Italy

The Republic of Italy in southern Europe with its capital Rome covers 301,338 km². Most of the national territory is located on the Apennine Peninsula, which is surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea, and the adjacent northern Italian lowlands. It also includes the large islands of Sicily and Sardinia, as well as several island groups such as the Lipari Islands to the north of Sicily and the Cyclops Islands to the east in the Ionian Sea, the Egadi Islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea, the Pelagic Islands between Tunisia, Malta and Sicily and Pantelleria to the south-west of Sicily.

The majority of the islands belong to the Veneto region and are mainly located off the mainland of Venice. There are land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia as well as with the two small states of Vatican City and San Marino, which are completely enclosed by Italian territory as enclaves. Viticulture is practised from north to south in all regions of the mainland, but also on most of the islands mentioned.

History

Italy is one of the oldest wine-growing countries, with origins dating back to 1,000 BC. At this time, the Etruscans appeared in central Italy, colonising the regions of Abruzzo, Lazio, Tuscany and Umbria. The origins of Italian wine culture lie primarily in Greek colonisation, which first brought Greek wine culture to Sicily, Campania and Calabria from the 10th century BC.

The Greeks took many of their grape varieties with them and called the land ideal for viticulture Oinotria (land of vines grown on stakes). The Phoenicians (Punic), who later became a major enemy and established bases in Sicily and the Mediterranean, also exerted an influence. From the 6th century BC, lively trade began with the Celts in Gaul (France), who imported considerable quantities of wine from northern and central Italy.

Influencing European viticulture

The Romans willingly learnt from all these peoples and brought viticulture and winemaking to a high level of art and prosperity. In the 3rd century BC, the vine was widespread throughout the peninsula and in the 1st century BC, wine culture reached its peak. The city of Pompeii was the wine trading centre and main supplier for Rome until its destruction by the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 BC. The most famous ancient wines at this time were Caecuber, Falernian, Raeticum and Surrentine. The Romans planted vineyards in the newly acquired provinces of France, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Austria and England. Wine became an import and export item and the Romans were already producing wooden barrels for it, having learnt this from the Celts (Gauls).

In 79 AD, the four cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum, Stabiae and Oplontis were completely destroyed by the eruption of Vesuvius and the subsequent ash and rockfall. The picture on the right shows amphorae found in Apulia.

Roman wine authors

Many Roman authors wrote extensive works on viticulture and wine culture, providing a very accurate picture. The spectrum ranges from purely scientific writings to poetic descriptions and descriptions of the culture of eating and drinking. Of particular note is the Satyricon, a portrait par excellence of the Roman upper class. The most important authors are Cato the Elder (234-149 BC), Virgil (70-19 BC), Horace (65-8 BC), Ovid (43 BC to 8 AD), Columella (1st half of the 1st century), Petronius (14-66), Pliny the Elder (23-79) and Palladius (4th century). Wine became a cultural medium of the first rank, and in continuation of the Greek cult of Dionysus, the god of wine Bacchus enjoyed great veneration. The Romans were very creative when it came to winemaking. One speciality was flavouring to make the wine tastier and more durable.

Roman winemaking techniques

Sparkling wine was already being produced by storing amphorae in cold spring water (interrupting fermentation). In the first century AD, people were intensively involved in the breeding of grape varieties and tried to find the most suitable vine for the respective soil. Pliny recognised that it was primarily the soil, i.e. the origin and terroir according to today's nomenclature, that determined the quality of the wine and that, for example, Uva Rhetica (variety for the Raeticum) did not produce good wine outside its growing area, but only quantity.

Single-varietal cultivation and ageing was recommended in order to better assess the varieties. Many of today's autochthonous vines are descended from the ancient grape varieties of that time. Due to the collapse of the Roman Empire in the 5th century and the turmoil of the migration of peoples, wine culture fell into oblivion and was only cultivated by monasteries of the Roman Catholic Church through the production of mass wine.

Middle Ages

There was a great upswing at the beginning of the Renaissance in the 14th century. In order to revitalise viticulture, Pope Paul III (1468-1549) banned French wine and had surveys of Italian wine drawn up. Through his patronage and support, he helped local winegrowers, particularly in Montefiascone in what is now the Italian region of Lazio, to improve their production and promote the wine trade.

As early as 1716, under Grand Duke Cosimo III (1642-1723) of the Medici dynasty, the Chianti zone was established in Tuscany, making Italy one of the first countries to have a designation of origin with precisely defined boundaries. However, it was not until the 19th century, when wine types such as Barolo, Brunello di Montalcino and Chianti were created with French help, that a new beginning was finally made.

Wine-growing regions

The soils are characterised by great diversity, but the climate has common influencing factors despite local differences. The Alps shield against cold northerly winds, while the Apennines form a 1,500 kilometre-long weather divide from Piedmont in the north to Sicily in the south. The Mediterranean Sea to the east and the Tyrrhenian Sea to the west, as well as the many rivers and lakes, have a positive effect. The best regions have temperatures between 12 and 16 °C, sufficient snow and rainfall in winter and warm to hot summers with sunshine until late in autumn. The vineyards are located up to 1,000 metres above sea level. The 20 wine-growing regions correspond to the political regions:

Grape varieties and vineyards

Wine is grown from the north (Trentino-Alto Adige) to the far south (Sicily) and on the Mediterranean islands. However, the more than 400 DOC and DOCG zones only account for around a fifth of wine production. There are around two million grape producers, 340,000 cellars and 45,000 wine bottlers. At the beginning of the 1990s, the area under vines was still over one million hectares, which was reduced by around 200,000 hectares due to EU grubbing-up programmes.

