Expert Guides

Italy Part III: Northern Italy

Jonathan Eichholz — Fri, 03 Apr 2026 11:59:57 GMT

Current Revision posted to Expert Guides by Jonathan Eichholz on 4/3/2026 11:59:57 AM

The Grapes and Grape Families of Northern Italy
Piedmont
Valle d'Aosta
Liguria
Lombardy
Veneto
Trentino-Alto Adige
Friuli-Venezia Giulia
Bibliography

Northern Italy is considered the financial and economic hub of the country, generally more industrialized than the agrarian south, with historic centers of wealth and influence, such as Milan and Venice. After the unification of most of the peninsula in 1861, Rome was designated as the capital, but Italy’s first leaders came from the north: King Vittorio Emanuele II was from Turin, and Italy’s first prime minister, Count Camillo Benso, from Barolo.

Northern Italy borders France, Switzerland, Austria, and Slovenia, and the area has a history of trade and cultural exchange with various European kingdoms and d duchies. The rich cuisine tends toward heavier meats, butter, and cream, reflecting northern Italy’s history of wealth and French and Germanic influences—in contrast to the olive oil, pasta, and red sauce of the south.

Some parts of northern Italy did not become annexed to the country until the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire following World War I, and the regions across the north remain culturally and linguistically diverse. German, French, and local dialects are as likely as Italian to be heard on the streets and seen on signs. Three of Italy’s five autonomous regions—granted a greater degree of local governance by the Italian Constitution to help preserve regional and cultural identity—are in the north: Aosta Valley, Trentino-Alto Adige, and Friuli-Venezia Giulia.

Northern Italy’s diversity extends to its land and climate. The topography ranges from the high elevations of the Alps and Dolomites to the flat plains of the Po River valley, and from the rivers and glacial freshwater lakes to the coastline of the Ligurian and Adriatic Seas. Dramatic differences in elevation, temperature, and soil types lead to an exciting range of grape varieties and wine styles produced across the top of Italy’s boot.

The Grapes and Grape Families of Northern Italy

Many of the key grape varieties of northern Italy—Pinot Grigio, Glera, Vermentino, Barbera, Nebbiolo, and several international ones—are covered in the Introduction to Italy Expert Guide. Below are additional grapes and families that are important to northern Italy, while others are discussed in the regional sections below.

White Grapes

Arneis: From the Piedmontese dialect meaning “rascal,” the name Arneis likely refers to the challenges the grape presents in the vineyard, or to its characteristic early ripening, which makes it the first grape sweet enough to attract birds—sparing the more expensive, later-ripening Nebbiolo often planted alongside it. Arneis has low and irregular yields and is sensitive to disease and pests. Its vines grow tall and erect like those of Nebbiolo, and it has also been called Nebbiolo Bianco and Barolo Bianco. Arneis has always had an association with producers more famous for their Nebbiolo; it was resurrected in the 1960s by winemakers including Vietti and Bruno Giacosa, and it became Italy’s most popular white wine in the 1980s largely because of Ceretto’s Blangé bottling.

Arneis has a round, creamy texture. The grape performs well in the sandy soils of Roero DOCG and needs to be harvested early to retain its acidity. Some producers blend wine from multiple pickings to ensure a range of acidity levels. Arneis oxidizes easily and requires care in the cellar for freshness to be retained.

Garganega: One of the oldest and most important white grapes of Veneto, Garganega is the principal grape of Soave and Gambellara. Despite being grown almost exclusively in Veneto, it is the 12^th most planted grape in Italy. It is also one of Italy’s most ancient varieties and a parent of many others, including Trebbiano Toscano, Albana, Malvasia Bianca di Candia, and Catarratto. Garganega has many clones and biotypes, some of which have loosely packed bunches that are suitable for air-drying and sweet recioto wines.

Garganega is thick skinned and very late ripening, and it produces reliable and generous yields. Garganega can be a varietal wine in Soave and is also often blended with Trebbiano di Soave (Verdicchio) or Chardonnay. The sweet recioto wines based on Garganega are rich, honeyed, and floral, usually without any botrytis.

Ribolla Gialla: Ribolla wines have a long history of trade along the Adriatic, but, as with Malvasia, there is confusion around the many Ribollas. Historically, the name likely referred to a generic brand or blended wine rather than a grape variety, and its popularity spawned many imitators. Ribolla Gialla, believed to be of central European origin, is a high-quality and important grape grown primarily in Friuli-Venezia Giulia; it has the name Rebula across the Slovenian border. It is not the same as the lesser-quality Ribolla Verde and is unrelated to Ribolla Nera (Schioppettino); Ribolla Spizade (Prosecco Lungo); Rèbola (Pignoletto) of Emilia-Romagna; and Robola of Cephalonia, Greece.

Gialla, Italian for “yellow,” refers to the deep yellow color of the berries. The highest-quality wines come from old vines planted on hillsides. In the glass, Ribolla Gialla has very high acidity and flavors of white pepper, lemon, and tangerine. It is made in a wide range of styles but is often associated with orange wines produced using extended skin contact and oxidative winemaking practices. Because of its high acidity, some winemakers are experimenting with sparkling Ribolla Gialla.

Timorasso: Once one of the most planted white grapes of Piedmont, Timorasso was nearly abandoned because of viticultural challenges. Its berries ripen unevenly, its thin skins make it susceptible to gray rot, and it is subject to coulure. It is very late ripening and can struggle to achieve full ripeness. Today, however, there is a Timorasso renaissance among quality producers. It is an ageworthy white, characterized by very high acidity, a rich and powerful body, and an intensely herbal and mineral character, exhibiting TDN-based flavors of petrol and kerosene, similar to those of some dry Rieslings.

Red Grapes

Corvina: Found in Veneto and Lombardy, Corvina means “little raven,” a reference either to the dark color of the berries or to the birds’ attraction to the ripe grapes. It is best known as the principal grape in the blend for Amarone and other red wines from Valpolicella. Corvina is thick skinned with small berries, making it suitable for air-drying and the appassimento process. In the vineyard, it is vigorous, high yielding, and sensitive to botrytis and sunburn. Corvina brings elevated acidity, fine tannins, and flavors of red cherry, violets, and herbs to blends.

Corvina is an offspring of Refosco dal Peduncolo Rosso, a parent of Rondinella, and related to Oseleta and Marzemino. But it shares no relation with Corvinone, its frequent blending partner. Corvinone was given its name, meaning “big Corvina,” because it was once thought to be a Corvina clone with larger berries and bunches.v

Croatina: Rarely seen on labels but widely planted across northern Italy, Croatina is usually in a supporting role, as a blending partner with a range of grapes, including Barbera, Nebbiolo, and Corvina. It is grown in several regions but is the top-planted grape (with 17% of plantings) in Lombardy and among the top 15 red grapes in Italy overall. It is confusingly called Bonarda in some regions but is not the same as other Bonarda-named grapes, such as Bonarda Piemontese or Argentina’s Bonarda. It is also called Nebbiolo di Gattinara and Spanna di Ghemme but should not be confused with the Nebbiolo (Spanna) found in Alto Piemonte.

The thick-skinned Croatina is an irregular producer, buds later, and is resistant to frost and powdery mildew. It succeeds best in clay soils, where it can achieve higher quality, with smaller bunches and more concentration. Croatina can lighten the sharp acidity of Barbera and add soft tannins and a round, creamy texture to Amarone wines. Some producers use shorter macerations and barrel aging to soften Croatina’s tannins.

Dolcetto: Meaning “little sweet one,” Dolcetto is the everyday wine of Piedmont, often overshadowed by the more famous Nebbiolo and Barbera. Although the wines are dry, the grapes are sweet and, historically, were often eaten as table grapes. Dolcetto is the earliest ripening of the three main Langhe red varieties and difficult to work with in both the vineyard and the cellar. It is sensitive to frost, storms, and cold temperatures and grows close to the ground, making picking difficult. It can also be reductive. Given these challenges, Dolcetto plantings have steadily decreased in recent years, as more vineyard space has been planted to Nebbiolo, and to Chardonnay and Pinot Nero for sparkling wines made in the traditional method (metodo classico). Dolcetto plantings decreased by 18% between 2000 and 2010.

Dolcetto yields medium-bodied wines with a purple hue that tend to be relatively low in acidity and high in tannin. They have “grapey” flavors, with notes of lavender, orange peel, and black tea. When harvested earlier, Dolcetto retains acidity and is more floral. The wines are usually monovarietal.

Dolcetto is called Dosset in the Piedmontese dialect and Ormeasco in Liguria. It is not the same as Douce Noire of Savoie (called Charbono in California and Bonarda in Argentina), though once believed to be identical. Although on the decline in Italy, Dolcetto is being grown in the United States, Australia, and other New World countries.

Schiava: Schiava, Italian for “slave,” references vines that were “enslaved” on trellises in ancient Rome, rather than supported by trees or other crops as other vines were. The Schiava group includes several similar but genetically unrelated varieties that are often blended and, when combined, represent the most planted grape in Alto Adige. The DOC regulations do not specify which Schiava variety must be used, so the wines are usually a blend of two or three of the main varieties.

Schiava Gentile, also called Schiava Piccola because of its small bunches, is the lightest bodied and most perfumed of the Schiava varieties, and it is especially prized for rosato. Schiava Grigia, referring to the gray bloom on its berries, is the most refined. Schiava Grossa, with large berries and bunches, has the most delicate aromas and is a parent of Kerner and Malvasia del Lazio. In addition to these three main Schiavas, there is Schiava Nera. The Schiava varieties are also found in Lombardy, where Schiava Nera is called Schiava Lombarda. The Schiava group is also known as Vernatsch in Alto Adige and Trollinger in Austria and Germany.

These wines are typically light colored and light bodied, with high acidity and fragrant strawberry, violet, and sweet almond flavors.

Source: Italian Wine Central, 2022 data

Piedmont

Piedmont, or Piemonte in Italian, meaning “foot of the mountain,” is surrounded on three sides by the Alps and Apennines. The Po River valley extends to the east, with many tributaries of the Po River and lakes nestled in the foothills. Piedmont is one of the most mountainous regions in Italy, with 43% of its land covered in mountains and another 30% in hills.

Click to enlarge and zoom in

Piedmont’s climate is largely continental. The warm air from the Po River valley meets the humid air from the Mediterranean Sea, creating precipitation and fog. The central band of foothills is protected from the most extreme weather by the Alpine and Apennine ranges. The hilly terrain provides a wide range of slopes and aspects for grape ripening.

What is today Piedmont was originally settled by Celtic tribes and was part of the Cisalpine Gaul territory. The Taurini people likely dominated this area until their capital city, Taurasia, was destroyed by Hannibal during the march of his Carthaginian army in 218 BCE. The city was reestablished by the Romans in 25 BCE as Augusta Taurinorum, which is today Piedmont’s capital city of Turin.

The region was important during ancient Rome as a trade route with the Gallic provinces. In contrast to the Greeks and Etruscans, who used ceramic pottery and amphorae to store wine, the Gauls used barrels, and the Gallic influence helped facilitate the transport of wine beyond alpine areas. The Etruscan viticultural influence reached this area as well, particularly the maritata or alberata system of training vines high on trees or other live supports to provide protection from humidity.

In the Middle Ages, Piedmont was an important stronghold of the House of Savoy. The Holy Roman Empire awarded the House of Savoy ducal status in the 15^th century, and the region’s role in commerce led to increased prosperity as well as exposure to new ideas of the European Enlightenment. The Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia, with its capital in Turin, was influential in the 19^th-century campaign for Italian unification, with Vittorio Emanuele II, who was born in Piedmont, becoming the first king of Italy.

Piedmont has 19 DOCGs, the most of any Italian region, and 41 DOCs, tying with Tuscany for the most. Many of these denominations are overlapping, with multiple names referring to the same places, such as Alba, Asti, Acqui, and Monferrato. Perhaps owing to its cultural relationship with eastern France, Piedmont is often divided into many subzones and single-vineyard sites with fractured ownership. Piedmont has no IGT for less strictly controlled wines, although its large regional denominations, such as Piemonte DOC and Langhe DOC, are broad enough to allow for a wide range of wine styles as well as international varieties.

Piedmont’s wine production is at a very high quality level overall: nearly all (94%) of its wine is DOC or higher, the highest percentage of any Italian region, compared with the national average of 45%. About 60% of Piedmont’s production is red wine, but the region is known for high-quality examples of red, white, sparkling, and sweet wines. Its most planted grape varieties are Barbera (31%), Moscato Bianco (22%), Dolcetto (13%), and Nebbiolo (10%).

Nebbiolo: What's in a Name?

An ancient grape most likely originating in Lombardy or northern Piedmont, Nebbiolo has great clonal diversity, with at least 30 documented biotypes. It has adapted to different terroirs in northwestern Italy and is distinguished for its ability to reflect the sites in which it is grown.

Nebbiolo is believed to take its name from nebbia, the Italian word for “fog,” either because it is traditionally harvested in the late autumn, when thick fog engulfs the Langhe, or because of the fog-like bloom that appears on the dark berries. Synonyms for Nebbiolo date back centuries. Here are some of the most important biotypes and synonyms to know.

Chiavennasca: The name for Nebbiolo used in Lombardy’s Valtellina region and dating to 1595. Thought to come from ciù venasca in the local dialect, referring to a grape of great vigor.

Nebbiolo Lampia: The most common Nebbiolo and most dependable producer.

Nebbiolo Michet: A virused form of Lampia that causes the vine’s canes to fork, producing smaller berries, lower yields, and a higher concentration of aromas and flavors.

Nebbiolo Rosé: A separate but closely related variety once thought to be a clone of Nebbiolo. Prized for its aromatic perfume and pale color.

Picoutener/Picotendro: The French and Italian names for the smaller-bunched and darker-berried Nebbiolo in Valle d’Aosta and Carema.

Spanna: The local name for Nebbiolo in Ghemme, Gattinara, and other parts of Alto Piemonte, first documented here in 1466. It is possibly the grape Pliny the Elder referred to as Spionia or Spinea.

Barolo and Barbaresco

Located in the Cuneo province in the Langhe hills, on opposite sides of the city of Alba along the Tanaro River, Barolo DOCG and Barbaresco DOCG are two of the most respected wine regions in the world, renowned for their powerful, complex, ageworthy Nebbiolo wines.

The Celtic-Ligurian Statielli tribe settled in the Barolo area in the fifth century BCE. The Romans conquered the Statielli in the first century BCE and established Alba Pompeia, which is today modern Alba. There is documentation of Nebbiolo in this area since the Middle Ages. The wealthy Falletti family is credited with promoting Barolo wine in the courts of Napoleon Bonaparte in Paris and the House of Savoy in Turin—earning Barolo the nickname “the king of wines and the wine of kings.”

Piedmont’s vineyards in autumn (Photo credit: Adobe Stock)

Nebbiolo from the Barolo region was historically known as a sweet wine. It would often stop fermenting in the cold Piedmont winters, refermenting in the spring to make a slightly sparkling wine. The first dry Barolo wines are often credited to either French enologist Louis Oudart or Italian General Paolo Francesco Staglieno in the 1840s. The first Barbaresco wine appeared in 1894; before that time, grapes grown in Barbaresco were likely sold to nearby Barolo houses.

In the Langhe, unlike many other Italian wine regions, a large number of small farmers owned tiny parcels of land (as compared with Tuscany, for example, which was dominated by wealthy landowners and sharecropping). After the French Revolution, Napoleon marched his army over the Alps, and Piedmont came under Napoleonic rule. Napoleon’s government confiscated and sold church property, ended primogeniture rights, and implemented reforms similar to those taking place in France. By the time Piedmont was once again ruled by the House of Savoy, there was a new class of landowners and entrepreneurs, with continued vineyard fragmentation as new generations inherited land.

With some exceptions, most small farmers and grapegrowers did not produce wine themselves but sold grapes to large négociant houses in Alba. They were hindered by the poverty in rural areas after World War II and a lack of accessible water. This began to change in the 1970s when several young grapegrowers, including Elio Altare and Enrico Scavino, traveled to Burgundy, searching for new ideas on cellar hygiene, vineyard management, and the production of fine wine.

In the decades that followed, two camps were sharply pitted against each another in what is known as the Barolo wars. The “traditionalists” generally favored long macerations in large, old barrels of chestnut or acacia that were often passed down for generations, using practices such as stem inclusion, open-vat fermentation, foot trodding, and no temperature control. The “modernists” sought to create more accessible and less aggressive wines that didn’t need decades to soften before they could be enjoyed. Through exposure to other regions, these winemakers introduced new practices into both the cellar and vineyard, most famously using new French barriques for aging, using rotary fermenters, and lowering yields to increase concentration and focus on physiological ripeness and tannin management.

This riper, more concentrated, approachable style was popular with the public and wine critics, but it was highly controversial. Green harvesting to reduce yields was an affront to farmers who had been focused on quantity and selling grapes to earn a living. Elio Altare famously took a chainsaw to his father’s old barrels in 1983 and, after being disowned by his father, bought new French barriques and eventually bought back vineyard land from his family. In neighboring Barbaresco, producers such as Angelo Gaja were also experimenting with green harvesting and new French barriques.

The Soils of Barolo

The Langhe is generally composed of marine sedimentary soils in alternating layers of calcareous marls and sandstone, with varied percentages of clay and sand. The soils of Barolo are typically defined by their ages. The oldest, from the Serravallian era (formerly called Helvetian), are found in the south and east of the denomination and were formed 11–13 million years ago. Soils from the Tortonian era, in the western part of the denomination, were formed 7–11 million years ago. The youngest soils, from the Messinian era, are in the far northwest and were formed 5–7 million years ago.

During these ages, there were several principal geological formations. The Formazione di Lequio consists of gray marl and light yellow sandstone and is found primarily in Monforte d’Alba and Serralunga d’Alba. The soils here are higher in calcium carbonate, restraining vigor and yielding wines that are more austere, powerful, and structured. The Marne di Sant’Agata Fossili formation is found primarily in the communes of Barolo and La Morra as well as in Barbaresco. This formation consists of bluish-gray marls and is higher in clay content, resulting in wines that are more perfumed, rounder, and more elegant. The Arenarie di Diano d’Alba formation is found primarily in Castiglione Falletto, where the wines occupy a middle ground between structure and elegance. The youngest formations consist of gypsum-sulfur and are higher in sand content. They are found in parts of La Morra, Verduno, and Cherasco and yield the softest and most approachable Barolos for early drinking.

Today, the divisions have softened, and many producers use a blend of practices associated with the traditional and modern approaches. New barriques may be used in moderation or in combination with used, untoasted, or larger barrels. Large Slavonian casks may be changed every 10 or 15 years and may be smaller in size than those used in previous generations. Fermentation and maceration times are generally about 25 days, balancing short-term approachability with long-term aging capability, although some still prefer to extend aging. Cellar hygiene and improved vineyard management are the norm. Many producers use the historic Albeisa bottle, which has shoulders that fall between those of Burgundy and Bordeaux bottles.

Barolo and Barbaresco were among the first DOCs in Italy, established in 1966, and part of the first group to be elevated to DOCG status in 1980. Both require 100% Nebbiolo. Barbaresco requires a minimum of 9 months in barrel, with 26 months total aging for Normale and 50 months for Riserva. Barolo mandates a minimum of 18 months in barrel, with 38 months total aging for Normale and 62 months for Riserva, making the aging for Riserva bottlings among the longest required for any dry wine in the world.

The Langhe has marine sedimentary soils of calcareous marl and sandstone, with varying percentages of clay, sand, and calcium carbonate. Approximately 90% of Barolo DOCG is in the six core communes of Barolo, Castiglione Falletto, La Morra, Monforte d’Alba, Serralunga d’Alba, and Novello, with small parts of the denomination in five other communes: Diano d’Alba, Verduno, Grinzane Cavour, Cherasco, and Roddi. Barbaresco DOCG primarily includes the three communes of Barbaresco, Neive, and Treiso, with a smaller piece in a fourth, San Rocco Seno d’Elvio.

Barolo is the larger of the two denominations, with 1,980 hectares (4,900 acres) of vineyard area (2019), compared with Barbaresco’s 680 hectares (1,670 acres). The southeastern part of the Barolo denomination is cooler, as the narrow Serralunga valley funnels cool air from the Apennines, and the warmest crus are situated on south-facing ridges. The northwestern part is warmer, with a low-lying amphitheater in the village of Barolo and the highest altitudes in the commune of La Morra. The slopes are generally steep, with hand-harvesting the norm and erosion a constant issue for growers. Barbaresco’s hills generally have gentler slopes and are lower lying, with the exception of the higher-altitude commune of Treiso. Barbaresco is closer to the Tanaro River and receives more of its moderating influence, resulting in a warmer climate where grapes are generally harvested two weeks earlier than in Barolo. In both denominations, classic Guyot training is the norm; with Nebbiolo, longer canes with more buds are needed for production, as the buds closest to the plant are typically sterile.

The Langhe has long designated exceptional specific vineyard sites, or crus. The oldest surviving bottle from the region is simply labeled Cannubi 1752. Nebbiolo, early budding and very late ripening, was typically planted on hillside vineyard plots where the snow melted first, indicating to growers that these areas would receive the most sun. The sites called sorí, Piedmontese dialect for a hillside vineyard with full southern exposure, were most desirable.

In the 1970s, Renato Ratti produced the first detailed maps of Barolo and Barbaresco. As the regions’ popularity soared and Nebbiolo plantings expanded to some less-desirable sites, efforts were initiated to codify the concepts of crus or subzones. In 2007, Barbaresco unveiled its menzioni geografiche aggiuntive (MGAs), or “additional geographical mentions,” now totaling 66. Barolo unveiled its 181 MGAs in 2010, including 170 geographic sites and 11 commune designations. (Interestingly, Barbaresco does not include designations for its four communes.) This dizzying array of named sites, some of which never appear on labels, can be confusing. Further, fantasy names are still allowed, as are vigna designations of specific vineyard names found within the larger subzones. (To use the vigna designation in either denomination, yields must be lower and vineyards must be at least seven years old.) Find lists of Barolo’s MGAs and Barbaresco's MGAs in the Compendium.

Because the designation of the MGAs was also left up to the individual communes, there is a lack of consistency. Some remained faithful to the historic boundaries of famous crus, while others expanded them to huge proportions, and there have been contested legal battles over boundaries. Some MGAs are monopoles, such as Francia, owned by Giacomo Conterno, and Falletto, owned by Bruno Giacosa.

In modifying the DOCG disciplinari to allow MGAs, Barbaresco and Barolo also took the opportunity to prohibit plantings on valley floors and areas with northern exposures. Barolo vineyards must be planted between 170 and 540 meters (560 and 1,770 feet); there is no minimum altitude for Barbaresco vineyards, but they cannot be higher than 550 meters (1,800 feet). Expansion and new plantings are also limited in both denominations. The measures aim to ensure that Nebbiolo is planted on the most appropriate hillsides, with adequate sun exposure, limiting soil erosion and other challenges in the vineyard.

Classic Barolo and Barbaresco wines are firmly structured, with elevated tannins and acidity, and complex flavors, such as tart red fruit, tar, and roses. Barbaresco can be slightly softer than Barolo, owing to its closer proximity to the Tanaro River, as well as soils that tend to be more fertile and sandier, with less calcium carbonate. Even so, these lines are blurring, and the differences in both denominations vary by commune, vineyard, and producer style.

Roero and Terra Alfieri

Le rocche (Photo credit: LoveLanghe)

Also in the Cuneo province but north of the Langhe, Roero DOCG is on the left bank of the Tanaro River. The climate is semiarid and slightly warmer, and the region is farther inland. Harvest usually takes place one or two weeks earlier than in Barolo. The Roero is marked by le rocche, steep sandy cliffs formed by slow erosion from the Tanaro River. The soils here are sandier compared with those of the Langhe and much lower in calcium carbonate.

Roero’s red wines must be a minimum of 95% Nebbiolo, while the denomination also allows white and sparkling wines of a minimum 95% Arneis. The red wines require shorter aging than Barolo and Barbaresco—20 months and 32 months for Normale and Riserva, respectively, including 6 months in barrel. White wines must be aged a minimum of 4 months for Normale and 16 months for Riserva. Roero has a vigna designation for single-vineyard wines with lower mandated yields, and there are 153 MGAs, including the 19 village designations. Arneis thrives in Roero, and several Barolo and Barbaresco producers bottle a white wine from this region. Though rare, sparkling versions are authorized in a range of sweetness levels.

Just east of Roero, extending into the Asti province, is Terre Alfieri DOCG, awarded in 2020, with just 40 hectares (100 acres) of vineyards. Its rules are similar to Roero’s, making these the only two Piedmont DOCGs that produce both red and white wine. Terre Alfieri requires a minimum of 85% for both Nebbiolo-based reds and Arneis-based whites, with superiore, riserva, and vigna designations.

Nebbiolo d’Alba DOC is a larger denomination covering much of the Roero and Langhe areas. Wines must be 100% Nebbiolo and can be made into still red, sparkling red, or sparkling rosato.

Barbera-Based Denominations

Piedmont has five denominations dedicated to Barbera, many of them overlapping, throughout the Langhe, Asti, and Monferrato areas. Barbera is the most planted grape variety in Piedmont (31% of plantings), and although it is found in other regions of Italy, it most likely originated in the Monferrato province of Alessandria.

Barbera is generally characterized by its deep color, high acidity, and very low tannins. It is vigorous and can produce quality wine at relatively high yields. Some producers argue that Barbera needs to have high alcohol to express its complexity, and bottlings of 15% ABV are not uncommon. Barbera is drought resistant and favors heat and warmer sites, such as those in Asti. Vintages that are challenging for Nebbiolo (such as 2003 and 2011) can yield excellent Barbera.

Barbera is subject to a range of stylistic interpretations and expresses itself differently depending on the site. Grown in sandier soils, the wine can have higher acidity, lower alcohol and tannin, and deeper color. Grown in soils with more clay, the converse is true. The grape’s stylistic diversity is exacerbated by the very large sizes of the Barbera denominations. Barbera d’Asti DOCG covers about 200,000 hectares (500,000 acres) of land, across more than 160 communes in the provinces of Asti and Alessandria.

Barbera d’Asti DOCG requires a minimum of 90% Barbera, and the remainder can be Dolcetto, Freisa, and/or Grignolino. The wines must be aged four months before release. To qualify as Superiore, the wines must be aged a total of 14 months, including at least 6 months in oak. There are two official subzones, Tinella and Colli Astiani, both south of the Tanaro River. Superiore with the addition of either subzone requires 24 months total aging, including 6 months each in barrel and bottle.

Nizza DOCG, formerly a subzone of Barbera d’Asti, was elevated to its own denomination in 2014. Its wines come from 18 communes, and there is a prevalence of old vines of 50 years or more in this district. Unlike the other denominations, Nizza requires 100% Barbera. Nizza wines must be aged at least 18 months, with a minimum of 6 months in barrel. The Riserva level requires 30 months total aging, with at least 12 months in wood. Nizza has diverse soils, with the northern part of the zone characterized by sandy and silty soils and the southern part by marl and sandstone.

Like Barbera d’Asti, Barbera del Monferrato DOC is a large area in the Asti and Alessandria provinces. It requires a minimum of 85% Barbera and has no aging requirements, generally reserved for lighter, fruitier, youthful Barberas that can even be frizzante. Its superiore designation was elevated in 2008 to become the separate Barbera del Monferrato Superiore DOCG, requiring a higher minimum alcohol as well as a minimum of 14 months total aging, including 6 months in barrel. There is overlap between Barbera del Monferrato, Barbera d’Asti, and Nizza, giving producers labeling options.

Barbera d’Alba DOC, in the Cuneo province, overlaps the more famous Langhe denominations of Barolo and Barbaresco. It benefits from the association with the name Alba but also suffers, because the best sites in this area are often planted to Nebbiolo, not Barbera. The DOC requires a minimum of 85% Barbera, with the remainder Nebbiolo. The Superiore designation requires a minimum aging of 12 months, with at least 4 months in wood. Barbera d’Alba wines tends to be richer, rounder, and fleshier than those from Asti.

Dolcetto-Based Denominations

Although its plantings are declining, Dolcetto has a long history in southern Piedmont, and there are seven Piedmontese denominations dedicated to the grape. All but one require 100% Dolcetto.

Dogliani DOCG, south of Barolo, extends to the south of the regional Langhe DOC. Dolcetto has been planted in some of the best vineyard sites here. It must be aged for a minimum of 12 months. A Superiore designation requires a higher minimum alcohol of 13% ABV, compared with 12% for Normale. Dogliani has vigna designations as well as 76 MGAs, including 21 commune names. It became a DOC in 1974 and a DOCG in 2005, and it absorbed the former Dolcetto delle Langhe Monregalesi DOC in 2011.

Dolcetto d’Alba DOC covers 25 communes surrounding the town of Alba, overlapping the Barolo and Barbaresco areas. Superiore wines require a slightly higher minimum alcohol and at least 12 months of aging. Diano d’Alba DOCG, also known as Dolcetto di Diano d’Alba DOCG, is based in the commune of the same name on the northeastern edge of Barolo. In 1974, Diano d’Alba was one of the first denominations in Italy to undertake a serious study and mapping of its geological subzones and terroirs; it now has 75 MGAs, which must meet the same requirements as Superiore wines. The Normale wines must be aged 2–3 months, while the Superiore requires a minimum of 10 months.

Moving east, Dolcetto d’Asti DOC, in the Asti province, and Dolcetto d’Acqui DOC, in the Alessandria province, have no minimum aging for Normale but require a minimum of 12 months for the Superiore designation, which also requires a slightly higher minimum alcohol of 12.5% ABV. Farther east in the Alessandria province, Dolcetto di Ovada DOC requires a minimum of 97% Dolcetto and has no minimum aging requirement. The overlapping Ovada DOCG was formerly part of Dolcetto di Ovada but was elevated to a separate DOCG in 2008. It requires 100% Dolcetto and a minimum aging of 12 months for Normale wines, 20 months with a vigna designation, and 24 months for Riserva.

Sparkling Wine Denominations

In Piedmont, sparkling wines are produced in a wide range of styles. The region’s largest denomination in total production volume is Asti DOCG, with 770,000 hectoliters, or 8.56 million cases, in 2022. Of the two principal styles, the fully sparkling Asti, also called Asti spumante, accounted for 65% of production, and the semi-sparkling, or frizzante, Moscato d’Asti accounted for 35%. The large Asti DOCG spans 52 communes not only in the province of Asti but also in Cuneo and Alessandria. It requires a minimum of 97% Moscato Bianco, known outside Italy as Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains, which has been planted here since at least the 14^th century.

Unlike the tank method (also known as the Charmat method or the metodo Martinotti) and the traditional method, both of which use the fermentation of a still wine followed by a second fermentation into sparkling wine, the Asti method has a single fermentation phase. The grape must is chilled and stored at low temperatures to prevent fermentation from starting. It is then used in batches as needed, warmed up in autoclaves to ferment and create its sparkle at the same time. The fermentation is stopped when the desired alcohol and sweetness levels are reached, allowing for different styles.

Asti spumante is typically between 4.5 and 5 atmospheres of pressure, and the traditional muselet wire cage and cork are used for fully sparkling wines. The minimum alcohol is 6% ABV. Prior to 2017, all Asti spumante was required to be dolce, but today all sweetness levels, including secco, are permitted, and there is no maximum alcohol requirement. Traditional method versions are rare but authorized with a minimum of nine months on the lees.

Moscato d’Asti is typically regarded as higher quality, and the better selection of grapes is reserved for this frizzante version. It cannot exceed 2.5 atmospheres of pressure and is typically topped with a regular cork or Stelvin closure. The alcohol must be between 4.5% and 6.5% ABV, and it tends to be sweeter, requiring a minimum of 4.5% potential alcohol, or about 80 grams of residual sugar per liter. Vendemmia tardiva versions are also authorized, requiring a minimum of 11% acquired alcohol and at least one year of aging.

Vineyard at La Spinetta in the province of Asti (Photo Credit: Michael Markarian)

Until recently, there were three subzones of Asti DOCG. The most famous subzone, Canelli, split away from Asti in 2023 to become a DOCG. The wines of Canelli DOCG must be 100% Moscato Bianco, hand-harvested, and in the Moscato d’Asti style only. Vineyard elevation must be between 165 and 500 meters (540 and 1,635 feet) above sea level. A Riserva level with vigna designation requires a minimum 30 months of aging, including at least 20 months in bottle. Asti DOCG’s remaining two subzones, Strevi and Santa Vittoria d’Alba, are also authorized for the Moscato d’Asti style and, like Canelli, require a higher potential alcohol and lower maximum yields. Santa Vittoria d’Alba has the additional category of vendemmia tardiva, which requires a longer minimum aging of two years.

One of Moscato Bianco’s many offspring is the highly aromatic red grape Brachetto, which is featured in the wines of Brachetto d’Acqui DOCG. The DOCG is centered around the town of Acqui Terme, in the Alessandria province. The wines can be made in still, sparkling, and passito styles, all of which require a minimum 97% Brachetto. The off-dry sparkling red wines have boosted the variety’s popularity and helped it survive. Brachetto d’Acqui is typically frizzante and light in alcohol, with residual sugar and flavors of candied strawberries and roses. A less sweet rosato version is also authorized, but production is minimal.

Although Italy’s first traditional method sparkling wine originated in Piedmont, more modern efforts took hold in the 1990s when producers planted experimental vineyards of Pinot Nero and Chardonnay in an effort to distinguish a Piedmontese sparkling wine from the sweeter, aromatic styles based on Moscato and Brachetto. Alta Langa DOCG, awarded in 2011, after becoming a DOC in 2002, is dedicated to traditional method sparkling wines made from a minimum of 90% Pinot Nero and/or Chardonnay, with the balance from other nonaromatic grape varieties.

Alta Langa DOCG wines must be made in the traditional method and vintage dated. They can be white or rosato, range from zero dosage to extra dry, and require a minimum 30 months of aging, or 36 months for the Riserva level. All vineyard plantings must be 250 meters (820 feet) above sea level or higher. While Alta Langa can be made in 146 communes, only 180 hectares (450 acres) are currently planted.

Other Wines of the Langhe and Monferrato

Southern Piedmont has an array of native grape varieties and denominations. Gavi, based on the white grape Cortese, was one of the most famous wines of Italy in the 1960s and 1970s but diminished in popularity when the market was flooded with inexpensive, neutral white wine. Today Gavi is reemerging, as young producers are focused on quality and lower yields. Gavi DOCG, also called Cortese di Gavi DOCG, must be 100% Cortese and can be still or sparkling.

Cortese is nonaromatic and very high in acidity. The Gavi area is cool, rainy, and close to the Ligurian coast. The best quality expressions are labeled Gavi di Gavi or Gavi di Tassarolo, coming from those two communes, or from the frazione of Rovereto within Gavi, which is known for especially powerful and concentrated wines. The chalky soils around the town of Gavi help produce more structured and ageworthy wines.

The white grape Timorasso was saved from the brink of extinction in the 1980s, primarily thanks to Walter Massa, and plantings have dramatically increased in recent years. Many compare its very high acidity, rich and powerful body, and intensely herbal and mineral character to those of a dry German Riesling. Found primarily in Colli Tortonesi DOC, in the Alessandria province, the best examples are those labeled Derthona, the ancient Roman name for the town of Tortona. Colli Tortonesi DOC allows a range of styles and varieties and has two recognized subzones: Monleale (for Barbera only) and Terre di Libarna.

Nascetta, also called Anascetta or Nas-cëtta, is another white grape saved from the brink of extinction, credited mainly to the efforts of the Barolo producer Elvio Cogno. Only about 21 hectares (52 acres) are currently planted. Nascetta is a semiaromatic grape with an herbal and saline character. Though it is challenging in the vineyard, many producers see great promise in the variety. Wines labeled Langhe DOC must be a minimum of 85% Nascetta, like other varietal wines; but with the subzone Nascetta (or Nas-cëtta) del Comune di Novello, the still or passito wines must be 100% Nascetta and exclusively grown in the classic Novello zone.

Beyond the big three of Nebbiolo, Barbera, and Dolcetto, there are several other important red grapes in Piedmont. Like its parent Nebbiolo, Freisa is light in color and high in acidity and tannin. It has a rustic character and, true to its name, flavors of strawberries along with roses, violets, and tobacco. Freisa was historically a key part of Piedmont blends but today occupies only about 2% of Piedmont’s vineyard area. Freisa di Chieri DOC, in the Torino province, requires a minimum of 90% Freisa, while Freisa d’Asti DOC requires 100% Freisa, both allowing still and sparkling wines in a range of sweetness levels.

Grignolino is a red variety with three or more pips per berry, giving its wines high tannin even by Piedmont standards. Grignolino is typically a very pale red or pink color and light in body and alcohol, but it has powerful acidity and structure, along with delicate fragrance. Grignolino d’Asti DOC, with sandier soils, and Grignolino del Monferrato Casalese DOC, with more calcareous clay, both require a minimum of 90% Grignolino.

Ruchè is one of the few examples of an aromatic red variety. It used to be made into sweet wines or added to Piedmont blends to enhance the perfume, but, in the 1960s, a local parish priest, Don Giacomo Cauda, saw its potential for making dry wines. He resurrected a church vineyard and made Vigna del Parroco (“the priest’s vineyard”), long considered a top Ruchè bottling. Most Ruchè production is centered around the commune of Castagnole Monferrato, in the province of Asti. Ruchè di Castagnole Monferrato DOCG requires a minimum of 90% Ruchè, with the remaining balance from Barbera and/or Brachetto.

Pelaverga is a name used for two distinct Piedmont red grapes. Pelaverga Grosso is found near the towns of Saluzzo and Chieri. It is used in varietal wines and red blends in Colline Saluzzesi DOC and Collina Torinese DOC, as well as rosato wines in the former. The variety receiving more recent attention is Pelaverga Piccolo, which is grown primarily around the communes of Verduno and Roddi. It makes up a minimum of 85% of Verduno Pelaverga DOC. It is a light-colored red with freshness, high acidity, and herbal flavors. Currently 19 hectares (47 acres) are planted.

Northern Piedmont

Northern Piedmont, or Alto Piemonte, is generally cooler, with more alpine influence and higher rainfall than the south. The Sesia River begins in the Alps near the Swiss border and flows south through the region into the Po River. The wine regions to the west of the Sesia, such as Gattinara, have soils that are volcanic in origin, while those east of the Sesia, such as Ghemme, are on gravelly alluvial soils.

The Romans first planted grapevines in Gattinara in the second century BCE. At the end of the 19^th century, the Alto Piemonte region had more than 40,000 hectares (99,000 acres) of Nebbiolo (here called Spanna), but phylloxera and economic challenges drastically reduced plantings. There are fewer than 1,000 hectares (2,500 acres) today, but visibility and investment are growing.

