Where passion and tradition meet a few thousand grape varieties

As a vino superpower second only to France, Italy produces 20 per cent of the world’s wine. It boasts a winemaking lineage that goes back to the time of Christ and the country is home to an estimated 2,000 grape varieties. Italians are passionate about their wine, grapes, technique and tradition, and even their wine-making regulations are steeped in the sort of controversy only 2,000 years of legacy can create. And, if you’ve ever been caught cheering for the wrong team at a soccer game — you know, Italians love expressing themselves!

Italian wine: The big picture

Italy is divided into 20 growing regions, with the cooler, alpine climate to the north recognized mainly for white varietals, while the warmer central and southern regions are home to the beloved reds. Typical of the old world, Italian’s cherish their terrior — a French term that loosely means “everything that is the territory.” That includes the soil, climate, weeds, worms, birds, pollen, even the angle of the sun — anything that contributes to the viticulture.

Italy’s terrior varies considerably between the hot islands of the south, such as Sicily, to dry central planes and a cooler, mountainous north. This contrast produces wines that are incredibly diverse, even from the same grape.

Cool white Italian wines

There are about 17 notable white grape varieties in Italy with pinot grigio being the most popular. Similar to, but much less intense than its French counterpart pinot gris, wines made from pinot grigio tend to be light-bodied and pale with hints of fruit and mineral.

Suggestion:

Cavit Pinot Grigio Delle Venezie, Ca’Vit-Consorzio Cantine Sociali, Venezie IGT, Italy, $11.20

Trebbiano is the somewhat maligned white grape that along with garganega makes up Soave wine. Soave is the ultimate picnic wine, light-bodied with pear, apple or floral notes — excellent with cold cuts, salads or smoked meats.

Suggestion:

Pieropan Soave Classico 2005, Soave DOC, Italy, $16.95

Red hot Italian wines

Fickle would be a good word to describe sangiovese, Italy’s signature red grape. It produces high yields (which is a bad thing for flavour), it has dense clusters so it doesn’t ripen evenly, it’s picky about the soil where it’s planted and the climate where it grows and it’s thin skinned to boot, which makes it prone to rot. And it hasn’t even been turned into wine yet. Even with this reputation, 16 out of 20 wine regions in Italy produce sangiovese and the result, when done properly, is a wine that is refined, elegant and very Italian. Sangiovese wines are generally medium in body and colour with firm tannins, and have hints of cherries and herbs. They pair, not surprisingly, with classic Italian food such as tomato-based pastas.

Suggestion:

Tenuta Santedame Chianti Classico, Ruffino, Tuscany DOCG, Italy, 2004, $18.90

Primitivo is a lesser-known Italian red that has received much attention after a DNA paternity suit revealed that it’s the long lost identical twin to the Californian zinfandel. Primitivo is full-bodied, with berry and spice qualities that go great with roasted game and meats.

Suggestion:

A. Mano Primitivo 2003, Taranto, Italy, IGT, $15.95

Montepulciano is the working class grape of Italy. It is easy to grow and yields a straightforward wine that is medium-bodied with red fruit and toast qualities. Montepulciano goes great with hearty pastas, spicy pizza and tomato-based dishes.

Suggestion:

Farnese Montepulciano Casale Vecchio, d’Abruzzo DOC., Italy, $12.45

Sacrificing tradition to save it

Like our VQA quality designation Italy has a classification system — and with a reputation for bureaucracy, it’s no surprise that Italy has three regulatory designations: DOCG, DOC and IGT. The DOCG/DOC regulations are in place to preserve traditional Italian winemaking.

The DOCG (controlled and guaranteed denomination of origin) is the most rigid standard and strictly guarantees the grape’s origin, growing area and tightly regulates vinification, taste and chemical composition. The DOC classification (controlled denomination of origin) is a subset of the DOCG and is similar to France’s appellation control. DOC guarantees the region of origin as well as vineyard and winery practices.

After years of declining market share to the juicy-jammy, big and bouncy new world wines, Italy made a controversial decision and created the IGT (indicazione geografica tipica) designation in 1995.

IGT regions are generally much larger than DOC and regulations under IGT allow winemakers to break from tradition and blend from a much broader palate of grapes. This allowed Italian winemakers to update their product and created a mini-renaissance in the ’90s. Unfortunately, the success was short-lived, but the long-term outcome allowed Italians to update their flavours. More importantly, the side-effect created more prestige for the classic regulatory designations, and a much needed shot in the arm for a few thousand years of tradition.

First published at CanadianLiving.com