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4 Cards in this Set
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Italian Wine Laws |
Italian PDO levels -
DOCG - Must meet all DOC requirements; must also be bottled in region of production. Subject to Ministry of Agriculture tasting.
DOC - First PDO designation. - Specifies minimum alcohol level, permitted grape and geographical area.
- DOCG & DOC usually follow one of three models: 1. Locale - Appellation derives from specific place e.g. Barolo, Taurasi. 2. Grapes plus Locale - 'Grape from place model' e.g. Barbera d'Alba, Trebbiano d'Abruzzo. 3. Historical - Originate from original Roman or Greek areas (nomenclature).
Italian PGI levels
IGT - More prevelent in South or Italy. - Grapes can be sourced from a larger area. - Less restrictions on area and grape.
Other labelling term
Classico - Grapes are from the original, better and hilly part of the appellation.
Riserva - Much abused term. Implies better quality as it requires higher alcohol and longer ageing.
Passito - Method of leaving grapes out to dry. - Warm dry conditions in Autumn discourage Botrytis so differs from Botrytis affected grapes. - Perfectly healthy bunches are either laid out on mats in the sun (particularly in the South) or placed on mats in a ventilated room to dry (called a fruttaio). - Can take a few weeks to 6 months depending on climate. - White passito are sweet. - Reds are dry or sweet depending on extent of desiccation (drying). |
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Italian Climate and Soils |
Climate
- Mediterranean climate. - Large climatic variation around Italy mainly due to differences in altitude. - Plantings up to 600 metres are common, particularly in the North because of the Alps. - Vineyards at lower altitudes and nearer to the sea enjoy cooler days, warmer nights and earlier harvest. - Higher altitude wines have later harvest. - Hot, dry summers and wet winters (mediterranean climate) ensure a good quality harvest the following year. - Hail is the biggest threat, particularly in Veneto.
Soil
Marine - Clay-over-Limestone (as in Burgundy) responsible for Italy's ever enduring reds e.g. Valpolicella, Barolo and Chianti. Cortese grows well here also because of the Limestone.
Volcanic - Christi and Etna are sites on the slopes of volcanoes providing fertile soils.
Alluvial (loose, unconsolidated) - Bardolino, Piave are 2 of the rare DOC(G)'s on this soil type. Typical soil type in Marlborough and Napa. |
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Grape Varieties - Vines have exceptional resistance to water drought and a prolonged ripening cycle. |
Black Grape Varieties -
- Nebbiolo - Sangiovese - Barbera - Dolcetto - Corvina - Montepulciano - Aglianico - Primitivo
White Grape Varieties -
- Trebbiano - Malvasia - Verdicchio - Garganega - Cortese |
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Vinification and Viticulture |
Viticulture -
- Grape growing focused on hillside locations. - History of high trained pergola vines in North but less common now. - Producers focus on lower yields and higher levels of ripeness as black varieties have high levels of tannin. - Most of Italy uses variation of classic two-wire vertical-shoot positioning including single and double replacement cane.
Winemaking (Vinification) -
- Traditional red long period of maturation in large old oak casks (botte) still used in Piemonte, Tuscany and Campania for DOCG wines. - Most wine producers now have stainless steel casks with temperature control making oxidised wines more uncommon. - New oak particularly for red wines is now more widespread too. - Rotary fermenters are sometimes used for high tannic varieties such as Nebbiolo.
- Generally Italian red wines are high in tannin and acid making them ideal for ageing. - Black fruit when young, developing spicy notes in the bottle.
- Cheap Italian whites show neutrality typical of high yields. - Higher quality wines show spicy herbal character with firm acidity and high alcohol. |
