The Booklovers' Guide to Wine

by Patrick Alexander

  The Etruscans were planting vines, in today’s Tuscany, long before the Romans arrived (as were the Greeks and Phoenicians), but it was the Romans who first turned winemaking into a vast, slave-supported, global industry. Initially, as the Roman Empire expanded, wine was exported from Italy, but demand very quickly outpaced supply, which is why the Romans began planting vineyards in all their conquered territories.

  After the fall of the Roman Empire, however, we hear little of Italian wine. Unlike the French, Germans, and Portuguese, who could ship their wine to the thirsty English and Dutch markets by water, or the Spanish who had their vast empire to ship to, the Italians had no export market. Their immediate neighbors to the west, France and Spain, had no need of Italian wine; to the east, wine was forbidden by the Moslem rulers, while to the north, the Alps made the export of wine barrels an impossibility. Until the twentieth century, therefore, Italian wines were little known outside of Italy, and tended to be developed and drunk locally, with one Italian region having little knowledge or interest in the wines of another region.

  Things changed when Italians began immigrating to the Americas in the nineteenth century. Italians moving to South America, especially Argentina, were able to satisfy their thirst for wine by growing it locally, but Italians in North America, especially in New York, had no choice but to import wine from the Old Country.

  Unlike the French and Portuguese, who had for centuries developed regulations and high standards for their wines in order to compete in international markets, the Italians had no need to develop such standards. Consequently, when Italian wines began to appear on the international market, they were criticized both for their lack of quality as well as a lack of common standards. Following the Second World War, American soldiers returning from Italy had developed a taste for Chianti in its distinctive, straw-covered flasks, and its sudden international popularity led to over-production and eventually a declining reputation.

  In 1963, the government introduced a classification system based upon the French AOC system, and in 1992, this was modified to match the more stringent European Union standards. Italian wines now have three basic levels of classification:

  IGT: Indicazione Geografica Tipica, which merely confirms that the wine comes from a specific wine-growing area. There are about 120 IGTs in Italy.

  DOC: Denominazione di Origine Controllata, which confirms that the wine conforms to the various standards and regulations of that specific wine region. There about three hundred DOCs in Italy.

  DOCG: Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita, which confirms that the government has inspected the wines and performed various analytical tests before bottling. DOCG bottles always have a numbered governmental seal across the cap or cork. There are about fifty DOCGs in Italy.

  Italian Varietals: Although not quite as rigid as the French, different wine regions in Italy favor specific grape varietals. DOC and DOCG certification usually specify the grape to be used. Brunello di Montalcino, for example, must be made with 100 percent locally-grown Sangiovese grapes. Although international varietals such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay are to be found in Italy, the following is a list of the most common Italian varietals, clockwise by region starting in the northeast:

  Fruili-Venezia: (White) Pinot Grigio, Gewürztraminer.

  Venice/Verona: (Red) Corvina, Molinara; (White) Pinot Grigio, Trebbiano, Glera/Prosécco

  Abruzzo: (Red) Montepulciano; (White) Trebbiano

  Puglia: (Red) Primitivo, Negroamaro; (White) Trebbiano, Malvasia

  Sicily: (Red) Frappato Nero, Nerollo, Nero d’Avola; (White) Malvesia

  Umbria: (Red) Sangiovese; (White) Trebbiano, Grechetto, Malvasia

  Tuscany: (Red) Sangiovese; (White) Trebbiano, Malvasia

  Piedmont: (Red): Nebbiolo, Barbera, Dolcetto; (White) Arneis, Moscato, Cortese.

  North East Italy: The northeastern corner of Italy, encompassing the wine regions of Venice, Verona, and Friuli, is especially notable for three distinctly different types of wine.

  Prosécco: Originally the name of a grape grown by the Romans in the village of Prosecco, over the border near Trieste, it has been renamed as Glera and is the principal grape used to make Prosecco. Prosecco is a currently fashionable sparkling wine, made using the Charmat method which is cheaper and faster than the traditional Method Champenoise. In 2008, Italy produced 150 million bottles of Prosécco, many of which were consumed in Miami Beach night clubs.

  Pinot Grigio: Despite its international reputation as a bland and uninteresting wine, Pinot Grigio, from its home base north of Venice, warmed by the Italian sun and shielded by the Alps, is a refreshing and lively wine full of character and deserving of respect.

