Italian Wine
Italy is a long and mountainous country and wine is made in every region, it stretches from the Alps in the north to Sicily in the south, close to the coast of Africa. This variation in latitude and altitude combines with a huge number of grape varieties (estimates I have read put the number between 300 and 2000!) so that it is impossible to describe a typical Italian wine, only wines typical to specific regions. However, It is fair to say that Italian wines are generally suited to drinking alongside food due to their dryness and crisp acidity. The variety in Italian wines also means that the trend towards “international” styles of wine has, to a large extent, been resisted. If you’re prepared to put the effort in, a wide variety of wine experiences await you in Italy.
Italian Wine Classification
To help the consumer, a classification system is in use which can be used as a quality guide, however, as always in Italy, there are exceptions to the rule!
DOCG (Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita) - used for certain top quality Italian wines made under strict regulations. Confusingly, the DOCG classification itself is not a guarantee that an individual wine is top quality. It merely shows that the wine you have bought comes from an area famous for quality and that it has been made to stringent regulations and meets the minimum expectations for a wine of its type in a taste test.
DOC (Denominazione di Origine Controllata) - used for Italian wines from a designated area. the wine is made to specific rules, for example, the permitted percentages of grape varieties allowed in the blending process or yield per hectare in the vineyard. The designation is meant to signify a quality wine typical of the region from which it came.
IGT (Indicazione di Geografica Tipica) This category has less stringent rules as to how the wine can be made, especially regarding the permitted grape varieties. As a rule of thumb the wines are not as high in quality as DOC and DOCG classified wines but there are always exceptions. Some Italian wine makers prefer the greater freedom of the IGT classification and put their better wines into this category. For example, many Super Tuscans (top quality wines from Tuscany which do not conform to DOCG or DOC rules because of the grape varieties used), fall within the IGT rules (in fact, this category was created to accommodate these high end wines, which had previously had to be labelled as Vino da Tavola).
VDT (Vino da Tavola) - Italian Wine made under this category has only to meet health and safety regulations and can be made from any grape variety the wine maker chooses.
Note: If an Italian wine is designated Riserva, it means it aged longer before release.
Wines from Tuscany and Umbria
Red Wine
Red wines from Tuscany and Umbria usually involve the Sangiovese grape, sometimes as a 100% varietal but usually blended wth other varieties such as the local grape Cannaiolo or better known grape varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. More wine is made in Italy with Sangiovese than any other variety of grape and most of it comes from Tuscany.
Famous wines from Tuscany based on the Sangiovese grape include Chianti, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, Brunello and Morellino di Scansano. Note that wine from the Tuscan town of Montepulciano (Vino Nobile and Rosso di Montepulciano) is not made with the Montepulciano grape, the variety used to make Montepulciano d’Abruzzo.
Most reds from Umbria are Sangiovese based (and generally good value as they are not so well known) but an increasingly famous red variety grown around the town of Montefalco in Umbria is Sagrantino. Sagrantino is a very tannic grape and makes a fantastic full bodied red (Sagrantino di Montefalco), capable of aging for 10 -15 years. Sagrantino is only found in a small area of Umbria and this superb Italian wine has been designated with the DOCG classification. There are two styles of the wine, dry (the most common) and passito, a sweet wine made from air dried grapes, sold in half bottles, this is the original style of the wine. Note, the cheaper (but usually superb) Montefalco Rosso is a blend of Sangiovese, Sagrantino and Merlot.
White Wine
People don’t generally think of white wine when they think of Tuscany, but most producers make at least one white along with the reds. Around the Tuscan towns of San Gimingnano and Pitigliano, whites are the predominant wines. Umbria has the well known Orrvieto Classico but again, white wine is made all over the region. In general white wine from central Italy is best described as “easy drinking”, good value quaffing wines, however, you will be pleasantly surprised if you spend a little more than usual on a bottle. Grapes include, the local varieties Trebbiano, Malvasia Bianco and Grechetto, but you can find white wines from Tuscany and Umbria made from all the major “international” varieties.
Wines from the rest of Italy
Southern Italy
The south of Italy produces some excellent reds, try wines made from the following varieties: Nero d’Avola, Primitivo (Zinfandel) and Negro Amaro, they genrally have high alcohol levels and fruit driven flavours due to the intense sunshine. There are some superb white wines too, for example try a white wine from the producer Planeta in Sicily, their wines are readily available all over Italy. Southern Italian wines are usually excellent value for money because they are not as well known.
Northern Italy
The north west produces some famous reds, Barolo (a tannic wine capable of aging 15+ years) and Barbararesco from Piedmont in the north east are made from Nebbiolo grapes. Also look out for wines made from Barbera and Dolcetto grapes.
The most famous red from the north east is Valpolicella, available in several styles. As well as “straight forward” Valpolicella look out for Amarone and Recioto, both are made from air dried grapes, Amarone is fermented out to dryness whereas Recioto is sweet. Another style is Ripasso di Valpolicella, where ordinary Valpolicella has been passed over the lees of Recioto or Amarone. The well known white wine Soave (generally a quaffing wine) is also from the countryside near Venice, however, some producers in this region are moving towards quality wines. For something different (and usually very good), try a white from the Alto Adige (in particular a Gewurztraminner). This area is close to Austria and the wines are very different in style to the rest of the country.