Here, Spanna was historically blended with grapes such as Uva Rara, Croatina, and Vespolina to balance unripe Nebbiolo in cooler vintages. Vespolina, an offspring of Nebbiolo, brings spice and pepper to the blend. Croatina is rounder and fleshier and can soften Nebbiolo’s sharp structure. Uva Rara, also called Bonarda Novarese, brings deep color, freshness, and softening as well. Alto Piemonte denominations still allow this historic blending, although many examples of 100% Spanna can be found.

Gattinara DOCG, in the Vercelli province, on the west bank of the Sesia River, is perhaps the best known of the Alto Piemonte regions. Its soils are mostly volcanic, with iron and granite. The denomination requires a minimum of 90% Spanna, allowing up to 10% Uva Rara and a maximum of 4% Vespolina. The Normale wines must be aged for a minimum of 35 months, including 24 months in barrel, while the Riserva level requires a minimum of 47 months of aging, including 36 months in barrel, and a slightly higher minimum alcohol of 13% ABV. Single-vineyard bottlings are common, and many Gattinaras are 100% Spanna.

Directly across the Sesia River on the eastern side is Ghemme DOCG, in the Novara province. Its soils are alluvial, with clay, gravel, and decomposed granite. Ghemme is slightly cooler than Gattinara. The denomination requires a minimum of 85% Spanna, with the remainder from Vespolina and/or Uva Rara. The minimum aging for Normale is 34 months, with at least 18 months in wood and 6 months in bottle. For Riserva, the minimum aging is 46 months, including 24 months in barrel and 6 in bottle.

There are several smaller denominations for Spanna-based varietal wines and blends. On the western side of the Sesia are Bramaterra DOC, which has volcanic soils, and Lessona DOC, which has sandier soils. On the eastern side of the Sesia are Fara DOC and Sizzano DOC. The region farthest north is Boca DOC. Two overarching denominations, Coste della Sesia DOC, in the west, and Colline Novaresi DOC, in the east, encompass the smaller ones and allow for red, rosato, and white wines.

Much farther west, in the alpine area near the border of Valle d’Aosta, is Carema DOC, which is within the overarching Canavese DOC; the latter allows red, white, rosato, and sparkling wines.

The main white grape of Alto Piemonte is Erbaluce. It’s a lean and very high-acid grape with thick skins, making it suitable for both sparkling and passito wines. Erbaluce di Caluso DOCG, also called Caluso DOCG, sits near Carema, in the Canavese hills, and extends across the provinces of Torino, Vercelli, and Biella. Lake Viverone is an important natural feature of the area, and the humidity of the lake is key to the appassimento process, as Caluso’s passito wines are among the few Italian examples to show the character of botrytis.

Erbaluce di Caluso was Piedmont’s first DOC for white wines, in 1967, and was elevated to a DOCG in 2010. It requires 100% Erbaluce for still, sparkling, or passito wines. The spumante wines are traditional method only, requiring a minimum of 15 months on the lees, and are dry, with no more than 12 grams of residual sugar per liter. The passito wines have a minimum of 70 grams of residual sugar per liter and must be aged a minimum of 36 months, or 48 months for Riserva. Erbaluce is the only white grape authorized in the overarching Canavese DOC, Coste della Sesia DOC, and Colline Novaresi DOC.

Valle d’Aosta

Nestled between Piedmont, France, and Switzerland is Italy’s smallest and least populated region, Valle d’Aosta. Much of the region is too mountainous for viticulture, and Valle d’Aosta has the smallest wine production of any Italian region, with only 450 hectares (1,100 acres) planted, producing 19,000 hectoliters, or 208,000 cases, annually. Much of the production is by co-ops, such as Cave Mont Blanc and Caves Cooperative de Donnas. Wine labels may be written in Italian or French, and the region is known as Vallée d’Aoste by its French-speaking population.

At the crossroads of several European countries, Valle d’Aosta has a surprising array of French, Swiss, and Italian grape varieties for a region so small, and the wines are usually varietally labeled. There are three unofficial growing areas: Alta Valle, Media Valle, and Bassa Valle. The vineyards in the Alta Valle are at some of the highest vineyard elevations in Europe, up to 1,300 meters (4,300 feet) above sea level, with steep stone terraces. There is also a prevalence of old, ungrafted vines, as phylloxera never reached the high-altitude, cold mountain environment.

Valle d’Aosta has glacial morainic soils and deposits of granite, sand, and large stones. It has a continental climate, with a very large diurnal shift and significant luminosity, making ripening possible for red grapes, which make up nearly 60% of production. In the rain shadow of the Alps, the region is relatively dry, with low rainfall that is supplemented by snowmelt to provide water for viticulture. Low pergola training, locally called the topia system, is often used to protect grapes from hail and to absorb heat from the ground.

The region’s single DOC, Valle d’Aosta, follows the narrow valley of the Dora Baltea River as it flows through the mountains. There are no DOCGs or IGTs. The DOC authorizes many varietal wines and styles, and wines can be white, red, rosato, novello, spumante, vendemmia tardiva, and flétri, the local name for passito. There are seven official subzones. In the Alta Valle, in the northwest, in the high-elevation foothills of Monte Bianco, the subzone of Blanc de Morgex et de la Salle is for white wines of 100% Prié Blanc, or simply Prié, made in still, sparkling, and vendemmia tardiva styles. Prié Blanc is the oldest variety and the most planted white in Valle d’Aosta. It is able to tolerate the cold weather of the Alta Valle and yields light-bodied wines with high acidity and delicate floral flavors. Spumante wines must be traditional method, with a minimum of nine months on the lees.

Vineyards and mountains in Valle d’Aosta (Photo credit: Adobe Stock)

To the southeast, in the Media Valle, the subzones of Enfer d’Arvier and Torrette are both focused on red wines of Petit Rouge, requiring a minimum 85% in the former and 70% in the latter. Petit Rouge is the most planted grape in Valle d’Aosta, with 20% of all plantings, and it tends to be planted at lower elevations because it is sensitive to sunburn. The wines are fruity and easy drinking, with flavors of red berries, alpine herbs, and wildflowers.

The subzone of Nus is known for white wines of 100% Malvoisie, the local name for Pinot Grigio. Passito wines of Malvoisie, as well as red blends of Petit Rouge and its offspring, Vien de Nus, are also authorized. Next to Nus, the subzone of Chambave also allows reds based on Petit Rouge but is more renowned for its Chambave Muscat, white wines made of 100% Moscato Bianco, which can be dry or flétri.

In the Bassa Valle, closest to Carema, in Piedmont, the final two subzones of Arnad-Montjovet and Donnas are focused on Nebbiolo. The former requires a minimum 70% and the latter 85% of the grape, which is here called Picoutener. Donnas also has a stricter aging requirement, with a minimum of 24 months, including 10 months in wood; for Superiore, it is a minimum of 30 months, with 12 in barrel.

Beyond the seven official subzones, many other grapes and varietal wines are authorized by Valle d’Aosta DOC.

Liguria

The boomerang-shaped, narrow region of Liguria hugs the coast between Provence, France, and the main part of the Italian peninsula. It’s a mountainous landscape, where the Alps and the Apennines meet, and the land suitable for agriculture is sparse. Ligurians developed their industry around ports and the ocean, and the Republic of Genoa was a merchant marine powerhouse from the 11th through 18th centuries. It was a political rival to Venice and Pisa, influential in shaping commerce around the Mediterranean and Black Seas.

View of the coastline from Punta Crena (Photo credit: Stacy Ladenburger)

The name Vernaccia was first used to describe a wine in Liguria in 1276. It likely came from either the Latin vernaculum, meaning “local,” or the village of Vernazza, in the Cinque Terre. Vernaccia was a popular Genovese wine in the Middle Ages, probably referring to a brand or style of wine rather than a grape variety, competing with the Malvasias of the Venetians. The name eventually spawned many imitators and was applied to many unrelated Italian grape varieties. (For the most common Vernaccias, see the Central Italy Expert Guide.)

Today, Liguria is second last in wine production among all Italian regions, with about 1,900 planted hectares (4,700 acres), producing 73,000 hectoliters, or 807,000 cases, of wine. Much of that wine is consumed by tourists in the seaside resorts of the Cinque Terre and the Italian Riviera. Liguria has eight DOCs and four IGTs but no DOCGs. The capital city of Genoa essentially divides Liguria in half, with the Ponente in the west and the Levante in the east. The climate is Mediterranean, with the mountainous backdrop protecting vineyard areas from the cold northern winds and exposing grapes to the warm breezes of the sea.

Vermentino and Pigato

White grapes dominate in Liguria, and the most important is Vermentino, a variety that may have been part of the original Vernaccia blend. Vermentino and Pigato collectively make up 42% of the plantings in Liguria. While they are genetically identical grape varieties, they are two different biotypes that are generally planted in different areas. Pigato is typically planted in the higher hills of the western Ponente, and Vermentino is planted in the eastern Levante, which tends to be lower in elevation and closer to the coast. Some producers insist that they are two distinct grape varieties, despite identical DNA, as they perform differently in the vineyard and in the glass.

Vermentino’s origin is unknown, but it most likely spread to Liguria from Piedmont in the Middle Ages, as pilgrims traveled south along the Via Francigena and brought vines with them. The area with the greatest Vermentino plantings today is Sardinia, perhaps through its link with Liguria, as the island was once controlled by the Republic of Genoa.

Late ripening and tolerant to drought and salty winds, Vermentino performs best in seaside and coastal areas. Its wines are semiaromatic, herbal, and saline. It can be found in the varietal wines and white blends of most of the DOCs in the eastern half of Liguria, including Val Polcèvera, Golfo del Tigullio-Portofino, Colline di Levanto, Cinque Terre, and Colli di Luni, the latter of which straddles the border between Liguria and the Tuscan coast.

Pigato is derived from pigau, meaning “spotted” in the local Ligurian dialect. Planted in the western hills, it is generally impacted by a larger diurnal shift that enhances its aromatics. The wines can be creamier, waxier, and more textural than Vermentino but with the same salinity. Pigato is most commonly found in Riviera Ligure di Ponente DOC, which requires a minimum of 95% for varietally labeled wines.

Other Grape Varieties

The most planted red grape of Liguria, with 12% of vineyard area, is Rossese. It is found only in the western part of the region and is known by the name Tibouren across the border in Provence. It performs best on steep, mountainous slopes and in the marly-clay soils known locally as sgruttu. Rossese di Dolceacqua DOC requires a minimum of 95% of the grape, and its Superiore version requires a minimum of one year of aging. Rossese can also be found as a varietal wine and in the red blends of Riviera Ligure di Ponente DOC. The best examples of Rossese are light to medium bodied but have depth and concentration, with flavors of red currants, violets, and graphite.

Also in the western Ponente is Ormeasco di Pornassio DOC (Pornassio DOC), which authorizes red, rosato, and passito wines made of a minimum 95% Ormeasco, the local name for Dolcetto. Pornassio is recognized as a top site for Dolcetto, and the examples in Liguria tend to be more herbal and saline than the fruitier wines of the Piedmont. The rosato version is a local specialty known as sciactrà.

Sciacchetrà, not to be confused with sciactrà, is a sweet passito wine found in the Cinque Terre DOC of the Levante. It is a specialty of the Spezia province that is made by air-drying a blend of white grapes, including a minimum of 80% Bosco, Albarola, and/or Vermentino. Bosco is a rich, full-bodied, and phenolic variety, while Albarola, also known as Bianchetta Genovese, is lean, with high acidity.

International varieties in Liguria include Moscato Bianco and Grenache, known locally as Granaccia. Moscato is made into still, sparkling, and sweet passito or vendemmia tardiva wines in Riviera Ligure di Ponente DOC and especially its subzone of Taggia. Granaccia is found in the same DOC and is the main variety authorized in the subzone of Quiliano.

Lombardy

Lombardy, or Lombardia in Italian, is Italy’s most populous region. Its capital city of Milan is one of the commercial and economic centers of Europe. Lombardy, where the mountains and foothills turn into flatter plains, was historically less isolated and more connected to commercial trade and cultural exchange. A mix of populations moved through the Po River valley, including the Etruscans, Celtic tribes, and Romans, and it was part of a key trade route between the Mediterranean Sea and the alpine areas.

Lombardy is a large region with varied topography, including the mountainous alpine band in the north, the central foothills, and the flat plains across the south. Its climate is moderated by a series of glacier-carved lakes and tributaries of the Po River, with morainic soils and pebbly alluvial deposits from the mountains and rivers. It has a mix of native and international varieties, reflecting its history of cultural exchange, with Croatina the most planted grape at 17% of plantings, while Pinot Nero and Chardonnay come in second and third, respectively. Much of the region’s Pinot Nero and Chardonnay is used for traditional method sparkling wines. Lombardy has 5 DOCGs, 21 DOCs, and 15 IGPs, and the region produces 1.2 million hectoliters, or 13.4 million cases, of wine from approximately 23,400 hectares (57,800 acres) of vineyard area.

Valtellina

Farthest north in the mountains along the Swiss border, the Valtellina region, in the province of Sondrio, is home to famous ski resorts and spas. Some believe it is the place where Nebbiolo originated, as the grape was grown by Benedictine monks here as early as the 10^th century. The variety is known locally as Chiavennasca, and it makes up most of the wines of Valtellina’s overlapping denominations.

Valtellina’s vineyards are planted along the north bank of the Adda River, which begins in the Swiss Alps and flows from east to west before emptying into Lake Como. The rare east-west valley allows for southern exposures that are important for grape ripening. This is steep, mountainous terrain, and the vineyards are generally planted between 300 and 800 meters (1,000 and 2,600 feet) above sea level, with altitude a key factor in the luminosity and phenolic ripening of the grapes. The slope in some areas is as high as 70%, and Valtellina’s network of 2,500 meters (8,200 feet) of walled stone terraces allow for planting and harvesting. The large stones also capture and radiate heat, warming the vineyards and protecting them from frost.

The soils of Valtellina are schist, sandy-loam, alluvial deposits from the Adda River, with good drainage. They are low in nutrients and extremely acidic, with a low pH, compared with the alkaline soils of the Langhe. The topsoil is extremely thin, and, in some cases, soils need to be transported up hillsides by mule, small truck, or even helicopter. The low yields resulting from the content of the soil and the prevalence of old vines, averaging 50 years old, provide depth and complexity for this Nebbiolo of the Alps.

All three denominations require a minimum of 90% Chiavennasca. The wines of Valtellina Rosso DOC (Rosso di Valtellina DOC) are youthful, fresh, and intended for early consumption, requiring a minimum of six months of aging before release. The best selection of grapes generally composes the more austere, structured, and ageworthy wines of Valtellina Superiore DOCG, which became independent from the DOC in 1998. Superiore wines require a minimum of two years of aging, or three years if labeled Riserva, including a minimum of one year in wood.

Wines from the Superiore DOCG can be labeled with the name of one of five official subzones if the vineyards and bottling both occur there. From west to east, they are Maroggia, Sassella, Grumello, Inferno, and Valgella. The rare labeling term Stagafassli is for Valtellina Superiore wines that are bottled across the border in Switzerland; the wines can also be aged there but cannot qualify for Riserva or list a subzone.

Sforzato di Valtellina DOCG (or Sfursat di Valtellina in local dialect) is a dry passito wine in the style of Amarone. It became a DOCG in 2003, before its famous counterpart. The Nebbiolo grapes are dried on straw mats for about two months or more, and vinification cannot begin until December 1. The wine must reach a minimum alcohol of 14% ABV and must be aged for at least 20 months from April 1, with at least 12 months in barrel. Some producers choose to use a portion of partially air-dried grapes in their Valtellina Superiore wines as well, leading to a range of styles in the region.

Franciacorta

In the softer hillsides of central Lombardy near the city of Brescia, Franciacorta DOCG is Italy’s most famous denomination for traditional method sparkling wines. The name is derived from francae curtes, or “free courts,” as the Cluny monks declared this area free of taxation in the 11^th century. Although there are references to sparkling wine production in Franciacorta dating back to 1570, the region’s modern era began when Guido Berlucchi experimented with traditional method sparkling wines in the 1950s. He released the first Pinot di Franciacorta, a traditional method sparkling wine from Pinot Bianco, in 1961. Franciacorta became a DOC in 1967 and Italy’s first DOCG for traditional method sparkling wines in 1995. Its popularity has undoubtedly been helped by its proximity to Milan.

Franciacorta is an amphitheater of morainic hills bordered by Lake Iseo to the north, the Oglio River on the west, and Mount Orfano to the south. The sand and silt soils are deep and well draining, formed by the withdrawal of glaciers and deposits from the Alps. The area has a continental climate moderated by the proximity to the lake, and it has less of a diurnal variation and a milder climate than might be expected in a sparkling wine region. Franciacorta lies at about the 45th parallel—compared with Champagne, which is between the 48th and 49th—but the presence of Mediterranean vegetation, such as olive trees, underscores the climatic difference. The western side of the Franciacorta zone is generally warmer, as it is more protected from the cool winds that come from the Alps in the northeast.

Vineyards at Barone Pizzini (Photo credit: Stacy Ladenburger)

Franciacorta has about 3,000 planted hectares (7,400 acres), and the wines can be made in 19 communes, the most important of which is Erbusco, where many of the major sparkling houses are based. Franciacorta is relatively small, with less than 9% of the vineyard area of Champagne. Like Champagne, the wines are based primarily on Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, with Chardonnay making up more than three-quarters of plantings in Franciacorta and Pinot Nero about 17%. The third most planted grape here is not Champagne’s Meunier but Pinot Bianco, with about 3% of total plantings.

Until recently, these were the only three grape varieties authorized. As Franciacorta is a relatively warm region for sparkling wine production, the producers were among the first to consider how to adapt to a warming climate. Since 2017, the little-known white grape Erbamat has been authorized for up to 10% of the assemblage in most Franciacorta styles. Erbamat is very late ripening and maintains a laser-like acidity, contributing freshness and texture to a blend, but its neutral character does not disrupt the aromatics. It currently represents less than 1% of plantings, but producers believe it will be an important part of Franciacorta blends in the future.

The milder climate, relative to other sparkling wine regions, also has an impact on wine style and viticulture. Because of the ripe fruit character, in general less dosage is used. Zero dosage wines represented less than 3% of Franciacorta production in 2017 but increased to more than 5% in 2021. With less risk of rot and moisture, there is also an emphasis on organic practices. Barone Pizzini became the first certified organic Franciacorta producer in the early 2000s, and today the Consorzio Franciacorta estimates that more than 66% of vineyard area is either certified organic or currently in conversion to organic farming.

Franciacorta can include any amounts of Chardonnay and/or Pinot Nero, with a maximum of 50% Pinot Bianco and 10% Erbamat. It must be aged on the lees for a minimum of 18 months, with 25 months total aging. The rosé version must include a minimum of 35% Pinot Nero and requires a minimum of 24 months lees aging and 31 months total. Wines labeled with a single vintage, or millesimato, must be aged on the lees for at least 30 months, with 37 months total aging. Franciacorta Riserva wines require 60 months of lees aging, the longest of any sparkling wine denomination, with 67 months total aging. Some iconic bottlings are aged for much longer, such as Ca’ del Bosco’s Annamaria Clementi, which spends eight years on the lees before disgorgement.

Satèn is a style that distinguishes Franciacorta from other sparkling wine regions. It is a blanc de blancs, made of Chardonnay and a maximum of 50% Pinot Bianco. It is slightly less sparkling, with a maximum pressure of five atmospheres, and it can only be brut in style. The name comes from the Italian seta, meaning “silk,” referring to the silky texture. This style used to be known as crémant, but the name was changed to avoid confusion with the French sparkling wine category. Like the rosé, Franciacorta Satèn must be aged on the lees for a minimum of 24 months, with 31 months total aging.

Still red and white wines in the Franciacorta area are bottled as Curtefranca DOC, previously known as Terre di Franciacorta. The assemblage includes nearly the same set of grapes as the sparkling wines, with the addition of Bordeaux varieties. Whites must be a minimum of 50% Chardonnay and a maximum of 50% Pinot Bianco and/or Pinot Nero. Reds are blends based on a minimum of 25% Merlot, a minimum of 20% Cabernet Franc and/or Carmenère, and 10%–35% Cabernet Sauvignon. The wines can include the name of a single vineyard if they meet additional requirements for lower yields, higher minimum alcohol, and longer aging.

Other Sparkling Wine Regions

The Pavia province, in the triangle-shaped, southwestern tip of Lombardy, is nestled between Piedmont and Emilia-Romagna, nearly reaching Liguria. South of the Po River is a large viticultural area called Oltrepò Pavese. It was part of Piedmont in the 18th and 19th centuries and historically was a source for grapes destined for the sparkling houses in Piedmont and bulk wines in Milan. It is the largest volume area of Lombardy, with much of the production by co-ops. Though the region is farther south than Franciacorta, it is in the higher foothills of the Apennines and marked by a great diurnal variation. There are six DOCs that include the name Oltrepò Pavese, for a wide range of varieties and styles, but, most importantly, one DOCG for traditional method sparkling wine focused on Pinot Nero.

This is Italy’s largest vineyard area for Pinot Nero, with 3,000 of Oltrepò Pavese’s 13,800 hectares (7,400 of 34,100 acres) planted to the grape. Although a less well-known region, it has more Pinot Noir plantings than Alsace, Central Otago, or the Russian River Valley. Count Giorgi di Vistarino planted the first Pinot Noir in the Oltrepò Pavese after bringing vines from France in the mid-19^th century, and he made the area’s first traditional method sparkling Pinot Nero with the help of his friend Carlo Gancia, who had been making spumante in neighboring Piedmont. Pinot Nero is typically planted at the higher altitudes in the hills, while Croatina and other workhorse grapes are planted at lower elevations.

Oltrepò Pavese Metodo Classico DOCG requires a minimum 70% Pinot Nero, with the balance made up of Chardonnay, Pinot Bianco, and Pinot Grigio, for both white and rosé sparkling wines. Pinot Nero can appear on the label if it makes up at least 85% of the wine. The wines must be aged on the lees for a minimum of 15 months, or 24 months for vintage-dated wines. The additional labeling term Cruasé is a brand trademarked by the Consorzio Tutela Vini Oltrepò Pavese that can be used by association members for traditional method sparkling rosé with a minimum of 85% Pinot Nero.

Oltrepò Pavese DOC is an overarching denomination for a wide range of varietal wines and blends, including still, sparkling, and sweet styles. The whites include Riesling and Riesling Italico, while the reds and rosatos are based on Croatina and Barbera, along with other grapes, such as Uva Rara, Vespolina, and Pinot Nero. Five new DOCs were established in 2010 as independent denominations from Oltrepò Pavese for varietal Pinot Grigio, Pinot Nero, and Bonarda (the local name for Croatina), and for Buttafuoco and Sangue di Giuda, dry and sweet wines, respectively, based on Barbera, Croatina, and other red grapes. The region has not necessarily benefited from its proximity to Milan in the same way that Franciacorta has, but it has added to Italy’s dizzying number of DOCs, regardless of market relevance.

In the southeastern corner of Lombardy, Lambrusco Mantovano DOC is a continuation of the Lambrusco denominations for sparkling red wines just over the border in Emilia-Romagna. The DOC allows all the main Lambrusco varieties as well as several less familiar ones, including Lambrusco Viadanese, also called Lambrusco Mantovano, thought to originate here in the province of Mantova. The DOC has two official subzones: Oltrepò Mantovano and Viadanese-Sabbionetano. (For more on the Lambruscos, see the Central Italy Expert Guide.)

Amaro

Amaro is a category with no official definition, but the term generally refers to the aromatic, herbal, bittersweet Italian liqueurs traditionally served as digestifs. Although amaro is made throughout every region of the country, there are several brands and styles particularly associated with northern Italy.

Milanese café culture played a role in popularizing bitters, aperitifs, and amari in the 19^th century. Zucca Rabarbaro, an amaro with a signature ingredient of rhubarb, was created in 1845 by Ettore Zucca, who served it at his Caffè Zucca, near the Piazza del Duomo. In 1867, also in the piazza, Gaspare Campari opened his Caffè Campari, where the bitter orange Campari caught on as an aperitif. Today, Gruppo Campari is headquartered in Milan and owns such iconic amaro brands as Aperol, Cynar (based on artichoke), Averna (from Sicily), and Bràulio.

Amaro Bràulio is from the Valtellina region in northern Lombardy and was created by Francesco Peloni in 1875. Its après-ski character reflects the alpine terroir in which it was born, with flavors such as pine, spearmint, and chamomile. It is aged for two years in Slavonian oak barrels, and a Riserva Speciale bottling is aged in smaller barrels and has a higher proof.

Amaro Nonino Quintessentia, made in Friuli, uses the Nonino family’s famous grappa as a base spirit. It is aged for five years in French barriques and used Sherry barrels. The amaro has softer flavors, such as orange peel and burnt caramel, and is a key ingredient in several modern cocktails, including the Paper Plane.

The category of vino amaro uses wine as a base for the infusion of herbs instead of spirits. Cardamaro, from Canelli, Piedmont, has been made by the Bosca family, using Moscato wine, since 1820. This lighter amaro is based on cardoon, a thistle related to the artichoke and one of the principal ingredients. Cappelletti, from Trentino-Alto Adige, is based on a recipe from the 1920s, using dry marsala wine. The brand’s Elisir Novasalus is bold and bracing, while its Pasubio is rich with notes of mountain blueberries, and its Amaro Sfumato gets its smokiness from rhubarb.

Fernet is a style of amaro that is typically higher in alcohol, with less sweetness and more aggressive bitterness, including medicinal flavors, such as aloe, myrrh, and mint. The most iconic brand, Fernet-Branca, was founded in Milan by Bernardino Branca in 1845. It was prescribed as an anti-choleric at hospitals in Milan and sold at pharmacies in Italy until the 1930s, and it was available for medicinal purposes during Prohibition in the United States.

Lake Garda Area

The largest lake in Italy, Lake Garda, straddles the border of Lombardy and Veneto and is a popular holiday resort destination, given its location halfway between Milan and Venice. It was formed by glaciers during the last ice age, and the areas surrounding it have morainic soils and a temperate Mediterranean climate mitigated by the lake. There are several DOCs around the lake that are shared by Lombardy and Veneto.

Garda DOC is a large denomination on both sides of the lake for white, red, chiaretto (rosato), spumante, and passito wines made from a wide range of native and international varieties. It has a Classico subzone on the Lombardy side.

On the southern end of Lake Garda, also straddling Lombardy and Veneto, is Lugana DOC. It was the first DOC awarded in Lombardy, in 1967, and is focused on white wines of Turbiana, also known as Trebbiano di Lugana. The grape was long considered genetically identical to Trebbiano di Soave and Verdicchio, and it was recently renamed to avoid confusion with the other Trebbianos.

Lugana DOC covers five communes—four in Lombardy and one in Veneto. The Brescia province on the Lombardy side has more than 90% of the vineyard area, but the Verona province on the Veneto side has some of the largest commercial producers and the high-quality cru of San Benedetto di Lugana. The soils are clays of morainic origin, rich in calcareous materials, such as the local sea fossils. The area is influenced by mild, temperate breezes and the moderating impact of Lake Garda.

Dry, still white wines make up more than 95% of production. They can be more full bodied and have riper fruit than Verdicchio, perhaps owing to the Mediterranean climate of the lake area, but they have a similar freshness, crisp acidity, and green character of mint and fennel. Spumante and vendemmia tardiva versions are also allowed, and all styles require a minimum of 90% Turbiana. There are Superiore and Riserva levels, with higher minimum alcohol and longer minimum aging of one and two years, respectively, and some barrel-fermented examples with lees and oak aging are made.

Veneto

Veneto, in northeastern Italy, is at the top of the Adriatic Sea, and its history is shaped by its proximity to water. After the fall of the Roman Empire, the Lombard invasions in northern Italy pushed many people to flee the mainland and take refuge on the small islands in the Venetian lagoon, which could be better protected. This led to the founding of the Republic of Venice—La Serenissima, “the most serene”—which lasted from the late 7^th century through the 18^th century. Venice was an economic and military powerhouse in the Middle Ages, with important commercial trading rights in the eastern Mediterranean, and, as its industries became successful, a wealthy merchant class was established.

The Genoans had Vernaccia, while the Venetians promoted Malvasia. Referring to a brand or style of wine rather than a single grape variety, Malvasia became incredibly popular for centuries and spawned many imitators. The name is most likely a corruption of Monemvasia, the port in the Peloponnese that was controlled by Venice and a major trading post for the wine industry. Eventually the wines of Monemvasia could not keep up with the increased demand in northern Europe, and the Venetians began producing wines on Crete as well. This commercial trade in the “Greek style” of sweet wine—air-drying the grapes, concentrating the musts by cooking, and using other methods that would help the wines withstand a long sea journey—was a predecessor to the passito, recioto, and torcolato styles of Italy.

Today, Veneto maintains its dominance in the wine trade and is Italy’s top-producing region, driven by the popularity of Prosecco and Pinot Grigio in global markets. Veneto has about 97,500 hectares (240,800 acres) of vineyard land, producing 11.9 million hectoliters, or 132 million cases, of wine annually—more than South Africa, Germany, or Portugal. It has 14 DOCGs, 29 DOCs, and 10 IGPs. More than three-quarters of Veneto’s wine is at the DOC/G level.

Valpolicella

Just north of the city of Verona and the Adige River is the wine region of Valpolicella, home to several of Veneto’s most important denominations for Corvina-based red wines. Winemaking in the area likely dates back more than 2,000 years and is attributed to the Rhaetian people, an alpine tribe whose wines were praised by ancient Greeks and Romans. A recent archeological discovery revealed that mosaic tiles underneath a vineyard in the village of Negrar are likely from a Roman villa where wine was produced in the second or third century CE.

Valpolicella’s vineyards are grown on the slopes of the pre-alpine Lessini Mountains, generally planted between 150 and 500 meters (490 and 1,640 feet) above sea level. Small rivers, or progni, start high in the mountains and flow in a north-south direction, creating parallel valleys with various microclimates. The soils are composed of red and brown calcareous material and volcanic tuff outcrops, known as toar, on the hillsides, and alluvial deposits from the Adige River and Lessini Mountains in the lower areas. The foothills are dotted with marogne, the stone walls used to mark vineyard boundaries.

When Valpolicella DOC was established, in 1968, its boundaries were greatly expanded. There is now a Classico subzone in the historic Valpolicella growing area on the western side of the denomination, covering the five communes of Sant’Ambrogio di Valpolicella, Fumane, San Pietro in Cariano, Marano, and Negrar. The subzone in the center of the denomination is called Valpantena, and the eastern side of the denomination is known as Valpolicella Est or allargata (meaning “widened” or “expanded”) where it partially overlaps Soave. While the Classico subzone is home to most of the major producers—such as Allegrini, Masi, Quintarelli, and Bussola—Valpolicella Est has become famous largely because of Dal Forno Romano, in the eastern Illasi valley.

There are climatic differences throughout the large growing area. The Lessini Mountains form a natural barrier sheltering the Classico subzone from cold winds blowing from the north, creating a warmer microclimate. The Classico subzone is farthest west and closest to Lake Garda. Even within the region, the relative proximity to the lake is a major factor, with temperatures in western communes, such as Sant’Ambrogio di Valpolicella, as much as 4 degrees Celsius (7 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than those in eastern parts of the Classico subzone, such as Negrar.

While the dry Valpolicella reds are generally fresh and lively, there are several other styles that originated within the DOC but were elevated to their own separate denominations in 2010. These include the famous Amarone della Valpolicella, the sweet wine Recioto della Valpolicella, and the extremely popular category of Valpolicella Ripasso, all of which benefit from Corvina’s suitability for air-drying in the dry breezes and humidity of the Lake Garda environment.

All four of the Valpolicella denominations must include 45%–95% Corvina and/or Corvinone, along with 5%–30% Rondinella. Up to 25% of other red grapes can be used, with no single variety exceeding 10%. Traditional blending partners, although not required, include Molinara, Oseleta, Croatina, Dindarella, Spigamonti, and international varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.

Corvina, the main grape of Valpolicella, has a thick, resistant skin that not only makes it suitable for air-drying but, according to Ian D’Agata, makes air-drying “an absolute necessity” for it to reach adequate sugar and alcohol levels. Corvina is sensitive to humidity, botrytis, and sunburn, so it is typically trained in the pergola veronese system, a horizontal canopy that shades the grapes and raises them high off the ground, providing good aeration and sun protection. Corvina is a reliable producer and performs best in dry, well-exposed hillside sites. It contributes the signature red cherry flavor to Valpolicella blends.

Corvinone is adaptive in the vineyard and can be grown on both hillsides and flatter land. It has larger clusters and brings tannin and structure, which Corvina can lack, to a blend. It can perform better in warmer vintages than Corvina and may play an increasing role with climate change; since 2019 it has been authorized to make up to 95% of the blend (the same amount as Corvina) in all Valpolicella-based wines, up from a previous maximum of 50%.

Rondinella, required in the blends, is an offspring of Corvina. It adds an herbal character to Valpolicella wines and is especially important in the sweet Recioto della Valpolicella wines, as it accumulates sugars very easily. Molinara is a lighter red grape that can add freshness, salinity, and lively acidity, and it can help soften heavier wines. Oseleta is a scarce grape that was resurrected by Masi in the 1980s; even in very small amounts, it can add tannic power and structure to a blend.

The fruttaio at Serego Alighieri (Photo credit: Bryce Wiatrak)

Recioto has its roots in either retico, an ancient wine of the Rhaetian people produced around the hills of Verona, or acinaticum, a sweet wine from raisinated grapes that was praised by the Roman statesman Cassiodorus in the sixth century CE as “a meaty liquid, a beverage to be eaten rather than drunk.” By the 16th and 17th centuries, the Republic of Venice lost control of many of its ports in what is today Greece through a series of wars with the Ottoman Empire, and it could no longer dominate the trade in sweet wines from the eastern Mediterranean. Unable to rely exclusively on imports, the Venetians began looking inland to make their own sweet wine.

For both Recioto della Valpolicella and Amarone (a style developed much later), the grapes are harvested earlier than for regular Valpolicella so that they maintain their acidity throughout the appassimento process. The grapes are set to dry in a room called a fruttaio for several months before fermentation, concentrating the sugars and flavors. The grapes may be on traditional bamboo racks, stacked in wooden crates, or hung from the ceiling, all of which permit airflow and ventilation for drying. Both the location of the fruttaio and the length of the appassimento process can influence whether the grapes are infected by botrytis, as grapes in higher elevations farther away from humidity and those dried more quickly are more likely to avoid the noble rot. Some facilities use fans to increase ventilation, and others rely on more modern technology, such as temperature and humidity controls. The vinification cannot occur before December 1, but in practice the drying period typically lasts between 100 and 120 days, during which time the grapes can lose between 40% and 50% of their original weight before they are pressed.

Recioto della Valpolicella DOCG requires that grapes achieve at least 14% potential alcohol through drying, and the minimum acquired alcohol in the final wine is 12%. At least 2.8% potential alcohol must remain, translating to approximately 50 grams of residual sugar per liter, while some bottlings are considerably sweeter.

Amarone, meaning “big bitter,” originated in the mid-20^th century and is essentially a less sweet version of Recioto della Valpolicella. The legend is that it was developed accidentally when barrels of recioto were left unattended and allowed to ferment all the way to dryness. The style can be traced back to the Cantina Valpolicella Negrar in the 1930s. The first to purposefully make a dry “recioto Amarone” was Bolla, with a bottling of the 1950 vintage in 1953. Bertani, Masi, and others released Amarone wines in the late 1950s, and this new category became a commercial success and one of Italy’s most popular luxury wines.

Like Recioto della Valpolicella, Amarone della Valpolicella DOCG stipulates that dried grapes must achieve a minimum of 14% potential alcohol, but, in this case, the wines are fermented to complete or near dryness and the final alcohol must also be a minimum of 14% ABV—not difficult to achieve, as bottlings reaching 16% and 17% are not uncommon. There is a maximum of 9 grams of residual sugar per liter for 14% alcohol wines (reduced from 12 grams per liter in 2019) and a sliding scale that allows slightly more residual sugar in increments as alcohol increases: an additional 0.1% grams per liter of sugar for each 0.1% increase in alcohol up to 16%, and 0.15% grams per liter for every 0.1% in alcohol above 16%. The Normale wines must be aged a minimum of two years and the Riserva wines a minimum of four years before release. No barrel aging is specified, but producers use a wide range of vessels, from large Slavonian botti to new French barriques.

Amarone styles vary greatly by producer, based on the assemblage, oak usage, amount of residual sugar, length of the appassimento process, development of botrytis, and other factors. Like Champagne, Amarone is a wine of process, and winemaking choices make an imprint. Some producers emphasize structure and acid, while others emphasize opulence and richness. Botrytis, which can reduce acidity and increase the levels of glycerol in the wine, might be avoided or encouraged. The Amarone category has benefited from the wide range of available options, from artisanal, ageworthy bottlings to inexpensive, commercial examples in grocery stores.

After Amarone or Recioto della Valpolicella has finished fermentation and is racked into a new container, the remaining grape skins can be used for an additional style of wine: ripasso, meaning “repassed.” The leftover pomace, which has some remaining sugars, is added to a young Valpolicella wine to start refermentation—something akin to the traditional governo in Tuscany. The ripasso process provides additional body, tannin, and alcohol as well as some of the richness, complexity, and raisinated fruit character of Amarone but at a lower price point for the consumer.

Masi launched its Campofiorin wine in 1967 and was the first to include the word ripasso on the label, eventually registering the term as a trademark in 1988. Other Valpolicella producers protested and used other labeling terms to describe the process, such as rigoverno and doppia fermentazione. In 2006, the right to use the ripasso term was granted, and a separate DOC for the style became independent from the Valpolicella DOC in 2010. The Valpolicella Ripasso category became a huge success, and production more than tripled in just six years, from 7.5 million bottles in 2007 to 25 million in 2013.

Several techniques emerged as Valpolicella producers sought to meet the surging demand for ripasso, especially as this style was dependent on the limited production of Amarone and Recioto della Valpolicella. When Amarone grape pomace is used to make Valpolicella Ripasso, it still contains a portion of Amarone wine that can be blended in (up to 15%) when used for the second fermentation. In some cases, the grapes are not previously used, and they are partially dried for about a month—essentially a shortened version of Amarone’s appassimento process. Or, the wine is made using a combination of fresh and dried grapes, with about 70% crushed and fermented normally and about 30% dried and added to the base wine to start a second fermentation. As long as the wine is put in the same tank with Amarone pomace for a few days, it meets the requirement for Valpolicella Ripasso.

