Andiamo!

Italian wine has come a long way to earn back its positive international reputation. Just a few decades ago, the wine left much to be desired with shoddy winemaking practices, insipid flavour profiles and little consideration for overall quality (in their defence, there were still great wines to be had, but the negative press really ruined everything). Substantial investment from the government helped to fund technology, education and the implementation of regulations to improve the quality of these wines.

Another part of what makes Italian wine difficult to understand starts with the label. The use of indigenous grapes such as trebbiano, verdicchio, sangiovese and nebbiolo are not well recognized by the North American market. Further, there are 20 regions of Italy such as Piedmont (Piemonte), Tuscany and Sicily that like to do things their own way with their own grapes – not to mention the many provinces within these regions, which are then subdivided by communes and so on.

If I had to categorize Italian wine into a personality type, I’d say that it is an extrovert. It thrives when it is accompanied by food, rather than sipped alone. There is less emphasis on plush fruit flavour and more representation of spice, herbs and a characteristic drying bitterness that begs to be followed by a bite of food. Italians are known for eating and I think that the wine is in part what stimulates their appetite.

Racing along the mountain range

It’s quite literal when you assemble a group for an Italian tasting. That boot-shaped peninsula is one big mountain range known as the Apennines. It forms a T-shape with the Alps to the north and runs the entire length of the country toward the island of Sicily. The country is very hilly in general and if you read enough Viniminutes you’ll already know how grapevines appreciate sloping landscapes.

To the Northwest is Piemonte (pronounced ‘pje-monteh’, translates to ‘foothill’) and the region is best known for the communes like Barolo, Barbaresco, Asti and Alba. The red grapes of Nebbiolo, Barbera and the white sparkling wine, Moscato, are the region’s most revered. Nebbiolo is a picky grape, that is high in tannin, acidity and is full of dried red fruit, tar, leather and dried flowers. The 2006 Vinum Vitae Est Barolo DOCG is medium garnet in colour with notes of potpourri, leather and burgundy plum. It’s a pleasing entry-level at a great price ($25) considering the average price for these wines being upwards of $40. The LCBO has expanded its general list (of which this wine is now a part of) to include value Piemonte wines that sell for almost double this price south of the border.

Just south of here is the region of Liguria where the white grape of Vermentino is prominent. The Lunae Colli dei Luni DOC is a medium-lemon colour, with green apple, pear and with herbal notes of basil and sage. A more light-weighted wine it has refreshing acidity and a drying finish that makes for a great choice to start a meal.

Romeo and Juliet would have enjoyed some good wine to cope with their family feud. Toward Verona (and in the region Veneto) is the commune of Valpolicella. The red wine of the area is a blend of primarily Corvina, Rondinella and Molinara and typically made in a light-bodied, fruity style. Ripasso-style wines can also be found, which re-use the dried grape skins from the production of Amarone to steep in added flavour and tannin (the process of drying grapes is known as appassimento). The prominent producer, Masi, makes a wide variety of Valpolicella and its Brolo Campofiorin ‘Oro’ is intense with raisin, currant and peppery aromas. The mouthfeel is full-bodied, with soft tannin and the fruit really lingers.

Central Italy has plenty to offer and is home to the most significant of the Italian grapes, Sangiovese (translates to ‘blood of Jove’) which hails from the region of Tuscany. The principal wine is Chianti DOCG and is traditionally a blend of Sangiovese with other red and white grapes, but many are now completely made of Sangiovese. Some wineries exercise creativity with blending their wines such as 2011 Mocine IGT Toscana a complex blend that had notes of blueberry, wild cherry, violet, pine and leather. This wine had the acidity, tannin and mouthfeel that are characteristic of a wine that can be aged for a few more years to mature. Wines that are more traditional and are grown within the original Chianti borders have the name ‘Chianti Classico’. Marchesi Antinori’s 2010 ‘Peppoli’ Chianti Classico DOCG is a great value at $20 and will also age well. Black cherry, currant, liquorice root and leather make for a rustic-flavoured wine, but the mouthfeel has soft tannin. The concentrated ‘jammy’ qualities of the fruit usually present in these young wines will develop into more dried fruit character which is what I recently experienced with a more aged Chianti, like the 2007 Isole e Olena, that I brought out of my cellar last month.