Italian Red Wines

18 July 2014

Italian Red Wines

Italy - a country in the Mediterranean area of Europe well known for producing high quality wines. The wines are known for their outstanding quality, and not sticking to the rules! Italian red wines in particular are fabulous quality, with Tuscany, Sardinia, Sicily and Piedmont producing wines to suit all palates.

The Italians have been producing high quality wines for many years and is in fact home to some of the oldest wine producing regions. In 2005 it was responsible for roughly one-fifth of the world's wine production and it still probably close to that figure today.

Italy is the second largest wine producer worldwide second to France and the Italians lead the world in the wine consumption by volume. There are currently about 1 million vineyards under cultivation.
Italian red wines are so popular because of the sheer experience the country has with dealing with the production of the beverage, as well as its history.

History of Wine in Italy
Italian wine history dates back to the 1000BC, when the ancient Greeks settled in what we now know as Sicily. Greeks had been growing grapes to make wine for years, but they loved the climate and topology in southern Italy so they named the area “Oenotria”, which translates into “Land of Trained Vines”.

Demand for wine increased in Roman Italy, with everybody drinking it from all walks of life. Romans preferred sweet white wines to red, and the alcohol content was much higher. As a result, wine became a cordial, mixed with water or honey to take the sting off it. Often, solutes were dissolved in the water to change the flavour of wines. Herbs, spices and salt were popular additions. Even chalk was used to reduce acidity.

Romans also learnt a number of important techniques we still use today: aging wines in wooden barrels made it taste better, they also used glass bottles and corks.

After the fall of the Roman Empire, winemaking in Italy dropped significantly, with only monks keeping the tradition of wine making alive.

Wine drinking picked up again during the Renaissance, as it was often said “No poem was ever written by a drinker of water”, and – after a weak 19th and 20th century of mass produced, poor quality wine – Italian wines have picked up their reputation once again as the best in the world.

Piedmont & Lombardy Red Wines
Piedmont & Lombardy is located in the North West of Italy, near the French border, the native grape is the Nebbiolo grape, which produces two wonderful full bodied red wines: Barolo and Barbaresco.

These wines are traditionally fairly heavy, and Barolo is left to age longer than the Barbaresco, traditionally in oak barrels, to give it a strong fruity taste.

Veneto Red Wines
Veneto is a region in North East of the country that specialises in a number of wines, the first is the Valpolicella, a smooth wine that’s busting with flavour. The other famous one is a Ripassa, which is a full flavoured, smooth and lingering wine. Veneto wines have suffered in recent years, due to the Valpolicella and Soave wines being able to be produced cheaply and easily. However, if you look, some of the finest wines in the world are produced here.

Tuscan Red Wines
Tuscany is one of the most popular parts of Italy, both for tourists and food and drink lovers. It’s easy to see why though, Tuscany has a fabulous history for producing exceptional quality food and wine, and really takes to wine making in similar stature to the French. As a result, each vineyard on every hill would have a different mesoclimate, meaning a different quality wine, which can severely affect the price.

There were two large changes in the growth of wine in the Tuscan region. The first was in 1956, where a severe frost wiped out all the vines in Tuscany. A high yield grape was grown instead for 20 years, to help maintain the local economy, and as a result the quality nosedived.

However, recently a majority of the Tuscan winemakers switched back to lower yield, high quality grape, which we recommend if you’re interested in dry red wine.

Umbria Red Wines
Umbria is located almost in the centre of Italy, located at the base of the Appenine Hills, and south of the Tuscan region. The wines from this region are pleasantly different from most other regions in Italy, as the unique grape to the region is the Sagrantino. The Sagrantino offers a strange spicy flavour that leads to quaffable red wine!

One of the largest producers in the area is the Livon winery. Their Fattoria Colsanto winery is located in Bevagna in Umbria, and has a fantastic wine made from the Sagrantino grape, hand harvested and aged for 15-20 years.

Marche Red Wines
Marche, located on the eastern coast of Italy, is latitudinally the same as Tuscany, on the eastern side of the Appenine Hills. This area is home to one of the largest wine makers in Italy, the Moncaro cooperative. Formed from a group of winemakers in the Marche region in 1964, it manages to maintain small wine maker’s traditions, quality and innovations, along with the production values of a large company. As a result, their wines are well known for being of excellent quality, in abundant supply and ideal for any tastes.

Campania, Puglia and Southern Italy
Southern Italy is probably the biggest sensation in Italian wines at the moment, highlighted by the relatively small Campania and Puglia regions. Slightly different climate from the Sicilian climate makes it ideal to grow the Negroamaro, Aglianico and Primitivo grape varieties. Even so, modern technologies were needed to cool the grapes down just enough to produce stunning wines. The Vigna Marziacanale 2005 from Mario & Luciano Ercolino is one of the finest drops from the region.

Sicilian Red Wine
Historically speaking, Sicily has been making wine in Italy for as long as people has been making wine in Italy. The island is dominated by vast expanses of vineyards. Wine from the region is dominated by cooperatives, with the smaller producers having been pushed to the hills. It is these producers making the best wine that Sicily has to offer.

Wines in this region are characterised as being very easy to drink, with a medium body, fresh fruity flavours, and a dry, pleasant finish.

Sardinian Red Wines
The island of Sardinia in the Mediterranean Sea are ideally situated to produce fantastic wine, and it does. Less than a fifth of the country is on the flat, and those areas are dominated by high yield, low quality cooperatives. In the hills of Sardinia, small growers who produce high quality, low yield, fantastic wines. Search out for them as the fantastic climate and the topography of this beautiful island make some stunning wines.

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18 July 2014

Italian Red Wines