Central and Southern
Italy. His most recent book, The Finest Wines of Tuscany and Central Italy, was
published by Aurum Press in August 2009.
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How To Buy Italy
EXPLAINING ITALIAN WINE
When we think of Italian wine two words spring to mind:
diversity and confusion. Diversity comes from thousands of
years of tradition: a vine-land that stretches from the latitude
of Burgundy in the north to that of Tunisia in the south, from
under 10 to more than 1,000 metres above sea-level; and
from a plethora of grape varieties the like of which the rest of
the world together cannot match. The confusion comes
from… the diversity. How is it possible to make sense of all
those grapes, places, DOC and IGT names, not to mention
vineyards and brands, most of which, to the average nonItalian-speaker, are so difficult to pronounce?
The answer, you may be disappointed to learn, is that it isn't
possible. Not entirely. What this article sets out to do,
therefore, is not to reduce all to brilliant clarity but to make as much sense of Italian wine as we can in a limited
space by reference to the most important factor of all: the wine in the bottle.
The zones
Every one of Italy's 20 regions grows wine grapes. However, four distinctive macro-zones can be discerned:
Northwest, Northeast, Centre and South. Very succinctly, the Northwest is the area that has upheld quality
principles longest; the Northeast has achieved the best blend of traditional and modern; the Centre is the home of
the recent Italian wine 'renaissance'; and the South is the most traditional.
The grapes
The grape variety is the most important single quality factor in wine, so we will be giving it due prominence. I
have also given some pronunciation tips in the text in places or you may find The Society's grape pronunciation
guide to be of additional help.
The terrain
'Enotria', as vinous Italy is sometimes called ('land of wine' in Greek), is so diverse soil-wise that only
generalisation is possible. Suffice to say that, in this largely hilly/mountainous country, there is a great deal of
land not suitable for crops other than the vine and its soul mate, the olive tree. The truism that great wine comes
from poor soil is demonstrated, over and over again, in Italy.
The law
The basic Italian quality designation is Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOC). This is equivalent to
France's appellation d'origine contrôlée, and sets the rules or parameters within which producers in a demarcated
territory must work in order to qualify for DOC status. At the time of writing, there are 330 DOCs and 70 DOCGs
(the 'G' standing for garantita or 'guaranteed'), the latter being supposedly the top wines of the land. (BUT see
notes for Flaccianello in the section on Tuscany.)
There is another territory-linked classification, much less stringent than DOC, called Indicazione Geografica
Tipica (IGT), more or less equivalent to France's vin de pays. Anything that does not fit into these categories is
classed as Vino da Tavola, without the right to include a vintage, place name or grape variety on the label.
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How To Buy Italy
THE NORTHWEST
The four regions which make up this zone, Piedmont, Valle
d'Aosta, Liguria and Lombardy, border France and/or
Switzerland and have a Gallic/sub-alpine feel about them.
Valle d'Aosta, under the shadow of Mont Blanc, makes
limited quantities of mountain-fresh wines from French or
French-sounding varieties like blanc de Morgex, petite arvine,
petit rouge, gamay, pinot noir and fumin. Liguria is basically
an extension of the French Riviera, its mainly white wines
consumed almost entirely by passing tourists. Lombardy is
more removed from France, but produces considerable
volumes of pinot noir, pinot grigio, chardonnay, cabernet and
sauvignon in Oltrepò Pavese and other sub-zones.
Lombardy's main claim to vinous fame is Franciacorta, whose
DOCG sparkling wines are basically Champagne lookalikes.
Her most distinctive wines, however, come from the nebbiolo
grape (here called chiavennasca – kya-ven-NAS-ka), grown in Valtellina on steep slopes near the Swiss border.
By far the most important wine region is Piedmont, boasting a unique range of good to great grape varieties. On
the red side there is dolcetto which makes Beaujolais-like light, vivacious, bursting-with-fruit wines generally for
early consumption. But with a longer maceration and some wood-ageing, dolcetto can make a wine of
considerable depth, complexity and even longevity. Then there's barbera, a classic pizza pasta wine if ever there
was one, with its zingy acidity and smooth tannins. Barbera too, however, can reach elevated quality heights in
certain hands, and lends itself well to ageing in small French oak barriques. And there are others: freisa, rouchet,
grignolino, brachetto, pelaverga, bonarda, croatina and vespolina.
But king of all Northwest red grape varieties is early budding, late
ripening nebbiolo. A peculiarity of nebbiolo is that, unlike other
'major' grapes, it only makes great wines in the proximity of the
Piedmont town of Alba (which is also the world capital for white
truffles). Its two signature wines are Barolo, named for a village
south and west of Alba, and Barbaresco, named after a village just
to the east.