Valpolicella Ripasso DOC mandates that the used grape skins have a remaining potential alcohol of at least 0.5% and contribute between 10% and 15% of the volume of the final wine. The refermentation must last a minimum of three days, the wine and pomace must belong to the same producer, and the volume of ripasso created by the process cannot be more than twice the volume of the Amarone or Recioto della Valpolicella obtained from the same must. The final minimum alcohol is 12.5% for Valpolicella Ripasso wines and 13% for Superiore. All Valpolicella Ripasso wines must be aged for a minimum of one year before release.

Additional updates made to the various disciplinari in 2019 require that the vines intended for Amarone and Recioto della Valpolicella must be a minimum of four years old and allow basic Valpolicella wines to be bottled under screw cap.

The Veneto Side of Lake Garda

Just west of Valpolicella on the shore of Lake Garda is the Bardolino region, which sits on glacial morainic soils. The red wines, made using a blend of grapes similar to that of Valpolicella, are generally lighter and fruitier. In addition to red wines, Bardolino DOC allows novello wines using carbonic maceration (in the style of Beaujolais nouveau), spumante wines, and rosato wines labeled as chiaretto. Meaning “the little light one,” chiaretto has been a hit for Bardolino and other producers around Lake Garda.

All Bardolino styles require 40%–95% Corvina (locally called Cruina) and/or Corvinone, including a maximum of 20% Corvinone, an obligatory 5%–40% Rondinella, and a maximum of 20% other grapes, including up to 15% of Molinara and up to 10% of any other single variety. Like Valpolicella, Bardolino’s original boundaries were expanded, and there is a Classico subzone that includes the historic lakeside growing area. For red wines only, three new subzones were approved in 2021, retroactive to the 2018 vintage: wines can be designated from the crus of La Rocca, Montebaldo, and Sommacampagna. Wines labeled with one of the three new subzones require a minimum of one year of aging—the same aging requirement as the separate Bardolino Superiore DOCG, which has been all but forgotten by producers.

Just south of Bardolino is the white wine denomination of Custoza DOC, whose name was changed in 2022 from Bianco di Custoza. Still, spumante, and passito wines are made. They must be blends featuring a minimum of 70% combined Cortese, Friulano, Garganega, and/or Trebbiano Toscano, with no single variety composing more than 45%. The remaining 30% can include Pinot Bianco, Chardonnay, Riesling, Riesling Italico, Malvasia, or Manzoni Bianco. The wines are not very well known, but Custoza is a source of pleasant white wines for Lake Garda tourist resorts and European export markets.

Soave

East of Verona and overlapping the eastern portion of Valpolicella is Soave, home to one of Italy’s most famous white wines. The Garganega grape, among Italy’s oldest, represents 88% of the plantings in the region. Grapes have historically been cultivated in the hillsides between and to the north of the two villages of Soave and Monteforte d’Alpone, where a volcanic outcropping rises to 400 meters (1,300 feet) above sea level. Like the familiar story in Valpolicella and Chianti, when Soave DOC was established, in 1968, its boundaries were significantly expanded to include flatter plains and more fertile soils. Soave’s reputation suffered; the region was perceived as emphasizing quantity over quality and flooding export markets with inexpensive white wine. Most Soave wines are still exported, with only 16% consumed in Italy.

Soave DOC requires a minimum of 70% Garganega, a maximum of 30% combined Trebbiano di Soave (the local biotype of Verdicchio) and Chardonnay, and a maximum of 5% other white grapes. Many top bottlings are monovarietal Garganega or use Trebbiano di Soave as the only blending partner. Sparkling versions are authorized but rare.

Quality-minded producers are primarily focused on the DOC’s Classico subzone, which includes the historic growing area of lower volcanic hillsides around the towns of Soave and Monteforte d’Alpone. A second subzone, Colli Scaligeri, includes hillside areas throughout the DOC but outside the Classico subzone and is hardly used in practice. The creation of a separate Soave Superiore DOCG, in 2001, was ostensibly an attempt to improve quality, and while it mandated slightly higher minimum alcohol and lower maximum yields, it did not limit production to the Classico subzone and has been largely ignored by producers.

Garganega vines are typically trained in the traditional pergola veronese system, its shaded canopy allowing grapes to ripen more slowly, with lower sugars and higher acids, and to retain the compounds that are important to the aromatic expression of Garganega.

Soil type is especially important in the Soave Classico subzone. The western part, in the commune of Soave, includes more calcareous marls with higher limestone content, producing wines that are more refined, delicate, and intensely floral. The eastern part, in the commune of Monteforte d’Alpone, contains volcanic soils rich in basalt and tuff, and its wines tend to be more powerful, structured, and spicy. The different elevations and aspects of steep hillside vineyards give producers many options.

Pieropan released one of the first single-vineyard Soave wines, Calvarino, in 1971, and it helped restore the reputation of Soave as a region capable of serious, ageworthy wines. Beginning with the 2019 vintage, Soave DOC has instituted 33 unità geografiche aggiuntive (UGAs), or “additional geographical units,” placing an even greater emphasis on crus and terroir-driven wines. The best Soaves are steely and ageworthy, with flavors of cherry blossoms, almonds, ripe fruit, and hay.

Recioto di Soave DOCG is a denomination for sweet passito wines within the same boundaries and with the same assemblage as Soave. It was formerly part of Soave DOC but elevated to its own separate DOCG in 1998. Like Recioto della Valpolicella, the grapes must be dried to a minimum potential alcohol of 14% and producers often use grapes infected with noble rot, but Soave has a higher minimum residual sugar of 70 grams per liter. A sparkling version of the sweet wine is also authorized.

Other Wines of Central and Eastern Veneto

On the eastern border of Soave in the Vicenza province is the smaller region of Gambellara, which produces Garganega-based wines in styles similar to those of its neighbor. With only about 200 hectares (500 acres) planted, compared with Soave’s 5,300 (13,000 acres), most of the Garganega vines in Gambellara are planted on the volcanic hillsides, as the flatter plains overlap with the Prosecco region and tend to be used for the commercially popular Glera instead.

Gambellara DOC requires a minimum of 80% Garganega, along with a maximum of 20% Chardonnay, Pinot Bianco, and/or Trebbiano di Soave. A Classico subzone covers nearly the entire denomination, with slightly lower yields and higher minimum alcohol, and is broken up into the subzones of Faldeo, Taibane, Monti di Mezzo, San Marco, Creari, and Selva. Spumante and vin santo styles are also authorized, and the sparkling versions are the only ones to include Durella as an authorized grape. Recioto di Gambellara DOCG is for passito wines based on 100% Garganega. For recioto wines, a spumante version is also authorized, and classico here refers to the classic style of recioto, not a historic subzone.

In addition to the many recioto wines, the other famous sweet, dried-grape wine of the Veneto region is torcolato, and it can be found primarily in the Vicenza province around the commune of Breganze. Torcolato comes from the Italian torcolare, meaning “to twist,” as the grape clusters are wound together with twine and suspended to dry. Breganze DOC torcolato wines must be made of 100% Vespaiola (locally called Vespaiolo), which has high acidity to balance the sweetness. The wines are delicately floral, with flavors of honey and ripe tropical fruit. Maculan is the key producer. Breganze DOC also allows a wide range of red, white, and sparkling wines from native and international varieties.

Two neighboring denominations focus on the white Durella grape, the “toughness” of the name (duro/dura) referring to either its thick skins or high acidity. Lessini Durello DOC takes advantage of that high acidity for sparkling wines, which must be a minimum of 85% Durella and can be made either with the tank method or, if labeled Riserva, with the traditional method. Monti Lessini DOC allows varietal Durella dry or passito wines, white blends featuring a minimum of 50% Chardonnay, and varietal Pinot Nero. Note that Durella is the grape variety and Durello is the wine.

The Raboso family of grapes is featured in Friularo di Bagnoli DOCG, also called Bagnoli Friularo DOCG, south of Padua, and Piave Malanotte DOCG, east of Treviso. Both wines are a majority Raboso Piave, also called Friularo, blended with its offspring Raboso Veronese. The Raboso varieties are aromatic, with flavors of black fruits, and Raboso Piave has especially high acidity and aggressive tannins. Piave Malanotte requires that the wine contain 15%–30% dried grapes, which help soften the tannins, and Bagnoli Friularo allows vendemmia tardiva and passito versions. Piave Malanotte DOCG became separate from the overarching Piave DOC in 2010 and Bagnoli Friularo DOCG from Bagnoli di Sopra DOC in 2011.

Also south of Padua, Colli Euganei Fior d’Arancio DOCG was elevated to a separate denomination from Colli Euganei DOC in 2010 for wines based on Moscato Giallo, which can be dry, sweet, sparkling, or passito. Varietal Moscato wines from Colli Euganei DOC are based not on Moscato Giallo but on its parent, Moscato Bianco.

International Grape Varieties

After the end of the Republic of Venice, Veneto was part of the Austrian Empire under Habsburg rule for the first half of the 19^th century. Given its location at the crossroads of trade and various European cultures, it is not surprising that international grape varieties have long been important in this part of northeastern Italy. Bordeaux varieties were first planted in Veneto in the 1830s, and after phylloxera struck they began to take on more importance, especially in the central and eastern parts of Veneto. Merlot is the top-planted red grape in Veneto, which has more than a third of Italy’s total Merlot plantings.

Among red grapes, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Carmenère, Pinot Nero, and other varieties can be found here in varietal wines or blends. More than 80% of Veneto’s production is white wine, including Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and the ubiquitous Pinot Grigio. Veneto has 38% of Italy’s Pinot Grigio, much of it destined for exports and grocery stores. For a long time, these were bottled as delle Venezie IGT, coming from anywhere in a large swath of northeastern Italy, covering all of Veneto and Friuli-Venezia Giulia and the Trentino province of Trentino-Alto Adige. The designation was upgraded in 2017 to delle Venezie DOC, which is Italy’s second largest producing DOC behind Prosecco. While other styles are authorized, virtually all the wine is varietal Pinot Grigio delle Venezie, blended from the flatter lands across the Po River valley.

Veneto has several other denominations that focus on international varieties, such as Colli Berici DOC, near Vicenza; Colli Euganei DOC, near Padua; and Montello Asolo DOC, near Treviso, all for red, white, and sparkling wines. Wines simply labeled Cabernet are often blends of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc and can also contain Carmenère. Montello Rosso DOCG was carved out from Montello Asolo in 2011 and is specifically for Bordeaux blends based on 40%–70% Cabernet Sauvignon; 30%–60% Cabernet Franc, Carmenère, and/or Merlot; and up to 15% other red grapes. It has yet to gain popularity, producing about 210 hectoliters annually from 6 planted hectares (15 acres).

As in Tuscany, many Veneto producers making premium red wines using international grape varieties choose to bottle them under the IGT banner instead. Some of the most renowned “Super Venetians” bottled as Veneto IGT include Giuseppe Quintarelli’s Alzero, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Merlot, aged in a combination of French and Slavonian oak; and Maculan’s Palazzotto Cabernet Sauvignon and Crosara Merlot, both aged in French barriques. Several Valpolicella producers use Veronese IGT to make wines that are more experimental than the Valpolicella DOCs allow, such as Allegrini’s La Poja, which is made of 100% Corvina.

Prosecco

The behemoth of Veneto, in both vineyard area and production, is Prosecco. Covering all of central and northeastern Veneto, and all of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Prosecco is Italy’s top-producing DOC by far, and the world’s top-selling sparkling wine by volume, bypassing Champagne in 2013 and continuing to surge since then.

Until recently, Prosecco was the name of both the region and the grape, most likely taking its name from the town of Prosecco, on the Friulian coast near Trieste. The earliest documented written reference is in a 1382 petition by the people of Trieste asking to become part of the Habsburg domain, seeking protection in exchange for promising their local Prosecco wine to the duke of Austria. The grape variety has been named Glera since 2009 to comply with European Union rules allowing Prosecco to be protected as a named geographic appellation. Two related varieties, Glera Lunga and the more common Glera Tondo are often co-planted and blended together in Prosecco wines.

The earliest modern sparkling Prosecco wine was produced in 1873 by Antonio Carpenè, who also established Italy’s first enology school, in Conegliano, in 1876. These early Proseccos were made using the traditional method, a style that likely persisted until the 1930s. The French chemist Edme-Jules Maumené designed the first rudimentary autoclave, in 1852, and the method was refined for commercial use and patented by the Asti winemaker Federico Martinotti, in 1895, using wooden tanks. It was later adapted by the French agronomist Jean-Eugène Charmat, who first used newly available stainless-steel tanks in 1907. This Charmat method, known by Italians as the metodo Martinotti (Martinotti method), is the most common one used in Prosecco today.

Unlike Champagne and traditional method sparkling wines that use neutral grape varieties and obtain much of their character through yeast autolysis and the winemaking process, wines made using the tank method retain more of the base wine’s flavor. Wines in tank spend less time on the lees, and there is a greater ratio of wine to lees in a tank than in a bottle, which leads to an emphasis on the fruity and floral character of the lightly aromatic Glera rather than an emphasis on autolytic character. It is also less labor intensive to manage one large tank than multiple bottles, without steps such as riddling and disgorgement, allowing a lower cost that has helped Prosecco’s rise in popularity.

Prosecco DOC requires a minimum of 85% Glera, and the remaining 15% can be Verdiso, Bianchetta Trevigiana, Chardonnay, Perera, Glera Lunga, Pinot Bianco, Pinot Grigio, and/or Pinot Nero. Verdiso is prized for its high acidity and Perera for its fruit-forward, pear-flavored aromatics. Still (tranquillo) wines are rare but authorized. Nearly all Prosecco is frizzante or spumante and made with the Martinotti method. Sweetness levels can range from brut nature to demi-sec, but most wines have some residual sugar and fall into extra dry and dry categories.

Additional styles are allowed, such as rifermentazione in bottiglia, and a bottle-fermented wine may have a velatura, or a veil of haziness. Wines labeled with the phrase sui lieviti (on yeasts) or col fondo (with the bottom) are made in a style similar to a pét-nat, in which the lees remain in the bottle without riddling or disgorgement, producing a rustic, cloudy, more autolytic style of Prosecco.

A new category debuted in 2020 and has helped Prosecco cement its domination in the world of bubbles: rosé Prosecco. These wines must be spumante and contain 10%–15% Pinot Nero vinified as a red wine and added to the base of a minimum of 85% Glera. All rosé Prosecco must be vintage-dated, and sweetness levels can range from brut nature to extra dry. Prior to 2020, many Prosecco producers made pink sparkling wines, but they could not carry the Prosecco name and were labeled as vino spumante.

The new style helped increase the output of Prosecco DOC from about 3.5 million hectoliters in 2018 to nearly 4.8 million hectoliters in 2022. Of the more than 53.2 million cases produced in 2022, 11% of them were rosé. So far, sparkling rosé is only allowed in the basic Prosecco DOC.

The Prosecco DOC area is so large—covering 556 communes in nine provinces—that it is difficult to generalize about climate or quality level. It is mostly continental, with some influence from the Alps and the Adriatic Sea. Most of the land is flat and fertile, producing high-yielding, simple, quaffable wines. There are two official subzones for wines from the municipality of Trieste and the province of Treviso—which are also large areas, with Treviso alone covering 95 communes—and wines from these areas can be labeled with the names Trieste and Treviso, respectively.

Prosecco wines begin to have more specificity at the DOCG level. In the hills rising from the flatlands in the northwestern portion of the Treviso province are two separate denominations: Asolo Prosecco DOCG and Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco DOCG. In both, still and frizzante wines are authorized, but the spumante wines—the vast majority of what is produced—all qualify for the Superiore designation. Of the two DOCGs, Asolo Prosecco is the smaller contributor for sparkling wines, and it overlaps the part of Treviso that is better known for red wine production. But sparkling wine production here is increasing, and Asolo may become more significant in the future.

The most important denomination for quality production is Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco DOCG, which covers the most historic Prosecco growing area, first delineated in the 1930s. It surrounds the towns of Valdobbiadene in the west and Conegliano in the east and is bounded by the Piave River to the southwest. It is the sixth largest producing DOC/G in all of Italy, the second largest for sparkling wine, behind Prosecco itself, and the second largest DOCG behind Chianti. It was responsible for about 8.7 million cases of DOCG-level Prosecco in 2022. The labeling can be confusing, as the use of the words Superiore and Prosecco are optional for sparkling wines, as is the name of the full denomination, since wines may be labeled simply Valdobbiadene or Conegliano if they come from within one of those two communes.

The historic growing area around these two towns is in a series of hills running east-west, ranging from 50 to 550 meters (160 to 1,800 feet) in altitude, in some cases dramatically steep, with a gradation of up to 60%. The foothills have formed a hogback ridge through erosion of one side over time, and the unique geological formation allows airflow that is important for preventing moisture and rot as well as thickening grape skins through wind influence. The Dolomites block cold winds from the north and help prevent spring frosts, and the flat plains and Venice lagoon bring warmer breezes from the south. There is an inversion layer, as cool air from the top of the hills drains down into the valleys, and the midslopes of the hills retain warmth. This heat and sun exposure is important for grape ripening and enhances the expression of aromatic compounds in Glera.

The western side of the region, near Valdobbiadene, is cooler and steeper at higher altitudes, where the wines tend to be more floral and perfumed, while the eastern side near Conegliano is warmer and lower, and the wines tend to be fuller bodied and spicier. The soils in Valdobbiadene are mostly marls and conglomerates, with excellent drainage on the steep slopes, while those in Conegliano are mainly morainic or clay. The two towns have been linked together historically, as producers often blended Prosecco from these zones to achieve balance. The hills were designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2019.

Within the DOCG, there are 43 rive, or geographic designations, that can appear on labels for spumante wines (but not sui lieviti). Rive refers to hillside vineyards or riverbank slopes, but these are larger areas or districts—more like contrade or MGAs. Of the 43 rive, 12 are for entire communes and 31 are for frazioni, which are neighborhoods or hamlets within a commune. To qualify for the rive designation, the wine must be hand-harvested and vintage-dated, with lower maximum yields of 13 tons per hectare (5.3 tons per acre) and a higher minimum alcohol of 11.5% ABV. Machine harvesting would be impossible even if it were not prohibited, as these slopes are typically among the steepest and most labor intensive, requiring 700 or more hours of work per hectare, compared with 120 hours or less for flatter vineyard land. Some of the highly regarded rive include Col San Martino, Colbertaldo di Vidor, Farra di Soligo, Ogliano, Pieve di Soligo, and Soligo.

Bisol’s portion of Cartizze Alto (Photo credit: Bryce Wiatrak)

The most famous and exceptional site of the Prosecco area is Cartizze, covering 107-hectare (265-acre) site near the town of Valdobbiadene, first mentioned in writings as the ancient winegrowing locality of Caurige as early as 1362. Cartizze is highly regarded and until recently was the most expensive vineyard land in Italy, surpassed only by Barolo in 2017. The slope here is extremely steep, with an average gradation of 35% and the steepest areas at a gradation of more than 60%. Cartizze faces directly south, with a great amount of warmth and sun exposure. The grapes are typically harvested two weeks later here than in the rest of the appellation to maximize ripeness and sugar accumulation. Cartizze can be divided into three unofficial subzones: Cartizze Alto, with the highest and steepest vineyards, at about 230 to 320 meters (750 to 1,050 feet) above sea level; and Cartizze Est (east) and Cartizze Ovest (west) below, at between 180 and 230 meters (590 and 750 feet). Cartizze Alto receives more wind exposure and more direct sunlight. Because of the inversion layer, it is slightly warmer, as the cold air sinks to the bottom of the slopes, with buds breaking earlier in Cartizze Alto than they do in the lower portions. Even with such high ripeness levels, the grapes still maintain high acidity because of the vineyards’ elevation and diurnal shift.

The Cartizze wines are especially powerful and full bodied, and they are usually in the dry range, with 17 to 32 grams of residual sugar per liter. This sweetness is well balanced by the richness of fruit and perfume. They have the lowest maximum yields of 12 tons per hectare (4.9 tons per acre), and the same minimum alcohol of 11.5% ABV as the rive wines. Superiore di Cartizze must appear on the label. There are more than 100 growers with small plots averaging about 1 hectare (2.5 acres) each in Cartizze. Bisol owns the largest share of Cartizze, and other key producers are Adami, Col Vetoraz, Le Colture, and Villa Sandi. Of all 2020 Conegliano Valdobbiadene DOCG production, about 1.4% was Superiore di Cartizze and 2.6% from the rive.

Trentino Alto Adige

The northernmost Italian region, bordering Austria, is the autonomous alpine region of Trentino-Alto Adige. The area was part of the Habsburg monarchy and Austro-Hungarian Empire through World War I and was not annexed by Italy until 1919. The region still has close cultural ties to Austria, especially in its northern province, Alto Adige, also known as Südtirol (South Tyrol), where German is the primary language. The southern province, Trentino, is wedged between Lombardy and Veneto, and the population here largely speaks Italian.

The alpine region was one of the early centers of winegrowing for the Rhaetians and the Etruscans, and the Adige River allowed for the expansion of viticulture as people moved across the valley. Archeological findings indicate that the wine culture began at least 2,400 years ago. Wine was culturally important in the Middle Ages, as vineyards in the area supplied wine to monasteries and the nobility in what is now southern Germany. Trento, the regional capital, was an important center for Christianity at this time, as leaders of the Catholic Church converged here from across Europe in the 16^th century for the Council of Trent, in response to the Reformation.

Vineyards in this mountainous area are planted at elevations of up to 1,000 meters (3,300 feet) above sea level, and the climate is continental, with both alpine and Mediterranean influences. The Alps block the cold winds from the north, and the Adige valley opens in the south to the warmer breezes from Lake Garda and the Mediterranean Sea. Even at a northern latitude, the summers are among the hottest in Italy during the daytime, with wide diurnal shifts and cool nighttime temperatures. The high altitudes, south-facing slopes, large diurnal shifts, and long growing season provide freshness, acidity, and phenolic grape ripening.

The soils are extremely diverse, with calcareous chalk and limestone soils near the Dolomites and volcanic porphyry, glacial moraines, quartz, slate, and mica in other sections. While more than 70% of the region’s output is white wine, the range of soils, luminosity, and warmth allows for a diversity of grapes, from fresh whites to bold reds.

Compared with other Italian regions, Trentino-Alto Adige has a relatively simple DOC system, with no DOCGs, nine DOCs, and four IGTs. It is known for high-quality, varietally labeled wines made from a wide range of native and international varieties, 84% of which is at the DOC level (the third highest percentage in Italy, following Piedmont and Valle d'Aosta). Trentino-Alto Adige produces 1.3 million hectoliters, or 14.7 million cases, of wine annually, from about 15,800 planted hectares (39,000 acres).

The top-planted grape variety is Chardonnay, with 22% of plantings, followed by Pinot Grigio (19%) and Schiava (9%). Other varieties that have been planted in the region since at least the 19^th century include Pinot Nero, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Carmenère, Pinot Bianco, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Müller-Thurgau, Sylvaner, and others. Kerner is a high-quality cross of Riesling and Schiava Grossa. Grüner Veltliner is known here simply as Veltliner. Gewürztraminer is called Traminer Aromatico, but it is not necessarily from the local town of Tramin (Termeno).

More than 70% of the wine produced in Alto Adige and more than 90% in Trentino is from co-ops, many of which are very high quality, such as the well-regarded Cantina Terlano, established in 1893. The region’s vineyards are extremely fragmented, with many growers owning very small plots passed down through generations, and co-ops have made winemaking at scale possible.

There are two large, overarching DOCs for white, rosato, red, sparkling, and sweet wines: Alto Adige DOC, or Südtirol DOC, in the north and Trentino DOC in the south. Many varietally labeled wines and dual-variety blends fall into these two denominations, and each has several subzones.

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Alto Adige

Alto Adige DOC covers the winemaking areas of the northern province, surrounding the provincial capital of Bolzano (Bozen). The three subzones of Colli di Bolzano, Meranese, and Santa Maddelena specialize in varietal Schiava, also known locally as Vernatsch, and require a minimum of 85% of the Schiava varieties. The light-bodied, light-colored wines have high acidity, flavors of red berries and sweet almond, and savory qualities. The Santa Maddelena subzone, in the hillsides northeast of Bolzano, is especially renowned for Schiava, and the wines are typically blended with a small percentage of Lagrein, providing a more full-bodied expression.

The additional subzones of Alto Adige DOC are Terlano, Valle Isarco, and Valle Venosta. German names are often used here; for example, Valle Isarco becomes Eisacktal (the German suffix -tal means “valley”). The northern Valle Isarco is one of the coolest areas of the region and is known for white wines, including Kerner, Sylvaner, and Müller-Thurgau. Four of its communes are allowed to produce Klausner Laitacher, a red blend featuring any proportions of Schiava, Pinot Nero, Lagrein, and/or Portoghese (Portugieser). The valley is home to the Abbazia di Novacella (Kloster Neustift in German), a historic monastery producing wine since 1142 and one of the world’s oldest active wineries.

Pinot Grigio in Alto Adige (Photo credit: Adobe Stock)

Lago di Caldaro DOC, or Kalterersee DOC, is another well-known area for varietal Schiava, just south of the town of Bolzano. Like the Alto Adige subzones, it requires a minimum of 85% of any of the Schiava varieties. The DOC was expanded to cover additional lands farther south in Trentino and has a Classico subzone covering the historic growing area closest to the lake.

After Schiava, the second most planted native red grape in Alto Adige is Lagrein. Compared with the lighter reds of the region, it is deeply colored, full-bodied, and tannic, with a darker black fruit profile. The grape is late ripening and thrives in the warmer areas around Bolzano, where the gravelly soils store and radiate heat and allow it to ripen effectively. Lagrein may appear as a varietal wine in several DOCs in both Alto Adige and Trentino, and blends can be labeled with dual-variety names, such as Cabernet-Lagrein or Lagrein-Merlot. It comes in a range of styles, with the reds often labeled dunkel or scuro and the rosato version called kretzer. New oak is used for some premium examples. Like Barbera, Lagrein does extremely well in warmer vintages.

Trentino

Farther south, in Trentino DOC, the subzone Castel Beseno is for varietal Moscato Giallo, which can be made in dry, passito, or vendemmia tardiva styles. The subzones of Isera and Ziresi are for varietal Marzemino, a medium-bodied, high-acid red with herbal and bitter flavors. Isera has soils of tufa and basaltic rocks rich in manganese, while Ziresi is rich in calcareous clay and alluvial deposits, in an area where the Adige River makes a sharp turn and exposes the vineyards to intense sunlight. The remaining subzones of Sorni and Valle di Cembra are for a range of white and red wines.

The entire province of Trentino is included in the massive, multiregional delle Venezie DOC, shared with Veneto and Friuli. Valdadige DOC, or Etschtaler DOC, is another wide-ranging, multiregional DOC for white, rosato, red, and frizzante wines; it extends through the Adige valley in Alto Adige, Trentino, and a northwestern section of Veneto. It is more often used by producers in Trentino for varietal wines and blends, as producers farther north would be more likely to use the brand of Alto Adige DOC instead.

Among Trentino’s most important grapes is the native red grape Teroldego. It’s an ancient variety most likely present in vineyards in Trentino since the 15^th century, and it is the parent of Lagrein and Marzemino. Teroldego is deeply colored and fruity. Its soft tannins and fruity aromas are suited to novello wines, and Trentino producers are focused on complex, ageworthy wines, with flavors of pomegranate, licorice, and fresh herbs. Elisabetta Foradori is the most well-known specialist in Teroldego, and her powerful Granato bottling, from 70-year-old vines, helped spotlight the variety.

The most renowned site for Teroldego is Campo Rotaliano, a flat plain with alluvial deposits of sand, gravel, and pebbles. It is backed by steep, vertical walls of Dolomitic limestone, which absorb and radiate heat from the sun during the day and funnel cool breezes at night. Teroldego Rotaliano DOC requires 100% Teroldego, and the wines can be made in rosé (kretzer) or red (rubino) styles. Superiore wines have a minimum alcohol of 12% ABV, and Riserva wines require a minimum aging of two years.

The native white grape Nosiola takes its name from nocciola (“hazelnut”), likely because of the color of the grapes when dried and the variety's nutty aromas. It is grown primarily in the picturesque Valle dei Laghi, between Lake Garda and Trento, where the warm breezes and humidity from the lakes are ideal for air-drying grapes. Trentino vino santo (note the vino rather than vin) requires a minimum of 85% Nosiola and must be aged for a minimum of three years, or four years for Superiore.

Trento DOC

International grapes are used for the traditional method sparkling wine denomination Trento DOC, usually written as Trentodoc for marketing purposes and to distinguish it from Trentino DOC. It is the only traditional method region high in the mountains, with vineyards planted at up to 900 meters (3,000 feet) above sea level. The soils of the Dolomites are rich in limestone and silica and have excellent drainage. The high elevation provides a wide diurnal shift, with the mountains releasing cold air into the valleys at night.

Giulio Ferrari made the first traditional method sparkling wine in Trentino, in 1902, and was the first to plant substantial Chardonnay vineyards in the area. The Trento DOC Institute was formed in 1984, and the DOC was established in 1993. The wine can be made with any proportions of Chardonnay, Pinot Bianco, Pinot Nero, and/or Pinot Meunier. It must spend a minimum of 15 months on the lees for spumante and rosato, 24 months for millesimato, and 36 months for Riserva. Except for the Riserva wines, which can be only brut nature or brut, the wines can be at any sweetness level up to dolce. The region is cooler than Franciacorta, and a bit more dosage is typically used to balance the grapes’ high acidity.

Friuli-Venezia Giulia

In the northeastern corner of Italy, bordering Austria and Slovenia at the top of the Adriatic Sea, is the autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, often called simply Friuli. At a crossroads of Europe, it was a historic part of the Roman Empire—“Giulia” refers to Julius Caesar—and later the Republic of Venice and the Habsburg monarchy. This has been a border area throughout history and has a mix of Latin, Germanic, and Slavic influences. Central Friuli became part of Italy with unification in 1866, but the area around the Gulf of Trieste remained the subject of military conflicts and border disputes for nearly another century. The region’s capital city of Trieste, one of the most important commercial ports of Europe, did not become part of Italy until 1954.

After the fall of fascism and World War II, it took nearly a decade to decide on the border between Italy and Yugoslavia—a border so arbitrary that it reportedly split some farms and vineyards in half, with one side Italian and the other side Yugoslav. Today, many producers have vineyards on both the Italian side and the Slovenian side. The regions often have parallel names on the two sides of the border: Collio Goriziano becomes Goriška Brda (collio and brda both mean “hills”), and Carso becomes Kras.

In the 1960s, winemaker Mario Schiopetto traveled throughout Europe and brought German innovations in vinification and viticulture back to Friuli. He was at the forefront of Friuli’s modern white wine revolution, employing techniques such as cold fermentation, selected yeasts, stainless-steel tanks, and a focus on cellar hygiene for a style of clean and fruity wines. Other producers took a Burgundian approach in the 1980s and used new French barriques for richer wines that gained international acclaim.

Given Friuli’s proximity to Eastern Europe, it is not surprising that, at the turn of the century, producers such as Josko Gravner and Stanislao “Stanko” Radikon looked to the ancient winemaking practices of the Caucasus. Through their efforts, Friuli became known as a leader in amphora-aged, skin-contact orange wines. Today, Friuli offers a wide range of wines and styles, with many international varieties as well as native grapes unique to the region and rescued from near extinction by dedicated producers.

Viticulture is restricted to the southern half of Friuli, as the northern portion is generally too cold and mountainous. Wine regions are in the alpine foothills and the flatter plains, with many rivers providing moderating influences. The region receives a combination of cool mountain air and warm Adriatic currents. Friuli has the highest precipitation of any Italian region, with more than 1,000 millimeters (39 inches) of rainfall annually. Viticulture is made possible by the region’s gravelly and well-draining soils. On the hillside slopes, the most prized soil is ponca, a friable sedimentary rock with alternating layers of marl and sandstone.

Friuli-Venezia Giulia has 4 DOCGs, 12 DOCs, and 3 IGPs. It produces 2.2 million hectoliters, or 24.5 million cases, of wine from about 28,500 hectares (70,400 acres) of planted vineyards. It contributes to the large quantities of wine in the multiregional Prosecco and delle Venezie DOCs but is also known for varietal wines and blends from international and native grape varieties. The region has the highest proportion of white wine (86%), recently surpassing the neighboring Veneto, and its top-planted grape varieties are Pinot Grigio, Glera, Merlot, and Friulano.

Seven of the DOCs include the name Friuli, including the overarching regional denomination Friuli (Friuli-Venezia Giulia) DOC, which was approved in 2016 with the aim of raising the region’s profile. Friuli DOC allows white and red blends and varietal wines that are also authorized in other denominations, but it uniquely allows for sparkling Ribolla Gialla. It covers the entire southern half of Friuli where viticulture takes place and encompasses the other denominations.

Friuli Colli Orientali

The most important quality wine denominations are in the hills near the Slovenian border, on both sides of the Judrio River (the former border between Austria and Italy). Northwest of the river in the Udine province, Friuli Colli Orientali DOC allows white, red, and sweet wines from a wide range of native and international grape varieties and blends, with several official subzones for more specific styles.

Friuli Colli Orientale DOC from the i Clivi property (Photo credit: Stacy Ladenburger)

The northernmost subzone is Refosco di Faedis, which requires a minimum of 85% Refosco Nostrano, also called Refosco di Faedis. This red grape is the softer, more refined of the Refosco-named varieties. At the southern end of the denomination is the subzone of Rosazzo, featuring two varietal wines: Ribolla Gialla di Rosazzo and Pignolo di Rosazzo. Ribolla Gialla performs well in the heat and in the well-draining ponca soils, and, with its thick skins, can be harvested later in the season and withstand threats from weather. The red grape Pignolo is closely associated with its “grand cru” of Rosazzo. Pignolo is the most full bodied of the Friuli reds and one of the most tannic reds in all of Italy, often needing years of bottle age.

The Rosazzo subzone of Friuli Colli Orientali should not be confused with Rosazzo DOCG, which was elevated to its own denomination in 2011. The DOCG is for white blends featuring a mandatory 50%–60% Friulano, 20%–30% Sauvignon Blanc, and 20%–30% Pinot Bianco and/or Chardonnay, along with up to 10% Ribolla Gialla and 5% other white grapes. The wines must be aged a minimum of 18 months. The “Super Whites” are often barrel fermented.

The easternmost part of Friuli Colli Orientali is the subzone of Prepotto, which features the varietal red wine Schioppettino di Prepotto. The wines are medium bodied, with high acidity and a rotundone character, offering refined flavors of black fruits and pepper. Schioppettino had nearly disappeared in the 1970s and was brought back through the work of Dina and Paolo Rapuzzi, the founders of the Ronchi di Cialla estate, who planted Schioppettino even though it was not an officially recognized grape variety at the time.

The subzone of Cialla is a hamlet within Prepotto and is a monopole of Ronchi di Cialla. It is an east-west valley that is the coolest, windiest, rainiest part of Friuli Colli Orientali, and grapes here are generally harvested about two weeks later than in the rest of the denomination. Ronchi di Cialla is known for not only Schioppettino but also Picolit, Ribolla Gialla, and other native varieties. Ronchi in Friulian dialect is the plural of ronco (hillside, terraced vineyard), a word commonly seen on Friulian wine labels.

Picolit is a white grape variety historically associated with the areas of Rosazzo and Cialla, but its passito wines now fall under Colli Orientali del Friuli Picolit DOCG, established in 2006, with the same boundaries as the entire Friuli Colli Orientali DOC. A fashionable sweet wine centuries ago, the style was resurrected through the work of the Perusini family at Rocca Bernarda. Picolit is one of Italy’s most ancient grapes, closer to a wild vine, as it is unable to self-pollinate. It has small (piccolo) clusters and few berries, and through the appassimento process it becomes even more concentrated. The DOCG wines must be a minimum of 85% Picolit, unless coming from the subzone of Cialla, which requires 100%. They are aged for a minimum of one year, or two years for Cialla and four years for Cialla Riserva.

At the northern tip of Friuli Colli Orientali is Ramandolo DOCG, another former subzone for sweet white wines elevated to DOCG status in 2001. This is one of the coldest parts of Friuli, but the town of Ramandolo is sheltered by the rocky walls of Mount Bernadia, which radiate heat and reflect sunlight, helping ripen the grapes. The passito wines must be 100% Verduzzo Friulano, known here as Verduzzo Giallo, a tannic white variety suitable for air-drying, producing rich wines with flavors of sweet almond, honey, and tropical fruit.

Collio Goriziano

To the southeast, across the Judrio River from Friuli Colli Orientali, in the Gorizia province along the Slovenian border, is Collio Goriziano (Collio) DOC. It allows a wide range of white and red wines from native and international varieties, but three-quarters of its production comes from four white grapes: Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc (here called Sauvignon), Ribolla Gialla, and Friulano. Influenced by its ties to Austria on this side of the river, Collio has a longer history of quality winemaking than Colli Orientali and is where some of Friuli’s best-known producers—such as Venica & Venica, Schiopetto, Gravner, and Radikon—are based.

Grappa to the Rescue

The Nonino family has been distilling grappa in Udine, a province of Friuli, for more than a century. In the 1960s, Benito and Giannola Nonino began experimenting with monovitigno (single variety) grappa, releasing the first Picolit bottling in 1973 and the first Ribolla Gialla bottling the following year. They wanted to purchase the pomace of other native varieties, but few plantings existed.

The Noninos launched a major award in 1975 called Premio Nonino Risit d’Âur (Gold Vine Shoot) to honor and encourage those who were working to preserve Friuli’s native grape varieties and culture. The first award was given to Dina and Paolo Rapuzzi for their efforts with Schioppettino. The prestigious award helped spotlight Friuli’s unique native grape varieties, incentivize growers to preserve them, and establish the necessary bureaucratic procedures to have them officially recognized under the law.

The territory is nearly all hills, arranged in a semicircle, and the DOC has a minimum elevation of 85 meters (280 feet). It is generally sunnier than Colli Orientali, with wines showing more weight and extract, but there is great variability in slopes, aspects, exposures, and wind currents, creating numerous microclimates. While there are no official subzones, numerous communes and unofficial subzones of Collio are recognized for their differences.

Oslavia, in the far eastern part of Collio bordering Slovenia, is the sunniest part of the denomination, with vineyards at about 150 to 180 meters (490 to 590 feet) above sea level and dry winds from Slovenia and the Adriatic Sea. It is a region especially known for Ribolla Gialla, and the higher elevation and large diurnal shift produce wines with strong aromatics and perfume. Oslavia is where the orange wine movement was born. When hail hit Oslavia in 1996 and destroyed entire vineyards, Gravner experimented with his limited crop. He was pleased with the skin-macerated wines and was soon joined by Radikon and La Castellada in developing a unique style associated with this small corner of Friuli.

