Italy Section 4 - Sept 2007

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Section 4 – The Wines of Italy

Overview of the Regions, Wines & Grapes of Italy

General

Italy is one of the largest wine producers and consumers in the world. Wine hasbeen made in the region for over four thousand years, and has been famoussince the time of the Greeks. The diversity of its wines is incredible and thequality potential nearly limitless, yet it has suffered an ongoing image problem.Italy has been a victim of over production, many people coming to know ItalianWine through less than stellar examples. Another issue is the great diversity ofwines, which can also be detrimental, making it difficult for the average consumerto find recognizable names on the shelves.

Italian Wine Law

The first serious attempt at establishing a coherent system of laws came in 1963,and although these laws were fraught with problems, they paved the way for thecurrents laws, known as the Goria Laws (named after the minister who passedthem) of 1992. This set of laws attempted to tie loose ends and created the nowvery popular IGT category, among other improvements.Italian wine law is modeled on the AOC systemof France, but has an additional ‘highest’ tier.Below is a list and description of each category,starting from the lowest catgory:

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Vino da Tavola (VdT): These winesare generic, simple wines that are notallowed to carry a vintage, grapevariety or specific region’s name onthe label.

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Indicazione Geografica Tipica (IGT):This appellation was introduced withthe 1992 legislation. The purpose of this law was to elevate the best ofthe regional VdTs to a better category without having to include themin the next higher category, the DOC. This category is the equivalent ofthe Vin de Pays of France, allowing the producer to name a region, agrape variety and a vintage on the label. Additionally, IGTs allow moreflexibility when it comes to grape varieties, giving producers theopportunity to grow foreign varieties without having to be dropped intothe generic VdT category.

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Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOC): Wines in this categorystate their region of origin of origin on the label and must follow certainstandards in order to be able to use the appellation. This is roughly theequivalent of the French AOC, requiring specific vineyard and winerypractices, as well as limiting or mandating the types of grape varietiesthat may be used. Most of the better known wines of Italy fall under thiscategory.

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Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG): Thehighest and strictest of the Italian categories. This category wasdesigned to embrace only the best of Italian wines, although somecontentious promotions have been made. DOCG wines display aspecial paper seal on the neck of the bottle. The majority of the winesawarded this distinction truly represent the greatest examples of Italianwine at its best. With the passage of the 1992 law, significant individualsub-regions and single vineyards may be specified on the label.A few other terms often seen on labels are:

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Classico: This designation is applied to wines made in the original,historical region of production for that particular wine, beforesubsequent expansions of the appellation. These are usually the bestexamples of a particular type of wine.

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Riserva: This term denotes ageing (or additional ageing) in cask, andis generally a sign of higher quality.

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Frizzante: Lightly sparkling, not as bubbly as a regular sparkling wine.

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Spumante: Fully sparkling wine.

Regions of Italy

Three regions will be discussed in this section: Piedmont, in the northwest; theVeneto in the Northeast; and Tuscany in the central part of Italy.

Piedmont

This region has an outstanding reputation for red wine production. Piedmont’swine producing region sits, for the most part, at the foothills of the Italian Alps,and its name means ‘at the foot of the mountains’.

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Barolo DOCG: Considered by some to be the best of all Italian wines,often called the ‘king of Italian’. The wine is named after a village butwine can also be made in some of the surrounding areas. It is madeexclusively from the Nebbiolo grape, and can be rich, powerful andcomplex. It is very tannic in youth, and the best take many years todevelop. Four years of wood ageing required for Riserva designation,five years for Riserva Speciale.

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Barbaresco DOCG: Also made from Nebbiolo and named for after thetown of the same name, and its surrounding areas. A more ‘softer’version of Barolo, in many cases it can be extremely powerful and age-worthy. A little more approachable at a younger age.

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Gattinara DOCG: Also made from Nebbiolo (called Spanna in thisregion), this area sits north of both Barolo and Barbaresco and

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