  Valpolicella: Valpolicella is a wine region east of Lake Garda near the city of Verona. The name apparently comes from the Roman legions who stocked up with the local wine as they moved north into Central Europe. The soldiers called the region vallis poly cellae (valley of many cellars), and greatly valued its high alcohol wines, which they called reticum. The otherwise unremarkable Valpolicella wines are made primarily from the Corvina grape, and can be drunk young like Beaujolais. However, since the time of the Greeks, select Corvina grapes have been placed in baskets and allowed to dry in the sun, desiccating like raisins and concentrating the sugars in a process called appassimento. The grapes chosen for this process are selected from the outside, “the ears” of the grape cluster, which have received the most sun and thus have the highest level of sugar. This form of wine is called Recioto della Valpolicella. (Recioto means ears in the local dialect.) After fermentation has finished, the remaining residual sugar makes this a very alcoholic dessert wine. This form of raisinated sweet wine dates back to the earliest days of winemaking in the Holy Land, when the Greeks and Romans called it Reticum or Recitium. The tradition continued through the Middle Ages with the trading fleets of Venice, which continued to ship this sweet wine to the royal courts of Europe, as alluded to in John Masefield’s poem “Cargoes:”

  Quinquireme of Nineveh from distant Ophir,

  Rowing home to haven in sunny Palestine,

  With a cargo of ivory,

  And apes and peacocks,

  Sandalwood, cedar-wood, and sweet white wine.

  A more modern form of Recioto was discovered in the 1950s, when producers started using strains of yeast that could consume all the residual sugars and thus increase the alcohol content to 18 percent or higher. This powerful dry red wine, which pairs perfectly with the local game and wild boar, is called Amarone della Valpolicella or more commonly, Amarone. The name Amarone means “the bitter one,” in contrast to the traditional sweet Recioto. Obviously, such a powerful wine needs to be aged, five years minimum, and ideally for ten or more years. Amarone is the most powerful, full-bodied wine on the market, often compared to Port, but without the sweetness.

  The lees, or residue, from the fermentation of both Recioto and Amarone can be used to produce Ripasso della Valpolicella by adding it to (or re-passing it through) regular Valpolicella wine to add extra alcohol and body. Ripasso is often referred to as a “poor man’s Amarone.”

  Northwest Italy: Piedmont literally means “foot of the mountains,” and protected by the Alps on three sides, it is a rich, agricultural area of hills leading down to the valley of the River Po. The wine industry is centered on the two towns of Asti and Alba, but the region is most known for two small villages which have given their names to the region’s most famous wines made from the Nebbiolo grape—Barbaresco and Barolo. Barbaresco grows at a slightly lower altitude than Barolo, and therefore the grapes ripen sooner and the tannins are less harsh, which, under DOCG rules, allows the wine to age one year less and so can be drunk sooner. Barolo, being more concentrated and having more tannin, must stay in the barrel one year longer than Barbaresco. Both these powerful wines unfortunately have been discovered by Robert Parker, and therefore the increased prices in recent y
ears have reflected his high approval rating. One particular wine from Barbaresco is called “Darmagi,” which means “what a pity” in Italian. Apparently, this is what the winemaker’s father said when he learned his son had planted Cabernet Sauvignon instead of the Nebbiolo grape to make his wine.

  Though Nebbiolo is the most famous red grape varietal in Piedmont and Barolo is Italy’s finest wine, Barbera is the most widely-planted, with Barbera d’Asti from the town of Asti being the most well-known. Not as tannic or structured as the Nebbiolo grape, Barbera has a light fruitiness, more like a Beaujolais.

  Asti, of course, is also famous for the sparkling white wine Asti Spumante, made from the Moscato grape, which, if nothing else, has the distinction of making Prosécco taste better by comparison. In addition to the Moscato grape which is usually sweet, Asti is also known for the Cortese varietal, which is pale-lemon in color, fragrant, and steely, of which the best-known is Cortese del Monferrato. The white wine from the rival town of Alba is made from the Arneis grape, which means “little rascal” in Piemontese. Roera Arneis, from just north of Alba, is noted for its crisp and floral taste and is becoming popular in American restaurants.

