The Land of Thousand Vines! An overview of the Italian Wine!

One name given to Italy by the Greeks was Enotria- a land of thousand vines. Nowadays with this treasure throve of indigenous grape varieties (more than 1000 with 400 officially recommended) an army of adventurous producers and new emerging regions there is no doubt that Italy comes as the most dynamic wine place in the world. And there seems to be no end of the indigenous grape renaissance with the recent creation of the National Forum of Indigenous Vines. Some of them are so successful that it had led to their export from their original areas. For example Teroldego from Trentino has started to be planted in Valpolicella and also Tuscany, Fruili's Refosco to Puglia and Campania's Fiano to Sicily. Of course classic wines like Chianti, Barolo, Amarone and recently even Pinot Grigio will always have their place of fortune but on the back of their success it is fair to say that Italy has managed to raise the profile of not so famous wines made from Barbera, Montepulciano, Negroamaro, Primitivo, Nero d'Avola, Dolcetto etc. And if these names sound familiar how about wines made from Freisa, Pignoletto, Gialla, Roscetto,Pallagrello, Aleatico, Ruche, Groppello, Magliocco, Nerello Mascalese, and Lagrein. 

PIEDMONTE (PIEDMONT) In Italy everyone agrees that the future of Italian wine is connected with their capacity to produce wines linked to distinctive regions. This is easy to be seen from the international success of wines like Barolo and Barbaresco, closely linked to Piedmonte but driving in success for Gavi, Barbera and Dolcetto.

TUSCANY In Tuscany Chianti is what Barolo is for Piedmonte and still remains the nucleus of its viniculture but shares its ascent with Brunello di Montalcino and helps for the resurrection of Rosso di Montalcino and the rejuvenation of Vernaccia di San Gimignano. Here the Antinori's Tignanello released in the 1970s launched the new style of Italian red wine and the Sangiovese/Cabernet blends followed from almost every respectable Azienda Vitivinicola.

VENETO Valpolicella and Amarone in Veneto together with Prosecco and Soave paved the way for the heavenly sweet Torcolato and the rare Raboso.

MARCHES Verdichio put the Marches area on the map and brought Rosso Piceno(Sangiovese based ) and Lacrima di Moro.

EMILIA-ROMAGNA There is a question if Lambrusco from Emilia-Romagna did good or bad but there are jewels to be found there in the name of Pignoletto (still & sparkling), Gutturnio (sometimes frizante from Barbera and Bonarda) and the gently sweet Pigadebit not to mention the often biggest bargain in the face of Sangiovese di Romagna.

PUGLIA In Puglia, the Italys biggest producer (has overtaken Veneto lately) with more than 1 billion litres of wine per year the trend is to reduce the quantity of blending wine and concentrate on local uvas (grapes) like Negroamaro and Uva di Troia and Greco di Tufo. It has drawn the attention of the flying sorcerers (winemakers) and Kym Milne has made a delicious Rose there.

CAMPAGNA, CALABRIA AND BASILICATA Campagna, Calabria and Basilicata are thought to be the cradle of Italian wine making and here is where the Greeks have planted Greco, Fiano and Aglianico more than 2000 years ago which are proving great success in the wines of Taurasi, Greco di Tufo, Fiano di Avelino and Aglianico del Vulture.

SICILY Sicily is best known of course for Marsala ( a fortified wine with great potential, excellent for cooking too) but it seems that in Italy and all over the world its wines are simply irresistible whether they be spicy nutty different Grillos or juicy Nero d'Avolas. And all though the indigenous revolution has not by passed this vinous heaven there are fantastic full bodied Cabernets, spicy complex Syrahs and meaty Chardonnays worth mentioning. The sweet wine of Italy for 2005 is Passito di Pantelleria 1976 by Salvatore Murana and the passitos of Sicily are well worth looking for. As a whole Italy is going strong and the drive is towards less concentrated wines that owe less to international tastes and more to local varieties. It could not be called renaissance as it is more of a transformation an exciting symbioses of old and new that is bringing Italy in its golden age.

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