The commune of San Floriano del Collio is just north of Oslavia in the higher hills, at about 250 meters (820 feet) above sea level, the highest elevation in Collio. It is known for Ribolla Gialla, Friulano, and Sauvignon, and the wines are livelier and fresher than elsewhere in the denomination.

Cormons is the largest town in Collio and sits at the base of Mount Quarin, at a lower altitude where the foothills meet the plains. Although Friulano is grown throughout Friuli and Veneto, it thrives in the wetter, richer soils of the Cormons area. Once known as Tocai Friulano, its name has been shortened because of the protected status of Hungary’s Tokaj region. The grape variety is identical to Sauvignonasse and Sauvignon Vert of South America and is known as Tai elsewhere. The wines are rounder and fatter than other Friuli whites, with lower acidity and savory flavors of almonds, herbs, and white flowers. It’s the most common house wine of the osterias and trattorias in Friuli. Mario Schiopetto, based in the commune of Capriva, bottled the first varietal Tocai, as he labeled it at the time, in 1965.

Dolegna del Collio is the northernmost commune of Collio and closest to the Alps. It is the coolest and rainiest part of the denomination and most suited to aromatic white grape varieties, such as Sauvignon, Pinot Bianco, and Ribolla Gialla.

Other Regions

Sandi Skerk’s Glera vineyard in Carso (Photo credit: Stacy Ladenburger)

South of Collio DOC and across the Isonzo River, in the Trieste province, is Carso (Kras) DOC, which sits on a narrow limestone plateau between the Adriatic Sea and the Slovenian border. The red clay soils of Carso are iron rich and nutrient poor, and the DOC allows white and red wines from a wide range of native and international varieties. Whites include Malvasia Istriana, an intensely aromatic and mineral grape made in a dry style, and Vitovska, a light-bodied, zippy white wine that is grown primarily in Carso.

The signature red grape of Carso is Terrano, and wines from the Classico subzone must include a minimum of 85% of the variety. Terrano is a relative of Refosco dal Peduncolo Rosso and does well on Carso’s iron-rich soils. It is known for searingly high acidity, strong minerality, and flavors of violets and black fruit.

The flatter alluvial plains include the rainy and gravelly Friuli Grave DOC, which is responsible for more than half of all Friuli wine production, much of it table wine. Farther south is the warmer, drier, and sunnier Friuli Isonzo DOC, shielded from the cold northern winds and rain; the wines produced here are rich and powerful. The coastal Friuli Aquileia DOC, on the Adriatic Sea, is less well known today but was an important wine center of ancient Rome.

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Read the Introduction to Italy Expert Guide

Read the Central Italy Expert Guide

Compiled by Michael Markarian (July 2023)

Edited by Stacy Ladenburger

Tags: Preview

Italy Part II: Central Italy

Jonathan Eichholz — Mon, 30 Mar 2026 14:40:28 GMT

Current Revision posted to Expert Guides by Jonathan Eichholz on 3/30/2026 2:40:28 PM

The Grapes and Grape Families of Central Italy
Tuscany
Umbria
Emilia-Romagna
The Marche
Lazio
Bibliography

Central Italy comprises the heart of the Italian Peninsula, both geographically and historically. Lazio, which houses the capital at Rome, roughly corresponds to the ancient Roman city, while Tuscany equates generally to the older Etruria. Millennia later, Tuscany grew to become a major economic power in Italy, first as the Republics of Florence and Siena and later as the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. Before the Risorgimento, much of the rest of centraI Italy was made up of the Papal States, under direct rule of the pope and the Vatican. This guide will consider five regions as central Italy: Tuscany, Umbria, Emilia-Romagna, the Marche, and Lazio.

Central Italy begins south of the Po River basin, and, like much of the country, is defined by the Apennine Mountains at its center. Its climate is varied by not only latitude but, importantly, elevation, with many of the top wines coming from higher sites. With Tuscany, central Italy serves as a powerful driver of the Italian wine industry, home to many of the country’s largest and oldest winemaking families, such as the Antinoris and the Frescobaldis. The initial sparks of Italy’s 20^th-century winemaking revolution were lit here, with the first bottling of Sassicaia in 1968 and the Super Tuscans that followed.

Today, central Italy is no less dynamic. Italy’s most planted grape variety, Sangiovese, achieves its finest expressions in Chianti Classico and Montalcino. Nearby, in Umbria, Sagrantino has been reimagined for the production of dry red wines. Further north, Emilia-Romagna cultivates the best-known appellations worldwide for sparkling red wine with its various Lambruscos. White wine, too, finds prominence in central Italy, notably in the bottlings of Orvieto, the Malvasia blends of Lazio, and the Verdicchio wines of the Marche. In addition, winegrowers throughout central Italy continue to bottle cellar-worthy wines made from French varieties.

The Grapes and Grape Families of Central Italy

Malvasia: Perhaps the most complicated of the grape “families,” Malvasia refers to an extraordinarily broad range of varieties not only in Italy but across Europe. In France, there is Malvoisie; in Spain, various Malvasias; and in Portugal, Malmsey—an anglicization of one of Madeira’s noble varieties. Several theories have been used to debate the shared name. Ian D’Agata, for example, believes it relates to the Republic of Venice’s dominance of maritime trade, including that of wine. A number of sites in the Floating City continue to incorporate the name Malvasia, and, historically, wine bars were called malvasie. A second hypothesis suggests Malvasia is a bastardization of Monemvasia, the name of a Greek town that once served as a key port, eventually controlled by Venice, through which much wine traveled from the Greek to the Italian Peninsula. Though genetic testing suggests Malvasia varieties are not in fact Greek in origin, several wine styles across medieval Italy could have emulated the dried-grape wines made across the Adriatic.

Eighteen unique Malvasia varieties are registered in Italy, both red and white and offering a set of wines as diverse as any. In central Italy, four Malvasias, all white, are most important: Malvasia Bianca Lunga, Malvasia del Lazio (Malvasia Puntinata), Malvasia Bianca di Candia, and Malvasia di Candia Aromatica. Malvasia Bianca Lunga is most famously grown in Tuscany, where it historically has been an important component of the Chianti blend developed by Bettino Ricasoli in the 19^th century. Top Chianti and all Chianti Classico wines today exclude white varieties, but Malvasia Bianca Lunga remains essential to the production of vin santo, typically a blend to which the variety contributes body and aroma. Malvasia del Lazio and Malvasia Bianca di Candia are often interplanted and mixed in the white wines of Lazio, most notably Frascati. Of the two, the former is considered the superior variety, identified by its piney, rich mouthfeel, while Malvasia Bianca di Candia is more neutral. Malvasia di Candia Aromatica is unrelated to Malvasia Bianca di Candia. Its wines are floral and spicy, with monovarietal examples found in a handful of Emilia-Romagna’s denominations.

Grechetto di Orvieto: Numerous Italian varieties incorporate some version of Greco into their names, a vestige of the Italian Peninsula’s affinity for Greek wines in the Middle Ages. Perhaps unsurprisingly, what is often discussed as Grechetto generally refers to two separate grapes: Grechetto di Orvieto and Grechetto di Todi. The latter is identical to Pignoletto.

In spite of its name, Grechetto di Orvieto is likely native to Umbria and shows some genetic ties to Trebbiano Toscano. The thick-skinned Grechetto di Orvieto shows good disease resistance, a benefit in the fog-dense regions where it is commonly grown. While its wines can be indistinctive, the best examples come from the tufaceous soils of Orvieto, where it is blended with Pignoletto and Trebbiano Toscano.

Pignoletto: Synonymous with both Grechetto di Todi and Rèbola, as it is sometimes called in Emilia-Romagna, Pignoletto, like Pinot Noir, derives its name from the pine cone shape of its clusters. A vigorous variety, Pignoletto is perceived as higher in quality than Grechetto di Orvieto and is planted in higher concentrations near the Todi and Colli Martani DOCs, though the two Grechettos are frequently blended in each of these and a number of Umbrian appellations. There are also significant plantings of Pignoletto in Emilia-Romagna, with successful examples found in the Colli Bolognesi Classico Pignoletto DOCG. Its expression varies widely between the two regions, in each case characterized by what Ian D’Agata describes as a chamomile character, though the wines from Umbria have a stronger thiol-driven grapefruit quality.

Vernaccia: The name Vernaccia is used for an abundance of grapes with seemingly no common genetic link as well as, confusingly, a selection of wines made from non-Vernaccia varieties. The term comes from the Latin word vernaculum (native), though some theorize it refers to the Ligurian town of Vernazza. Vernaccia di San Gimignano may have been brought south to Tuscany from Liguria, where a Vernaccia grape was known to be grown. Some scholars claim the variety is related to Spain’s Garnacha (Grenache), especially in light of Vernaccia’s synonym Granaccia. Yet despite the shared etymology, those assertions seem unfounded.

Vernaccia varieties are found in several pockets of Italy, including Sardinia, where Vernaccia di Oristano is vinified into a Sherry-like fortified wine. The two most important Vernaccias, however, are both cultivated in central Italy: Vernaccia di San Gimignano and Vernaccia Nera. The former is white and has its own DOCG, and the wines range from simple and crisp to richer, slightly oxidative styles aged in oak. Vernaccia Nera is red, as the name implies, and harvested primarily in the Marche. It is known for its flamboyant, violet quality.

Sagrantino: While Sagrantino is widely considered indigenous to Umbria, it remains debatable whether this is the grape Hirtiola, mentioned in ancient texts by Pliny the Elder and Martial, as some attest. Despite its superlative quality, Sagrantino neared extinction in the mid-20^th century, before its resuscitation by such producers as Arnaldo Caprai in Montefalco, an area that continues to hold nearly all of Sagrantino’s global plantings. Commercial success has led to an exponential increase in plantings, which surged fivefold in Montefalco in the 2010s to more than 600 hectares as of 2020.

Sagrantino is late ripening and demonstrates exceedingly high polyphenolic content. The variety is robust in both pigment and tannin, leading to wines that are impenetrable in their youth. Top examples are long lived and celebrated among Italy’s finest red wines. Before producing dry wines, Sagrantino was traditionally used for sweet, red dried-grape wines.

Lambrusco Grasparossa (Photo credit: Bryce Wiatrak)

Lambrusco: Lambrusco is not a single grape but, according to some counts, more than 60 varieties found throughout Italy. The best-known examples and the highest concentrations, however, are cultivated in Emilia-Romagna, where they are vinified into a range of sparkling red wines. Lambrusco varieties must not be mistaken for Vitis labrusca, a separate vine species native to North America, though the etymology is the same. Lambrusco translates to “wild grape,” and this series of varieties is said to be domesticated from wild vines. Accordingly, some Lambrusco varieties share characteristics with Vitis vinifera subsp. sativa, the subspecies for wild cultivars. Like wild vines, Lambrusco di Sorbara cannot self-pollinate. Though genetically hermaphroditic, its flowers display only female sex organs. To remedy its challenges with fruit set, the variety must be interplanted with a separate pollinator (often Lambrusco Salamino).

While a host of Lambrusco varieties have been identified, five are most important for quality and quantity. Lambrusco di Sorbara yields the lightest, most floral Lambrusco wines, while the thicker-skinned Lambrusco Grasparossa makes the most tannic and structured. Centered between the two is the most cultivated Lambrusco variety, Lambrusco Salamino, whose name refers to the salami shape of its bunches. These three are most associated with the province of Modena, while Lambrusco Marani is associated with Reggio Emilia and Lambrusco Maestri with Parma. Lambrusco Marani wines show both elevated tannin and acid, and Lambrusco Maestri wines are the most fruit driven and generous.

Tuscany

The birthplace of the Renaissance, as it is often called, Tuscany has born some of the most influential thinkers and artists in the Western canon, among them Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Dante Alighieri, Donatello, and Sandro Botticelli. Its regional capital, Florence, ranks among the world’s most visited cities, while Siena, Pisa, Arezzo, Lucca, and Livorno also attract tourists. Standard Italian is founded on the dialect spoken by Tuscans.

Tuscany (or Toscana) is also the historic home of Italy’s most planted grape, Sangiovese. The variety reaches its highest expressions here, evidenced in the wines Chianti Classico, Brunello di Montalcino, and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. Citing the region’s global market appeal and commercial aptitude, in their book Vino Italiano: The Regional Wines of Italy, Joseph Bastianich and David Lynch call Tuscany Italy’s Bordeaux. Indeed, Italy’s finest Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot wines are made in Tuscany. Yet Tuscany’s vinicultural diversity extends beyond Sangiovese and Bordeaux varieties, encompassing a host of whites, sweet wines, and other indigenous grapes across a landscape shaped by coastal plains, mountain slopes, and even islands.

Chianti and Chianti Classico

The precise origins of the Chianti region remain vague, with the name referring loosely to various points north of Siena and south of the Arno River in early maps. The land that today composes Chianti Classico was fought over in the late Middle Ages by the Republics of Florence and Siena. In 1716, Cosimo III de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, officially issued a bando, or “edict,” that drew the boundaries of the Chianti wine region, roughly corresponding to the modern Classico zone, as well as of Pomino, Carmignano, and Valdarno. Collectively, these four are considered the earliest examples of demarcated wine regions, predating those of the Douro and Tokaj by several decades.

The Fiasco Fiasco

Early in Chianti’s history, the fiasco was an indication of higher-quality wine. A 1611 edict banned the bottling of cheap wines in fiaschi, relegating those wines to the harder-to-clean barrels, where they would quickly oxidize. Only superior examples were bottled in glass fiaschi, identified as better storage vessels for aging. In the mid-19^th century, glassmaker Paolo Carrai invented a new fiasco that was molded rather than handblown, creating a sturdier glass. This allowed for mass production of the bottles, which were wrapped in straw reeds by fiascaie (flask dressers), who were often peasant women. Once a fiasco was filled, a layer of olive oil was poured into it to protect the wine beneath.

Although consumers internationally came to associate the squat, straw-basketed bottle with Chianti, its positive correlation with quality began to wane. In the 1870s, Bettino Ricasoli began to use Bordeaux-shaped bottles for his Castello di Brolio wines to distinguish them as superlative. Following World War II, the production costs for fiaschi increased, due to a diminished labor force of fiascaie. Nonetheless, fiaschi were generally reserved for lesser wines from broader Chianti, while Chianti Classico producers moved toward Bordeaux bottles. Today, a handful of producers, such as Monte Bernardi and I Fabbri, are capitalizing on the nostalgic appeal of the fiaschi, once again using them to bottle Chianti Classico.

Efforts to improve quality and increase exports were formalized through the inception in 1753 of the Accademia dei Georgofili, a scholarly body focused on agriculture. Winegrowers looked to French practices to improve wine stability in an effort to expand Chianti’s foreign markets. The contemporary “formula” for Chianti wine is attributed to Bettino Ricasoli, whose family has owned the Castello di Brolio, in Gaiole, since the 12^th century. Ricasoli, who later became prime minister of Italy, inverted the typical blend by vinifying Sangiovese as the dominant variety, using the then more popular Canaiolo instead as an accessory. For younger-drinking wines, he also suggested a small addition of the white grape Malvasia Bianca Lunga. His contributions, however, extended far beyond encépagement. Ricasoli toured Burgundy and Bordeaux and adopted several winemaking practices. He shortened post-fermentation maceration periods and switched from using open-top to sealed fermentation vessels. He also advocated for lower vine-training systems. Additionally, Ricasoli transitioned his wines, which garnered several awards in the 1870s, to Bordeaux-shaped bottles, preferring them to fiaschi, the squat-shaped, straw-wrapped bottles associated with Chianti since the Renaissance era.

Challenges with fraudulent Chianti wine are documented as early as the mid-18^th century. By the late 1800s, amid the phylloxera crisis, fraudulent Chianti was traded globally. Tuscan producers outside the Chianti region began to label wines as vino tipo di Chianti (wine of the Chianti type), and copycat wines were produced as far away as California, where the Italian Swiss Colony sold Tipo Chianti in fiasco. In 1924, an Italian law legalized the labeling of a wine type rather than a specific region, a blow to Chianti producers determined to protect their exclusive right to market their region of origin. In response, Chianti winegrowers organized the Consorzio per la difesa del vino tipico del Chianti e della sua marca di origine (Consortium for the Defense of Typical Wine of Chianti and of Its Mark of Origin), a forerunner of today’s Consorzio Vino Chianti Classico. These producers also began to use a black rooster, or gallo nero, on their bottles, which is a mandatory symbol for Chianti Classico today. Over the following years, Chianti producers continued to battle neighboring winegrowers and the Italian government. Ultimately, the vino tipo concept was abandoned, but, despite that success, the Chianti region was officially enlarged in 1932 to include seven subzones: Chianti Classico, Rùfina, Montalbano, Colli Fiorentini, Colli Senesi, Colli Aretini, and Colline Pisane. (A final subzone, Montespertoli, has been included since 1997.)

The Gallo Nero

The gallo nero, a sign of vigilance, has been the emblem of Radda from as early as the 1300s. The symbol appears on a young soldier’s shield in a 16^th-century work by Giorgio Vasari, who painted an allegorical depiction of Florentine Chianti. The black rooster was formalized in 1924 as the symbol of the Consorzio per la difesa del vino tipico del Chianti e della sua marca di origine, also known as the Consorzio del Gallo. While the name Chianti Classico struggled to gain early consumer recognition, the gallo nero became a more powerful and easily recognized marker of quality, so much so that by the 1970s, members of the Consorzio were required to pay a fee to feature the rooster on the necks of their bottles. In the early 1990s, the Consorzio faced a legal battle with the California wine megabrand E. & J. Gallo, which accused Chianti of trademark infringement. In defeat, the association changed its name to the Consorzio del Marchio Storico Chianti Classico in 1992. Since becoming a separate appellation, Chianti Classico continues to identify each bottle with a black rooster.

Producers in Chianti Classico, the subzone that most closely adheres to Chianti’s historic boundaries, spent the remainder of the 20^th century attempting to differentiate themselves from the broader Chianti both legally and on the market. In 1967, Chianti was granted DOC status, and its subzones were further codified into law. Chianti Classico producers traded their fiaschi, which were associated with cheap wine, for Bordeaux bottles, which were used for the majority of Chianti Classico wine by 1969. More troubling was that the Chianti regulations demanded that 10 to 30% of wines be composed of the white varieties Malvasia Bianca Lunga and Trebbiano Toscano, an addition that, many Chianti Classico producers argued, diluted the wines.

Inspired by the success of Sassicaia on the Tuscan Coast, which was labeled as Vino da Tavola, Chianti Classico producers began to declassify their wines in order to evade regulations. In 1971, Niccolò Antinori blended Cabernet Sauvignon into his Tignanello wine, defaulting to the Vino da Tavola label rather than Chianti Classico Riserva, as the wine was marked in former iterations. A series of Super Tuscans arrived in Chianti Classico, and while some were made from French varieties (the most important was Merlot), others were monovarietal Sangiovese wines, a style uncommon outside Montalcino. The first, in 1968, was San Felice’s Vigorello (which today is instead primarily a Cabernet Sauvignon–Merlot blend), followed in the subsequent decades by such icon Sangiovese wines as Isole e Olena’s Cepparello, Fontodi’s Flaccianello della Pieve, San Giusto a Rentennano’s Percarlo, Fèlsina’s Fontalloro, and Montevertine’s Le Pergole Torte. Despite changes in regulation, each of these wines continues to be bottled as IGT.

In 1984, Chianti was upgraded to become a DOCG. Relenting to mounting pressure from the success of the Super Tuscans, the new disciplinare allowed for up to 10% French varieties. Chianti Classico, however, formally separated from Chianti to form its own DOCG in 1996. Regulations were made more strict, with increased minimum alcohol levels, delayed release dates, and changes to varietal breakdown to allow for 100% Sangiovese wines and the addition of 15% French varieties, raised to 20% in 2000. In 2005, white grape varieties were prohibited entirely in Chianti Classico. Since 2010, it has been forbidden to produce Chianti within the bounds of Chianti Classico.

The noncontiguous Chianti DOCG covers a vast swath of the Tuscan landscape, much of which overlaps with several other DOC and DOCG regions. Chianti is divided into seven specified subzones: Rùfina, Montalbano, Colli Fiorentini, Colli Senesi, Colli Aretini, Colline Pisane, and Montespertoli. Colli and colline refer to the series of hills that define the Tuscan countryside, while Fiorentini, Senesi, Aretini, and Pisane refer to the Florence, Siena, Arezzo, and Pisa provinces, respectively. While Chianti is widely thought of as being cheaper and lower in quality than Chianti Classico, exceptions can be found. The most significant come from Rùfina, where vineyards are cultivated east of Florence in proximity to the Sieve River, a tributary of the Arno, between 200 and 500 meters in elevation and closer to the Apennines than the rest of Chianti. The Chianti Rùfina subzone intersects with the cold Pomino DOC, where Sangiovese is difficult to ripen and Pinot Nero, Merlot, Pinot Bianco, Chardonnay, and Sauvignon Blanc are favored. Chianti Rùfina wines are regarded for their elegance and longevity, and the producers Selvapiana and Frescobaldi are the subzone’s most recognizable. Chianti Colli Senesi, which encompasses both Montalcino and Montepulciano, also bottles some wines of note.

Chianti Classico stretches between Florence and Siena, drawing ample tourists from these two highly trafficked cities. The terrain is winding, with steep hillsides and verdant forests. The hills help blockade the region from some of the harsher eastern winds, while the southern end of the DOCG is flatter and more exposed. The dynamism of the landscape provides for the incredible diversity of Chianti Classico wines, creating a series of distinct mesoclimates with varying exposures, elevations, and slopes. Two important soil types are noted in Chianti Classico: galestro and alberese. Galestro consists of a friable schistic clay, while alberese is a harder marlstone analogous to limestone. A third soil, macigno, is a grayish-blue sandstone, and another, calcareous tufa, is found in the south. Top Chianti Classico vineyards will usually consist of some combination of galestro and alberese.

Chianti Classico in autumn (Photo credit: Bryce Wiatrak for “Vinous”)

There is a strong push from winegrowers in Chianti Classico to enact subzones. As of 2021, producers can label their Gran Selezione wines with a unità geografiche aggiuntive (UGA), or "additional geographical unit." The UGAs identify specific villages or communes, and 11 have been approved. This development paves the way for wider adoption. Chianti Classico is grown is eight communes: Greve in Chianti, Barberino Tavarnelle, and San Casciano Val di Pesa are located in the province of Florence, while Radda in Chianti, Gaiole in Chianti, Castellina in Chianti, Castelnuovo Berardenga, and Poggibonsi are found just south in the province of Siena. The subzones mirror these, though Barberino Tavarnelle and Poggibonsi are grouped together to form the subzone of San Donato. Additional subzones include the hamlets of Lamole, Montefioralle, Panzano, and Vagliagli.

The Chiantigiani often point to the specific character of Chianti Classico wines from different areas. Radda, for example, is home to the highest-elevation vineyards in Chianti Classico, at above 650 meters. Its wines are characterized by elegance, and, with the advent of climate change, vineyard land there has become increasingly desirable. Castellina, too, contains several high-elevation sites exceeding 500 meters, especially in its western sector. The area shows high concentrations of alberese and, overall, takes the shape of a sweeping amphitheater. In Chianti Classico’s northwestern corner, San Casciano Val di Pesa presents a north-south valley. Few icon wines are grown here, and examples are generally light and approachable. Quality is variable across San Donato, but one of Chianti Classico’s most pedigreed pockets is found in the area’s south, bordering Castellina, yielding powerful, deep expressions of Sangiovese. Greve features the noted hamlets of Lamole, Montefioralle, and Panzano. The latter has formed its own winegrowers association and is recognized for its Conca d’Oro, a galestro-rich, south-facing concave slope. Gaiole, like Greve, is heterogeneous in style and terroir. Wines grown in the Gaiole village of Monti are well renowned. Castelnuovo Berardenga lies furthest south. Generally warmer, Castelnuovo wines are recognized for their breadth and firm tannins. Some critics consider these wines to be a transition between Chianti Classico and Montalcino, though lighter examples are found in Castelnuovo’s western flank.

While Sangiovese has provided the core of Chianti and Chianti Classico since Ricasoli’s innovations, modern clones present important distinctions compared with those used prior to the late 20^th century. Historically, the most planted clones of Sangiovese, such as R10, R24, and F9, were favored for their high vigor and ability to produce large quantities of wine, rather than for their quality. These clones yield large berries and big bunches, resulting in somewhat anemic wines. In 1988, the Consorzio Vino Chianti Classico launched the Chianti Classico 2000 initiative, in search of superior clonal material that would provide thicker skins and smaller berries to increase the skin-to-juice ratio; produce looser clusters to minimize disease pressure; and ripen earlier. They commissioned 14 experimental vineyards under the guidance of the famous winemaker Carlo Ferrini and ultimately isolated seven new Sangiovese clones, widely used both in Chianti Classico and outside the region. Since the late 1990s, more than 60% of Chianti Classico vineyards have undergone replanting. The project also provided critical research into ideal rootstocks to reduce vigor while increasing sugar production, increased vine density (5,000 to 7,000 vines per hectare is now considered ideal), and vine training, with a move toward Guyot systems rather than the more historic bush vine, or alberello, training.

Chianti mandates a minimum 70% Sangiovese, while Chianti Classico requires 80%. Canaiolo remains an important complement to Sangiovese in Chianti and Chianti Classico wines. A midweight variety, Canaiolo enhances Sangiovese-based wines through greater finesse and precision. Canaiolo’s effect is opposite that of Bordeaux varieties, whose firmness and power can overwhelm Sangiovese. Malvasia Nera’s impact can be similar to Canaiolo's, but with heightened floral aromatics. A debate continues, however, over the exact identity of Malvasia Nera, as a handful of distinct varieties under that name are cultivated in Italy. (The one cultivated in Tuscany is likely Malvasia Nera di Brindisi.) As its name suggests, Colorino is often employed to add pigment to Chianti and Chianti Classico wines, darkening the otherwise light-red Sangiovese. Colorino is actually a group of anthocyanin-rich grapes, and its role is similar to that of Petit Verdot in Bordeaux. Ciliegiolo likely shares a parent-offspring relationship with Sangiovese, for which it has often been mistaken. Its name derives from the Italian word for cherry, an apt descriptor for this elegant, fruity variety. Mammolo, enjoyed for its aromatic intensity, refers to the Italian word for violet. More esoteric Italian varieties and, more prominently, Bordeaux varieties are also used in Chianti and Chianti Classico blends. Though entirely forbidden in Chianti Classico, white grapes may account for up to 10% of the blend in Chianti wines.

Maintaining the forward-thinking spirit that helped propel the Super Tuscan movement, many Chianti Classico producers continue to experiment in the cellar today. Wines produced in the most traditional style are fermented and aged in large Slavonian oak botti, though stainless steel fermenters and élevage in barriques are widely practiced as well. Several producers are experimenting with cement vessels as well as amphorae made of terra cotta, a material that has a long manufacturing history in the area. Conversely, in Chianti DOCG, producers are still permitted to use the governo technique, so long as Governo all’uso Toscano is noted on the label. In this centuries-old practice, partially dried grapes (or potentially fresh grapes or must) are added midway through fermentation, particularly if it is stuck. With the introduction of temperature control and modern enology, stuck fermentation is rarely an issue today, and the practice has been widely abandoned. Historically, governo winemaking would provide the wines with a unique raisiny richness and structure as well as a distinctive fizziness.

Both Chianti and Chianti Classico have instated quality pyramids, primarily determined by required aging prior to release, which is as follows:

In 2013, the Consorzio Vino Chianti Classico introduced a new highest designation, Gran Selezione, which took effect the following year retroactively for the 2010 vintage. In addition to undergoing a 30-month period of maturation, Gran Selezione wines must use fruit that is exclusively estate grown or acquired through long-term contracts, and harvested from a single vineyard or a selection of top parcels. As of 2021, they must contain at least 90% Sangiovese. The wines must also pass a tasting panel. While market reception has yet to fully embrace the Gran Selezione category, the hope is to allow producers to both take an initial step in communicating specificity of place and develop a portfolio of wines that can compete in price with Brunello di Montalcino and top IGT wines.

Chianti and Chianti Classico’s wine quality pyramids (Credit: Brandon Lee Wise)

Montalcino

Compared with Chianti and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, Brunello di Montalcino could be considered a recent chapter in Tuscany’s history of winegrowing. The commune of Montalcino earned early praise, documented since the late Renaissance, for its white Moscadello wines, both sparkling and sweet. Francesco Redi, in his 1685 work Bacco in Toscana, described Moscadello di Montalcino as “divine.” Brunello, whose name means “small dark one”—a reference to the Sangiovese berries—did not come to fruition until the mid-19^th century. Pharmacist and natural historian Clemente Santi is credited with inventing the category. Though he would win an honorable mention for Moscadello from his Il Greppo estate at the Exposition Universelle of 1867 in Paris, Santi began bottling experimental red wines as early as the 1850s. In 1854, at the Exhibition of Natural and Industrial Products of Tuscany, in Florence, he presented what was likely a wine blended exclusively from red grapes—uncustomary at the time for Tuscan winemaking, which, like that of Chianti, classically relied on the inclusion of white grapes. An astute agriculturalist, Santi pioneered several vineyard practices that made quality red winegrowing possible in Montalcino, such as delaying harvest to increase ripeness. His 1865 red wine, at this point labeled as “brunello,” won two silver medals at the 1869 agricultural fair in Montepulciano.

Slavonian Oak

While French oak dominates the fine-wine world, many top Italian producers, particularly those who are more classically minded, rely instead on Slavonian oak. Slavonia refers to a northern Balkan, or former Yugoslavian, region, divided between several modern countries but most associated with Croatia. Like France, Slavonia grows the species Quercus robur, with Slavonian examples being especially compact and tightly grained. Producers will often claim that Slavonian oak is gentler and imparts less flavor than French oak. Such an effect, however, also results from the larger size of Slavonian vessels. Rather than being fashioned into 225-liter barriques, Slavonian oak botti generally hold over 500 liters, if not well over 1,000. The lower ratio of wine-to-wood contact helps reduce the signature of oak, as does the reuse of botti, often for decades, rather than the replacement of a large percentage each year. Slavonian botti are typical in a number of Italian regions, with long traditions of use for Barolo, Barbaresco, Brunello di Montalcino, and Amarone della Valpolicella, among many others.

Clemente was succeeded by his grandson Ferruccio Biondi Santi, who further modernized Montalcino’s wine industry in the face of oidium and phylloxera and isolated the Sangiovese Grosso biotype. Biondi Santi dedicated himself to producing red wines with long aging potential, bottling his “riserva” wines after several years of maturation in botti. He set aside bottles of the outstanding 1888 and 1891 vintages, a handful of which remain in the Biondi Santi cellar. Futher, it was Ferruccio’s work that solidified monovarietal Sangiovese, an unprecedented approach, as a defining characteristic of Brunello wines.

By the dawn of the 20^th century, only a few producers were bottling Brunello, and the ravages of World War I further stunted Montalcino’s nascent industry. Though surviving producers, such as Fattoria dei Barbi, Fattoria di Argiano, and Fattoria di Sant’Angelo in Colle (now divided into Il Poggione and Col d’Orcia), had joined by the 1930s, production remained small through the mid-century, despite a strong reputation for quality. Brunello di Montalcino was granted early DOC status in 1966, elevated to Italy’s first DOCG in 1980; its regulations have changed minimally since they were drafted. In 1967, Montalcino producers banded together to form their Consorzio for the promotion of the region’s wines. Several went on to hire Giulio Gambelli as a consulting winemaker, and his palate for Sangiovese has permanently shaped winemaking not only in Montalcino but also throughout Tuscany.

In the 1980s, Montalcino began a dynamic period of vineyard expansion. In 1967, there were only 12 producers of Brunello, a number that rose to 74 in 1987, and 208 in 2008. Similarly, planted hectarage grew tenfold between 1968 and 1988, from 80 to 875. The founding of Villa Banfi (now Castello Banfi) in 1978 by American-Italian brothers John and Harry Mariani brought additional attention to the appellation and increased demand for its wines, serving as only one example of large-scale investment in Montalcino. In the late 20^th century, a series of winemaking culture wars began throughout Italy—the arrival of many Super Tuscans and, in Piedmont, the traditional and modern divide in Barolo and Barbaresco—and Montalcino similarly split into camps of producers, some maintaining more established methods of Brunello vinification, and others leveraging practices to yield more opulent wines that would appeal to international audiences. Often, such wineries turned to smaller maturation vessels, commonly made from new French oak, and sought exaggerated ripeness and extraction.

At the turn of the millennium, many wine critics had taken note of increasingly darker-colored Brunello wines—suspicious for wines that should be entirely Sangiovese. It was unsurprising to some when scandal erupted in 2008, after several of Montalcino’s largest producers came under investigation for the potential inclusion of other grape varieties in their 2003 wines. Rumors spread about tanks of Nero d’Avola and bulk Spanish wine entering the region by night. The press termed the scandal Brunellogate or Brunellopoli. On top of meticulous government oversight and the forced declassification of more than one million liters of Brunello and Rosso wine, the circumstances temporarily damaged Montalcino’s reputation in many of its international markets. Some producers surmise that Brunellogate actually encouraged many of their colleagues to retreat to more restrained and traditional practices. Today, Brunello di Montalcino remains Italy’s most expensive wine, as of 2019 costing €1,085 per hectoliter in bulk, compared with €665 for Barolo and €272.50 for Chianti Classico.

Various wood fermentation and maturation vessels (Credit: Brandon Lee Wise)

Approximately 3,500 hectares of Montalcino are planted to vineyards, or 15% of the commune. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, Montalcino has reached its maximum allotted vineyard hectarage. Montalcino winegrowers must obtain rights to vinify Brunello or Rosso wines, the total of which have also been doled out by the Consorzio. A new producer wishing to bottle Brunello would need to purchase both the land and rights from another winery, which would then forfeit its production of Brunello.

Montalcino is a single commune, with the town of the same name sitting on a hill near the square-shaped appellation’s center. The landscape gently undulates, more open and less forested than Chianti Classico, as well as warmer and more exposed to the moderating effects of the Mediterranean Sea. While many producers doubt that subzones will ever be formalized, as many as eight have been proposed to the Consorzio. In general, the side north of the Montalcino hill, whose town reaches above 550 meters in elevation, is susceptible to frost and has proven more challenging for viticulture. Some producers, however, anticipating the effects of climate change, have recently shown greater enthusiasm for northern vineyards. Wines grown nearer to Montalcino itself, in the DOCG’s oldest soils, are praised for their elegance, while wines from the warm, southern end of the appellation can achieve the most ripeness and power.

Brunello is famously taught to be harvested from Sangiovese Grosso, a larger-berried, thick-skinned set of Sangiovese biotypes. Such clones—for example the B-BS11, isolated at Biondi Santi—have historically provided the backbone for Brunello wines. However, the disciplinare authorizes all Sangiovese clones, and contemporary Montalcino vineyards make use of an assortment of them, including the CCL 2000 suite. By law, Brunello di Montalcino, as well as Rosso di Montalcino, must be composed entirely of Sangiovese.

Montalcino lays claim to mandating the longest minimum maturation periods of any dry, nonfortified wine in the world, including such famously long-aged wines as Rioja Gran Reserva. The requirements are as follows:

Producers working in the most traditional style will age their wines in large Slavonian-oak botti, but those taking a contemporary approach might choose French, often new, barriques. While Riserva wines are undoubtedly more expensive than their Annata (annata meaning “year” and referencing basic Brunello di Montalcino) counterparts, some criticize the category of being overly oxidative and not necessarily higher in quality than regular Brunello. Several winegrowers have become increasingly conscientious of oxidation for both Brunello and Riserva wines, taking measures to improve longevity, such as harvesting earlier to preserve acidity and practicing more reductive handling throughout vinification.

A separate DOC exists for Rosso di Montalcino, which provides producers an opportunity to bottle younger Sangiovese wines. Wines can be released as early as September 1 of the year following harvest, allowing for a more vibrant, fresher wine intended for earlier consumption. Many producers will relegate their youngest or lowest-performing vines to their Rosso programs, but others are more stalwart in pursuing a distinctive character for quality Rosso wines. While Rosso is considered the entry-level wine in a Montalcino winery’s portfolio, the volume of Rosso production is actually lower than that of Brunello. Approximately 4.5 million bottles of Rosso di Montalcino are bottled annually, compared with 8 million bottles of Brunello and 1 million of Riserva.

Montalcino’s wine quality pyramid (Credit: Brandon Lee Wise)

In addition to Rosso and Brunello, Montalcino also forms a portion of Chianti Colli Senesi, while two separate DOCs, Moscadello di Montalcino and Sant’Antimo, follow the same boundaries as Brunello. Moscadello di Montalcino offers the present-day incarnation of the wine that brought Montalcino its initial renown, before being supplanted by Sangiovese. Moscadello is vinified from a clone of Moscato Bianco (Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains), believed to be autochthonous to the area, though some continue to debate if what is grown today is the same as what was cultivated in the 19^th century. Although the historic Moscadello di Montalcino wines were sparkling, today’s Moscadello wines can also be late harvest (or often made using appassimento techniques) as well as still. Only Il Poggione currently makes a sparkling Moscadello, produced using the Charmat method. Production of Moscadello di Montalcino remains small, and Biondi Santi, whose Moscadellos were once prized, harvested its final vintage in 1969.

Sant’Antimo was created in 1996 as a reaction to the success of Super Tuscan wines. It takes its name from the Benedictine monastery in the southern end of the appellation. Sant’Antimo offers much looser regulations than Brunello di Montalcino, allowing, most consequentially, the inclusion of French grape varieties. The DOC has achieved little market recognition, and hectarage deeded to Sant’Antimo dwindled from 900 to 450 between 2008 and 2011 alone. Producers who wish to make more internationally styled wines from French varieties are more likely to label them as Toscana IGT, seeking to harness the greater brand power of Tuscany.

Montepulciano

As the name of its top wine, Vino Nobile, suggests, Montepulciano has a winegrowing history that is illustrious as well as ancient. In his History of Rome, Livy cites Gallic interest in the Etruscan settlement that is today Montepulciano. Eight centuries later, in 789 CE, documentation specifies vineyards in the area, while a source dating back to 1350 details the trade and export of Montepulciano wine. Precisely when the town’s wine was granted the epithet Vino Nobile is unspecified, but in the 16^th century, Sante Lancerio, wine steward to Pope Paul III, wrote of the Roman bishop’s favor toward Montepulciano. In 1685, Francesco Redi, in his Bacchus in Tuscany, further dubbed Montepulciano’s output the “the king of all wines.”

