Italian wines

Italy is the second largest wine producer after France. There is also an extensive wine law here, which tries to sort it out, what by 3000 years people have learned to do with vines. Characteristic feature win włoskich jest mały udział tak zwanych szczepów międzynarodowych, making, that Italian wines are always special.

Tradition from before 3000 years

The Iberian Peninsula, in terms of climatic and pedological conditions, is definitely a place conducive to the cultivation of vines. The first wine was probably produced here a thousand or one and a half thousand years before Christ, and the Romans were in love with wine. Even then, there were some regulations, które wyrób wina oraz sprzedaż i typologię win regulowały. Much has changed in three thousand years, while Italians' love of wine has not diminished at all.

Characteristic wines

Each wine country has its own peculiarity. In France, it is a mode of production (later transferred to other countries, including to sunny Italy), in Spain, there is a great deal of diversity, and in Italy, to saturate the market with wines produced from regional grape varieties. When everywhere in the world: from France and Portugal, through Florida, all the way to New Zealand, exactly the same strains are grown, in Italy, they are only a supplement to the local wine industry. Known strains of Italian red grapes are barbera, nebbiolo, Sangiovese and Montepulciano, when it comes to white strains, the trebbiano is in the lead, verdicchio oraz vernaccia. The names themselves are typically Italian, much less the taste of the wines from these grapes!

Basics of classification

Italian wine law is much more structured and clearer than the French one. However, it is not limited to the amount of available wines, aroma palettes, colors and bouquets, quite the contrary. In principle, Italian wines are classified into four classes.

VdT, that is, table wine - the same as in France, also in Italy, wines of this class are not suitable for gourmets. Most of them, with a great deal of courtesy towards the producers, can only be described as "food", although in principle it would be best to avoid them. IGT, which is another class, it's a wine selection, in which you can find gems. This is a class analogous to the French VdP, so, basically, we will not find any wines that are characteristic of a given appeal, but we can find it tasty. Upstairs, at the level of the French AOC, there is the Italian DOC category. And in the case of France, the classification ended there, while the Italians have also created the DOCG class, the best of the best. Producers of these wines are forced to follow certain methods of producing alcoholic beverages, as well as to maintain legally defined quality values, many of which are set at a much higher level than French.

Each, who assimilated the above classification and thoughts, that he already knows everything about Italian wine, let him prepare for the worst. This general classification is only a framework for the quality of Italian wines. DOCG is not always a badge of the highest quality wines - Italy has never treated wines as a cultural heritage and here the classification and rules of individual appeals change like a flag in the wind, only here, instead of air, politics plays a role. So there are such DOCG wines, which do not match the quality criteria, but for which these criteria are specifically specified. On the other hand - DOCG has significant limitations, therefore the best Italian wines are not DOCG at all, or IGT, because in this class manufacturers can maintain the greatest individuality of their products, give personality and identity to your faults.

Make house wine yourself!

What to choose?

The shelves of Italian wines in shops are long. There are luxury options there, are and average. They are all worth recommending, which are not marked as VdT. For lovers of dreams and literature, sangiovese and montepulciano wines can be recommended, with which the Ferenc Mate is admired and enjoyed every day, author known from the bestsellers "The Wisdom of Tuscany" and "Real Life". By the way, you can also buy his wines in good shops, which have been awarded many times in international competitions, therefore - on the lookout!