  Tuscany: Tuscany is the most famous wine region in Italy, noted for its Chianti, Brunello di Montalcino, and the Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, all of which are made with the Sangiovese grape. It is also, quite possibly, the oldest wine-producing region of Italy, as the Etruscans were producing wine here long before the emergence of Rome. It was the Romans who gave the grape its name—sanguis Jovis, or blood of Jove.

  Chianti is the wine-producing region in central Tuscany roughly bounded by Florence to the north, Pisa to the west, and Sienna in the south. For a long time, Chianti was known for its straw-covered flasks (fiasco), but now the wine is usually sold in regular Bordeaux style bottles. The Chianti region encompasses seven subregions, each with its own regulations concerning the production of the wine, but all Chianti wine must include a minimum of 80 percent locally-grown Sangiovese grape. Originally, Chianti also had to include at least 10 percent of the local white grapes, Malvasia and Trebbiano, but for the past twenty years this is no longer the law. Chianti Classico, lying between Florence and Sienna, is the largest of the subregions and is the original home of Chianti. Chianti Classico is the only wine that can carry the logo of the black rooster on the neck of the bottle. To qualify for the black rooster, the vineyards must also restrict their yield of grapes to less than 52.5 hectoliters per hectare, or about 228 cases per acre. Chianti wines tend to be medium-bodied with medium tannins, and are not noted for high alcohol. However, because of the variations between the soils and the blending regulations of the different subregions, Chianti demonstrates a wide variety of different styles and tastes.

  Super Tuscans: The DOCG regulations controlling the permitted varietals in Chianti used to be much stricter than they are now. During the 1970s and 80s, for a variety of reasons including overproduction to meet export demand, Chianti had developed a poor reputation and was perceived as thin and flabby. Many producers, therefore, rejected the DOCG regulations (and certification), and started blending the Sangiovese with more robust, locally-grown Cabernet Sauvignon grapes. Some growers even started producing a “Bordeaux” blend, using a locally-grown mix of the main varietals from Bordeaux. By the late 1980s, these “Super Tuscans, as they were known (and labeled only as IGTs), were fetching higher prices than the official DOCG Chiantis. During the 1990s, therefore, the regulatory Chianti DOC Board eased the restrictions so that Chiantis are now permitted to include such grape varietals as Cabernets and Merlots, and so many of the Super Tuscans are now being officially reclassified as Chiantis with DOCG certification.

  Brunello di Montalcino: Brunellos are a Sangiovese wine from the village of Montalcino, just south of Sienna, in what would otherwise be the southern reach of the Chianti Classico subregion. The local clone of the Sangiovese grape was first identified by the Biondi-Santi family in the mid nineteenth century as being especially suited to the commune’s soil, which is a mixture of limestone, clay, schist, volcanic earth, and a crumbly marl. The Montalcino terroir is higher and drier than the rest of Tuscany, and the wines have more tannins, more body, and a darker color than the regular Sangiovese wines of Chianti. Consequently, Brunellos, which must be 100 percent Sangiovese grapes, need to be aged for a minimum of two years in an oak barrel, and at least four months in a bottle, before being released to the market. Because Brunellos are some of the most expensive and sought after Italian wines, they have been the victims of major frauds which the Italian press refer to as “Brunellopoli.” The US government currently blocks imports of Brunello that do not have proof that they are 100 percent Sangiovese. According to the novelist Richard Condon, a bottle of Brunello di Montalcino is the only acceptable wine to serve to a self-respecting New York Mafia Don.

  Vino Nobile di Montepulciano: The Vino Nobile di Montepulciano received its DOCG status shortly after Brunello di Montalcino in 1980. The DOCG covers the Sangiovese wine of the Montepulciano area, which is the name of a village located in southeastern Tuscany. The wine received its name in the seventeenth century, when it was the favorite wine of the Tuscan nobility. The variety of Sangiovese in Montepulciano is known as Prugnolo Gentile, and is required to account for at least 80 percent of the wine. The wine should not be confused with another Italian wine, Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, which is the name of a varietal grown in the province of Abruzzo on the Adriatic coast of Italy facing Albania.