What is there about this relatively tiny area that here and here alone
can be made from the nebbiolo grape wines of such contradictory
characteristics as power and elegance, structure and succulence,
immediacy and length? There is only one word that can sum it up:
terroir. It is not just the soil, although the mix of clay and limestone,
with sand in parts, is certainly a principal contributor. It has also to
do with the climate, mainly continental thanks to the proximity, to
north and west, of Europe's greatest mountain range, but
influenced, too, by the warmer airs of the Mediterranean just
beyond the Maritime Alps to the south.
By law, Barolo and Barbaresco must be 100% nebbiolo, most of the
other denominations mentioned being allowed a small addition of
other specified grapes. Barolo must be aged three years of which two are in wood; Barbaresco two years, of
which one is in wood.
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Whites of the NorthWest
Traditionally Italy has been noted mainly for its red wines than for its whites, but that situation is changing fast. A
well-known wine writer and critic recently wrote that Italian white wines need fear nothing from France. There are
some grape varieties of real diversity and interest.
Out of Piedmont there is peachy, silk-textured arneis, a variety that not so long ago was threatened with
extinction. It took a few bold growers and a complete re-think of the vinification system to snatch victory from the
jaws of defeat. More traditionally, from the southeast corner of the region, there is cortese, the grape of limescented Gavi. Then there is musky moscato, which makes light sweet wines like Moscato d'Asti and Asti
Spumante.
Lots of sweet and dry sparkling wine comes from Piedmont, but it is often of industrial quality. Lombardy's
Franciacorta, however, has the grapes and the quality of Champagne, and enjoys a steadily growing reputation
among sparkling wine connoisseurs. Lesser, but more economical sparkling wines come from the area south of
Milan called Oltrepo Pavese. Oltrepo is also a major source of Italy's most famous white, Pinot Grigio.
THE NORTHEAST
Just three regions constitute this macro-zone, but they are all important oenologically – two of them mainly for
whites. Trentino-Alto Adige, is entirely alpine, and the other two, Veneto and Friuli-Venezia Giulia, are divided
between mountain, foothill, plain and seacoast, bordering Austria to the north and Slovenia to the east.
Trentino-Alto Adige is effectively two separate provinces, having little in common except a name. Alto Adige has
been administratively part of Italy (although officially 'autonomous') for less than a century, and the principal
language remains German, as does the architecture, cuisine, the very soul. It is a magical land of soaring
mountains above valley floors covered in apple trees, the lower and middle slopes of the mountains being
devoted to vineyards, villages, woodland and sheer vertically looming rock.
The grapes are a broad mix of Gallic, Germanic and native, the two main red grapes being schiava and lagrein.
The former is lightweight but eminently quaffable variety, the latter a sturdy, worthy winter warmer. Cabernet
(both types) and merlot are grown here, but rarely manage to shed that vegetal note which would mark them in
Bordeaux as not fully ripe. Pinot noir, on the other hand, can be fine and potentially long lived. To the south,
thoroughly Italian Trentino, with teroldego batting here for lagrein, is very similar oenologically to its Teutonic
neighbour, but controlled, alas, by vast industrial co-operatives.
As in Trentino-Alto Adige, red wines (as distinct from whites) in FriuliVenezia Giulia have never really taken off internationally, for all the hype
they receive in Italy itself. Again, this applies mostly to the imported
varieties, though there are some interesting home-grown reds like
schioppettino, tazzelenghe, pignolo and refosco.
Veneto, on the other hand, is big in quantity, big in mediocrity, but also
big in top-quality reds. The eastern plainlands and central hills bring forth
large volumes of very boring French and Italian varietal reds, but the
foothills of the Alps to the northeast and northwest of the historic town of
Verona are responsible for some of the most individual red wines known
to man.
I refer to Valpolicella. Real Valpolicella – not the cheap stuff of old – can,
like its neighbour Bardolino, be light but remarkably focused and intense,
redolent of cherries and herbs. Valpolicella Ripasso – where the straight
Valpolicella is poured back over the lees of Recioto/Amarone after
vinification for a small refermentation – is a wine of medium weight,
surprisingly full and complex, and unique. The great Valpolicellas are
called Amarone – big, rich and full and almost dry; or, under the more
historic name of Recioto, sweet and Port like, but with a big bite of
bitterness at the back to cut the jamminess. Unlike Port, it should be said, all the richness or sweetness of
Amarone/Recioto comes from the drying of the grapes or appassimento, which can last, under the roof of the
winery, from four to six months. There is no addition of alcohol.
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The grapes of Valpolicella are a mixed bag, but consist mainly of corvina, corvinone and rondinella, with small,
optional amounts of the local negrara, dindarella and oseleta, or the international cabernets sauvignon or franc
and the Piedmont croatina and even nebbiolo.
