What we love about...Italian wine
A great wine is like a great lover. Mysterious, even broody at first, before revealing itself slowly, displaying new characteristics as you get to know it, that make you fall in love with it even more. On this basis, Italian wine is perhaps the finest lover of all: a great Barbaresco, for example, is a sensual thing of mystique and beauty. But there is a flipside. Italian wine is rarely obvious. It doesn’t walk up and welcome you into its fold, it tends to be reserved and hard to get to know. Pick up an Australian or Chilean wine in your supermarket and it’s likely to be fruity, friendly and obvious. The Italian will be the one brooding in the corner.
There are hundreds of wonderful, complex wines in Italy that are the pride of artisinal vintners, bringing rewards to those who try to find them. From rich ‘super-Tuscans’ to f ruit-laden Greco di Tufo from near the Amalfi Coast, Italy is heaven for anyone who loves, or even likes, good wine. No country, not even France, can match Italy for sheer variety of great wine on offer. Italians love their wine more than anything except their food, and through the centuries regional wines have emerged as the perfect companion to regional cuisine. See how a bistecca alla fiorentina – Tuscan T-bone steak – matches a Brunello di Montalcino, the chocolatey, dry, herb-laden wine that is the pearl of southern Tuscany. With a seafood risotto, a speciality of the northeast, try a local wine, like a spicy Pinot Grigio from Friuli, or even one of the area’s light, aromatic reds made from the Corvina grape, like a Valpolicella Classico. A good philosophy is to be open-minded, trying wines you don’t know, and to drink wines of whatever region you are in, preferably with regional gastronomic specialities.
If you’re in Puglia, rather than order the token Chianti (from Tuscany) on the list, try a spicy, fruit-laden Primitivo. The selection is bound to be better, as Italians are fiercely (and justifiably) loyal to their local producers. Many good reds come out of the bottle cloaked in a veil of tannin. This tannin makes the wine less ‘friendly’ than a new world equivalent; but it’s there for a reason. It makes the wine more food-friendly, falling away (in a good wine) to reveal subtle flavours that would not be there if the overwhelming initial taste sensation was that of Ribena.
Like a good lover, a good Italian wine doesn’t walk into the room naked. You need to undress it. That’s not to say the Italian wine world is perfect. There are pitfalls, stemming from the bureaucratic process governing the country’s winemakers, and also from the sheer number of producers. Take Barbera d’Alba, for example. This can be an excellent mid-priced red wine, found in the cheaper half of a wine list, with dark cherry fruit and a bracing freshness. From a good producer, it’s delicious and a great match for pizza and pasta with tomato-based sauces.
In his 1964 classic, The Italians, a still definitive analysis of his countrymen’s politics and pleasures, Luigi Barzini wrote: ‘They eat the dainty food of famous chefs with the same pleasure with which they devour gross peasant dishes, mostly composed of garlic and tomatoes.’
How do you assure satisfaction? Buy from a good outlet, by choosing the enoteca for your shopping instead of the supermarket, or, when eating out, trust your sommelier’s recommendation. In a café, do as the Italians do and drink coffee – or a glass of prosecco, a light, sparkling wine.
A final tip: Use our guide to start off, or invest in a book like Hugh Johnson’s Pocket Wine Guide. Like the greatest lover, you’ll never stop getting to know Italian wine.
The best hotels in Italy to drink wine:
- Villa San Michele, Tuscany, which has its own Tuscan wine estate
- Villa d’Este, Lake Como, with its top Italian fine wine list
- Grand hotel Tremezzo Palace, Lake Como, features I’Escale a new wine bar designed like a wine cellar, with over 400 wines
Where to learn more
Every Italian town has an enoteca; this can be a wine shop, a wine bar, or a combination of the two. The owners are a fountain of knowledge. Seek out an enoteca recommended by locals and overcome the fear barrier by asking the owner to suggest a local, small producer wine. Italy’s best wine-tasting centre is the Enoteca Italiana in Siena’s fortress, where there are always a number of wines open for tasting, and hundreds more to buy and take away. View holidays in Siena.
You may also want to view the following articles:
- What we love about Italian cuisine
- What we love about relaxing in Italy
- What we love about Italy family holidays
- What we love about Italian fashion
- Smart travel - green is the new black
Citalia’s Wine Tips
What to try if you’re in… Tuscany. Try a Brunello di Montalcino, a rich, herbal red, laced with dark chocolate tones. Try it from producers like Banfi and Col d’Orcia.
Holidays to Tuscany
If you’re in… Umbria try an Orvieto Classico Smooth. Rich whites from producers like Barberani and Palazzone have revived the reputation of this wine.
Holidays to Umbria
If you’re in… Verona try an Amarone della Valpolicella. A concentrated, powerful red, made from air-dried grapes.
Holidays to Verona
If you’re in… Puglia try a Primitivo. An earthy, rustic, fruity grape variety that is a delicious red accompaniment to the food of Italy’s south.
Holidays to Puglia