  Pouilly Fumé and Pouilly Fuissé are often confused because they sound the same, but in fact, they are simply the names of two French villages—the first known for its Sauvignon Blanc and the second for its Chardonnay. In the same way, Montepulciano is the name of a grape grown in the province of Abruzzo, and it is also the name of a village in Tuscany where the wine is made from the local Sangiovese grape. Both these examples illustrate the possible confusion between terroir and varietal.

  Vino Santo: The origin of the name “Holy Wine” is obscure. Possibly, the wines originally were brought from the island of Santorini by Venetian merchants, who labeled it San/Vin, or possibly it became associated with the Church because the priests preferred to use it during Mass.

  Although Vino Santo wines are made in other regions of Italy, they are associated with Tuscany traditionally. Made from a blend of Trebbiano and Malvasia grape varietals, they are usually served as a sweet dessert wine—although sometimes they are produced in a version as dry as a Fino Sherry. The wines are often referred to as “straw wines” because, just like the Amarone and Recioto grapes of Valpolicella, the grapes are often left to dry and desiccate in straw baskets prior to fermentation, thus increasing their sugar content. The color of the wine also ranges from straw to a deep amber.

  Vino Santo wines are aged for a minimum of three years in wooden barrels, and sometimes for five to ten years. The barrels for Vino Santo are often made of chestnut rather than oak, which causes the wine to evaporate more than usual. Rather than topping-up the ullage or air-space in the barrels to prevent oxidization, the “angels share” is left empty, and the resulting oxidization contributes to the unique taste as well as the deep amber color of the wine. Sometimes, if the oxidization is too extreme, the Vino Santo is sold as much sought after and expensive vinegar.

  Other Italian Wine Regions

  Orvieto: Orvieto is a city and wine region in Umbria, just south of Tuscany, and like Tuscany, first developed by the Etruscans. Although it produces some red wines, it is most noted—even before the Romans—for its white wines made from a blend of Grechetto, Malvasia, and Trebbiano grapes. Although today’s Orvieto wines are predominantly dry, full-bodied and fruity, traditionally they were famous and much sought after for their sweetness. It was the early Etruscans, who carved out cellar-like caves from volcanic and limestone soil, which could house wine production with long, cool fermentation, and produced the type of sweet wine that, as we have discussed elsewhere, was
so popular in the ancient world. From the Middle Ages to the mid-twentieth century, the Orvieto region was known for the sweet dessert wine made with the noble rot, Botrytis cinerea. Unlike most botrytized wine, such as Sauternes, where the grapes are introduced to the Botrytis cinerea fungus while they are on the vine, the grapes of Orvieto were exposed to the fungus after harvest, when they were packed into crates and barrels and stored in humid grottoes carved out of the local volcanic limestone. Made primarily from a Trebbiano sub-variety of grape, these sweet wines were deep-gold in color, described by the poet Gabriele d’Annunzio as “the sun of Italy in a bottle.” Because of the high labor costs, the production of fully botrytized wine is rare these days, but in ideal vintage years, some producers, such as Marchesi Antinori Castello della Sala Muffato, will make a sweet dessert wine from partially botrytized grapes.

  Puglia: Also referred to in English as “Apulia,” Puglia is the province on the “heel” of Italy facing the Adriatic. If Italy is the largest producer of wine in the world, it is largely thanks to Puglia, which produces more than any other Italian region; about 17 percent of the total. Since the time of the Phoenicians and Greeks, wine-growing has been a local tradition, but until the dawn of the twenty-first century, a large proportion of Puglia’s grapes, sold to co-ops, were used to add “substance” to wines produced in the rest of Italy and France. However, since the international discovery of Primitivo, this is no longer the case, and Puglia now boasts twenty-five different DOC areas and some excellent vintages of its own. At the end of the twentieth century, DNA testing showed that Californian Zinfandel, as well as Puglia’s Primitivo, were both closely related to the Croatian varietal Crljenak Kaštelanski. Because of the Zinfandel connection, these two hitherto obscure and overlooked European wines became respectable, and for the first time were bottled under their own labels. It is the rise of Primitivo which has drawn attention to the rest of Puglia. The most-widely grown Apulian grape variety is Negroamaro (literally “black bitter”), which is used to produce some of the region’s best wines, including Salice Salentino. The most famous grape, however, remains Primitivo, whose wines, including the Primitivo di Manduria, are generally high in alcohol content and full in body.