Whites of the NorthEast
But the principal grapes of the northeast, apart from Valpolicella's corvina and corvinone, are white. In Alto Adige
there is a mix of French, German and Austrian varieties, the stars of today's market being pinot grigio and pinot
bianco, although chardonnay and sauvignon, riesling, müller thurgau, traminer and grüner veltliner all do
well in the right site. The growers of Alto Adige can play on altitude and exposure to get the best of these grapes,
and there are some stunning examples of, for example, sauvignon from 700 meters up or müller thurgau from
over 1000 m.
The grapes that succeed in Alto Adige are to be found also in Trentino, though not quite at the same quality level.
The pinot brothers, chardonnay, sauvignon plus a smattering of characterful local varieties like verduzzo and
ribolla gialla.
Veneto is the major volume wine-producer of the north. Some of it is large-volume and modestly priced, generally
good-value whites like pinot grigio and chardonnay, but there are some unique zones putting out whites of
incomparable personality like Soave with its garganega grape and, with a bit of a sparkle, Prosecco with its
glera grape.
CENTRAL ITALY
Red Wines
This is a vast area covering the regions of Tuscany, Umbria
and Lazio to the west of the Apennines; Emilia-Romagna,
Marche, Abruzzo and Molise to the east. Unlike the
Northwest and Northeast, it is not represented by a wide
variety of red grapes, but by two or three, of which one is
very dominant: sangiovese. This is certainly the case in
Romagna, where sangiovese-based wines can be anything
from industrial to excellent.
Tuscany, of course, is the real home of sangiovese, and
other native grapes like canaiolo, colorino and ciliegiolo very
much play second or third fiddle. In recent decades cabernet
sauvignon, cabernet franc, merlot and syrah, have proved
their worth in this warmer, Mediterranean climate.
There are some top sangioveses from Umbria, notably from Torgiano, but the real feather in Umbria's cap is
sagrantino, an extraordinary grape of full and complex flavour and fierce tannins, which is almost entirely grown
round the small town of Montefalco.
At present there is nothing of great excitement from Lazio – some sangiovese, some merlot, some cesanese, a
local variety. But they're working on it.
Across the mountains from Umbria is Le Marche, where some fairly mediocre sangiovese is compensated for by
some very fine montepulciano from denominations like Rosso Conero and Rosso Piceno. It is important here to
distinguish between the Tuscan tourist town of Montepulciano, where they make Vino Nobile from the sangiovese
grape, and the montepulciano grape which thrives almost entirely on the east coast. There is no relation.
Montepulciano (the grape) really comes into its own in Abruzzo, under the name Montepulciano d'Abruzzo. Cooperatives rule, and most wine is good honest plonk, but there are too some truly outstanding wines, both red
and rosé (which they call Cerasuolo: chair-a-ZWO-lo). Molise, winewise, is more or less an extension of
Abruzzo.
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Sangiovese In Tuscany
Sangiovese may be ubiquitous, but it is a temperamental variety, unpredictable from year to year and place to
place, very sensitive to climate variations and inclined to over produce if not carefully tended. The best sub-zones
(in Tuscany) are Montalcino, where Brunello di Montalcino and Rosso di Montalcino are made in 100% varietal
form; and Chianti Classico, in the hilly heart of Tuscany. Sangiovese-based wines of excellence may also come
from Montepulciano (the town), Rufina and Carmignano. Coastal wines like Morellino di Scansano can be very
user-friendly, as can the more inland growths of Montecucco, Colli Senesi and Colli Fiorentini. Wines from too
cool a micro climate, on the other hand, will tend to acerbity and toughness.
White Wines
Tuscany, so famous for red wines, is relatively poor in top
whites. There are whites - Vernaccia di San Gimignano,
some Vermentinos from the Tyrrhenian coast, the odd
trebbiano, often blended with chardonnay or sauvignon or
something else - but they are unremarkable. To get whites of
real character from Central Italy one has to cross the
Apennines to Le Marche, where Verdicchio, perhaps Italy's
most versatile white grape, thrives. Another delicious prospect
is, or can be, pecorino from Abruzzo. And Rome, in the
region of Lazio, has its distinctive Frascati, from a version of
malvasia. However, Verdicchio aside, there is nothing in
Central Italy's white grape armory to match the fascination of
the whites of Campania.
The law (Central Italy)
In the 1970s, quality-conscious Tuscan producers decided that, rather than be bound by what they regarded as
anti-quality regulations, they would categorise their wines at the lowest, and therefore most permissive, legal
level, Vino da Tavola. These and other wines, though expensive (because made from low-cropped grapes and
aged in expensive oak barrels), caught the imagination of the world's wine drinkers and by the 1980s had
become the 'in' thing, unofficially christened 'Supertuscans'. Later these were re-designated IGT, still a form of
VdaT but of less humble prestige. The most recent effort to return these quality wines to respectability in the eyes
of the law is Chianti Classico's new super-DOCG, 'Gran Selezione', supposedly at the peak at the 'quality
pyramid'.