Vineyard Visits
Most vineyards in Italy can be visited to buy wine directly. Gorgacce rentals are pleased to offer a tour of the Gritti vineyard in the Niccone Valley, right on the Tuscany Umbria border. The tour includes a visit to the cantina (cellar), the vineyard and a tutored tasting accompanied by a four course meal. for more details look at this link: http://www.tuscanyumbria.com/aboutarea/piero-della-francesca.html#wine
Olive Oil in Tuscany and Umbria
Tuscany and Umbira are famous for their high quality olive oils - generally regarded to be the best in Italy. To experience the real thing you are going to have to spend a little money - a € 5.00 bottle of Extra Virgin from the supermarket will not compare to a more expensive oil made by a small producer. A good oil will have a delicious peppery taste as a result of the alkaloids present in the olive. Oleocanthal, the principal peppery compound, has anti-inflammatory properties, great for people with joint pains! The cold winters in much of Tusany and Umbria mean that the trees growing are at the limits of their natural habitat, the olives ripen more slowly and have a low acidity and high alkaloid content, resulting in top quality oil. Tuscan and Umbrian olive farmers are generally small scale producers and, because they are doing everything locally, they can get their olives to the mill within 24 hours, essential if you want to preserve the olive’s flavour.
Olive Oil Production
Olive trees in Tuscany and Umbria generally grow on marginal land - often on hillsides where mechanised harvesting is not an option. The trees are pruned into a vase shape with three principle branches and any smaller branches growing into the middle of the tree are taken off. This allows sunlight into the tree and helps the olives to ripen evenly. The harvest takes place in October and November, before the olives become overripe which would mean that they are more likely to bruise. The olives are pulled off the trees (this can be done by hand or with a sort of mechanical hand on the end of a pole) onto nets laid on the ground.
At the mill the olives (stones and all) are first turned into a paste, traditionally this was done with giant stone wheels but most modern mills use giant mechanised hammers (this has the advantage that the olives can be fed through constantly rather than in batches). The next stage is to separate the liquids (oil and water) from the solid material. In a traditional mill a press was used, followed by a centrifuge to separate the olive oil from the water. Hot water was sometimes added to raise the temperature of the liquids and make separation easier, this lowered the quality of the oil but increased the amount of oil extracted (hence the term cold pressed for a superior olive oil). Now all olive oil, both low and high quality, is extracted at low temperature because the centrifuge technology used to separate the oil from the water has vastly improved.
Olive oil is at it’s best straight after pressing, the flavours will only deteriorate with time - aided by high temperature storage and exposure to light. An oil is best used within 12 months of production. Unscrupulous manufacturers of cheaper oils may bottle oil that has been bulk stored for a long time, the law in Italy only states that oil cannot be sold two years after bottling!
The left over paste can be treated with a solvent to extract any remaining oil which is sold as “Olive Oil” rather than “Virgin” or “Extra Virgin Olive Oil”. If the idea of treating the paste with a solvent alarms you, it’s worth noting that Virgin and Extra Virgin olive oils are the only mechanically extracted vegetable oils. All the others (sunflower, rapeseed etc.) involve extraction with a solvent after crushing the seeds. Incidentally the definition of Extra Virgin olive oil is that the oil is mechanically extracted and it has an acidity of less than 1%. The term Extra Virgin is not in itself a guarantee of quality, as oils can be blended to come just within this range. The best oils from Tuscany and Umbria will have acidities as low as 0.01%, one hundred times as low!. Another thing to watch for when buying a cheaper oil is to check that your “Made in Italy” (meaning “processed in Italy”) oil has actually used Italian rather than “Mediterranean” olives.
Buying Quality Oil
Because the label “Extra Virgin Olive Oil” is not a guarantee that you are buying a top quality oil, the categories DOP (Denominazione d’Origine Protetta and IGP (Indicazione Geografica Protetta) are used. A bit like wine classifications these labels offer a guarantee that your oil is good quality and typical of the region from where it comes (DOP has stricter rules than IGP). However, if you stop at any small farm in Tuscany or Umbria advertising “Vendita Olio” you will probably acquire an excellent oil. It costs money to get your oil classified as DOP or IGP and most small producers selling to locals don’t want the expense!
Truffles in Tuscany and Umbria
Both black and the rarer white truffles grow in the hills of Tuscany and Umbria. The best truffles grow in the winter so most visitors try the less expensive black summer truffles, they’re not as pungent as the black truffles found in the winter but they still give you a good idea of the musky, undergrowth like flavour of this prized tuber. You can also buy truffle pastes (usually 1% truffle mixed with other fungi) and flavoured oils made with winter truffles. The truffle is a the fruit of a fungus which grows underground on tree roots. It has a symbiotic releationship with the tree, taking carbohydrates but providing a barrier against harmful fungi and making nutrients (particularly phosphorus) available. The pungent aroma attracts animals who dig the truffles up and spread the spores around, allowing new truffles to grow. The rarer white truffle grows deeper underground and therefore has to have a more pungent aroma to attract animals. It’s higher price comes both from the difficulty in finding specimens and the more powerful flavour.
Truffle hunters are very secretive - it has been known for successful truffle hunters to die without revealing their favourite spots to anyone. The owner of a truffle processing factory (see link below) told me that on one day, two brothers each sold him a large quantity of truffles, each having told the other that he had been unsuccessful that day! Trained dogs are used to locate the truffles and a tool that looks like a short and very narrow spade is used.
Many restaurants in the area use truffle (tartufo) to flavour dishes and truffle pastes and oils are for sale in most supermarkets. There is a shop in Gubbio that only sells truffles and truffle products. If you want to learn more, www.tartufibianconi.it in Città di Castello, run truffle hunting demonstrations and cooking lessons. |