Italian Wines
Italy is the land that is famous in the whole world for its scenic beauty, wine and its food. Its shimmering repute in the wine industry is not just because they are the world’s largest wine producers and exporters, but also for their huge variety of types, that ranges through nearly every color, flavor, and style. The Italian wine producers have learned rapidly, nearly all new techniques to create or improve the quality of wines of all class in every region of the country.
In the ancient times the Phoenicians introduced the people of the Mediterranean regions to the nectar of grapes. The people thrived, as wine growers and makers and wine became the most precious items for trade throughout Italy and Europe. Later Italy was then called, the Oenotria the land of wines. The mountain air and the Mediterranean sunshine enhanced the growth of wines in Italy.
Today Italy produces more types of vines cultivated than any other country. About more than 100 official Vitis Vinifera (species of vine that produces more than 99 percent of the worlds wine, with thousands of varieties in the market today) are grown in different regions of Italy.
The Italian wines were classified into four categories by the Italian wine classification system.
- Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG): This class denotes the highest quality of Italian wines. It has relatively very limited number of first class wines.
- Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOC): This class of wine are grown under specific government defined zones for preserving certain characteristics of the wine that are uniquely derived from the individual regions of Italy.
- Indicazione di Geografica Tipica (IGT): These are a type of table wines that are grown in specific geographical growing regions. Some of the best wines from Italy also fall in this category.
- Vino Da Tavola (VDT): This class denotes the wines that are found on the low end of the totem pole. These wines have just one criterion, which is to be grown in any part of Italy.
The vineyards of Calabria, Abruzzo, Piedmont, Le Marche, Apulia and Tuscany of Italy are famous all over the world. The famous and classic wines grown and made in Italy include the Asti, Frascati, Gavi, Amarone, Barbaresco, chianti, Lambrusco, etc. Whether be a fruity Vino Novello or the fantastic grand Brunello di Montalcino, the Italian wines are always known for their fine quality.
This entry was posted on Monday, February 22nd, 2010 at 12:03 pm and is filed under Wines. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.