Montepulciano’s wine quality pyramid (Credit: Brandon Lee Wise)

Despite admiration for Montepulciano’s wines during medieval and Renaissance times, by the early 20^th century, the area’s brand recognition had faded, and its reputation suffered in the shadows of Chianti and Montalcino. In the 1920s, wineries such as Fanetti pushed to modernize Montepulciano’s industry, but the ensuing decades were dominated by cooperative winemaking, with most local production dedicated to Chianti rather than Vino Nobile. It was not until the 1980s, with the efforts of such producers as Avignonesi and Poliziano—names that continue to lead the appellation—that a revival of Vino Nobile began. Investment followed from major Italian names, including Ruffino and Antinori, while a series of quality-driven small producers harvested their first vintages around the same time. Planted hectarage dedicated to Vino Nobile has more than doubled, from 615 hectares in 1980 to 1,300 hectares in 2013. Vino Nobile di Montepulciano was granted early DOC status in 1966 and elevated to DOCG in 1980.

Like Montalcino, Montepulciano occupies a single commune of the same name in the province of Siena. It lies just northeast of Montalcino, near Tuscany’s border with Umbria. The production zone is noncontiguous, with the Val di Chiana separating the largest vineyard area and the town of Montepulciano from a smaller eastern sector. The DOCG reaches its highest elevations, above 500 meters, toward its western extreme, though plantings are most concentrated near the center of the denomination. The temperature in Montepulciano is slightly lower than it is in Montalcino, and there is less of a maritime influence, though the commune does receive higher rainfall.

Montepulciano also fits within the boundaries of the Chianti Colli Senesi subzone, and its wine quality ladder is structured similarly to that of Montalcino. The youngest wines are bottled as Rosso di Montepulciano, itself a separate DOC. Aging requirements in Montepulciano are as follows:

Rosso, Vino Nobile, and Riserva each demand a minimum 70% Sangiovese, given the local moniker Prugnolo Gentile. As in Chianti and Chianti Classico, authorized Tuscan grapes account for the remainder. Although white varieties, such as Malvasia Bianca Lunga and Trebbiano Toscano, are permitted for up to 5% of a blend, quality producers will rarely include them. (White varieties do, however, have a dominant role in Montepulciano’s revered vin santo wines.) While often disregarded as the more rustic sibling to Chianti Classico and Brunello, top Vino Nobile merits consideration among the finest expressions of Sangiovese. Stylistically, Vino Nobile is often riper and less acidic than Chianti Classico, and a bit more angular than Brunello di Montalcino, especially in blended wines, but less oxidative.

Vin Santo

In addition to their red wines, Chianti, Chianti Classico, and Montepulciano, as well as Carmignano, all have separate DOCs for vin santo. Furthermore, vin santo is mentioned as a permitted wine style within a great deal of other Tuscan and Italian denominations. With the potential exception of Marsala, vin santo is Italy’s most famous dessert wine. Its origins lie in the Middle Ages with the flood of passito-style wines on the Italian Peninsula that followed the technique’s rediscovery during the Crusades. The etymology of vin santo has been cause for debate. Translated from Italian, it means “holy wine,” a potential reference to the wine’s role during Communion. It is more likely, however, that the name derives from Vino Santorini, a reference to the Greek vinsanto, crafted using similar methods.

Tuscan vin santo spent centuries outside commercial production. Sharecroppers were traditionally allowed to produce a small amount of vin santo each vintage, which they would store in the attics of their homes in an estate’s outbuildings. Vin santo was poured at special occasions or as a gesture to welcome guests. It was not until the latter half of the 20^th century that Tuscan wineries bottled any meaningful amount of vin santo for sale. In 2006, production of Vin Santo del Chianti Classico almost doubled, as a result of white grapes being banned from the Chianti Classico blend. While many of those white vines have inevitably been uprooted or grafted over to Sangiovese, some producers have seized the opportunity as a means to bolster their vin santo program.

Tuscan vin santo is most traditionally a blend of Trebbiano Toscano and Malvasia Bianca Lunga. Whereas Trebbiano is more acidic, Malvasia provides richness to the vin santo blend, as well as aromatic complexity. Sangiovese, which might also be blended into some vin santo wines, is the predominant grape in Occhio di Pernice, which means “eye of the partridge,” a reference to the reddish hue of this rare subcategory.

Following harvest, clusters are left to desiccate in a drying room, or appassitoio. Typically, these rooms are on the upper story or in the attic of an outbuilding, with open windows on opposite walls to maximize ventilation. As with a Sherry bodega, the terroir of the appossitoio and the character of the extended drying season are said to contribute to the expression of any given vin santo. While indoors, grapes remain vulnerable to rot during the post-harvest period. Winemakers have various options for the specific mechanism used to dry the grapes. For top-quality vin santo production, the most common tactic is either hanging garlands of the clusters vertically or laying them on bamboo shelves. Hypothetically, stringing the bunches is preferential, as it allows for 360 degrees of exposure. Bamboo shelves, however, avoid the toll of gravity on the bunches and permit some aeration from beneath through the spacing of the reeds.

The duration of drying is a key indicator of vin santo style. While minimum requirements vary based on the appellation—Vin Santo di Montepulciano, for example, necessitates that clusters remain in the appassitoio until December 1 for standard vin santo, and January 1 for Riserva and Occhio di Pernice—some producers will exceed regulations by several months, leaving the grapes to dry until as late as early spring. Heavily shriveled by this time, the grapes are traditionally pressed using small basket presses.

The must is then transferred into caratelli, small barrels historically 50 liters in size. The type of wood varies broadly and can include acacia, cherry, peach, mulberry, or mixed-stave barrels, but the most traditional is chestnut. Juniper has been widely abandoned due to the astringency it can impart on the wines. Wineries take pride in the age of their caratelli, which can be nearly 100 years old. As these vessels deteriorate, they are often replaced by oak barrels. The preferred cooperage for caratelli is Renzi Francesco, better known for the manufacture of similar barrels used for Modena balsamic vinegar.

In another parallel to balsamic production, each caratello holds a madre (mother). This sludgy mass of yeast and old wine is employed to induce fermentation and remains at the bottom of the caratello between fills. Some wineries can trace the origins of their madre back several generations. Once filled with the new must, caratelli are traditionally sealed with wax for the duration of the vin santo’s maturation. Winemaking then remains almost entirely hands off until bottling, and vin santo producers will cite dramatic differences in character between adjacent caratelli, as well as high evaporation, enhancing the category’s oxidative profile. The duration spent in wood will vary based on producer and appellation requirements. Vin Santo di Montepulciano demands three years of wood maturation, increased to five for Riserva and six for Occhio di Pernice. Many producers will far exceed the minimums presented by their denominations.

Vin santo production (Credit: Brandon Lee Wise)

Vin santo can demonstrate a tremendous degree of diversity. Wines that undergo a longer period of drying and maturation will show more richness and viscosity, while vin santi that are made according to the minimum requirements taste fresher. Volatile acidity is often high, and the wines will display oxidative, sometimes Sherry-like characters. Occhio di pernice wines might appear a couple shades darker than white vin santi and will express nuanced herbaceous, tobacco-like flavors. Sweetness levels vary widely, from relatively dry examples to those that can easily exceed 250 grams per liter of residual sugar. Vin santo is traditionally enjoyed with cantucci, small biscotti-like cookies that can be dunked into the wine.

San Gimignano

Just west of Chianti Classico, the township of San Gimignano, whose medieval skyline is recognized for its gravity-defying tower houses, and its surroundings are home to Tuscany’s most famous white wine: Vernaccia di San Gimignano DOCG. A staple in the royal courts of Europe during the Middle Ages, San Gimignano’s historic liqueur-like wine has purportedly included such illustrious fans as Dante, Giovanni Boccaccio, and Franco Sacchetti (though the occasionally nebulous documentation of simply Vernaccia obscures the precise wines they exalted). Vernaccia’s cultivation in the vicinity is well documented from the 13^th century through the late Renaissance, with vineyards planted at most of the noble estates and the variety reaching its peak of popularity in the 1600s. The following two centuries, however, brought a period of decline, as consumers were drawn toward new, foreign beverages, such as coffee, tea, and other options for alcohol. Revival first began in the 1930s, when agricultural professor Carlo Fregola sought to repopulate the area with Vernaccia, though his efforts were halted with the onset of World War II. Vernaccia di San Gimignano was awarded Italy’s first DOC in 1966, elevated to DOCG in 1993.

San Gimignano’s vineyards are planted between 200 and 400 meters in elevation, on a series of hills. Soils consist mostly of sandy-clay yellow tuff, loose in structure and with high drainage. As mentioned, the variety Vernaccia di San Gimignano is unrelated to the other grapes with Vernaccia in their names, and today it is made into a dry wine, in contrast to its historical use in sweet wine production. It must account for a minimum of 85% of the DOCG blend, with the remainder coming from nonaromatic accessory varieties. Vernaccia di San Gimignano is typically a somewhat neutral wine, with orchard fruit flavors and a subtly bitter marzipan character. Critics have long decried the wine as less interesting than the town that grows it, but fine examples can be found, with higher quality consistently achieved within the past several years. Vernaccia di San Gimignano can exhibit a semioxidative quality, more prominent in the Riserva wines that often spend time in oak. Vernaccia shows an affinity for wood, taking well to a fuller body and nuanced barrel flavors, though heavy-handed use of oak can dull many Vernaccia wines. San Gimignano DOC allows for Sangiovese-based red and rosato wines as well as vin santo.

Bolgheri and Maremma

While many of Tuscany’s regions have millennia of winegrowing history, the coastal area has found viticultural prominence only since the second half of the 20^th century. Bolgheri and the broader Maremma have expanded rapidly within the past handful of decades, marrying Tuscany’s rich wine heritage with a New World ethos.

The notion of producing fine wine, and in particular from Bordeaux varieties, on the Tuscan Coast is attributed most importantly to Marchese Mario Incisa della Rocchetta. Upon marrying Marchesa Clarice della Gherardesca, a member of the Tuscan nobility, the Piemontese Mario Incisa moved to Tenuta San Guido, a 3,000-hectacre property owned by his wife’s family and included in her dowry. A Bordeaux enthusiast, he planted his first Cabernet Sauvignon vines on the property in 1944, after noting a gravelly soil structure similar to that of Bordeaux’s Left Bank. Though he began as a hobbyist, Mario Incisa harvested his first commercial vintage of Sassicaia, meaning “place of many stones,” in 1968. In the 1970s, winemaker Giacomo Tachis, who already worked further inland for Gherardesca’s cousins, the Antinoris, was hired and introduced the permanent Sassicaia blend, which includes approximately 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, with Cabernet Franc accounting for the balance.

Sassicaia’s profound critical and commercial success quickly drew a slew of distinguished neighbors, including Meletti Cavallari in 1977 with Grattamacco, a Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Sangiovese blend; Lodovico Antinori, whose Cabernet-focused Ornellaia saw its first vintage in 1985, followed by his Merlot, Masseto; Piero Antinori, who heads the Antinori portfolio, with Guado al Tasso, first harvested in 1990; and Barbaresco icon Angelo Gaja, who purchased his Ca’ Marcanda property in 1996. In those same years, smaller ventures, such as Le Macchiole and Tua Rita, also produced their inaugural vintages. The earliest of these wines, eventually dubbed Super Tuscans, were labeled as Vino da Tavola, as they were cultivated outside any established DOC region. But the labeling seemed contradictory to both the quality and price of the wines. Bolgheri subsequently achieved DOC status in 1984. Bolgheri Sassicaia, which encompasses a portion of Tenuta San Guido, was named an official Bolgheri subzone in 1994 and elevated to its own monopole DOC in 2013.

Bolgheri sits in the Livorno province, within the commune of Castagneto Carducci. Overall planting is still relatively low, with a total of 1,370 hectares under vine. The DOC is backdropped by craggy slopes, foothills of the Colline Metallifere, that run from the towns of Bibbona to Donoratico and barricade the landscape from harsh winter winds directed from the interior. While many prestige vineyards are planted on these high-elevation sites—the original Sassicaia vineyard, for example, is highest at 400 meters—others are on the sandy plains, which separate the mountains from the Mediterranean. The sea provides moderating breezes that help slow ripening, as do the Cecina and Cornia Rivers, to the north and south of the appellation, respectively. The water reflects sunlight, contributing to Bolgheri’s intense luminosity.

Bolgheri’s geology is heterogeneous. Tenuta San Guido holds ancient marine deposits of rounded stones and is rich in limestone. Masseto, by contrast, is famously cultivated in blue clay, which, despite its high holding capacity, releases water slowly, according to winemaker Axel Heinz. Portions of Bolgheri contain more volcanic material, and the flatter lands have a sandier structure and often reddish hue. On average, vineyards are planted at approximately 7,000 vines per hectare but can reach as high as 10,000, as is common in Bordeaux.

Cabernet Sauvignon remains Bolgheri’s most cultivated variety, covering 37% of the vineyard area. It is followed by Merlot at 23% and Cabernet Franc at 12%, as well as Syrah, Petit Verdot, and Sangiovese in smaller quantities. Among whites, Vermentino is given the most hectarage, and some producers also champion Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier, and Chardonnay. Monovarietal Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Merlot are permitted, though Sangiovese and Syrah cannot contribute more than 50% of a red blend. White Bolgheri wines can be blended from multiple varieties: Vermentino, Sauvignon Blanc, and, Viognier from 0-100%, with an allowable 40% of other white-grape varieties suitable for cultivation in Tuscany. Given these restrictions, among others, several IGT wines continue to be bottled within Bolgheri’s boundaries. A Bolgheri Superiore category also exists for wines aged two years prior to release, with at least one year in oak.

The state-of-the-art cellar at Masseto (Photo credit: Bryce Wiatrak)

Winemaking in Bolgheri adheres to what many consider a more international style, not only due to the preeminence of French varieties, but also the use of meticulous new technologies. Vinification is often very precise, with high investment in expensive equipment, such as optical sorters, customized fermentation vessels, and new barriques. Stylistically, the wines might be considered a midway point between the classicism of Bordeaux and the opulence of Napa Valley.

Val di Cornia DOC and Suvereto DOCG form a natural extension of Bolgheri to the south. Suvereto occupies the higher ground, and producers here may bottle varietally labeled Sangiovese, Cabernet Franc, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot—which is considered especially successful. Suvereto was a subzone of Val di Cornia until its upgrade in 2011. In that same year, Val di Cornia was given its own separate DOCG, Rosso della Val di Cornia. The region follows the path of the Cornia River and has seen recent activity as winegrowers are regularly priced out of Bolgheri. The DOCG is specific to reds based on Sangiovese (a minimum 40%), while the DOC allows for a number of styles.

The rest of the southern Tuscan Coast, including the small island of Giglio, is occupied by Maremma DOC. While the appellation lies in the Grosseto province, the Maremma refers to a larger stretch of land, running along the shorelines of Tuscany and Lazio. Historically, the Maremma was swampland—malaria prone and unsuitable to viticulture—until Mussolini ordered its drainage in the 1930s. Covering a large area, Maremma DOC has varied geography and geology, ranging from flatter, clay-dominant coastal areas, to the Volsini mountain range and its surrounding tufacious soils, to Mount Amiata, a lava dome further inland.

Almost every wine style imaginable is vinified in the Maremma. While early efforts focused on native Italian grapes, such as Ansonica, Canaiolo, Sangiovese, Aleatico, and Ciliegiolo, the area shifted to include more French varieties in the 1990s. Both continue to be made, with Vermentino in particular a source of exciting wines recently. (Vermentino also finds success north of the Maremma, in such DOCs as San Torpè, Candia dei Colli Apuani, and Colli di Luni, as the Tuscan Coast approaches Liguria, a classic region for the variety.) But Maremma DOC largely operates as a catchall denomination, and several additional DOC/Gs are carved from within its boundaries. Monteregio di Massa Marittima fills much of the Maremma’s northern sector near the Colline Metallifere. Moving southeast, Montecucco DOC and Montecucco Sangiovese DOCG surround the western edges of Montalcino, and several important wineries from the neighboring appellation have invested in Montecucco to produce more affordable Sangiovese wines. The DOCG is devoted exclusively to the variety, with Sangiovese providing a minimum 90% of the blend. The DOC is more forgiving, lowering the required portion of Sangiovese to 60% and permitting white wines from Trebbiano Toscano, Vermentino, and other varieties. Like Montalcino, Montecucco extends across a series of gentle hills, but, in the shadow of Mount Amiata, it contains minimal calcareous soil.

The southern Maremma is dominated by Morellino di Scansano DOCG. The area is similarly focused on Sangiovese—or Morellino, as the variety is known locally—which must compose a minimum 85% of the blend. Believed to date back to the Etruscans, the tradition of viticulture here is older than it is in many other places in the Maremma. Planted mainly on hillsides up to 450 meters in elevation, Morellino di Scansano is barricaded from cold northern winds. Its soils transition from predominately sandstone in the west, where the wines are fuller, to more clay-limestone content toward the east, where the wines are more structured and elegant. A Riserva category requires additional aging, including at least one year in oak. Perhaps the most famous wine from the area, however, is Fattoria Le Pupille’s Saffredi, an IGT blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. White wines based on Trebbiano Toscano are made in the overlapping Bianco di Pitigliano DOC, which extends to the Lazio border, encompassing the Sovana DOC, where Sangiovese, Aleatico, Ciliegiolo, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon are the focus. To the west, on the small Argentario Peninsula and the island of Giglio, the Ansonica Costa dell’Argentario DOC is dedicated to Ansonica (also known as Inzolia in Sicily). Ansonica offers white wines of diminished acidity, fuller body, ripe yellow orchard fruit flavors, and, in some examples, tannic grip.

Other Regions

A few additional appellations of note are scattered across Tuscany. On the opposite side of Florence, northwest of Chianti Classico, is the small, low-lying Carmignano DOCG. Carmignano shares with Chianti several centuries’ worth of documented praise for its red wines, its boundaries also formalized by Cosimo III de’ Medici in his 1716 edict. Once a part of Chianti Montalbano, Carmignano earned separate DOC status in 1975 (and DOCG in 1990), largely because of the efforts of Ugo Contini Bonacossi of Capezzana, who planted his vineyard partly to Cabernet Sauvignon cuttings from Château Lafite-Rothschild. Carmignano has a long history with Cabernet Sauvignon, with the first vines purportedly arriving in the 16^th century at the behest of Catherine de’ Medici, who served as queen of France. The DOCG requires that Cabernet, either Sauvignon or Franc, account for 10 to 20% of any wine. Sangiovese, however, must contribute a minimum of 50%. The wines must be aged for at least 8 months in oak or chestnut, while Riserva wines require 12 months as well as additional time prior to release. Younger wines are released under the corresponding Barco Reale di Carmignano DOC.

East of Montepulciano, Cortona DOC is peculiar in its focus on Syrah. The Rhône variety fills a miminum 50% of Cortona blends simply labeled Rosso, joined by at least 10 to 20% Merlot. While Syrah’s history in Cortona might begin in the early 20^th century, when the Count of Montecarlo di Lucca supposedly brought vine material back from France, contemporary interest resulted from a study by Professor Attilio Scienza and the University of Milan in the 1970s. Scienza planted an experimental vineyard, including a number of Syrah clones, inspired by the climatic similarities between the Cortona area and the Rhône Valley. Syrah accounts for 80% of Cortona’s production, though varietally labeled examples of Chardonnay, Grechetto, Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Sangiovese are also allowed.

Vineyard on the coast of Elba (Photo credit: Adobe Stock)

Cortona is bounded on most sides by Valdichiana DOC, which occupies the Chiana Valley south of Arezzo. First established in 1972 as Bianco Vergine Valdichiana, it became Valdichiana in 2011, when the disciplinare was updated to include red wines, requiring a minimum of 50% Sangiovese. To the north, the Val d’Arno di Sopra DOC (also Valdarno di Sopra) was established in 2011, despite the fact that Cosimo III de’Medici had also declared its boundaries. Val d’Arno di Sopra’s wines are harvested near the banks of the Arno River and the surrounding area. While many still, sparkling, and sweet styles of every shade are permitted, attention is given to French varieties. Petrolo’s Galatrona, a Merlot, is one of the area’s most recognizable wines.

Off the coast and near Bolgheri, the island of Elba bottles some of Tuscany’s most distinctive wines. The Elba DOC covers the entire island, as does Elba Aleatico Passito DOCG, established for its sweet, red, dried-grape wine. Elba’s long history of winegrowing in iron-rich soils is documented by Pliny the Elder. The island’s advocates have included Cosimo III de’ Medici and Napoleon Bonaparte, who became familiar with Elba’s wines during his banishment there. Though once an important contributor to Elba’s economy, viticulture has declined in the past century because of the encroachment of property development and tourism as well as the exodus of critical laborers to the mainland. Yet grapegrowing persists, with most vineyards today dedicated to white varieties. Some notable Ansonica is made, while Trebbiano Toscano, Vermentino, and Moscato may also lead white blends; red wines under Elba DOC contain a minimum 60% Sangiovese. Elba produces some of the finest expressions of Aleatico, a grape believed native to Tuscany. For Elba Aleatico Passito DOCG, producers choose whether to dry the Aleatico bunches in the sun or shade, some opting for the latter to maintain freshness. In either case, drying must continue for a minimum of 10 days. The wine ferments on the skins before aging in either stainless steel or wooden vessels. The resulting wines show fine, dusty tannins and boisterous flavors of dried black fruits, exotic spices, and potpourri.

Umbria

The landlocked region of Umbria is located in the Apennines between Tuscany, Lazio, and the Marche. Cutting through the center of the region, the River Tiber flows past the Umbrian capital Perugia, then travels south to Rome. Before Roman absorption, the area was inhabited by the Umbri people; later, it was remembered as the birthplace of Saint Francis, founder of the Franciscan order, in Assisi. Umbria carries a rich agricultural heritage—recognized for its olive oil, saffron, and cereal grains—though widespread commercial winegrowing didn’t take hold until the latter half of the 20^th century. The majority of Umbrian wine is still bottled as Orvieto, but its reds, most notably Sagrantino, continue to garner praise.

Orvieto

Archaeological evidence of ancient Etruscan winemaking suggests a long history of viticulture in Orvieto DOC. The appellation takes its name from the fortified hilltop town at its center, visited for its magnificent 14^th-century cathedral, whose completion was supposedly largely paid for with revenue earned by the local wine industry. For most of its existence, Orvieto has been made as a sweet wine, though a transition toward drier styles is noted from the 1800s. The boundaries of Orvieto were first delimited in 1931, but for much of the 20^th century, the region was known for its innocuous wines, which were often transported in bulk across the border to Tuscany for bottling. In more recent decades, the quality of this Italian white has improved, especially through more stringent viticultural efforts, codified in 1997 with the introduction of the Orvieto Superiore category.

The hilltop town of Orvieto (Photo credit: Adobe Stock)

Orvieto is nestled into the southwestern edge of Umbria, with a small portion bleeding into Lazio. The best wines come mostly from the Orvieto Classico subzone, surrounding the town, though it encompasses roughly half of the entire DOC. Tufa soils, similar to those found in Vouvray, cover the region, and the Classico subzone has a particularly high tufaceous concentration. The dammed Lago di Corbara is found near Orvieto’s eastern extreme, where fog encourages the development of noble rot, beneficial to the few remaining sweet wines made there. (The Lago di Corbara DOC crosses into Orvieto and allows for white, red, and passito styles from both native and international varieties.)

Grechetto di Orvieto and Grechetto di Todi (Pignoletto) are two discrete varieties, and both are usually blended for the wines of Orvieto. Together with Trebbiano Procanico, a superior biotype of Trebbiano Toscano, these grapes constitute a minimum 60% of the cuvée. The balance can come from Verdello, Drupeggio, or other local cultivars, in addition to certain international varieties, whose role has fortunately decreased in recent times. Orvieto is often a charming yet simple wine, with notes of lemon blossoms and white flowers, designed for early drinking. Better examples deliver more complexity, with a chalkier texture and the ability to mature for a few years. Rosso Orvietano, a separate DOC, allows for red wines from various Italian and French varieties.

Montefalco, Torgiano, and Other Regions

Despite Orvieto’s prominence, the most celebrated wines of Umbria hail from the Montefalco region, home to the Sagrantino variety, in the province of Perugia. The Sagrantino di Montefalco appellation was upgraded to DOCG status in 1992 and has attracted sizable investment from leading Italian firms outside Umbria. Winegrowing is documented in the area for at least a millennium, but for much of Montefalco’s history, production was focused on sweet passito wines, which, while rarer, are still bottled today. Beginning in the 1970s, producer Arnaldo Caprai pioneered a transition toward dry wines as well as a series of vineyard advancements, such as a shift toward Guyot training, to create wines in a more contemporary style.

The boundaries of Montefalco Sagrantino DOCG follow the fluvial deposits formed by the Bastardo Basin some two million years ago. Backdropped by the Martani mountain range, a subset of the Apennines, Montefalco has a combination of fluvial and alluvial clay soils with high calcareous content. The region spans five communes: Montefalco, Bevagna, Gualdo Cattaneo, Castel Ritaldi, and Giano dell’Umbria. Montefalco and Bevagna yield the most serious wines. Examples from the hilltop township of Montefalco are more stoic, while Bevagna’s are more floral and elegant. Winters here are cold, though summers mild, and Sagrantino seems to perform best with elevated rainfall.

Due to Sagrantino’s aggressive polyphenolic content, tannin management is a primary concern during vinification. The appassimento process helps break down tannin, which not only assists in the profile of Sagrantino’s passito wines but also encourages some winemakers to include a percentage of dehydrated clusters in their dry wines. However, even with considerable cellar age, Sagrantino maintains its tannic intensity. Subtly fragrant, and at times showing ripe black fruit flavors, Sagrantino is distinguished by an intense piney herbaceousness that can polarize consumers.

Within the same borders, Montefalco DOC allows for more accessible, though still commendable, red wines, which are based on Sangiovese and include a minimum 10 to 25% Sagrantino. Montefalco’s white wines are made primarily from the two Grechettos, as are those of the nested Todi and Colli Martani DOCs (both of which also permit reds), whereas the small, overlapping Spoleto DOC promotes the little-known variety Trebbiano Spoletino, distinct from Trebbiano Toscano. Trebbiano Spoletino can yield a wide range of expressions, from lighter, more tart bottlings to examples with elevated alcohol and floral aromatics.

Though less fashionable today, Torgiano, including both the diminutive Torgiano DOC and Torgiano Rosso Riserva DOCG, was heralded as Umbria’s quintessential red wine until it was surpassed by Montefalco Sagrantino in the late 20^th century. In 1968, Torgiano became one of the earliest DOC regions. A DOCG for dry reds, Torgiano Rosso Riserva, was established in 1990. For decades, it was dominated by the Lungarotti family, which was eager to demonstrate Sangiovese’s potential outside Tuscany in its benchmark wine, Rubesco. The DOCG mandates a minimum of 70% Sangiovese, while the DOC is much more flexible, allowing for sweet, sparking, red, white, and rosato wines, including varietally labeled Chardonnay, Riesling, Pinot Grigio, Pinot Nero, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon. Similar to Montefalco, Torgiano has mainly clay-sand fluvial soils.

Emilia-Romagna

Considered the breadbasket of Italy, Emilia-Romagna has a distinguished food culture that includes such globally revered products as Prosciutto di Parma, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and Modena balsamic vinegar. Food lovers pilgrimage to the cities of Reggio Emilia and Modena, the latter housing chef Massimo Bottura’s famed Osteria Francescana, which topped the list of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants in both 2016 and 2018. Bottura is credited with reimagining the convergence of traditional Italian cooking with molecular gastronomy.

An acetaia in Reggio Emilia (Photo credit: Bryce Wiatrak)

Emilia-Romagna’s contributions to Italy extend well beyond cuisine. The University of Bologna, in the regional capital, is the world’s oldest university, founded in 1088. Luxury automobile manufacturers Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati, and Ducati are all headquartered in Emilia-Romagna, and the region is the birthplace of such defining musicians as Giuseppe Verdi, Arturo Toscanini, and Luciano Pavarotti.

Emilia-Romagna has never been greatly lauded for its wines. The Po River informs the northern border for a long stretch of the pendant-shaped region, which extends nearly the width of the Italian Peninsula. As a result, the upper portions of Emilia-Romagna, those in the Po River basin, are flatter and more fertile than typical Italian wine country—good for food crops but less so for viticulture. Emilia-Romagna, however, has made important strides in wine quality in the last several decades and remains the third largest region of wine production by volume. In the historic Romagna portion, to the southeastern corner of Emilia-Romagna, the quality of Sangiovese wines continues to improve, while the focus in Emilia is on sparkling wine, most famously the red Lambrusco. The natural-wine movement, with leaders such as La Stoppa, has also gained traction in Emilia-Romagna, reflected by the growth of metodo ancestrale wines as well as experimentation with French varieties.

Traditional Balsamic Vinegar

Although several exciting wines are being made today in Emilia-Romagna, the region’s most globally celebrated grape-derived product is traditional balsamic vinegar (TBV), or aceto balsamico tradizionale. TBV should not be confused with the less expensive Balsamic Vinegar of Modena and is designated as its own DOP. These complex vinegars are made from cooked must, typically derived from Trebbiano Toscano. The must is fermented, converted to vinegar by ambient acetic acid bacteria, and aged in a series of small barrels, similar to the caratelli used for vin santo production. A barrel set typically comprises five to seven vessels of decreasing size, each constructed from a different wood, such as oak, juniper, cherry, mulberry, chestnut, and acacia. The aging program, known as rincalzo, is similar to that of a Sherry solera. The vinegars are moved through a system of fractional blending, wherein vinegar is drawn for bottling from the smallest cask, freshly cooked must is added to the largest cask, and vinegar is successively transferred to those in between. The vinegars gain complexity and viscosity as they age and evaporate, and the bottled products must complete a minimum maturation period of 12 years on average. In Emilia-Romagna acetaie, it is traditional for families to dedicate a new barrel set whenever a baby is born.

Lambrusco

Lambrusco is neither a single grape nor a region. Instead, it can be thought of as a style of sparkling red wine that defines the image of Emilia. Regrettably, the category continues to elicit negative connotations among many wine consumers, largely due to Riunite, a brand of cloying red fizz, dominating American supermarket shelves in the late 20^th century. The cooperative winery, which advertised that its Lambrusco should be served on ice, was the top-selling import in the United States for much of the 1970s and ’80s, selling 11.5 million cases in the US in 1985, a record still unbroken. Yet an abundance of quality Lambrusco wines is made today, demonstrating the diversity of red sparkling wine.

Each Lambrusco cultivar finds greater concentration in specific DOCs. Several Emilia appellations allow for Lambrusco styles, including, from west to east, Colli di Parma DOC, Colli di Scandiano e di Canossa DOC, Reggiano DOC, and Modena DOC. The most famous wines, however, are from the varietally named DOCs of Lambrusco di Sorbara, Lambrusco Grasparossa di Castelvetro, and Lambrusco Salamino di Santa Croce, all near the city of Modena. Lambrusco Grasparossa di Castelvetro has the most challenging terroir. Hillier than the other appellations, with clay soils that have large limestone deposits, the land is difficult to farm, and, accordingly, some argue that it yields the finest Lambrusco wines. They are the most structured, dark, and tannic. Lambrusco di Sorbara DOC, by contrast, rests between the Secchia and Panaro Rivers, its vineyards planted atop a flatter, sandy floodplain. The lightest in both color and flavor, wines from Lambrusco di Sorbara offer finesse and brightness. The Lambrusco di Sorbara DOC mandates only a minimum of 60% of the variety Lambrusco di Sorbara because of its unique morphological challenges, with Lambrusco Salamino typically comprising the rest of the blend. Lambrusco Salamino di Santa Croce DOC is in the north of the Modena province. Its soils are similarly defined by flood patterns, and the region is mostly flat. Lambrusco Salamino wines might be considered a midpoint between Lambrusco di Sorbara and Grasparossa, though the variety is typically used for sweeter styles.

Mechanical harvesting is regularly practiced in the Lambrusco appellations. Lambrusco wines are generally produced using the Charmat method (some producers will also bottle historically minded metodo ancestrale Lambrusco wines), and both frizzante and spumante versions are made, though the former is more common. Depending on pressure, bottles will be sealed with either a standard or a mushroom cork. Lambrusco wines can be made red or rosato, as well as secco or asciutto (dry), semi-secco or abboccato (off-dry), amabile (gently sweet), or dolce (sweet). The wines are usually nonvintage, and, like producers of Prosecco, winemakers here will often perform multiple fermentations over the course of the year, so that the Lambrusco available on the market is as fresh as possible. Unfermented must is chilled in tank until a new batch is needed.

The harvest in Lambrusco Grasparossa di Castelvetro (Photo credit: Bryce Wiatrak)

Other Regions

Beyond Lambrusco, the Emilia half of Emilia-Romagna continues to excel with sparkling wine production. The Ortrugo dei Colli Piacentini DOC—itself within the larger and more flexible Colli Piacentini DOC, which spans a series of four valleys—spotlights the local white grape of the same name. While Ortrugo had historically served as a blending variety for Malvasia Bianca di Candia, Luigi Mossi began to experiment with varietal wines beginning in the 1970s. Both still and sparkling Ortrugo wines are bottled, in either case a crisp, somewhat restrained white wine. Sparkling versions resemble a stonier Prosecco. The small Gutturnio DOC approximately overlaps Ortrugo dei Colli Piacentini and is designated for still and sparkling wines produced from Barbera and Croatina (Bonarda).

Pignoletto offers an expression of the variety in central Emilia-Romagna that differs from that of Grechetto di Todi in Umbria. The Pignoletto DOC offers sparkling, still, and sweet styles, while Colli Bolognesi Classico Pignoletto DOCG focuses exclusively on dry white wines. (The larger Colli Bolognesi DOC includes a wider range of red and white wines from numerous grapes.) The wines are gently floral, with lemon, fresh apple, and white tea qualities. Another native white, Montù, is grown nearby in Reno DOC. The variety produces both sparkling and still wines that are high in acid, with floral and citrus notes.

Romagna, stretching east of Emilia to the Adriatic, is home to Italy’s first DOCG for white wine, Romagna Albana, awarded in 1987. An old variety with a long history of cultivation in Emilia-Romagna, Albana has been proven to share a parent-offspring dynamic with Garganega. Its morphological variability, however, suggests the possibility of multiple varieties sharing the name Albana. The finest examples are said to come from the clay-limestone soils in the township of Bertinoro, whose name translates to “drunk in gold.” According to legend, in the fifth century CE, the daughter of Emperor Theodosius was so enamored with the local wines that she suggested they be consumed in a golden vessel. Regardless of its level of sweetness, Albana can produce weighty, honeyed, and, in some examples, tannic white wines, in addition to simpler expressions. Many claim the variety reaches its highest expression as a dessert wine, either passito or botrytized, as several pockets of Romagna allow for the development of noble rot.

Additional white wines are made in the larger Romagna DOC, including those from the local varieties Pagadebit (or Bombino Bianco) and Trebbiano Romagnolo, a common grape distinct from, and considered more interesting than, Trebbiano Toscano, with which it is often interplanted. Terrano, here called Cagnina, offers Lambrusco-like off-dry sparkling red wines. Romagna’s most significant red wines, however, are made from Sangiovese. Though long thought of as either anemic or, by contrast, overly oaked, and altogether unremarkable when compared with its Tuscan counterparts, Romagna Sangiovese has made recent strides in public opinion. The Convito di Romagna bands together eight like-minded producers, who impose stricter quality standards for themselves and their wines. The region has two predominant soils: the looser, limestone marls found at higher elevations yield more structured, savory Sangiovese wines, while the clay soils at lower sites provide fruitier examples. Romagna producers often compare their clones of Sangiovese to the historic Sangiovese Grosso biotypes of Montalcino. Several other appellations are carved from Romagna DOC, including, from west to east, Colli d’Imola DOC, Colli di Faenza DOC, Colli Romagna Centrale DOC, and Colli di Rimini DOC. The wines of Colli di Faenza in particular have gained attention, as have Sangiovese wines from old-vine material in the township of Predappio. Though interpretations vary widely, the best Romagna Sangiovese wines are a few shades richer than the typical Tuscan bottling.

North of Romagna DOC, the Bosco Eliceo DOC borders the Adriatic, marked by old oak forest, as its name indicates, and a series of brackish estuaries of the Po River. This is home to Fortana, a red variety that behaves similarly to the Lambrusco family and is usually planted without grafting. Fortana wines, both still and sparkling, elicit a bright red berry character and spice.

The Marche

Marche, or Le Marche in Italian, refers to the March of Ancona, a medieval borderland that separated the Papal States from the northern city-states. Today, the Marche (or, simply, Marche) remains a transitional region between north-central Italy and the south that was once included in the Kingdom of Naples. But while the Marche shares the variety Montepulciano with the adjacent Abruzzo, its wines are otherwise quite distinct from those of its neighbors, including a selection of peculiar red wines as well as many of Italy’s finest whites, made from Verdicchio.

Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi and Verdicchio di Matelica

While the variety is authorized for a number of appellations in the Marche, Verdicchio reaches its apex of expression in the DOCG regions Castelli di Jesi Verdicchio Riserva and Verdicchio di Matelica Riserva and their corresponding DOCs. Some producers might use the DOC label to avoid certain aging requirements, and the DOC regions Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi and Verdicchio di Matelica are generally used for younger wines as well as sparkling and passito styles. Castelli di Jesi is the larger of the two, located in north-central Marche, just outside the town of Jesi, best known as the birthplace of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II in 1194. The majority of the DOCG, which covers 3,000 hectares, is cultivated on a series of hills on the banks of the Esino River. Elevations stretch between 100 and 700 meters, though most vineyards sit toward the lower end of this range. Nested between and moderated by both the Adriatic Sea and the Apennines, Castelli di Jesi has a relatively warm climate, despite its susceptibility to spring frost.

Matelica is found southwest and further inland, with one-tenth of Castelli di Jesi’s hectarage. Wines are grown in the Alta Vallesina, a high valley with a rare north-south orientation, protected from the maritime influence experienced by Castelli di Jesi. Vineyards rest at an average 350 meters but reach as high as 720. Much of the vinescape is harvested from steep inclines, with complex, limestone-based soils. Verdicchio di Matelica wines typically show higher alcohol, higher acid, and more structure, as well as a distinct “mineral” quality, while Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi is softer and more fragrant. More subtle Verdicchio wines can be found, but overall quality in these two regions is high and among the best for Italian white wine regions. The finest examples from each demonstrate a capacity to age. More recently, some Marche producers have begun to experiment with metodo ancestrale Verdicchio wines as well as amphora aging.