In 2022, the vineyards covered 718,198 hectares and the wine production volume was 49.8 million hectolitres. This puts Italy among the world leaders. With over 2,000 grape varieties, Italy has the most in the world, many of which are of ancient (Greek) origin. However, "only" 400 of these are officially authorised. The grape variety index (Kym Anderson):

Wine law

Until after the Second World War, the focus was on quantity. From the 1960s onwards, a profound change took place. The first area to experience the "Italian wine miracle" was Chianti-Classico in Tuscany, where a radical break with the past was made. The Antinori, Frescobaldi and Ricasoli wineries in this region and later Ca' del Bosco in Lombardy made a decisive contribution to this. In the last third of the 20th century, Italian wine underwent extremely positive changes.

In 1963, a new wine law introduced the new quality designation "Denominazione di Origine Controllata" (DOC), which made a decisive contribution to improving quality. Vernaccia di San Gimignano was the first DOC wine to be recognised in 1966. The highest level "Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita" (DOCG) did not follow until 1980. Further changes were made in 1992 with the "Goria Law", named after the Minister of Agriculture Giovanni Goria (1943-1994), which introduced the IGT level (country wines).

Wine categories / quality levels

In August 2009, the EU wine market regulation came into force for all member states of the European Union with fundamental changes to wine designations and quality levels. There are the following new designations and quality levels (see also detailed information under Quality System):

• Vino (formerly Vino da Tavola or table wine) = wine; without and with indication of the grape varieties and/or vintage year
• IGP or the alternative old designation IGT = country wine
• DOP or the alternative old designations DOC and DOCG = quality wine

In April 2010, the new national wine law came into force, replacing Decree No. 164 from 1992. Not content with merely adapting to the new EU law, a few substantial changes were made. The old and new designations may be used alternatively or together. This option exists in order to avoid a "flattening" of DOCG to DOC, as both would be standardised if DOP were used exclusively and DOCG would continue to be placed above DOC in terms of quality. To summarise, there are now stricter and more clearly formulated regulations.

IGT (Indicazione Geografica Tipica) or
IGP (Indicazione Geografica Protetta)

Regional wines must undergo an analytical test (a sensory test by means of a wine tasting is only carried out for DOC/DOCG wines). The wine must have a typical, geographically determined characteristic. The requirements are below the DOC/DOCG or DOP level. The areas are usually much larger and in some cases encompass entire regions. From the 1980s onwards, the high quality of some IGT wines from Tuscany led to the term Super Tuscan. There are a total of 118 IGT/IGP wines, accounting for around 30% of production. An area can cover an entire region such as Tuscany.

DOC (Denominazione di Origine Controllata) or
DOP (Denominazione di Origine Protetta)

These quality wines with controlled designation of origin must be processed and matured from specified grape varieties according to defined quantities and methods. Some DOC zones only produce one wine, others several in different colours, grape varieties or types. As a German equivalent, the designation QbA (Qualitätswein bestimmter Anbaugebiete) is permitted for South Tyrolean wines. The 332 DOC wines account for around 25%.

DOCG (Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita)

These quality wines with controlled and guaranteed designation of origin represent the highest Italian "class of honour", which guarantees the authenticity of particularly highly valued wines. The 74 DOCG wines make up only around 5% of production. See below for a complete list.

Additional quality designations

Three terms are used to characterise the special quality of quality wines. The term Classico designates traditional areas of origin or core zones within a DOC/DOCG or DOP area that are of better quality or favoured by the soil and climate. For example, there is a DOCG Chianti area and (for the classic core area) a DOCG Chianti-Classico area. The terms Superiore and/or Riserva are permitted for wines with a higher alcohol content, lower yield limits and/or a longer ageing period.

Production regulations

The regulations vary greatly depending on the DOC/DOCG area.

Grape varieties

DOC/DOCG or DOP wines (quality wines) may only be made from the authorised grape varieties. For IGT/IGP wines (country wines), varieties under experimental cultivation are also permitted. They must be named, whereby this can also be done with a 1% tolerance (previously only the composition in the vineyard was prescribed). Table grapes may also be vinified; the previous ban has been lifted.

Further regulations

In addition to grape varieties, these include bottle shape, minimum ageing time in barrel and bottle, minimum values for alcohol content, acidity and total extract, as well as colour and aroma. A sensory and analytical test is carried out before marketing.

Information on the label

It is also possible to indicate the subzone (sottozona), municipality (comune), district (frazione), microclimate zone (microzona), winery (fattoria, cascina or podere) and vineyard parcel (vigna) for wines of exceptional quality. This emphasises the importance of origin even more.

DOCG wines

DOCG wines represent the absolute pinnacle of Italian wines. If wines have maintained their quality for at least five years, they are awarded DOC status and DOCG status after a further five years at the earliest. Theoretically, a single, outstanding branded wine can also achieve DOCG status if it "honours Italy", but this has not yet happened. The first wine to be classified as DOCG was Vino Nobile di Montepulciano in 1980, followed by Barbaresco, Barolo and Brunello di Montalcino. It was a relatively long time before the first white wine, Albana di Rom agna from Emilia-Romagna, was crowned in 1987. The first sparkling wines were then Asti Spumante and Moscato d'Asti from Piedmont in 1994. The list of 76 DOCG:

Institutions, bodies and personalities

Influential Italian wine writers and wine critics include Burton Anderson, Daniele Cernilli, Giancarlo Gariglio, Fabio Giavedoni, Luigi Veronelli and Franco Ziliani. They publish in many wine magazines and wine guides such as Gambero Rosso, Slow Wine and Veronelli-Guide. The most important international wine fair is Vinitaly.

Pompeii: By MapMaster - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link
Amphorae Apulia: By AlMare - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link
Map: By TUBS - Own work, edited elements of Bergamo, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link