SOUTHERN ITALY
Red Wines
Another huge area this, including, on the mainland, Campania, Calabria,
Basilicata, and Puglia, as well as the islands of Sicily and Sardinia.
Campania, the region of which Naples is the capital, is the point of origin of
one of Italy's outstanding red grapes, aglianico (a-LYA-neeco). It thrives
particularly on the Apennine heights of Campania and in that part of the
mountainous terrain of Basilicata which is the Monte Vulture (VOOL-too-ray)
area. It ripens very late, often well into November, and buds early, so is
vulnerable to mountain frosts in early spring and late autumn. But it brings
forth wines of real complexity, occasionally great wines for long ageing. The
only other native red grape of note from here is the relatively straightforward
piedirosso.
Puglia is by far the largest wine-producing region of the southern mainland,
annually rivalling Sicily and Veneto for top spot in the volume stakes. The
montepulciano grape is to be found from north to south of this 360 kilometrelong region, and uva di troia is important in the middle, but the two most
individual native varieties of Puglia both hail from the southern tip known as the Salento. Primitivo, a relative of
California's zinfandel, makes wine of Porty style, though dry, in the hinterlands of the port of Taranto.
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Negroamaro ('black/bitter') is behind a number of DOCs of the tip of the heel, notably Salice Salentino and
Brindisi.
Calabria is huge, you'd think ideal for viticulture, but little has emerged from there in recent centuries with the
honourable exception of Cirò, a zone whose most characteristic wines come from the gaglioppo (ga-LYOP-po)
grape.
Sicily has recently gained a reputation as the 'California of Italy', perhaps because of the industrial size of some
of its main wineries, as well as the international style of some of its wines, based on the local hero nero d'avola
with the rapidly increasing help of syrah and other French varieties. In recent years there has been a burst of
creativity from the volcano Etna, the main grapes of the high quality red wines of which are nerelloc mascalese
and nerello capuccio.
Sardinia brings forth some good to excellent red wines from cannonau (aka grenache) and carignano (aka
carignan or mazuelo).
White Wines
As indicated above, Campania is a paradise for white wine lovers. Nobody is quite sure why but there is a
veritable wealth of interesting white wine varieties. The most important in volume terms is falanghina, which like
Verdicchio is capable of turning out a plethora of wine styles from sparkling to still, from simple to quite complex
- but always highly drinkable.
Other characterful whites from the mountainous areas to the east of Naples are fiano and greco - they, like
falanghina, are normally labelled varietally. From the coast, or indeed the islands (Ischia and Capri) come other
good white grapes like coda di volpe, biancolella,fForastera and asprinio.
Apart from Campania there is no great white wine producing zone in Italy's southern mainland, with the
honourable exception of a bit of 'greco' (actually malvasia) from the far south of Calabria. But whites do thrive in
Sicily in the shape of Entn's carricante and western Sicily's grillo, once only used for Marsala but today more
prevalent in dry full-flavoured wines.
Sardinia has its share of interesting white grapes as well, none more so than vermentino, the best of which hails
from the northeast corner known to wealthy tourists as the Costa Smeralda.
The law (southern Italy)
If you drive into a southern Italian town it could be hours before you find your way out again, such is the
confusion of road signs, or lack thereof. Something similar can be said of the laws governing wines from down
here – a plethora of names and grape varieties such as might require a university degree to unravel. One or two
of the several obscure DOCs are vaguely familiar – like Copertino, for example, or Brindisi. Arguably, though, It's
best when they stick to the regional IGT, 'Puglia', 'Sicilia' or 'Sardegna' – at least then the consumer has a chance
of knowing where he is. But only the islands follow this through with any conviction.
ROSE WINES
Some of the world's most characterful and intriguing rose wines come from Italy - from North to South and from
East to West.
From the Northwest, for example, there's muscatty, semi-sparkling brachetto. From the Northeast there is Lake
Garda's chiaretto, a blush-coloured wine of delicacy and quaffability. Central Italy boasts numerous tasty
Sangiovese-based rosés, under various names. But no rosé from the Centre is finer the Montepulciano
d'Abruzzo Cerasuolo.
The South's most significant contribution to the 'great rosés of the world' category are the wines of Puglia based
on the negroamaro grape, examples being Brindisi DOC and Salice Salentino DOC as well as Copertino DOC.
Sicily's nero d'Avola also makes some gutsy yet flowery rosé.
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