Other Regions

In the Marche’s southeastern corner, Offida DOCG authorizes varietally labeled examples of Pecorino and Passerina, two native white grapes. The latter, which has gained popularity within the last decade, was first championed in Offida in the 1980s by Guido Cocci Grifoni, who is still regarded as the foremost interpreter of the variety. Pecorino wines are noted for their high acidity, matched by a generous body and, as the wines age, a certain dairy quality—fitting for the variety’s name. Varietal Pecorino—as well as white blends with Passerina and Trebbiano Toscano—is also made in Falerio DOC, which sits atop the Marche’s southern border. Passerina produces wines that are more chiseled and citrusy, and it can be made into sparkling and passito wines in the Terre di Offida DOC, which follows the same boundaries. The Offida region is on a gentle plateau, moderated by the Adriatic Sea, and grows warmer closer to the coast. Offida has predominately clay soils, which are well suited to Pecorino.

Offida DOCG also includes red wines, for which a minimum of 85% Montepulciano is mandated. The appellation is surrounded by the larger Rosso Piceno DOC, which spans the southeastern quadrant of the Marche, and whose Superiore subzone is similarly confined within Offida. Rosso Piceno also cultivates Montepulciano as well as Sangiovese, with the best examples from the nested Cònero DOCG, which surrounds the city of Ancona on the coast. These mountain vineyards have whitish limestone-heavy soils, yielding Montepulciano wines that are more tannic and austere than those grown further south in Abruzzo. Cònero Riserva wines require longer aging than those from Rosso Cònero, and while historically these wines have been criticized for the heavy-handed application of new oak, producers have recently sought more restrained examples.

Coastal village in the northern Marche (Photo credit: Adobe Stock)

North of Cònero and overlapping with Castelli di Jesi, Lacrima di Morro d’Alba DOC authorizes a variety that neared extinction in the last century. Several wines throughout Italy bear similar names, but here Lacrima, which means “tear,” likely refers to the variety’s droplet-shaped berries. The commune of Morro d’Alba should not be confused with Alba in Piedmont. Noted for their exuberant fragrance, Lacrima wines are commonly made using the governo method, long abandoned in other Italian fine-wine regions.

Further inland near Matelica, Vernaccia Nera is the primary grape in both Serrapetrona DOC and Vernaccia di Serrapetrona DOCG. The former produces dry red wines, noted for their aromatic lift. The DOCG yields an idiosyncratic red sparkling wine, which, unlike Lambrusco, is fermented from partially dried grapes (a minimum 40% of clusters) and undergoes secondary fermentation in bottle rather than tank. The resulting wines are robust and singular—best known as a sweet, dessert style, though dry examples can be found. Vernaccia Nera must not be mistaken for Vernaccia Rossa, which is a form of Aleatico cultivated in the tiny Pergola DOC. In addition to the DOC/G wines mentioned, it is not unusual for Marche winegrowers to bottle IGT wines made from French grape varieties, with Cabernet Franc and Merlot receiving the most attention.

Lazio

South of Tuscany and Umbria, along the Tyrrhenian Sea, Lazio, which contains the national capital of Rome, is also known as Latium, its Latin name. Despite this nod to antiquity, today’s Lazio is much larger in size than the historic region, crossing into land that would have been inhabited by the Etruscans. As a result, beyond the Eternal City, rural Lazio is somewhat culturally indistinct. Much of Lazio’s wine is sold in Roman restaurants and enjoyed locally. The wines that do reach a wider audience are generally the white Malvasia blends of Frascati, while the most important reds are made from Cesanese.

The hills of Rome as seen from the Vittoriano monument (Photo credit: Bryce Wiatrak)

Lazio is best recognized for its whites, with 26 of its 30 DOC/G appellations permitting white wine production. In most circumstances, these white blends call for some combination of Malvasia del Lazio (also called Malvasia Puntinata), Malvasia Bianca di Candia, Trebbiano Toscano, and Trebbiano Giallo, a separate variety with a longer history of cultivation in Lazio. In the north of the region, just west of the portion of Orvieto that spills across Lazio’s border, Est! Est!! Est!!! di Montefiascone garners greater attention for its exclamatory name than it does for the quality of its wines. According to legend, a medieval German bishop traveling to Rome sent an emissary in advance to scout out the taverns serving the best wine. He marked the doors of the qualifying establishments with the Latin word est, “it is,” and was purportedly so captivated with the wines of Montefiascone that he scrawled Est! Est!! Est!!! on its local inn.

More impressive today are the whites coming from further south. The catchall Roma DOC, with important marketing cachet, outlines a large swath of central Lazio surrounding the capital, while the smaller enclave of Castelli Romani DOC is found just outside the city, subdivided further into a series of tiny appellations. The best wines come from Frascati, which corresponds to three denominations with identical boundaries: Frascati Superiore DOCG, Cannellino di Frascati DOCG, and Frascati DOC. Grounded in the two Malvasias, Frascati Superiore wines may include up to 30% Bellone, a rare but promising grape variety that plays a more dominant role in the nearby Cori DOC. Frascati wines are marked by their ripe orchard fruit and herb flavors and tactile breadth. Malvasia del Lazio is also well suited to botrytized styles, and Cannellino di Frascati is reserved exclusively for late-harvest wines. Sparkling wines are permitted under Frascati DOC. Quality whites are also bottled next door in Marino DOC as well as Zagarolo DOC.

While some admirable wines are made from international varieties (the Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot wines of the winery Falesco, for example), the most distinctive reds in Lazio are made from Cesanese. In a cluster of appellations southeast of Rome, and within Roma DOC, what are believed to be two distinct varieties are cultivated: Cesanese Comune and Cesanese di Affile. The smaller-berried Cesanese di Affile is considered more complex but is less widespread because of its finicky behavior in the vineyard and preference for high-elevation sites. Cesanese Comune is more prevalent in the lower plains of Cesanese di Olevano DOC, while there is a greater concentration of Cesanese di Affile in the higher, more rugged Cesanese di Affile DOC and Cesanese del Piglio DOCG, the only DOCG in Lazio for red wine. Cesanese wines are characterized by ripe berry flavors, nuanced with notes of spice and red flowers, and a diminished tannin structure. Each of the three Cesanese appellations offers a Superiore or Riserva category, or both, which require longer aging prior to release.

Bibliography

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“Brunello is the most expensive wine (1,085 euros per hectoliter), followed by Amarone and Barolo.” Wine News. January 13, 2020. https://winenews.it/en/brunello-is-the-most-expensive-wine-1085-euros-per-hectolitre-followed-by-amarone-and-barolo_407613.

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Compiled by Bryce Wiatrak (December 2020)

Edited by Sandra Ban

Tags: Preview

Italy Part I: Introduction to Italy

Jonathan Eichholz — Mon, 30 Mar 2026 14:33:51 GMT

Current Revision posted to Expert Guides by Jonathan Eichholz on 3/30/2026 2:33:51 PM

History of Italy
Land and Climate
Italian Wine Law
The Grapes of Italy
Bibliography

For a student of wine, Italy presents arguably the most dizzying abundance of native grape varieties, appellations, and wine styles of any nation. While the country’s unmatched diversity might induce confusion, the study of its wines is among the most rewarding of subjects. The world’s highest volume of wine is produced in Italy, and vineyards are cultivated in each of its 20 regions. The country is perhaps best known for its red wines, with collectors regularly gravitating toward Super Tuscans and the three B’s: Barolo, Barbaresco, and Brunello di Montalcino. Yet, importantly, its palette also includes the best-selling sparkling wine worldwide by volume, Prosecco; the most established regions for sparkling reds; a series of overlooked, ageworthy whites; fortified wines that, like Madeira, once also endured long sea voyages; and the most extensive tradition of dried-grape wines found anywhere.

The boot’s contributions to the wine industry are not new. Ancient Rome vinified some of the most prized delicacies of the classical world, its soldiers helped spread the vine across the Mediterranean basin and beyond, and its scholars provided the most significant primary accounts of early wine. Italy’s influence continues today, as its winegrowers harness the potential of the country’s indigenous grapes with renewed energy and continue to balance their dignified traditions with a spirit of innovation captured in their finest bottles.

History of Italy

Ancient History

Much of the discussion about ancient winegrowing on the Italian Peninsula centers on the Romans, but viticulture is known to have begun long before Rome’s founding, traditionally—though tenuously—dated to 753 BCE. The precise origins of Italian viticulture remain unclear, especially in light of the discovery in 2017 of wine residue on ceramic storage vessels found in a cave at Monte Kronio, in southwestern Sicily. Analysis places these prehistoric wines in the Copper Age, roughly 5,000 to 6,000 years ago, far earlier than the date that had long been proposed for Italy’s first wines, and included with the most ancient evidence of winemaking, following that of Georgia and potentially China.

This sector of the Sicilian coastline as well as parts of southern Italy would later fall under the control of what the Romans called Magna Graecia (Great Greece). The Greeks also gave their Italian territories the epithet Oenotria (Land of Wine). Although viticulture existed prior to this time, most recently by the Phoenicians (traders whose territory corresponded approximately to modern Lebanon), the Greeks were widely responsible for this initial boom in Italian wine culture in the first millennium BCE. Under their rule, the vine was firmly established throughout Sicily, notably near Mount Etna, and crossed the Tyrrhenian Sea to the mainland. The Murgentina grape, which thrived in Sicily’s volcanic soils, grew in similar terroir near Pompeii, on Mount Vesuvius.

Further north, the Etruscans, focused generally in what is today Tuscany, also came into contact with the Phoenicians. Under Phoenician influence, the Etruscans likely transitioned from mixed alcoholic beverages, fermented from a variety of fruits and grains, similar to Celtic grog, toward wine, while also modeling their amphorae on Phoenician examples. Beyond local consumption, the Etruscans traded their wines with the Celts in southern France and planted vineyards there. Although the Celts were a predominately beer-drinking society, their interaction with Etruscan wine was substantial. The discovery of a shipwreck south of Provence revealed piles of Etruscan amphorae that would have contained around 40,000 liters of wine.

While it is difficult to separate legend from history in Rome’s early centuries, Roman antiquity is divided into three phases: the regal period, beginning in 753 BCE with Rome’s likely mythic founder and first king, Romulus; the Roman Republic, starting in 509 BCE, under which Rome was ruled by two annually elected consuls; and the Roman Empire, which lasted from the ascension of Emperor Augustus in 27 BCE, just 17 years after the assassination of Julius Caesar, until the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, in 476 CE. For the first several hundred years, Rome’s boundaries were largely confined to the city itself and small neighboring areas with which it fought or made agreements. Rome’s great era of expansion did not commence until midway through the Roman Republic, in the third century BCE. By the end of the Second Punic War, with the defeat of Hannibal and the Carthaginians, Rome included almost all of the Italian Peninsula and much of the French and Spanish coastline. At the height of its territorial reach, in 117 CE, Rome incorporated the entire Mediterranean basin as well as such disparate lands as today’s England, southern Germany, the whole of Iberia, and much of the Black and Red Seas.

The Romans’ documentation of viticulture is some of the most robust and illuminating that remains from the classical world. Cato devotes considerable prose to winegrowing in his agricultural treatise De agri cultura (Concerning the Cultivation of the Land), as did Columella, who followed in the first century BCE with De re rustica (On Agriculture). Palladius and Varro notably penned volumes of the same name and of similar importance. Collectively, these works demonstrate Rome’s many improvements in the vineyard, including some understanding of such advanced topics as yield restrictions and grafting. Perhaps the most cited Roman authority on wine, however, is Pliny the Elder. Natural History, his surviving work from the first century CE, is written in 37 books, with Books 14 and 17 dedicated to wine and viticulture. In addition to sharing technical observations, Pliny ranks the best wines of the Roman Empire and describes the relationship between soil and wine quality. He writes that although winegrowing was widespread earlier, superior Roman wines were not vinified until the second century BCE, noting Opimius’s consulship in 121 BCE as a particularly heralded vintage.

The Romans understood the critical role of place in determining winegrowing potential. The most celebrated wines of Rome were concentrated around what is today Lazio and Campania, with the wines from the Colli Albani immediately outside Rome earning particularly high praise. The most prized ancient wine was Falernian (Falernum in Latin), believed to come from the south-facing slopes of Monte Massico, north of Naples. Falernian was further classified into three quality levels. The best wines, Faustianum, came from the midslope, followed by Caucinum, grown on the hilltops, and last, general Falernum, harvested near the base. Altogether, the system was not unlike what is still used to separate grand cru, premier cru, and village Burgundy. Beyond Falernian, a number of other Roman wines were also esteemed, including Caecuban, a white grown near southern Lazio’s Lago di Fondi; Surrentine, or Surrentinum, an acidic white from the Sorrento Peninsula; Vesbius, or Vesuvinum, from the volcanic soils of Mount Vesuvius; Mamertinum, a Sicilian delicacy favored by Julius Caesar; and Pucinum, an early success for northern Italy in today’s Friuli. Growers of these wines practiced diverse viticultural techniques. In some vineyards, for example, the vines were trellised, while in others they were trained to climb up tree trunks.

Ancient Roman amphorae preserved in modern-day Campania (Photo credit: Adobe Stock)

Generally, the finest wines of ancient Rome were sweet, fermented from grapes that were dried—a practice learned from the Greeks—on mats outdoors, on the vine through delayed harvest, or by twisting the stems to accelerate desiccation. Dry examples of Falernian and other top wines, however, were also made. Still, in many essential ways, these ancient wines differed from contemporary passito wines. Additives such as tree resins (not unlike that used for Greek Retsina), gypsum, pitch, ashes, herbs, and honey were commonplace, as was seawater, all of which Cato suggests for hiding flaws in and helping preserve more ordinary wines. The best wines were those demonstrating some capacity to age. They were often matured in amphorae with considerable headspace to encourage oxidative, rancio-like character, an amber hue, and, ultimately, longevity. Such wines were generally reserved for Rome’s elite. Soldiers, plebeians, and slaves also enjoyed wine, though the wines they typically consumed were more dilute and sour. Some would come from the second or third pressings, or pomace mixed with water, referred to today as piquette.

Rome’s influence on the development of wine reached far beyond the confines of the Italian Peninsula. As the Romans conquered more territory, they increased the range of viticulture, tending to vineyards from the British Isles to Belgium to Northern Africa, with some areas, of course, showing greater potential than others. Efforts were made to curtail the production of wine outside Italy, such as Emperor Domitian’s 92 CE edict ordering the destruction of certain vineyards elsewhere in the Roman Empire (primarily to encourage the planting of cereal grains during a time of famine), but the law was difficult to enforce. In places that already held winegrowing traditions, the Romans brought various improvements through their exacting practices. Rome also introduced vinifera to such classic regions as Germany’s Mosel Valley and, most significantly, proliferated the vine throughout Gaul in the early part of the first millennium. Accordingly, many of France’s wine regions, including Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne, and the Rhône Valley, either originate with the Romans or were transformed by their contributions. While wine was widely traded by ship in amphorae across the Mediterranean, Rome’s inland reaches prompted a transition toward barrels. This new wooden vessel proved easier to maneuver, especially for transporting wines traded by land, and could carry more liquid. Barrels were considered a poorer choice for maturation—their porousness accelerated oxidation—but this was of little concern if the wines were destined to satiate the masses or to be used as military rations.

In addition to its use as a source of pleasure and calories, wine in ancient Rome was also a religious rite, tied to the worship of Bacchus, the Roman equivalent of Dionysus, the Greek god of wine, fertility, theater, and music. Festivals honoring Bacchus, namely Bacchanalia, were among Rome’s rowdiest, combining sexual activity and animal sacrifice with copious wine drinking—so much so that Bacchanalia was banned by the Roman Senate in 186 BCE. The role of wine in religion took on new meaning in the Common Era, as it came to signify the blood of Christ. Emperor Constantine converted from paganism and transitioned Christianity to become the dominant religion of the Roman Empire in the fourth century CE, moving the capital from Rome to Constantinople. Though wholly different from its role during the Roman Republic, wine’s new religious prominence as part of the Eucharist would reinstate the vitality of viticulture across the Roman Empire, through its fall and for centuries thereafter, even as the church distinguished sacramental wine from widespread, ordinary wine.

Late Antiquity, Middle Ages, and the Renaissance

By the fifth century CE, the expanse of the Roman Empire grew difficult to manage and increasingly susceptible to invaders. Upon his death, in 395 CE, Emperor Theodosius I divided his territory in half and bequeathed the realms to his sons. Honorius came to rule the Western Roman Empire, while Arcadius took the Eastern Roman, or Byzantine, Empire, centered at Constantinople. The Western Roman Empire, however, soon reached its demise, first with the sack of Rome by the Visigoths in 410 and ultimately with the coronation of the Ostrogoth Odoacer as the first king of Italy in 476, overthrowing the last emperor, Romulus Augustulus. What followed over the centuries were frequent shifts in territorial leadership across Italy, resulting in a fragmented series of duchies, kingdoms, and city-states across the landscape. For much of the late first millennium, northern Italy was held by the Lombards, before the Frankish Charlemagne captured Rome and the north for the Carolingian Empire and became the first Holy Roman Emperor. Soon after, Sicily and the south sustained attacks from the east during the early Muslim conquests. As in much of Spain, Arab influence can still be felt in southern Italy.

Less is understood about the wines of the early Middle Ages. Though winegrowing across Italy did not cease with Rome’s fall, the great wines of the ancient world vanished, as did the important trade routes critical to the fine-wine industry. As production dwindled, wine became a more local commodity for several centuries, especially as the mountainous terrain rendered inter-Italian trade challenging and impractical. What was made is thought to have been weak, dry, and intended for immediate consumption. Some insight is provided by Petrus de Crescentiis in his 14^th-century work Liber ruralium commodorum (Book of Rural Benefits), in which he discusses the differences between wines of his time and those described by Pliny and Columella. He notes the necessity of topping off in barrel to avoid acetification and explains how to rack.

Passito Wines

Of any country, Italy has the most widespread and diverse sweet winemaking tradition. While botrytized, late-harvest, and fortified wines are all produced here, Italy is most associated with its dried-grape wines. Often referred to as vini da meditazione, or “meditation wines” due to their contemplative powers and ability to be enjoyed alone, Italy’s dried-grape wines are made in all 20 regions, from nearly every grape imaginable, and permitted in more than 25% of DOC/Gs. They are also called passito wines, made through the appassimento process of grape drying, though may be identified by other names as well, such as vin santo or recioto. The drying process varies by region; in southern Italy, where disease pressure is lower, it is generally performed outside over several weeks, while in northern Italy, where autumn rain is a greater threat, drying takes place indoors over the course of several months. Some dried-grape wines, such as Amarone della Valpolicella and Sforzato di Valtellina, are also fermented dry or nearly dry. Unfortunately, because of a dwindling global market for sweet wine and the high cost of making them, many dried-grape wines risk extinction.

The Crusades, beginning in the late 11^th century, held two primary objectives: to protect Byzantium from Islamic invaders and to reunite western Europe with the Eastern Roman Empire. What Crusaders found in the eastern Mediterranean was a surviving practice of dried-grape winemaking, akin to those of ancient Rome. Such sweet wines were plentiful in Crete, which fell to the control of the Republic of Venice in 1212, and could also be found in Cyprus (Commandaria) and elsewhere in the Levant. The rival port cities of Venice and Genoa imported these wines into Italy and encouraged imitations to be produced domestically. During the 13^th and 14^th centuries, dried-grape winemaking was renewed throughout the Italian Peninsula, and the wines once again earned a place among the most sought after in the world. Referred to as romneys, they were particularly cherished as a rare window into the great wines of ancient Rome and the traditions thought to have been lost. Their production further solidified Italian dominance in the re-emerging wine routes, as it was not viable to ferment similar wines in the rainy, cold autumn climates of northern Europe. Various Italian Vernaccias and Malvasias crossed the Alps to wealthy consumers in the north, creating a network that served as a forerunner to the modern wine trade. The Catholic Reconquista of Spain from Moorish rule, however, ended this period for Italian wine, as Spanish sack, essentially a diluted dried-grape wine, offered a cheaper alternative for England and the northern markets.

The decline of the romneys, however, coincided with the rise of a region that would later define the image of Italian wine worldwide: Chianti. As a wine, Chianti is first mentioned in text in 1398, and various documents from the following century note the region’s quality. In his analysis of Dante’s Divine Comedy, for example, Cristoforo Landino claims that Chianti “has always been a most fertile source of excellent wine.” The Chianti and Chianti Classico wines of today provide little understanding of their early relatives. The wine mentioned in 1398 was white, and even the subsequent reds of the region were not built on Sangiovese until much later. But the ascent of Chianti marks a shift of economic opportunity toward Tuscany and the Republic of Florence, regarded as the birthplace of the Renaissance in the 14^th and 15^th centuries.

Following the Black Death (a breakout of bubonic plague), in the late 1340s, the Florentine population was cut in half. Despite the devastation, Florence experienced an exciting agricultural restructuring in the following decades. Because of the decreased demand for grains, other crops, such as grapevines and olive trees, earned greater prominence across Tuscany, with vineyards covering over 30% of the farmland in some areas. Vineyards of the noble Florentine estates were tended by sharecroppers under the mezzadria system, which endured through the late 20^th century. The name derives from the word mezzo (half), referencing how profits were split between tenant farmers and their landlords (minus the upfront loans of equipment, livestock, and other resources). The mezzadria system initially promoted a modernization of vineyards, training vines on stakes in more densely planted rows. Later, however, a form of mixed agriculture became more widespread.

Florence’s economic growth also fueled a rise of powerful merchants in Tuscany. These men regularly attended the Champagne fairs, where they traded luxury goods and learned about French winemaking practices. The new wines of Chianti gained a reputation in Florence as well as the Republic of Siena to the south, and they increased in value despite the challenges of transportation into these urban spaces. At the same time, the Medicis, a wealthy banking family, rose to power in Florence. Under their prolific reign and patronage, Florence ushered in the Renaissance through dynamic achievements in art, architecture, literature, music, philosophy, and science that would ignite similar rebirths throughout Italy and across Europe.

Early Modern Era to Today

Following a series of quality improvements in the late 17^th century, Chianti found a new market in England, whose trade relations with France had deteriorated during a period of wars. This new success partly caused Cosimo III de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, to issue in 1716 a bando (announcement) demarcating the regions of Chianti as well as Pomino, Valdarno, and Carmignano. His edict marks the first known delimited appellations, preceding the Douro and Tokaj, both of which followed later that century. What was then called Chianti today corresponds roughly to Chianti Classico. Cosimo III’s bando further sought to counter the effects of a rise in wine fraud following Chianti’s dismal 1607 vintage, after which merchants blended similarly inferior wine from other areas despite maintaining the Chianti name. Some winegrowers chose to sell their wines in glass bottles, rather than barrel, to assure quality. Regrettably, fraudulent Chianti continued to be sold, and although Italian wine accounted for 10% of imports to England in the early 18^th century, by the late 1700s, the English grew skeptical of and disappointed in Chianti. In 1775, Sir Edward Barry wrote, “We seldom meet with any good wines imported here from Italy. The Chianti was formerly much esteemed in England, but entirely lost its character.” He continues to describe Chianti wines at this time as “disagreeable” and “rough.”

Further south, however, the English continued to guide the Sicilian wine industry. In 1770, John Woodhouse first arrived in Sicily to discover the inexpensive price of grapes. The English already had long-established, influential relationships as investors in and consumers of Port and Madeira, and Woodhouse saw an opportunity to make a similarly styled but cheaper fortified wine in Marsala. Woodhouse’s new wines appealed to Thomas Jefferson and then to Admiral Nelson’s navy during the Napoleonic Wars for their stability during the trip back to England.

Throughout the 19^th century, Italian wine continued to evolve closer toward the styles produced today. The establishment of several wine academies throughout the Italian Peninsula led to research aimed at viticultural improvements. Barolo, which had typically been a light, semisweet, slightly sparkling red, was first fermented dry in the 1840s by the French winemaker Louis Oudart, charged with the task by Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour, who later became Italy’s first prime minister. Clemente Santi began experimenting with red winemaking in the 1850s in Montalcino, a region recognized at that time for its sweet, sparkling, and white Moscadello wines. He had invented his brunello by 1865, continuing to perfect his monovarietal, ageworthy Sangiovese wines over the next decades. Soon after, Baron Bettino Ricasoli (who later followed Benso as prime minister) created his formula for a modern Chianti wine. In Ricasoli’s blend, Sangiovese displaced Canaiolo as the dominant grape, and, in younger wines, Ricasoli included white varieties.

Baron Ricasoli (Credit: Brandon Lee Wise)

Despite these achievements, the Italian Peninsula remained in a centuries-long period of stagnation, referred to as the decadenza (decline) and echoed in its wine culture, which failed to compete with that of France or Spain. The reasons for Italy’s post-Renaissance stasis were multifold. The Protestant Reformation reduced the influence of the Catholic Church throughout Europe and thus Italy’s central role in the Continent’s balance of power. More significant was the continued division of the Italian Peninsula at the hands of warring powers. Following the Congress of Vienna and the end of the Napoleonic Wars, in 1815, the Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia was annexed to the Habsburg-controlled Austrian Empire; King Victor Emmanuel I became the ruler of Piedmont-Sardinia (which had already subsumed the Republic of Genoa); the northeast comprised the Duchies of Parma and Piacenza, Modena and Reggio, and Lucca, and the Grand Duchy of Tuscany; and the Papal States separated northern Italy from the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, under which the Bourbon King Ferdinand IV controlled the south.

A movement toward independence and unification, or Risorgimento, of Italy swelled in the following decades, bolstered by Giuseppe Mazzini’s Giovine Italia (Young Italy) society, founded in 1831. In the 1840s, the new, liberal pope, Pius IX, sympathized with the revolutionaries, who in 1848 participated in a series of revolts across Italy against their respective rulers. The Franco-Austrian War of 1859, or the Second Italian War of Independence (the first referencing the events of 1848 in the north), drove the Austrians from Lombardy, then annexed by Piedmont-Sardinia. In return for France’s aid, Piedmont-Sardinia ceded Nice and Savoy to Napoleon III. By 1861, the new Kingdom of Italy, ruled by King Victor Emmanuel II, and with Camillo Benso elected as the first prime minister, unified almost all of the peninsula for the first time since the Roman Empire. In 1870, Italy recaptured Rome and named it the capital.

The young nation existed only briefly before Europe’s entire wine industry was upended by the arrival of phylloxera, first spotted in France in the mid-1860s. The destructive aphid followed bouts of oidium and peronospora that had begun damaging Italy, primarily in the northern regions, in the 1850s. Fortunately, by the time phylloxera reached Italian soils in the late 1870s, initially in Lombardy and Sicily, the antidote of grafting onto phylloxera-resistant American rootstock had already proved successful in Bordeaux. This remedy helped curb the devastation, but recovery was expensive, especially in the hard-hit and poorer regions in Sicily and southern Italy. The series of maladies also dealt the first major blow to Italy’s vine diversity; as vineyards were replanted, cultivars that were more productive and disease resistant—and, occasionally, foreign—were favored over those recognized for quality. Fraud and adulteration also increased during this period throughout Europe, as wine shortages inspired merchants to sell cheap beverages diluted with water and dried grapes and fruits. In 1904, Italy passed legislation requiring wine to be fermented from fresh grapes without additives. Soon after, World War I further disrupted vineyard revival, with Italy entering on the side of the Allied Powers in 1915, despite its 1882 alliance with Germany and Austria-Hungary. As part of the country’s realignment, Italy was guaranteed control of Alto Adige and officially annexed the region from Austria-Hungary in 1920.

Following World War I, Italy fell to fascism in 1922 under the command of Prime Minister Benito Mussolini. At this time, Chianti remained Italy’s most internationally recognized wine. Although quality was middling, the region’s reputation continued to plummet as Chianti impersonators emerged from as close as Rùfina, to the north of Florence, and as far as California, where the Italian Swiss Colony labeled its wines Tipo Chianti (meaning “Chianti type”) and mimicked the signature squat fiaschi. Instead of safeguarding the concept of a region of origin, in 1924 the Italian government passed a law validating the concept of vino tipo, whereby wines could legally be labeled by their perceived character rather than true place. In response, Chiantigiani organized into the Consorzio per la difesa del vino tipico del Chianti e della sua marca di origine, a predecessor to today’s Consorzio Vino Chianti Classico. This first move set off a series of legislative battles in Tuscany to defend the Chianti name as well as initiate a broader discussion on the merits of protected appellations. Such conversations, however, were halted at the onset of World War II. Italy began the war allied with Hitler, but by 1943 the Armistice of Cassibile sealed Italy’s surrender to the Allies. Mussolini was executed two years later, and in 1946 Italy re-established itself as a republic, drafting a new constitution thereafter.

Beginning in the 1950s, following the 1957 Treaty of Rome, which formed the European Economic Commission, the new government of a financially fragile Italy enacted sweeping agricultural reforms that effectively dissolved the mezzadria system, which had grown increasingly corrupt over the centuries. The effects on the Italian wine industry were conflicting. To some degree, the new measures helped spur modernization; landowners were better incentivized for quality wine production as they tended to their own fields. But these developments marked a starting point for the contemporary labor crisis, as agricultural workers fled the countryside for more promising opportunities in urban centers. Their exodus resulted in the abandonment of many vineyards and the loss once again of rarified native grape varieties.

In 1963, Italy finally addressed the question of wine origin through the creation of its own appellation scheme, molded from what was born in France in the 1930s. The new classification established both the Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOC) and Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG) categories, though the first examples were not awarded until 1966 and 1980, respectively. In many regards, the DOC/G system indicated progress for the Italian wine industry in its effort to defend and promote the country’s historic wine regions and styles. But not every producer favored the new program; some found it restricted innovation or even quality. The requirement of certain varieties also hindered the preservation of lesser-known, though sometimes quality, indigenous grapes, prohibited from various DOC/G blends. Goria’s Law, enacted in 1992, introduced the Indicazione Geografica Tipica (IGT) tier to allow winemakers more concrete designations that are less strict in their vinicultural requirements than DOC/Gs.

In many ways, it was the reaction of Italian winegrowers against the DOC/G system that spurred their industry’s quality revolution. In 1968, Marchese Mario Incisa della Rocchetta harvested his first commercial vintage of Sassicaia, a Cabernet Sauvignon–based wine from the Tuscan Coast, outside any existing appellation, bottled as simple Vino da Tavola. He quickly attracted neighbors who followed suit with top-shelf wines from French varieties. To the interior, producers in Chianti Classico, eager to make monovarietal Sangiovese wines, absent the mandatory inclusion of white grapes, similarly declassified their wines to Vino da Tavola. Despite changes in regulation, many of those wines today remain IGT rather than DOCG. In tandem with producers in Tuscany, winegrowers throughout Italy made important adjustments to their wine styles. In the 1980s, a new generation of “modernist” winemakers in Barolo sought to make more immediately pleasurable, contemporary wines. Elio Altare notoriously took a chain saw to his father’s old casks. Unsurprisingly, one of his major contributions—along with those of like-minded producers, such as Paolo Scavino, Luciano Sandrone, and Angelo Gaja—was a move toward maturation in new French barriques as well as shorter maceration periods and riper fruit. In 1950s Valpolicella, Bertani first introduced a dry appassimento-method wine, Amarone, a counter to the historic, sweet Recioto and one of Italy’s most famous reds today. A couple decades later, in Montefalco, Arnaldo Caprai similarly fermented Sagrantino dry, which until then had been made into a passito wine.

As Italy crossed into the 21^st century, the country’s wine industry continued to find its balance between the conservation of its heritage regions and vinicultural traditions and new ideas catering to a more global audience. Today, many of the successful wines of the postwar decades still count among Italy’s most collected bottlings. Yet many critics and winegrowers have returned to wines of greater restraint, arguing for what is often described as more classic or historic means of production. While both exceptional and indistinctive wines from international varieties persist, Italian researchers and winegrowers are identifying and vinifying autochthonous grapes, in many circumstances also outside the DOC/G system, and rescuing them from extinction. A new suite of producers identify as natural winegrowers, resuscitating such styles as metodo ancestrale (pétillant naturel) sparkling wines and skin-contact whites (orange wines). In short, Italy today boasts a greater diversity of wines than ever.

Italian Wine in Context

According to the International Organisation of Vine and Wine’s 2019 statistical report, Italy is the world’s largest producer of wine, vinifying 54.8 million hectoliters in 2018. The country has held this position since 2015, though France has taken the top spot in previous years. Italy harvests more wine grapes than any other nation, cultivating 7.4 million tons in 2018. Only China yields a higher grape tonnage, though the vast majority of the Chinese crop is sold as table grapes. Italy, however, does not claim the largest vineyard area; instead, Spain does, a metric widely attributed to its low-yielding, widely spaced old vineyards. Over 700,000 hectares in Italy are dedicated to viticulture, corresponding to approximately 2.3% of its entire land area. Italy exports roughly 20 million hectoliters of wine each year, trailing only Spain as the world’s top exporter. Domestically, Italians are the third largest consumers of wine by volume.

Land and Climate

The Land

Often referred to as “the boot,” Italy forms a narrow peninsula in the northern Mediterranean Sea. Oriented from northwest to southeast, the country stretches approximately 1,200 kilometers. Beyond its peninsular mainland, Italy also includes two prominent islands, Sicily and Sardinia, the first and second largest in the Mediterranean, respectively, by both area and population. With the exception of a few smaller satellite islands, Italy’s latitude ranges roughly between 36.5 and 47 degrees, well within the 30- to 50-degree band considered most appropriate for quality viticulture in the Northern Hemisphere.

Italy’s land borders are longest at the northern edge of the country. From west to east, Italy touches France, Switzerland, Austria, and Slovenia. Cultural mixing might occur in the regions nearest these boundaries, particularly toward the Italy-Austria border, in Alto Adige/Südtirol. Italy circumscribes two micronations: Vatican City and San Marino. The former is nested within the Italian capital of Rome. Vatican City serves as both the home of the pope and the seat of government for the Roman Catholic Church. San Marino borders Italy’s Emilia-Romagna and Marche regions. This hilltop nation first gained independence from the Roman Empire in 301 CE and has firmly maintained that status since Italian unification.

Vatican City and San Marino

Vatican City and San Marino, the two micronations within Italy, each have their own wine culture. The Vatican’s relationship to wine is as a consumer. According to a study by the California-based Wine Institute, Vatican City drinks approximately 74 liters of wine, equating to about 100 bottles, per person each year—more than any other nation, and roughly twice the consumption per capita in Italy. While that may be a large quantity, the statistic is not all too surprising given the essential role wine plays in many Roman Catholic rites.

San Marino celebrates its own tiny wine industry, with a history documented as early as the 16^th century. Sammarinese wine bottles, like others from certain areas throughout Italy, sport coded bands that identify authenticity and place of origin. The country’s most important winery is Cantina San Marino, a cooperative with around 100 grower-members. Vines are cultivated between 50 and 450 meters above sea level on predominately clay-limestone soils. San Marino focuses primarily on Sangiovese, Biancale, Ribolla, and Moscato, though French varieties are also planted.

The Italian landscape is largely defined by its mountain ranges. To the north, Italy is sheltered by the Alps, including such famous mountains as Mont Blanc, shared with France, and the Matterhorn, shared with Switzerland. The Dolomites compose a portion of the Eastern Alps, found in Alto Adige, the Veneto, and Friuli-Venezia Giulia. The narrow Apennine Mountains form the spine of Italy. While only around 40 kilometers in width at their narrowest, they run nearly the entire length of the Italian Peninsula, extending past Calabria into Sicily. Almost every Italian wine region is informed by the Apennines to some degree. Approximately one-third of Italy exists on a mountain range, while only one-fifth of the country is dedicated to plains, the largest being the Po Valley. Accordingly, 80% of Italy’s topography consists of mountains or hillsides, providing a multitude of aspects, elevations, and mesoclimates to allow for its viticultural diversity.

With more than 7,500 kilometers of coastline, Italy is significantly influenced by the moderating effect of the Mediterranean Sea. Various bays and subsections are segmented from the larger Mediterranean. The Adriatic Sea separates Italy’s east coast from the Balkans and extends into the Ionian Sea, which sits beneath Puglia. To the west, the Ligurian Sea hugs the Italian Riviera before meeting the Tyrrhenian Sea to the south. Compared to the rivers of several other major winegrowing countries, Italy’s are shorter (the longest is the Po, at around 650 kilometers) and less important for viticulture. A series of glacier-carved, freshwater lakes can be found throughout Italy, the largest—Garda, Maggiore, and Como—all found in the country’s north.

Italy has a range of soil types, with podzol (an ashy, acidic soil often derived from quartz) prominent in many of the mountainous regions. Some of the most prized wine regions, however, have various calcareous soils, such as the Tortonian soils found in Barolo or the alberese soils covering much of Chianti Classico. A range of volcanic-derived soils also blanket several esteemed regions, and the country has a number of active volcanoes, with Mount Etna in Sicily among the most important.

Italy is divided into 20 regions, which are broken down into provinces. Eighteen regions compose the mainland, with Sicily and Sardinia accounting for the other two. Although each of the 20 regions is granted certain authority for self-administration, Sicily, Sardinia, Valle d’Aosta, Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, and Friuli-Venezia Giulia enjoy greater autonomy to protect their various cultural and linguistic singularities.

The Apennines as seen from Montefalco (Photo credit: Bryce Wiatrak)

Climate

For a country of Italy’s size, it is difficult to generalize about climate. Overall, the country grows warmer from the north to the south, and the west coast is warmer than the east. Much of the peninsula and the islands experience a Mediterranean climate. Broad exceptions exist in the north, where Alpine regions are characterized by a stronger continental influence and withstand the most punishing winters. Most important, Italy’s variance in elevation provides for dramatic changes in temperature in a relatively confined area. Often, but not exclusively, the most prized vineyard sites are found at higher elevations, which will usually be cooler and less humid.

Precipitation is neither excessive nor scarce across much of Italy, but generally the east coast is wetter than the west. Rainfall typically ranges between 600 and 1,000 millimeters annually, and pockets on each end of the spectrum can be found regardless of latitude. Palermo, Sicily, for example, receives approximately 970 millimeters each year, while Venice collects less, at around 750 millimeters, despite its history of catastrophic flooding.

Several important wind patterns shape Italy’s climate and viticultural potential. The hot, humid sirocco gusts north from Africa, affecting Sicily and southern Italy. The Maestrale (Mistral) is the same strong, cold, south-blowing wind that dominates France’s Rhône Valley and can be experienced nearer the French-Italian border. Bora refers to a cold and powerful Adriatic wind, while the Alpine Foehn wind is warmer. (The term Foehn has been applied to winds experienced on leeward slopes of other mountain ranges.) The Alps, however, help minimize many wind currents.

Italian Wine Law

Italy’s wine quality classification regime is largely modeled after France’s Appellation d’Origine Controlée (AOC) system. Overseen by the Ministry of Agriculture, and further regulated through the European Union’s wine organization structure, Italian wine can be divided into four levels of quality: Vino, Indicazione Geografica Tipica (IGT), Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOC), and Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG).

