Taste of Italy

Exploring Italy aka Wine Disneyland

When it comes to the integration of food, wine and culture, there is simply nowhere like Italy. Drawing on over 4000 years of history, from the Etruscans to the Romans to modern-day, the Italian way of life and wine have been inextricably intertwined. Whilst Italian wine sits very much toward the pointy end of the quality tree today, it wasn't always the way. In the nineteenth century, along with many other European countries, the vine louse phylloxera took hold and destroyed many of Italy’s vineyards. Replanted vineyards were often introduced with quantity, not quality, in mind. Thus, Italy became a global source of inexpensive table wines. It wasn't until the 1960s, when a series of laws were passed to improve wine quality and labelling that the modern era of winemaking began. Italy’s wine future is just as bright as its storied past, partly due to the diversity of wines produced. Not only does Italy have more native Indigenous varieties than any other country, but each region is distinct from the others. Over its long history, modern Italy evolved from a loose collection of city-states. Today’s twenty wine regions line up with the political borders that grew out of the city-states of the past. Thus, each region approaches things a little differently, adhering to its own traditions. In terms of wine volume, the leading regions are Veneto and Emilia-Romagna in the north and Puglia and Sicily in the south. In terms of quality, most would look to Piedmont and Tuscany. Here, we find the most geographically marked quality zones in Italy, named DOC and DOCG. Wine laws in Italy are very complex; however, some of the country's most exciting new wines are lumped together with simple table wines due to winemaking and labelling restrictions. In 1992, a new classification called IGT was introduced to allow some flexibility, but this does make things difficult for the consumer when assessing quality! Despite its history, Italian bureaucracy has gotten in the way.

3 proudly Italian wines to try

Walter Massa 'Piccolo Derthona' Timorasso 2022 Made from a rare Piedmontese white grape called Timorasso, this is a great introduction to the grape. Paradoxically, both weight and delicate, the immediate peach and cream notes are balanced by thirst-quenching, refreshing, and saline acidity. Bitter lemon on the finish with grip and drive, this has pear skin, almond and wheatgrass complexity. Excellent. Val Delle Rose 'Morellino di Scansano' Sangiovese Blend 2022 Morellino is an ancient Tuscan name for Sangiovese, apparently named after either the local brown horses or the deliciously tart Italian morello cherries. This Morellino di Scansano is a blend of Sangiovese and a salad of local, indigenous grapes. The result is chock-full of cherry delights, capped off with a fresh finish and the trademark late, mouth-coating Sangiovese tannins. Nino Franco 'Rustico' Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore NV Rustico is a nod to the old way of making Prosecco and the way Primo Franco's ancestors made wine. But this Nino Franco fizz is anything but old school. Made from vineyards in the protected Prosecco Superiore region (where, you guessed it, the superior Prosecco comes from), it's lively, with green apple snappy fruit, a whiff of fresh acacia flowers and then taut and appley, life-affirming palate.

Fun Fact about Italian wine

Seriously, no country on the planet has more Indigenous grapes than Italy, with over 500 different documented varieties. And the most popular grape of all? That would be Sangiovese, planted all over Italy and inarguably Italy's most famous variety!