Formerly labeled as Vino da Tavola (Table Wine), Vino, or simply “wine,” is the entry-level tier of Italy’s wine quality pyramid. Like analogous quality levels in other countries, Vino is defined by the least amount of regulation and is normally used for wines made from varieties other than those allowed in higher tiers. When working with grapes destined for Vino, winegrowers might not adhere to the more stringent viticultural and vinification practices for DOC/G and IGT wines. Neither indication of origin nor vintage or grape variety is required to be stated on the bottle. Much of the wine labeled as Vino is sold in bulk and can be found on tap or as house wine in local establishments.

A step higher is Indicazione Geografica Tipica (Typical Geographical Indication), equivalent to Protected Geographical Indication, or PGI, under the European Union’s wine quality scheme. First instituted in 1992, IGT wines, which may also be labeled by the European equivalent IGP, are viewed as a gateway between Vino and DOC wines, and regions seeking elevation to DOC status might pass through this tier. The regulations of IGT wines are stricter than those of Vino, most importantly mandating that 85% of grapes are cultivated from a designated winegrowing area. IGT wines commonly show a broad stylistic diversity, often including varieties, especially international varieties, barred from overlapping DOC/Gs. They might harness more experimental vinification techniques; many “natural” wines, for example, are bottled as IGT. These regions can encompass an entire state, such as Toscana or Terre Siciliane IGT, or be drawn more narrowly.

While Vino and IGT collectively constitute the bottom of Italy’s quality designations, it is important to note that several of the country’s most revered and collected wines continue to fall into these tiers. Italy’s quality revolution in the 1960s and ’70s included a portfolio of Super Tuscans labeled as Vino da Tavola, made using practices outside the DOC/G regulations at the time. Since then, several concessions have been made across Italy to bring the country’s top wines back under the DOC/G umbrella. Several producers, however, continue to bottle their wines as IGT, or sometimes simply Vino, for the sake of continuity, politics, or marketing.

Each of the following two quality levels qualifies as Protected Designation of Origin, or PDO, under EU classification. The Denominazione di Origine Controllata (Controlled Denomination of Origin) level was introduced in 1963, but the first DOC, Vernaccia di San Gimignano, was not recognized until 1966. As of 2019, Italy had awarded 333 DOCs. The sheer number of DOCs appears disorienting, though several are more theoretical than realized, with minuscule production and market presence.

Structured similarly to France’s AOCs, DOCs adhere to more stringent guidelines than IGT regions. While DOCs will often confine winegrowing areas that are smaller than IGTs, catchall DOCs, such as Sicilia and Friuli, remain popular. Beyond specifying regional boundaries and permitted grape varieties and styles, vinicultural qualifications—such as yields, vine density, minimum alcohol levels, residual sugar, and aging requirements, among others—are outlined in the disciplinare di produzione (production specification), the document that stipulates the regulations for each DOC. Typically these regulations are grounded in historic methods of production and designed to safeguard those traditions, though there are many exceptions. Denominazioni are governed by a consorzio (consortium), an organization composed of the region’s grower-producers, which sets these local wine laws. To be approved as DOC, wine samples often must pass a tasting panel, organized by the consorzio, to demonstrate typicity. DOCs, like AOCs, are often named for the winegrowing region alone, but they might also feature a wine style or variety, such as Sforzato di Valtellina or Aglianico del Vulture. Recent trends favor the marketing of place above variety; the 2016 inversion of Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Colline Teramane DOC to Colline Teramane Montepulciano d’Abruzzo is one example. As of 2011, roughly 35% of Italian wine was classified as DOC.

The Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (Controlled and Guaranteed Denomination of Origin) level represents the pinnacle of Italy’s wine quality classification program. Like the DOC tier, the DOCG concept was introduced in 1963, but the first DOCGs were not granted until 1980, when Brunello di Montalcino, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, Barolo, and Barbaresco were elevated from DOC. By 1992, Italy recognized only 11 DOCGs, and the concept was widely acknowledged for bestowing only the most historic and high-performing regions with DOCG status. Today, 79 DOCGs are listed, and some detractors question the assumed superiority of DOCG over DOC.

Novello Wines

As with Beaujolais and nouveau, Italy has its own traditions of novello winemaking, albeit much less widely celebrated. Novello wines offer the first taste of any given vintage and cannot be sold until November 6 of the year of harvest. Similar to nouveau winemaking in Beaujolais, novello relies on carbonic maceration, a minimum 30% nationwide (though some DOC/Gs set stricter thresholds), to provide the wines with a youthful, fruity profile. Novello can be found in many pockets of Italy, with northern appellations such as Bardolino and Alto Adige producing what are perhaps considered the best examples.

The DOCG category embraces such well-recognized appellations as Chianti Classico, Franciacorta, Amarone della Valpolicella, Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco, Taurasi, and Cerasuolo di Vittoria, in addition to those previously mentioned and others. Regions must wait a minimum of 5 years after DOC approval until they can apply to be upgraded to DOCG. Hypothetically, DOCG wines meet the strictest protocols and quality controls. DOCG as well as some DOC wine bottles are marked with a unique serial number, typically printed on a band wrapped around the capsule, as a measure against counterfeiting, although challenges with fraud persist for certain producers and appellations. DOCGs are found in 15 of Italy’s 20 states; those without DOCG regions are Trentino-Alto Adige, Valle d’Aosta, Liguria, and Molise.

A variety of additional terminology can appear on an Italian wine label. Perhaps most important is the name of a subzone. Many DOCs have codified official subzones, and, in conjunction with the recent global trend toward labeling wine with greater specificity of place, an abundance of Italian winegrowers have been eager to promote the characteristics of their individual subzone over those of wider appellations, often criticized for being designed too large. While the number of subzones, if any, per DOC/G will vary, several will include a Classico zone. Typically, the Classico zone of any DOC/G (sometimes established as a separate DOC/G outright) will refer to the historic region of production for a given wine region, for example, Soave Classico and Chianti Classico. An increasing number of Italian producers have expressed interest in bottling vineyard-designate wines, though the permissions to print vineyard names on labels vary by region.

While Spain administers a national minimum standard for wines labeled reserva and gran reserva, Italy issues no such baseline. The terms riserva and superiore are commonplace across Italy, and the requirements for such wines are dictated at the DOC/G level. Oftentimes, those requirements will involve an extended period of maturation before release. Vigne vecchie, a term that refers to old vines, has no formal definition at the national level in Italy (or in much of the wine world), though its use has recently come under stricter government scrutiny.

The Grapes of Italy

Italy is believed to have more indigenous grape varieties in commercial production than any other country, though this is challenging to quantify. Several hundred native Italian grapes are counted, with some estimates citing over 1,000 cultivars originating from the Italian Peninsula and its islands. Italy has played a leading role in the preservation and identification of endangered cultivars, in addition to dedicating considerable hectarage to international varieties. The following presents several of the grapes with not only large plantings in Italy but distribution across multiple regions. Important local varieties will be discussed in the regional expert guides.

White Grapes

Pinot Grigio: Italy’s second most planted white variety, Pinot Grigio (Pinot Gris), for better or worse, produces the country’s best-known white wines in export markets, having skyrocketed to global popularity in the 1990s and 2000s. Technically, Pinot Grigio is not a unique grape variety, but rather a pink-skinned mutation of the ancient variety Pinot and otherwise genetically identical to Pinot Noir and Pinot Blanc. Its coloring is unstable—even among Pinot Grigio vines, the hues can vary widely—and it is not uncommon for clusters of Pinot Grigio to emerge in Pinot Noir vineyards. With its tight clusters, Pinot Grigio is susceptible to botrytis, but in optimal conditions this can result in high-quality dessert wines.

Pinot Grigio can be identified by its soft floral aromatics and subtle phenolic bitterness, matched with middling acidity. Almost exclusively vinified in inert vessels, Italian Pinot Grigio is typically drier and slightly more acidic than Alsatian Pinot Gris. While sometimes considered inferior in quality, top Pinot Grigio wines from Alto Adige and Friuli merit recognition among Italy’s finest whites that can challenge the complexity of French examples, albeit in a different style. An abundance of bland IGT Pinot Grigio, however, is bottled in flatter, warmer, and less distinctive terroirs in the Veneto and throughout Italy.

The white-berried Pinot Bianco is also harvested in northern Italy, where some of the world’s finest examples of the variety are made. In addition to still white wines, Pinot Bianco is authorized for sparkling wine production in both Trento and Franciacorta.

Trebbiano Toscano: According to the International Organisation of Vine and Wine, Trebbiano Toscano ranks as the world’s fourth most harvested white wine grape variety. Its history of cultivation in Tuscany has been well documented for centuries, and it is believed to have been introduced in the 14^th century to France, where it is called Ugni Blanc and best known for distillation into Cognac and Armagnac. Today, its 21,000 hectares can be found throughout Italy, with high concentrations toward the south, in such regions as Puglia, Sicily, and Abruzzo. Beyond wine and brandy, Trebbiano Toscano is also made into the famous balsamic vinegars of Modena. Italy hosts an abundance of varieties that incorporate the name Trebbiano, though they share no single genetic link and, in most cases, are unrelated.

High yielding, as a dry wine Trebbiano Toscano is known to be rather undistinctive. Due to its high acidity, it has often been harnessed as a blending variety in white or red wines, including Chianti, in which it has played a historic role. Trebbiano Toscano performs well in both wines and products of process, as shown by the extraordinary complexity of several Tuscan vin santi, for which Trebbiano Toscano contributes greatly to the traditional blend.

Glera: The precise origins of Glera remain open to debate. What was long simply called Prosecco in the Veneto and Friuli-Venezia Giulia was ultimately discovered to be three distinct grape varieties: Prosecco Tondo, what is known today simply as Glera; Prosecco Nostrano, identified as being identical to Malvasia Bianca Lunga; and Prosecco Lungo. The latter today is referred to as Glera Lungo and often interplanted with Glera, with which it has some genetic ties. DNA studies have shown key similarities to Croatian varieties, suggesting Istrian autochthony.

Glera is Italy’s third most cultivated grape, though production is almost exclusively limited to the Veneto and to Friuli-Venezia Giulia, where it is used to make Prosecco. Late ripening and predisposed to mildews, Glera is moderately aromatic, with a soft acidity. Because of these organoleptic properties, the variety is thought to be better suited to Charmat method sparkling wines (often with noticeable residual sugar), where freshness and florality are better preserved. However, both ancestral and traditional method wines from Glera can be found. The best Glera wines hail from Prosecco Conegliano Valdobbiadene, most notably from its rive and its “grand cru” Cartizze.

Verdicchio: While predominately associated with the Marche, where it yields the great white wines Matelica and Castelli di Jesi, Verdicchio is believed to have traveled south from the Veneto. It continues to be harvested there and in Lombardy. Verdicchio’s name likely refers to its green berries. The variety has proven identical to Trebbiano di Soave, Trebbiano Valtenesi, and Trebbiano di Lugana.

Many of Italy’s most serious and longest-lived white wines are produced from Verdicchio. The variety is particularly transparent to where it is grown, with mineral-tinged examples from higher elevations, and broader, more generous wines made from warmer, lower vineyards nearer the Adriatic Sea. Verdicchio maintains relatively high acidity and ripens slowly. It is susceptible to mildews and botrytis.

Vermentino: Scholars debate the exact birthplace of Vermentino, though it’s likely that it comes from northern Italy and was later introduced to the islands of Sardinia and Corsica, where it is grown as Vermentinu. Beyond these islands, Vermentino’s primary vine area stretches from Provence, where it is called Rolle, through the Italian Riviera, though in Liguria several still attest that their Pigato is a distinct variety, despite DNA evidence to the contrary. Vermentino has achieved increased global success in recent years, and today several producers on the Tuscan Coast work with the variety. Its name probably evolved from fermento or fermentino, meaning “ferment,” a potential reference to the subtle effervescence often found in Vermentino wines. Vermentino is likely unrelated to the red grape Vermentino Nero.

All top Vermentino regions are found in close proximity to the Mediterranean, which helps mitigate frost risk for this early-budding variety. Vermentino produces vibrant, floral wines, with a juicy midpalate and a distinctive brininess that speaks to its seaside terroirs. While Vermentino wines are generally consumed young, their quality can be very high, and some winemakers will offer more serious examples that are made with some combination of barrel contact and extended lees work.

International Varieties: Many of the best-known international white varieties have established substantial plantings in Italy. Chardonnay is Italy’s fifth most planted white variety and is made into high-quality traditional method sparkling wines in Lombardy’s Franciacorta and Alto Adige’s Trentodoc. It is also harvested in several other regions making IGT wines. Sauvignon Blanc can be found throughout Italy, producing several excellent bottlings in Alto Adige, as well as Tuscany, where it is included in a selection of white Super Tuscans. Both Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains (also known as Moscato Canelli and Moscato Bianco) and Muscat of Alexandria (also known as Moscato d’Alessandria and Zibibbo) find prominence in Italy. The former is best associated with the sparkling wines Asti and Moscato d’Asti, while the latter can be found in southern Italy, vinified into sweet delicacies such as Passito di Pantelleria.

Zibibbo drying outdoors on Pantelleria (Photo credit: Bryce Wiatrak)

Red Grapes

Rosato

Understanding the pink wines of Italy is nearly as confounding as grasping the country at large. Rosé wines are made across the boot and in every shade imaginable. A number of names might indicate a rosé wine in Italy, most notably rosato, or simply “rosé,” and chiaretto, which corresponds to “clairet.” While such distinctions might be helpful in other countries, in Italy the difference between rosato and chiaretto does not necessarily allude to color. Chiaretto wines will typically see longer macerations than rosati, though this is not a fixed rule. Terms like cerasuolo might refer to a rosé wine in some regions, as with Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo, but red wine in another, like Sicily’s Cerasuolo di Vittoria. Winemaking varies dramatically by region, and while some producers chase the fashionable Provençal aesthetic, many continue to blur the line between red and rosé. In short, Italian rosé is remarkably diverse. Some important categories to consider are Bardolino chiaretto, Valtènesi chiaretto, Friuli’s ramato (which merges the concept of pink and orange wine), Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo, and Lagrein Kretzer.

Sangiovese: With 54,000 hectares, Sangiovese is Italy’s most planted grape variety, accounting for approximately 8% of the national vineyard area. Its name is thought to derive from the Latin sanguis Jovis, or “blood of Jove (Jupiter),” and it is first mentioned in a 1600 document discussing Tuscan viticulture. While often thought of as indigenous to Tuscany, Sangiovese’s true point of origin remains nebulous. A 2004 study revealed its parentage to be Ciliegiolo, a common blending partner for Sangiovese, and the more obscure Campanian variety Calabrese di Montenuovo. Regardless, Sangiovese is known to encompass a broad clonal diversity, with several regions laying claim to unique cultivars. Important synonyms for Sangiovese include Brunello (Montalcino), Prugnolo Gentile (Montepulciano), and Nielluccio, as the grape is called in Corsica, its only major winegrowing region outside Italy.

In the vineyard, Sangiovese can be vigorous, especially among clones popular in the mid-20^th century. Its thin skins also prove susceptible to botrytis. The Chianti Classico 2000 project, initiated in the late 1980s, sought to isolate Sangiovese clones with thicker skins and looser clusters both to counter disease pressures and improve wine quality. Sangiovese’s most famous regions and wines all hail from Tuscany—including Chianti, Chianti Classico, Brunello di Montalcino, and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano—but the grape can be found across Italy, with some superior examples found in Romagna.

With such a large vineyard expanse, Sangiovese offers a diversity of styles for the consumer of Italian wine. Sangiovese wines demonstrate elevated-to-high acidity and tannin, despite the grape’s modest pigmentation. The wines will typically show a ruby color and combine savory flavors of cherry and dried herbs, and, as the grape's name implies, a distinctive sanguine character. While Sangiovese is historically vinified in large, primarily neutral Slavonian oak vessels, internationally styled examples might make use of smaller, new French oak barrels. In addition to red wines, Sangiovese is crafted into rosati, sparkling, and sweet wines, such as the rare vin santo occhio di pernice.

Montepulciano: The variety Montepulciano should not be mistaken for the Tuscan town of Montepulciano, where the Sangiovese-based Vino Nobile di Montepulciano is made. This confusion has led some to believe that the grape Montepulciano originated near the place of the same name, but it is more likely that the variety is native to Abruzzo, the region with which it is most associated. While long believed identical to Pugnitello, the two have proven to be distinct varieties.

Montepulciano is Italy’s second most planted red variety, with most of its 27,000 hectares located in Abruzzo, though vineyard area is found to the region’s north and south. Vigorous and showing good disease resistance, Montepulciano is often thought of as a workhorse variety, offering cheerful, though undistinctive, midweight wines. A number of Montepulciano wines of this type are produced, but so are more concentrated, ageworthy examples, particularly in the regions of Montepulciano d’Abruzzo and Cònero. In addition to red wines, Montepulciano is used for rosato, and a handful of examples of Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo are highly sought after.

Barbera: Although Barbera is predominately associated with Piedmont, the variety accounts for significant plantings in nearby Lombardy, and also further afield in Emilia-Romagna and Campania. Italy’s fourth most planted red grape, Barbera’s true origins remain nebulous. Though often believed autochthonous to Piedmont, more recent DNA findings suggest it to be a relatively recent arrival to the region.

Like Montepulciano, Barbera is categorized as a workhorse variety, but a number of high-quality examples, namely Barbera d’Alba and Barbera d’Asti made by top producers of Barolo and Barbaresco, counter such assertions. Barbera is high yielding and relatively late ripening. Its wines will commonly express moderate tannin and body but elevated acidity. Barbera can reach surprisingly high levels of alcohol in certain styles, exceeding 15% ABV. Like Sangiovese, it is often characterized by its tart, cherry flavors, coupled with dried herb and floral notes.

Aglianico: The southern Italian variety Aglianico is believed to be one of the country’s most ancient. Some posit that it provided the backbone to such treasured wines of antiquity as Falernian, but evidence is scant. Aglianico’s etymology has been said to derive from “Hellenic grapes,” but it more likely stems from the Spanish word llano (plain), as Spain ruled the central Italian Peninsula during the mid-Renaissance era. While Aglianico was long thought to be of Greek origin, DNA analysis makes no genetic connection to any existing Greek variety; rather, it exhibits similarities to a number of southern Italian grapes. Aglianico should not be confused for Aglianicone, though the two grapes do potentially share a parent-offspring relationship.

Aglianico is characterized by compact bunches with small, thick-skinned berries, producing hyperconcentrated wines, with high levels of pigment and tannin. It is late ripening and predisposed to botrytis. Aglianico is most associated with Campania and Basilicata but can be found in other southern Italian regions. Showing its greatest potential on volcanic soils, Aglianico has become most famous in the DOCGs of Taurasi and Aglianico del Vulture.

Nebbiolo (Photo credit: GuildSomm)

Nebbiolo: While only 5,500 hectares of Nebbiolo are planted in Italy, the grape nonetheless is often considered Italy’s finest, accounting for the pedigreed wines of Barolo and Barbaresco. Nebbiolo also yields quality wines in other Piemontese appellations, such as Gattinara, Roero, and Langhe, as well as in Lombardy’s Valtellina, where it is vinified into both rosso and sforzato wines, the latter a non-sweet dried-grape wine, akin to Amarone.

An ancient grape of unclear origin, Nebbiolo demonstrates broad clonal diversity. Offspring relationships have been found with Freisa, Vespolina, and Nebbiolo Rosé, which is a separate variety rather than a mere mutation. Nebbiolo derives from nebbia (fog), a likely reference to the abundant bloom that appears on its ripe berries, though some believe that it alludes to the fog that blankets many of Nebbiolo’s growing regions in Piedmont.

Nebbiolo is likened to Pinot Noir for its distinguished ability to reflect the sites in which it is grown. The grape shows a particular affinity for calcareous soils, from which many of its best examples are harvested. Late ripening, Nebbiolo requires a long growing season. Similar to Sangiovese, it expresses both high tannin and high acidity, often higher on both accounts than its Tuscan counterpart. Nebbiolo is commonly noted for its combination of dried floral and earthy aromas and flavors, along with anise and tart blackberry and cherry notes. Traditionally styled Nebbiolo wines can seem impenetrable and punishing in their youth due to their tannin and acid structures. Certain producers, however, might use a combination of smaller vessels and new French oak to provide more-accessible Nebbiolo wines designed for earlier consumption.

International Varieties: Despite its unparalleled breadth of commercially important indigenous grapes, Italy cultivates a large number of international varieties. Merlot is Italy’s fifth most planted cultivar and third among reds; it is also viewed as one of the most successful foreign varieties in Italy, providing for a number of the most sought-after Super Tuscans. Other Bordeaux varieties—in particular, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Carmenère (long mistaken for Cabernet Franc in certain areas)—offer several fine, often internationally styled wines, as does Syrah. Pinot Nero (Pinot Noir), finds greatest success in northern Italy, where it is vinified into quality red wines in Alto Adige as well as some of Italy’s top traditional method sparkling wines, both in Trentodoc and Franciacorta. Other than French grapes, the Spanish varieties Cannonau (Garnacha, Grenache) and Carignano (Cariñena, Carignan) have been cultivated for several centuries in Italy, where they have established unique biotypes. Both achieve full expressions in Sardinia, once held by Aragon, though they are found elsewhere in the country.

Read Part II of the Italy Expert Guide, focused on the wines of Central Italy.

Bibliography

Bastianich, Joseph, and David Lynch. Vino Italiano: The Regional Wines of Italy. New York: Clarkson Potter, 2005.

Beard, Mary. SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome. New York: Liveright Publishing Corporation, 2015.

Belfrage, Nicolas. Brunello to Zibibbo: The Wines of Tuscany, Central and Southern Italy. London: Octopus Publishing Group, 2001.

Belfrage, Nicolas. The Finest Wines of Tuscany and Central Italy. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2009.

Cantina San Marino. Accessed October 22, 2020. https://www.consorziovinisanmarino.com.

D’Agata, Ian. Italy’s Native Wine Grape Terroirs. Oakland: University of California Press, 2019.

D’Agata, Ian. Native Wine Grapes of Italy. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2014.

“Distribution of the world’s grapevine varieties.” International Organisation of Vine and Wine. 2017. http://www.oiv.int/public/medias/5888/en-distribution-of-the-worlds-grapevine-varieties.pdf.

Duggan, Christopher. A Concise History of Italy. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014.

Easton, Sally. “Non-French oak has its say.” WineWisdom. April 20, 2010. http://www.winewisdom.com/articles/non-french-oak-has-its-say.

Gabay, Elizabeth. Rosé: Understanding the pink wine revolution. Oxford: Infinite Ideas, 2018.

Johnson, Hugh, and Jancis Robinson, eds. The World Atlas of Wine. 8th ed. London: Mitchell Beazley, 2019.

Kim, Stevie. Italian Wine Unplugged: Grape by Grape. Italy: Positive Press, 2017.

Lukacs, Paul. Inventing Wine: A New History of One of the World’s Most Ancient Pleasures. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2012.

Nesto, Bill, and Frances Di Savino. Chianti Classico: The Search for Tuscany’s Noblest Wine. Oakland: University of California Press, 2016.

O’Keefe, Kerin. Barolo and Barbaresco: The King and Queen of Italian Wine. Oakland: University of California Press, 2014.

O’Keefe, Kerin. Brunello di Montalcino: Understanding and Appreciating One of Italy’s Greatest Wines. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2012.

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Phillips, Rod. Wine: A social and cultural history of the drink that changed our lives. Oxford: Infinite Ideas, 2018.

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Robinson, Jancis, Julia Harding, and José Vouillamoz. Wine Grapes. New York: Harper Collins, 2012.

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Compiled by Bryce Wiatrak (December 2020)

Edited by Sandra Ban

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Australia

Jonathan Eichholz — Tue, 24 Mar 2026 13:54:51 GMT

Current Revision posted to Expert Guides by Jonathan Eichholz on 3/24/2026 1:54:51 PM

Introduction to Australia
Wine Australia: The Label Integrity Program and Geographical Indications
Technology in Viticulture and Winemaking
South Australia
New South Wales
Victoria
Western Australia
Tasmania
Queensland

Introduction to Australia

In 1788 Captain Arthur Phillip landed the First Fleet, eleven ships whose passengers included British soldiers, convicts, and a few free settlers, along the coastline of Botany Bay, just eight miles south of the modern-day Sydney Central Business District. Captain Phillip founded the penal colony of New South Wales and its capital, the city of Sydney—Australia’s first permanent European settlement. Prior to landfall in Australia, the First Fleet stopped for supplies—including vine cuttings—at the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, and the British planted vines near Sydney upon landing in 1788. This original vineyard bore fruit three years later but did not last. In its earliest days as a penal colony, Australia suffered from little winemaking expertise, and advances in viticulture were slow. Nonetheless, the vine (a non-native plant) spread from New South Wales to Tasmania in 1823, and from Tasmania to South Australia by 1837 and to Victoria in 1838. In the Swan River Colony of Western Australia, settlers planted the first vineyard in 1830. Free immigrants arrived in Australia throughout the 1830s and 1840s from all corners of Europe, and brought winemaking traditions with them. Some of today’s most famous names arose as small family-owned wineries in this period, including Lindeman’s (1843), Penfolds (1844), Orlando Wines (1847), and Yalumba (1849). In the 1850s, the promise of gold lured even greater droves of European immigrants to southeastern Australia, and interest in winemaking burgeoned.

Boom days for gold equaled boom days for wine, particularly in the gold-rich colony of Victoria, which asserted itself as Australia’s largest producer of wine by the 1870s. However, as the easily extractable surface and stream deposits of gold depleted, many prospectors followed, and domestic demand for wine fell. Lowered demand, coupled with restrictive state trade barriers, led some producers to export to survive, whereas others remained small and localized—a division that exists, in exacerbated form, to this day. Economic recession and phylloxera befell Australia in the latter half of the 19th century and further harmed the industry, but colonial officials took strict and immediate measures to combat the spread of phylloxera, confining it to Victoria and a small foothold near Sydney. The root louse ravaged the Victorian wine industry, yet its successful containment elsewhere rewarded modern Australia with some of the world’s oldest surviving vines and allowed South Australia to surge ahead of Victoria in production. South Australia’s position was further bolstered with the federation of six Australian colonies—South Australia, New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, and Tasmania—as an independent commonwealth in 1901. Federation brought an end to restrictive interstate trade barriers and increased South Australia’s competitiveness in the larger urban markets of New South Wales and Victoria. In the early 1900s South Australia emerged as the top wine-producing state in Australia—a position it maintains to this day—and the center of the wine industry shifted to the Barossa and the newly irrigated areas surrounding the Murray and Murrumbidgee Rivers. Australia’s focus in these warmer regions turned to fortified wine production.

From the post-phylloxera period until the 1960s, approximately 80% of Australia’s production consisted of sweet, fortified wines. They remained in the majority until 1970, but momentum was building for dry table wines. Fortified wines slid to less than 40% of total wine production in 1972, and by 2011 they accounted for less than 0.02% of the total harvest. During that same period, total annual production increased fourfold, surpassing one billion liters of wine by the 2001 harvest. A surge in quality at the lowest level, coupled with the adoption of new technologies, changing consumer preferences, skyrocketing domestic consumption and new interest abroad, brought Australia to the forefront globally by the close of the last century. The new stars were Chardonnay and Shiraz (Syrah), a traditional variety which—despite the minor hiccup of a 1980s vine-pull scheme that saw many of Barossa’s oldest vineyards destroyed—easily and successfully transitioned into the new era of varietal wines. The value-priced Australian varietal wines of the last decades of the 20th century were fruity, soft, and technically sound at a time when many similarly priced bottlings from the Old World were poorly made, and they enjoyed great success in the UK and the US (two of Australia’s top export markets). By 2003 Australia’s gross annual wine sales reached 4.5 billion Australian dollars, a target the Australians had conservatively set for 2025. “Brand Australia” offered a friendly gateway into wine for new consumers in the 1990s and early 2000s, and the country rocketed forward to become the fourth-largest wine exporter in terms of volume (behind Italy, Spain, and France), surpassing three billion dollars in exports in 2007. As of 2022, over 20% of Australia's exports by value go to USA, making it Australia's largest export market by value. Whereas the UK is the largest export market by volume with 35% of volume.

Australia’s newfound successes were not restricted to the “cheap and cheerful” entry-level category. Back in the mid-century, when Australia was still churning out a majority of sweet, fortified wines, winemakers like Maurice O’Shea in Hunter Valley and Max Schubert in Adelaide had a different vision in mind. O’Shea founded Mt. Pleasant in Hunter in 1925 and produced some of Australia’s first wines labeled by variety during his three-decade tenure as winemaker, despite tepid local interest. Schubert worked from 1948 to 1975 as Chief Winemaker for Penfolds, with whom he introduced the Shiraz-based “Grange Hermitage” in the 1951 vintage. The wine was originally panned by both critics and the company’s own management, but its star rose. Known simply as “Grange” from 1990 forward, Schubert’s creation became Australia’s first truly collectible wine, and today stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the great wines of the world. Unlike many of its luxury-class peers, “Grange” is not the expression of a single site but rather a selection of the best grapes from a number of the company’s vineyards. This is a testament to the nature of the wine business in Australia, wherein production had become concentrated in the cellars of a few large wine companies, who could blend from vast resources across regions and state lines to create a consistent, desired wine style. For some, this philosophy remains congruous from the base level all the way to the top. But not every icon wine in Australia is the product of multi-regional blending; in fact, Australian wine at the highest level is more vineyard-focused now than at any point in the country’s history. Many single vineyard wines—such as “Hill of Grace” Shiraz, first produced by Henschke in 1958—have arisen to manifest venerable single sites left untouched by phylloxera. With breakout vintages in 1990, 1991, and 1998, “Grange” and “Hill of Grace” led the charge, racking up points and ratcheting up prices. Langton’s, Australia’s leading wine auction house, created its “Classification of Australian Wine” in 1991 to detail top-performing, investment-grade Australian wines. The classification, now in its eighth installment, includes 21 wines in its “First Classified” category and 79 in its "Classified" category.

With surging exports and domestic consumption, lavish critical praise, a strong base of quality and efficiency, and a bevy of varietal offerings, the future looked very bright indeed for Australian wines in the mid-2000s. However, problems for the industry loomed. Many of the country’s southeastern winemaking regions were gripped by severe, decade-long drought, affecting the 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009 vintages and leading to questions about the long-term sustainability of vineyard irrigation in the driest climates. Only with 2010’s substantial rainfall did drought conditions, which began as early as 1995, cease for many winegrowing regions in Victoria and South Australia. Drought is cyclical in Australia, and lengthy periods of low rainfall have been recorded throughout the 19th and 20th centuries; however, the greater scale of the modern wine industry takes a heavy toll on finite water resources, and some question the role of climate change in the augmentation of drought severity. On the other side of the business, changing economic conditions have damaged exports, cleaving a third from Australia’s 2007 all-time high as total wine exports dropped below two billion dollars by 2011. (The per-liter price of exports fell even earlier, peaking in 2001.) The 2008 economic recession in the US and Europe hit Australian producers hard: the Australian dollar gained value against US and European currencies, driving export prices up and reducing Australian wineries’ ability to compete in the global market. In the face of the global financial crisis, interest in Australian super-premium wines abroad evaporated, with the rapidly expanding Chinese market offering the best hope for immediate recovery. In the long run, Australia’s troubles with drought may actually serve to regulate its oversupply, reigning in vineyard expansion and cutting down on the sudden excess of wine.

Just as worrying, however, is Australia’s damaged reputation—particularly in the US market. Australian labels still line US supermarket shelves, but American consumers appear less charmed by the innumerable “critter” labels birthed Down Under in the early 2000s. Movement at the top is suffering as well, as many of the cult stars of the late '90s are now struggling to recoup demand. Concentration—from old vines, from ripe fruit, from oak, and from winemaking treatment—seduced influential American critics in the 1990s, and many wineries seemed equally captivated by their suddenly extravagant scoring. Alcohol levels in Australia—and in the Barossa Valley in particular—rose to match critical infatuation with “power.” Wines were tailored to the formula, and were generously rewarded by critics. But tougher economic times, coupled with sommelier interest in lighter, more elegant styles, has left some of these abrupt stars abruptly gathering dust on US shelves. The truly iconic wines of Australia will continue to sell, and the backlash against yesteryear’s oversized, disproportionate wine styles has actually led to some soul-searching amongst the country’s winemakers. In many Australian regions, styles have shifted significantly in the span of the last decade, and—despite a beleaguered reputation—Australia is entering a new era of diversity, drinkability, and exciting wines.

Australia is currently the seventh-largest producer of wine in the world. Of the six states that compose the Commonwealth of Australia, three—South Australia, New South Wales, and Victoria—were responsible for about 97% of the crush in 2019. Western Australia produces most of the remainder, with Tasmania and Queensland accounting for less than 1% each. In 2019, the latter two combined states produced approximately nine million liters of wine, whereas South Australia alone produced over 500 million liters. The top five varieties in the country today, in order of planting, are: Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Merlot, and Semillon. Chardonnay, which roared to life in the last decades of the 20th century and fetched higher prices in the late 1980s than top red grapes, was Australia’s third-most planted variety, but it reached its apex of 32,000 hectares in 2007 and has slid significantly since then.

Note: In the export markets of Europe and the US, Australian vintage-dated wines always appear on shelves before Northern Hemisphere wines, as the harvest occurs six months earlier in the wine-producing countries of the Southern Hemisphere.

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Wine Australia: The Label Integrity Program and Geographical Indications

Wine Australia, a government authority established in 1981 as the Australia Wine and Brandy Corporation, maintains oversight over the wine industry, regulating its label language, defining geographical boundaries of wine regions, moderating exports and trade, and promoting the product at home and abroad. It introduced the Label Integrity Program for the 1990 vintage, requiring any wines labeled by variety, vintage, or region to contain a minimum 85% of the stated grape, year, or region, respectively. If multiple varieties are to be listed on the label (i.e., Grenache-Syrah-Mourvèdre) the grapes must be listed in order of proportion in the blend. All components making up a minimum 85% of the blend must appear on the label, and no listed grape may be in lower proportion than an unnamed variety.

In 1993 the Australian government signed an agreement with the EU to prohibit the use of European geographical names on Australian labels, and in turn Australian wine producers gained greater access to European markets. Some lesser-used geographical names, like Chianti and Madeira, were phased out by 1997; other more popular names, like Sherry and Tokay, were subject to further negotiations. In order to protect European place names, however, Australia first needed to devise a framework for their own appellations. Thus, the existing Wine and Brandy Corporation Act of 1980 was substantially amended to define Geographical Indications (GIs) and create a Geographical Indications Committee, responsible for determining which regions should be placed on a new Register of Protected Names. The Australian appellation system was born, and the first GIs rolled out in 1994. As in other New World countries, Australia’s GIs are purely geographic in scope, with no restrictions on grape varieties, yields, or other viticultural techniques. The broadest Geographical Indications—apart from the countrywide Australia GI itself—are states, followed by zones, regions, and sub-regions. Regions and sub-regions are defined by Wine Australia as single tracts of land, comprising at least five independently owned vineyards of at least five hectares apiece, with a minimum annual output of 500 tonnes of wine grapes. Regions are not necessarily contained within a single zone, nor are zones necessarily contained within a single state. In 1996 Wine Australia responded to EU laws requiring varietal wines to bear a specific region on the label by authorizing the multistate zone of South Eastern Australia, which encompasses all of Victoria, Tasmania, and New South Wales, along with the winegrowing areas of South Australia and Queensland. This huge zone became the GI of choice for many a mass-market varietal wine, and gave Australian producers a huge competitive advantage in European supermarkets in the era prior to EU table wine law reforms of 2009.

In 2008, the EU and Australia signed a new agreement establishing immediate legal protection for the most entrenched European Geographical Indications and Traditional Expressions in Australia. From 2011 onward Australian producers were barred from using European GIs like Burgundy, Champagne, Sherry, and Port; and Traditional Expressions like Claret and Amontillado. Shiraz could henceforth no longer be labeled as its traditional Australian synonym “Hermitage.” Some expressions, such as Tawny, Solera, and Icewine, were reaffirmed for use under the new agreement, but the hotly contested “Tokay,” used by Rutherglen producers for more than a century, will be finally phased out by 2020. The loss of old terms is a catalyst for replacements: Tokay becomes Topaque and Sherry becomes Apera, an all-too-Australian play on “aperitif.”

Map of Australian GI zones, courtesy of Wine Australia

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Technology in Viticulture and Winemaking

Technical proficiency has played a large role in Australia’s emergence as a mass-market wine powerhouse. The Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI) and the Commonwealth Scientific & Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), both based in Adelaide, have contributed greatly to the nation’s scientific understanding of the grape, and the University of Adelaide has an acclaimed oenology program. Australian winemakers rose to the forefront of viticultural innovation, utilizing modern techniques of canopy management and high-tech soil mapping, and they have spread their winemaking acumen across the globe as “flying winemakers”—a term that originated in reference to Australians. Emphasis on winery hygiene has been paramount in modern Australian winemaking; indeed, in the battle against wine spoilage it was AWRI scientists who successfully sequenced the genome for Dekkera bruxellensis (Brettanomyces) in 2011. Teams from the same organization discovered the relationship between the sesquiterpene rotundone and the peppery smell of Syrah, and have contributed in many different areas of wine science, from deepening understanding of smoke taint—a major issue in wildfire-prone Australia—to the development of commercial yeast strains that produce undetectable levels of hydrogen sulfide. Of course, many of the same innovative technological advancements for which Australia can be proud also render it susceptible to criticisms that the country—which has so successfully exported its scientific understanding—bears some responsibility for the “globalization” of wine.

…build me that machine, and we’ll get to the stage of seeing how far we can go to eliminating labour in the vineyard.

– Bob Hollick, former Vineyard Director for Mildara Wines in Coonawarra, in a 2003 interview with Rob Linn (courtesy State Library of South Australia)

The Australian vineyard is a highly mechanized one. Lacking a large population and a source of cheap labor, Australia’s vintners adopted mechanical harvesting in the 1970s and have increasingly relied on it, with vineyards planted accordingly, on flat or gently sloping sites rather than unworkable hillsides. Mechanical harvests often occur at night to preserve freshness and acidity, and they are far more economical than manual harvests, which are generally reserved for top wines only. Tasks such as hedging, fruit thinning, and pruning are also often carried out by machine. Mechanical pruning saves a significant amount of time and money on a vineyard task that is generally second only to harvesting in cost. In fact, in the 1980s it became increasingly popular in Australia not to prune at all, really. The concept of minimal pruning, developed by CSIRO in the 1970s, relies on a vine’s natural self-discipline over time to keep its growth in check, and growers are essentially freed from winter pruning tasks. This technique gained widespread acceptance in many warmer areas, and in South Australia's Coonawarra region, where it has been more recently recast as a culpable party in lackluster wine quality.

As Australians have wholeheartedly adopted vineyard mechanization, they have also pioneered sophisticated techniques of irrigation. Irrigation in the extremely dry climates of Australia is usually essential, and viticulture in the country’s largest regions of production along the Murray and Murrumbidgee Rivers would never have been possible without it. Wasteful techniques of flood and spray irrigation were replaced by more efficient drip systems from the 1960s forward, and the Australians, ever adept at moisture management, developed the restrictive irrigation techniques of regulated deficit irrigation (RDI) and partial rootzone drying (PRD) for the grapevine in the '80s and '90s, improving berry quality while reducing water usage. RDI creates water stress during certain key periods of the vine’s development by lowering the total amount of applied irrigation water. By utilizing RDI after fruit set, vineyard managers could limit vegetative growth while enhancing fruit coloration and restricting berry size, and it is thus particularly useful for red wine grapes. However, water deficit may lower yield, and negatively impact the development of aromatic varieties by slowing the accumulation of monoterpenes in the ripening grapes. RDI provides only marginal water use savings, and lower water use efficiency. PRD, on the other hand, reduces total water use by up to 50% by alternating the application of drip irrigation from one side of a vine row to the other, keeping half of the rootzone irrigated and half dry. PRD may accomplish many of the same results in terms of heightened grape quality, but it does not greatly affect yield. In the driest inhabited continent on earth, where periods of drought seem increasingly debilitating, PRD is quickly becoming a favored means of significant water usage reduction, and it makes positive economic and qualitative sense. However, studies on both techniques continue, and the precise effects both techniques have on grape and wine quality is still a matter of robust debate.

In the winery, Australia has earned a reputation for producing clean, “correct” wines that emphasize varietal fruit in soft, supple frames. While any attempt to define a homogenous Australian style creates untenable generalizations, at the basic commercial level these attributes—clean, soft, fruit-forward—are positive achievements, and modern winemakers in Australia incorporate a wealth of winemaking knowledge and technique to create wines of such character. Fruit character is preserved through cool white wine fermentations (in the 50-60° F range) and moderate red wine fermentations (in the 70-80° F range). Cleanliness is maintained via judicious sulfur dioxide additions and sterile filtration. Oak chips are common at the basic level. Achieving sugar ripeness in Australia’s largest regions is never a worry, and chaptalization is illegal throughout the country. Acidification with tartaric acid, on the other hand, is legal and is assuredly incorporated at the basic level and generally practiced for premium warm climate wines, from Rutherglen Muscat to Barossa Shiraz. However, as Australian cool climate winemakers are moving pick dates forward and preserving natural acidity, the need for acidification in such regions is lessened, if not entirely abrogated. In general, tart fruit acidity is viewed as a virtue by Australian palates, and tartaric additions reflect this. Other winemaking techniques—cultured yeasts, micro-oxygenation, exogenous tannin must additions, deepened extraction via rotofermenters, alcohol reduction through reverse osmosis—are all in play, but for the sommelier interested in modern Australian wines with a sense of place, these techniques are no more (or less) common than in any other part of the wine world.

Lastly, Australia has led the way forward in wine packaging alternative technology: Australians developed bag-in-the-box technology in the 1960s, and they were early and avid proponents of the screwcap closure. The first truly premium wines to be released under screwcap anywhere in the world issued from a group of producers in Australia’s Clare Valley, in 2000. Australian wine critic, James Halliday, reported that in 2013 99% of all Australian white table wine (regardless of price) and 98.8% of its red table wines under $20 was closed under screwcap. Even Australia’s most ageworthy red wines—with the notable exception of “Grange”—are generally bottled under screwcap closures today, and winemakers and consumers alike have seemingly lost any sense of romance with cork. Only the importance of the Chinese export market, wherein consumers may outpace even Europeans in their disdain of alternative closures, keeps wine producers in Australia from abandoning natural cork completely.

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South Australia

Capital: Adelaide

South Australia (SA), a free colony, usurped Victoria’s position as the country’s center of wine production after phylloxera crippled the Victorian industry in the late 1800s. SA managed to avoid phylloxera despite ruin in neighboring Victoria’s vineyards by quickly implementing a total ban on imported vine material in 1874. South Australia cemented its role as the “wine state” following the cessation of interstate trade duties in 1901—which brought SA wines into the population centers of Victoria and New South Wales at competitive prices—and the development of irrigation districts in the Riverland region along the Murray River. In the late 1940s, SA produced more than three-quarters of Australia’s wine, although this figure has declined with the resurgence of the Victorian wine industry and the rise of other irrigated viticultural regions along the Murray in both Victoria and New South Wales. Today, South Australia remains completely phylloxera-free, and SA wine production hovers near 50% of the national total. Many of the country’s largest wine groups, such as Accolade Wines and Premium Wine Brands (Pernod Ricard), are headquartered in SA. The state is divided into eight zones, with production concentrated in the lower southeastern sector of the state. Much of the arid Far North zone, which covers the entire northern portion of the state, is not suitable for any kind of agriculture. Despite clustered viticultural activity in a relatively small sector of the state, the southeastern regions are homogenous in neither climate nor character, and a range of grapes and styles exists.

The Adelaide Super Zone: Barossa, Fleurieu, and Mount Lofty Ranges

The Adelaide Super Zone surrounds the coastal city of the same name, and includes warm plains along the Gulf of St. Vincent coastline, where summer water temperatures can be 7-8° F higher than those off the southern Victorian coast, and the cooler low mountains of the Mount Lofty Ranges further inland. It encompasses three zones, various climates and significant changes in elevation, so there is little to link its diverse fruit sources save for the marketing trick of labeling the wine as “Adelaide,” which rarely appears on labels anyway. But the numerous regions the super zone comprises represent the centerpiece of South Australian winemaking; with the exception of Coonawarra, all of the state’s most important premium winemaking GIs—Barossa Valley, Eden Valley, McLaren Vale, and Clare Valley—are within it.

Barossa Zone

Barossa is South Australia’s single most important winemaking zone. Named for a Spanish battlefield in the Napoleonic Wars, the Barossa was largely carved up among wealthy—and frequently teetotaler—English landowners in the 1830s, but populated in 1842 by German-speaking Prussian Lutherans fleeing religious persecution in their home country (and only too happy to plant vines). In 1842 Lutherans founded Bethany, the first European settlement in the valley, and in 1847 Bavarian immigrant Johann Gramp planted a vineyard along the banks of Jacob’s Creek in Rowland Flat, establishing Orlando Wines, the region’s first commercial winery and the company behind the modern “Jacob’s Creek” brand. The Barossa zone has over 100 ha of vines that are at least a century old, including the world’s oldest Syrah/Shiraz vines (Langmeil’s “Freedom” vineyard, planted in 1843), and what are presumably the world’s oldest Grenache and Mataro/Mourvèdre vines as well: Cirillo owns a three-hectare parcel of Grenache planted in 1850, and Hewitson produces Mataro from the Koch family’s “Old Garden” of vines dating to 1853. Australia’s oldest plot of Cabernet Sauvignon vines, Penfolds’ “Block 42,” lies in Kalimna in the northern Barossa Valley and dates to 1888. The wealth of phylloxera-free old vine resources in the Barossa is celebrated and codified in the Barossa Old Vine Charter, a self-regulated classification of vineyard age in the region. The charter, based on a model developed internally by Yalumba, introduced four age categories for vines: Old (at least 35 years of age), Survivor (at least 70 years of age), Centenarian (at least 100 years old), and Ancestor (at least 125 years old). Producers may use these designations on labels, provided vineyard sources meet the requisite age.

Barossa Valley GI

Zone: Barossa
Climate: Warm Continental
Degree Days (°C): 1710 (Region III)
Top Varieties: Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache
Secondary Varieties: Chardonnay, Semillon

The Barossa zone is divided into two parallel valleys, Barossa Valley GI and Eden Valley GI. The Barossa Valley GI is the country’s largest fine wine region, and it is the fourth-largest region overall, falling in line behind the volume-driven regions of Riverland, Riverina, and Murray Darling. Barossa Valley is lower in elevation (100-300 meters above sea level) and daytime temperatures are typically two to three degrees (Celsius) warmer than in Eden Valley. The hot, flat Barossa Valley floor has deep, loamy clay soils and a plentiful reserve of underground water to accommodate irrigation during the region’s dry summers. In the past, fortified wines drove production in the region—a legacy retained in the wines of Seppeltsfield, whose world-class “100 Year Old Para Liqueur” is a national treasure—but Barossa Shiraz is its most famous product today. The grape is cultivated in over 50% of the GI’s vineyards, and the valley has more land dedicated to the grape than any other single region in Australia. The classic picture of Australian Shiraz—intense flavors of chocolate, prune and date, wrapped in velvety tannins and emboldened by high, mentholated alcohol levels, often in excess of 15%—was painted here. The region continues to produce Australia’s hottest and heaviest styles of Shiraz, sometimes verging on port-like concentration, mouthfeel and alcohol. Plantings of the grape skyrocketed on the Barossa Valley floor during the style’s boom in the 1990s, and Penfolds “Grange,” Australia’s most collectible red wine, is based on Barossa Shiraz, along with fruit from other regions. Other top Shiraz bottlings from the valley include Elderton’s “the Command,” and Torbreck’s “RunRig” and “The Laird”—the latter a micro-production wine first released in 2005 with a price tag surpassing even “Grange.” Sommeliers and many wine drinkers may be looking for restraint, but much of Barossa moves relentlessly forward, headstrong.

Looking westward over the Barossa Valley.

Not all Shiraz is made as a still wine—modern sparkling renditions are growing in popularity domestically, and they recall the (grand?) Australian tradition of “Sparkling Burgundy,” a fizzy red style dating to the end of the 19th century. Edmund Mazure produced Australia’s first Sparkling Burgundy in the Adelaide Hills in 1888—and his wine likely included at least some Shiraz—but the Victorian producer Great Western popularized the style. Sparkling reds shifted back to Barossa in the early 1970s, when Orlando Wines joined the “Cold Duck” fad, flooding the market with cheap, sweet, carbonated red wines. Today, Barossa has a number of sparkling Shiraz producers, and the method of production is fairly similar throughout their ranks. A base Shiraz is fermented to dryness and aged in oak prior to undergoing a second fermentation in tank—only a very few sparkling Shiraz wines are produced in the traditional method. Typically, sweetness is added through a small dosage of Australian Tawny, and most examples are at least semi-sweet in style. Sparkling Shiraz rarely earns more than a shrug among US sommeliers, but it can be a delightful Christmastime wine in Adelaide, and it fares well at the breakfast table, particularly with bacon-and-egg rolls—an Aussie “brekkie” favorite. For good examples, Rockford and Peter Rumball (who sources fruit from Coonawarra) are reputable sources.

Barossa Shiraz is the star, but other red varieties suited to warmer climates can perform well in the region’s heat. Cabernet Sauvignon, the second-most planted variety in the GI, ripens easily on the valley floor, and Grenache and Mataro can produce exciting varietal wines and GSM-style blends. White varieties tend to struggle. Chardonnay rapidly increased in acreage during its heyday in the 1980s and 1990s, but most winemakers today concede that it is best left to cooler climes. Semillon, however, performs surprisingly well on the Barossa Valley floor. When picked early enough, it can produce a wine of piercing acidity, echoing the low-alcohol, austere styles of the Lower Hunter Valley. Peter Lehmann’s “Margaret,” sourced from a 1929 Semillon vineyard, is a top example in the category.

In 1847—the same year that Johann Gramp planted his vineyard at Jacob’s Creek—an Englishman named Joseph Gilbert planted his Pewsey Vale vineyard in the windswept Barossa Ranges east of the Barossa Valley, and winemaking arrived in Eden Valley. In comparison with Barossa Valley, Eden Valley is cooler, higher in elevation (400-600 meters above sea level) and more sparsely planted: its rolling hills contain approximately one-fifth of the vineyard acreage of Barossa Valley, and sheep grazing is a much more common endeavor than viticulture. Water scarcity (and salinity) makes expansion unlikely. A thin layer of red clay colors the hills of Eden, and granite outcrops are everywhere. Stuart Blackwell, senior winemaker at St. Hallett, neatly sums up the valley’s poor, rocky, rough soils: “It shouldn’t be called Eden—it’s not the Garden of Eden.” Shiraz sourced from amongst these cooler, exposed hills assumes a different character than on the Barossa Valley floor, showing more elegance, spice, and red fruit character. The valley’s most famous Shiraz vineyard—Henschke’s eight-hectare Hill of Grace, planted in 1860—is the source of Australia’s top single vineyard wine, providing a site-specific counterpoint to the philosophy behind “Grange.” Many Shiraz wines labeled “Barossa” rather than "Barossa Valley" (signifying the zone rather than the region) include a dash of Eden Valley fruit for lift and acidity.

While nearly nine of ten grapevines on the Barossa Valley floor are red, red wines slightly outnumber whites in Eden Valley, and Riesling occupies over one-quarter of its vineyard real estate. A reminder of the area’s German heritage, Eden Riesling sits among the country’s most thrilling efforts with the grape; it is classically dry, sharply acidic, and dripping with lime flavor. Generally, the best examples of Riesling (and other white grapes) are produced in the cooler southern sectors of the GI, while the better Shiraz vineyards, like Henschke’s Hill of Grace and the 100-year-old Mt. Edelstone, tend to be further north. At over 500 meters above sea level, the most elevated and southernmost point in Eden Valley is the sub-region of High Eden GI, an area first championed in the 1970s by Mountadam, one of Australia’s pioneering producers of Chardonnay.

Gnadenberg Church, Hill of Grace, Eden Valley

Fleurieu Zone

McLaren Vale GI

Zone: Fleurieu
Climate: Warm Mediterranean (with substantial variation)
Degree Days (°C): 1910 (Region III)
Top Varieties: Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache
Secondary Varieties: Chardonnay, Merlot

The McLaren Vale GI, bounded by the South Mt. Lofty Ranges to the east and the Gulf of St. Vincent to the west, is one of South Australia’s signature Shiraz growing regions and the most important region within the Fleurieu zone. First planted in 1838, the region—like all of South Australia—has remained phylloxera-free, and its windy, warm climate alleviates fungal disease pressure, allowing growers to freely pursue organic and biodynamic viticultural practices. Approximately one-quarter of the GI’s seven-dozen wineries are certified as organic, and approximately 40 of the producers participate in “Generational Farming,” a new sustainable farming initiative. Drought is the chief viticultural hazard in this dry climate, and water—the hidden but heavy environmental cost of wine production—is scarce. While a small percentage of vineyards are dry-farmed, many rely on recycled wastewater from the nearby suburbs of Adelaide for irrigation water, a pioneering program that serves as a conservationist model for other water-starved areas throughout Australia and the world.

McLaren Vale is predominantly a red wine area. Shiraz, planted in over half of the GI’s 7,100 hectares of wine grapes, is the appellation’s top variety, followed by Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache. Shiraz in McLaren Vale is typically an intense experience, with brooding tannins, high alcohol levels (14-15%) and deep blue fruits, but there is metamorphosis: conscious of changing consumer tastes, some winemakers are starting to soften their touch, particularly in regards to the type and percentage of new oak used. French oak has steadily outpaced American barrels in both Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon production. The mighty, massive chocolate and prune flavors common in many Barossa examples of Shiraz are less dominant here, and tasters frequently ascribe iron notes to the wines of McLaren Vale—perhaps pointing underfoot, to the ironstone, or red sandstone, common in some areas of the appellation. Overall, determining a standard style of McLaren Shiraz can be complicated, as soil, geology, and climate are not uniform. Seven different underlying geological structures, or ‘terranes,’ exist, and the growing season steadily lengthens as one moves inland and upward in altitude from the coast. Shiraz from the coolest and most northeastern area, Clarendon, may be harvested a month after wines sourced from the heavier, richer soils of the valley floor west of the town of Willunga.

Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon are the most planted red grapes, but some of the most exciting, up-and-coming McLaren Vale wines are produced from Grenache. Grenache performs particularly well in the sandier areas of Blewitt Springs and Kangarilla, and is especially drought-resistant. John Davey of Shingleback Wines affirms the variety’s hardiness in McLaren Vale’s warm climate, “If there is a nuclear war, only two things will survive: cockroaches and Grenache vines.” Ultimately, McLaren Vale Grenache at its best reveals a warm climate’s counterpoint to Pinot Noir. Typically raised in old hogsheads and 500-liter puncheons rather than new barriques, the grape can take on Rhône-like savory tones to bolster its warm strawberry and mint character. Chardonnay is currently the most planted white variety, a result of past popularity rather than actual suitability to the region, as most winemakers concede that other Rhône and Southern Italian white grapes, such as Roussanne and Fiano, are more promising. These “alternative” varieties (as they are forever condemned to be called) comprise only a miniscule portion of the total vineyard area today.

With about 6,000 hectares of vines on the north side of Lake Alexandrina, Langhorne Creek GI is Fleurieu’s second-most significant winegrowing region. Vines first took root here in 1860, and Metala, the region’s longest-running producer, established their vineyards in 1890. The brand persists to this day, albeit under the Treasury Wine Estates umbrella. Wolf Blass arrived in 1967; Orlando Wines followed in 1995. Langhorne Creek is now a principal source for the latter’s “Jacob’s Creek” brand, and flat region is more associated with large-scale, machine-harvested operations than smaller, more premium wineries. Currency Creek GI is southwest of Langhorne Creek, adjacent to the western shoreline of Lake Alexandrina at the mouth of the Murray River. Viticulture in Currency Creek is a recent pursuit, and about a quarter of the 800-odd hectares of vines in the region are Shiraz; Cabernet Sauvignon reflects nearly as much with Chardonnay trailing just behind. Southern Fleurieu GI is due south of McLaren Vale, on the Fleurieu Peninsula, with only about 500 hectares under vine; it tends to be slightly warmer and drier than Currency Creek. Shiraz accounts for one-third of its vines; Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc are the region’s second- and third-most important varieties. Kangaroo Island, separated from Cape Jervis on the Fleurieu Peninsula by the 8.4-mile wide Backstairs Passage, is the site of the Fleurieu zone’s smallest GI, with less than 150 hectares under vine. The island itself is the third-largest island off the coast of Australia, and it was the site of the first official European colonial settlement in South Australia, predating the founding of Adelaide by five months.

Mount Lofty Ranges Zone

Clare Valley GI is the Mount Lofty Ranges’ most heavily planted region, and it can be a rewarding source for some very different styles of wine, from steely Riesling to bold examples of Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon. Just under a two-hour drive north of Adelaide, Clare Valley is the northernmost GI within the Mount Lofty Ranges zone. It is less a single valley than a series of contoured, north-south ridges and the depressions and sub-valleys between them, with most vineyards located between the towns of Auburn and Clare itself. Viticulture in the region originated with the arrival of English settlers and the establishment of Hope Farm around 1840. Jesuits built the region’s first true winery, Sevenhill Cellars, as a source of sacramental wines (a tradition maintained by the producer today) on a plot of land purchased in 1851, and others soon followed. AP Birks Wendouree, makers of classically styled, ageworthy red wines, was founded in 1892. By the turn of the century there were over 500 hectares of vines in the ground in Clare Valley. Jim Barry arrived in the region in the 1940s, and founded Jim Barry Wines in 1959. Other top modern producers arrived on the scene later: Grosset began production in 1981 and Kilikanoon was established in 1997. Today, Clare Valley has nearly 5,000 hectares of vineyards, and its top producers enjoy a proven, worldwide reputation for their wines.

Clare Valley GI

Zone: Mount Lofty Ranges
Climate: Moderate-Warm Continental
Degree Days (°C): 1465-1767 (Region II-III)
Top Varieties: Shiraz, Riesling, Cabernet Sauvignon
Secondary Varieties: Merlot, Chardonnay

Clare Valley, a network of rural communities some 75 miles due north of Adelaide, may look warmer on paper than it actually is. Elevation (400-600 meters throughout Clare Valley) cools the vines, and the only official weather station currently recording climate data in the GI is located at one of its lowest points—Clare High School, and the town post office prior to that—and is surrounded by roadways, concrete, buildings: the machinery of heat. Dr. John Gladstones, Petaluma’s Brian Croser, and a 2005 report compiled by Davidson Viticultural Consulting have all concluded that the actual climate for many grapevines is cooler than official statistics lead one to believe. In the small Polish Hill River area, a hotspot for Riesling 9 miles southeast of Clare itself and 440 meters in elevation, heat degree days may number 200 or fewer than at Clare High School—Davidson measures 1767 for the school and 1465 (° Celsius) for the Polish Hill River, a shift downward from Region III to Region II. In addition, diurnal variation is significant in Clare. Spring frosts can be a danger, particularly in the cooler eastern and southern areas like Polish Hill River, Watervale, and Auburn; but insect pests and other disease pressures are not a major danger in Clare’s dry climate. Historically, low growing season rainfall (an average of fewer than 8 inches for the season) and little groundwater—which has difficulty penetrating the dense, low-porosity bedrock of the region—resulted in many dry-farmed vineyards, although drip irrigation has become more common today.

Shiraz is the region’s most planted variety, with Jim Barry’s “Armagh” vineyard Shiraz ranking among the top internationally recognized icons of the region. Shiraz from Clare Valley is typically rich and round in style, with slightly less weight and alcohol than one would encounter in Barossa Valley. Cabernet Sauvignon, the region’s second-most planted red variety, is sometimes blended with Shiraz but more often with Malbec, as seen in the classic Wendouree Cabernet-Malbec bottlings. Despite the generally high quality of Clare's reds, many sommeliers are more interested in the region's Riesling. Like those examples hailing from Eden Valley, Clare Valley Riesling tends to be extremely dry, with nearly excruciating acidity. Lime, flowers, and taut stone fruit flavors characterize the wines, which often finish in the neighborhood of 12.5-13% abv. In this birthplace of the modern Australian screwcap movement, Clare Riesling producers almost unanimously bottle under the closure, emphasizing reductive flavors in the wine's youth while gaining desirable toasty, honeyed notes through slow aging in bottle. The better examples of Riesling tend to emerge from the areas of Watervale and Polish Hill. The latter area, which lends its name to Grosset's top bottling, lies atop blue slate bedrock not dissimilar from the Devonian blue slate of the Mosel Valley in Germany.

The Adelaide Hills GI is directly south of Barossa and its vineyards are nestled between the ridges of the South Mount Lofty Ranges. At 727 meters above sea level, Mt. Lofty itself is one of the highest elevation spots in the appellation, as well as one of South Australia’s wettest points. Despite its location between Barossa and McLaren Vale, the appellation is surprisingly cool and nearly 70% of plantings are white grapes.

A selection of sparkling wines from the Adelaide Hills.

Chardonnay is dominant in the central sub-region of Piccadilly Valley GI, where Petaluma planted the Adelaide Hills’ first modern commercial vineyard in 1976. Sauvignon Blanc, the GI’s most planted variety, takes center stage in the Lenswood GI sub-region, where it produces a softer, less aromatic and pungent style than one finds in New Zealand. Pinot Noir and Shiraz are the top red varieties in “the Hills.” The region’s winemakers craft slightly riper styles of Pinot Noir than their counterparts in the Yarra Valley, and they coax softer, lighter—but not lean—melon-scented still wines from the Chardonnay grape. Both grapes also provide a base for the region’s robust sparkling wine industry. Some of Australia’s larger companies use Adelaide Hills fruit to give lift to regional blends, but the region is still tiny in comparison with its neighbors—the Hills produces about 2% of the Barossa’s grape tonnage each year. Local producers of note include Petaluma and Shaw + Smith (the region’s largest wineries), the Lane, Golding, Bird in Hand, and BK Wines—the latter is quickly becoming a sommelier favorite as the producer is making truly drinkable and energetic wines well-suited to the table.

The Adelaide Plains GI, north of the city itself, could not be less similar to the Hills: the Adelaide Hills is the coolest and rainiest region within the entire Adelaide Super Zone, whereas the Adelaide Plains is the warmest, and nearly its driest. In the former, average January temperatures remain in the mid-60s, whereas in the sunny Adelaide Plains they rise into the mid-70s. This hot coastal region is not highly regarded today for quality wine production, but Penfolds’ historic Magill Estate, where Max Schubert’s first experiments with "Grange" have since passed into the realm of legend, lies just a few miles outside of its borders. Adelaide’s suburban sprawl now completely encircles the once-rural “spiritual home of Grange,” and the small estate, with its five remaining hectares of Shiraz vineyards, is a showpiece for the company today.

Limestone Coast Zone

Coonawarra GI, in the Limestone Coast, considers itself Australia’s foremost region for Cabernet Sauvignon, and it is equally famous for its so-called terra rossa, or “red soil.” This thin, cigar-shaped band of friable clay loam, tinted vivid red by iron oxide, overlies soft limestone and is commonly considered the most suitable topsoil for the grape in Australia. Terra rossa, which is also found in La Mancha and other areas of Southern Europe, is at once highly permeable for a clay-based soil yet offers good water retention to support the vines’ roots through dry Coonawarra summers. Prof. Alex Maltman, a UK geologist specializing in vineyard soils, suggests: “terra rossa…is justly famous but the key to its quality is probably the drainage and storage offered by the underlying fissured limestone.” Overall, the region is fairly flat and featureless, and it experiences a cool Mediterranean climate, although winters turn cold through a lack of moderating maritime influence. Degree days in Coonawarra are fewer than in the Médoc, yet Coonawarra is drier than Bordeaux and experiences significantly greater sunlight hours during the growing season. With about 5,200 hectares under vine, Coonawarra promotes itself as “Australia’s Red Wine Centre”: Cabernet Sauvignon typically accounts for just over half of the annual harvest, and Cabernet, Shiraz and Merlot together produce over 85% of the region’s output. White grapes are an afterthought today. Winemakers from the region may show glimmers of excitement for Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling and Pinot Gris—despite the fact that Chardonnay is the most planted white variety—but public demand for “Australia’s Red Wine Centre” whites likely remains a long way off.

Coonawarra GI

Zone: Limestone Coast
Climate: Cool Mediterranean
Degree Days (°C): 1430 (Region II)
Top Varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz
Secondary Varieties: Merlot, Chardonnay

Like many Australian wine regions, Coonawarra has its origins in the 19th century, but its modern history of viticulture is really a much shorter tale. In 1861, a Scottish migrant named John Riddoch purchased a large estate near the town of Penola, and moved westward from Geelong, Victoria to Coonawarra. In 1891 he planted the region’s first grapevines on his sprawling property (the Penola Fruit Colony) and soon began construction of his limestone cellar and winery, Chateau Comaum. In 1897 tensions with the nearby township of Penola led Riddoch to rename his colony “Coonawarra”; most accounts suggest that the Aboriginal word means “honeysuckle ridge,” although other meanings, some more or less appropriate, have been suggested: “place of signal fires,” “black swan,” and (A native's practical joke?) “pile of excrement.” By that year, the third vintage for Riddoch’s “Coonawarra” wines, over 100 hectares of vines were in the ground. But this first foray into viticulture was not particularly successfully. Unsold wine multiplied, and the colony was eventually sold in parcels after Riddoch’s death in 1901. Bill Redman, a cellar-hand at Riddoch’s Chateau Comaum, acquired part of the Riddoch estate in 1908. Redman provided grapes and wine to the negociant firm Woodley’s from 1920, and he supervised the only table wine production in Coonawarra through the 1940s. (Until the 1950s, most wine produced on the original Riddoch property was sold as distillate, and the white Doradillo grape was among the district’s most common varieties.) Woodley’s purchased Chateau Comaum in 1946, and produced a famous series of Coonawarra “Treasure Chest” Clarets from 1949 to 1956 under Redman’s direction. In 1952 Bill and son Owen founded Rouge Homme, releasing several vintages of Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet-Shiraz blends before selling the label in 1956 to Lindemans (and founding the rather more straightforward-named Redman Wines a decade later). Mildara commissioned a vineyard planting in 1955, releasing its first Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon, “Peppermint Pattie,” in 1963; and Penfolds began developing vineyards in the region in 1960. However, it was the arrival of Samuel and David Wynn in 1951 that truly signaled a new beginning for the region. The Wynns purchased Chateau Comaum and Riddoch’s core property from Woodley’s, and immediately began production. From 1954 forward, the new Wynns Coonawarra Estate produced varietally labeled, estate-bottled Cabernet Sauvignon, trumpeting its place of origin in an era when multi-regional blending was commonplace. Unlike many of Australia’s most successful winegrowing regions today, Coonawarra is disconnected and distant; the nearest large market (Adelaide) is over 240 miles away. Wynns’ early successes in the 1950s led other companies to the isolated region, accelerating expansion in the 1960s and 1970s. Today Wynns owns about half of the entire region’s vineyards, and since 1982 the estate has produced one of Coonawarra’s top bottlings, the “John Riddoch” Cabernet Sauvignon, in honor of the region’s pioneer.

It is important to make four preliminary points about soils in the Coonawarra district. First, the soil types vary considerably. Second, considerable variation may be found across relatively small distances, even over a few yards. Within a single vineyard or paddock soil types can vary dramatically. Third, there are no comprehensive soil maps of the Coonawarra district. Fourth, while terra rossa remains prominent in advertising, wine journalism and popular consciousness, it has been abandoned as a classification by soil scientists.

–Gary Edmond, Adelaide Law Review Association, Volume 27, No. 1 (Disorder with Law: Determining the Geographical Indication for the Coonawarra Wine Region)

In the 1980s and '90s, the wine industry in Coonawarra rapidly expanded, and areas outside of the original band of terra rossa soils were planted with grapes. With the creation of the Register of Protected Names and the GIC in the early 1990s, the Coonawarra Vignerons Association and the Coonawarra Grape Growers’ Association recommended that only the original, defined band of terra rossa soil between Penola and Comaum qualify for the proposed Coonawarra GI. This determination coincided neatly with both organizations’ memberships, and set off an incredibly contentious, decade-long fight between those inside the proposed boundary and those excluded. Years of litigation diluted Coonawarra’s proposed boundaries. The core issue at hand—terra rossa soil profile—was thrown into doubt as a legally acceptable limit to the appellation, while other factors, such as similarities in climate and water catchment, upheld the argument for a larger region. Dr. Richard Smart and other viticulturalists testified as to the relative unimportance of soil on grape quality, and rendered claims linking terra rossa and wine quality unsubstantiated. A separate Penola GI was initially approved in 2000 and scrapped several years later. In 2003, following years of lawsuits, appeals, and ruined relationships, Coonawarra GI was formally established. To date, it is the last of Australia’s first-tier winegrowing regions to earn formal GI status.

Coonawarra wines have been criticized in the past for overt manipulation in the winery and lack of attention in the vineyard. Winemakers have responded: acidification is much more measured today and exogenous tannin additions have been greatly reduced. Oak usage, as in much of Australia, is changing. New oak levels are falling from absurd heights in the 1990s and early 2000s, and most producers are buying French rather than American barrels. In the vineyard, the overwhelming mechanization of the 1980s is slowly being reduced, a reversal made possible by a new wave of cheap migrant labor from Asia into this sparsely populated area. Once-popular but counter-productive viticultural practices like minimal pruning have been abandoned, and emphasis is building on single vineyard expressions. Sue Hodder, Senior Winemaker at Wynns Coonawarra Estate, sums up the region’s recent revolution: “Good Coonawarra winemaking in the past ten years has been made possible through immense quality improvement in the vineyards. In general, this has enabled a return to the styles of the 1960s: medium-bodied wines, with moderate alcohol levels (closer to 13% than 14%) and balanced oak.” Modern Cabernet in Coonawarra is resurgent, developing powerful yet polished tannins, and achieving ripeness without verging into imbalance.

Typical Coonawarra Cabernet showcases distinctive ripe red berry fruits alongside cassis, followed by sweet herb and dried mint secondary tones. “Mint” is an oft-proclaimed signature note for Australian reds in general, perhaps owing to the country’s omnipresent red gum eucalypts, as studies have shown that the highly aromatic monoterpene eucalyptol can be transferred from tree leaves to grapes through the air. The subject of “mintiness” stirs debate amongst Coonawarra producers. Peter Gambetta, Senior Winemaker for Yalumba’s Limestone Coast wines, ponders the origin of mint in Coonawarra Cabernet—airborne terroir, regional feature, or simply pyrazine-related greenness? “Some argue that it is ‘green fruit’ character and others argue that it is endemic to the region. We have measured eucalyptol in wines and can see a decrease as we move further from the patches of remnant red gums on our estate, though we also see a ‘mintiness’ that is not (derived from) eucalyptol in shaded grapes, so I believe it to be from (multiple) sources.”

With about 1,200 fewer hectares of vines than Coonawarra, Padthaway GI is a heavily cultivated, slightly warmer region inhabiting a five-mile-wide sliver of land along the Riddoch Highway north of the town of Naracoorte. The region extends for 38 miles from north to south, but most of the appellation’s 4,000 ha of vines inhabit a single, unbroken ten-mile-long stretch between the tiny villages of Keppoch and Padthaway. Several of Australia’s largest houses have set up shop in the area, including Seppelt (who planted Padthaway’s first vineyard in 1964), Lindemans, Hardys, Wynns, and Orlando Wines. Padthaway fruit often disappeared into multi-regional blends at the big houses, but there is a movement toward regional identity in the GI today, with Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, and Chardonnay showing success. One in three vines in the region is Shiraz.

Wrattonbully GI is located between Padthaway and Coonawarra. Like Coonawarra, Wrattonbully is overwhelmingly a red wine-focused region, with Cabernet Sauvignon as its top variety. And like Padthaway, Wrattonbully is a young winegrowing region. 11 hectares of vines appeared in 1969, and the Koppamurra Vineyard, now under the ownership of star Wrattonbully producer Tapanappa, followed in 1974. Most grapevines in Wrattonbully are between 10 and 20 years old, as vineyard development rapidly accelerated during the 1990s. In that decade, wine companies on the outside recognized the same veins of terra rossa soil that ran through the core of Coonawarra within Wrattonbully, and at much lower prices. Wrattonbully Cabernet Sauvignon is likewise similar in style to that of Coonawarra, showing relatively soft tannins and ripe red fruits.

Mount Gambier GI surrounds the mountain and town of the same name (SA’s second largest population center), and extends southward from Coonawarra along the Victoria border, all the way to the state’s southern coastline. It is the state’s largest region in sheer size, but it contains fewer than 300 ha of vines. Mount Gambier is similar in climate to neighboring Henty GI in Victoria, and Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc are currently the most planted varieties in its cooler maritime climate. The zone’s two other regions, Mount Benson GI and Robe GI, sit at the same latitudes as Wrattonbully and Coonawarra, respectively, but lie on the coastline, an hour’s drive west. Vine cultivation did not occur in either region prior to 1989, and there are less than 1,200 hectares of vines between them. Shiraz leads in both GIs, with Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc, and Chardonnay rounding out the list of top varieties.

Lower Murray Zone

With over one-quarter of the national annual grape tonnage, Riverland GI is Australia’s leader in production. The region follows the course of the Murray River from the South Australia state border westward to Blanchetown, near the Eden Valley. The river is wide and languid, and the fertile, sandy soils along its banks provide an agricultural oasis in the otherwise hot and arid continental interior. Irrigation water from the river is essential for viticulture. Some of Australia’s largest value brands—Berri, Oxford Landing, and Banrock Station—have massive vineyards in the region, and the second-largest family-owned winery in Australia, Kingston Estate, is based here. Chardonnay and Shiraz are neck and neck as the region’s most planted varieties, together making up just over half of the total production; however, the Riverland has a surprising number of boutique producers—not typically exported to the United States—experimenting with everything from Petit Manseng and Vermentino to Montepulciano, Graciano and Saperavi. Riverland is also home to the largest single planting of Petit Verdot in Australia, a nearly 100-hectare plot farmed by Kingston Estate. All unlikely commercial stars, granted, but they do provide a bit of color to an otherwise monochromatic and fairly industrial vineyard palate.

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New South Wales

Capital: Sydney

New South Wales (NSW) is Australia’s most populous state and the site of the country’s first vineyards, planted on a site not far from the modern-day Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge. These first vines bore fruit in 1791, but succumbed to disease and died soon thereafter. Further, more enduring attempts followed in the early 1800s: John Macarthur established vineyards at his Camden Park estate with European cuttings—including Shiraz—by 1820 and Gregory Blaxland exported a 136-liter barrel of wine to London in 1822. In Hunter Valley, George Wyndham founded Australia’s now-oldest continuously operating winery (Wyndham Estate) in 1828, and he planted Australia’s first commercial Shiraz vineyard in 1830. Their achievements notwithstanding, a Scottish-born botanist named James Busby (1801-1871) would have an even greater impact on the early years of New South Wales viticulture, earning the mantle “father” of the Australian wine industry. Busby moved to New South Wales in the early 1820s, but returned to Europe in 1831, gathering various vine cuttings from Spain and France. He gathered hundreds of specimens, and planted them upon his return, dividing the cuttings between his Kirkton estate in the Hunter Valley and the Sydney Botanical Gardens. These vines, including Rhône, Bordeaux, and Burgundy varieties, represent the core of Australia's viticultural heritage.

Despite early advocacy by Busby—who left for New Zealand in 1833—and others, winemaking in Australia remained a marginal activity until the discovery of gold in 1851, which spurred vineyard expansion in New South Wales and in the new colony of Victoria. Hunter Valley’s vineyards likewise continued to grow due to the region’s proximity to the population center of Sydney. Phylloxera, which devastated Victoria around the turn of the century, appeared in vineyards near Sydney in 1884, and in those surrounding Albury on the north bank of the Murray, 30 miles due east from Rutherglen. However, the bug’s spread in NSW has been effectively contained, and most winegrowing regions in the state, including Hunter Valley, have remained phylloxera-free. By the Federation of Australia in 1901 vineyards were well established north of Sydney, in the Hunter Valley, Mudgee, and beyond, within the modern-day GIs of Hastings River and New England. In 1912 the debut of the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area, a massive project delivering water from the Murrumbidgee (a major tributary of the Murray River) to the otherwise dry and drought-prone farmlands in the Riverina region west of the Great Dividing Range, provided a seemingly limitless new frontier for food and wine grape production. McWilliams, one of the largest family-owned producers in Australia today, planted the region’s first grapevines in 1913. Penfolds followed McWilliams into Riverina in 1919, and De Bortoli was established near the town of Griffith in 1928. Riverina flourished as an engine of fortified wine production throughout the first half of the 20th century.

With Federation in 1901, all interstate trade barriers were abolished and the rapidly growing South Australian wine industry could compete for attention in Sydney. This sudden competition, coupled with the rise of fortified wine production, shrunk interest in some areas, such as Hastings River and New England, both of whom stopped producing wine completely—for decades. Mudgee was propelled forward by the discovery of gold in 1872 but dwindled to nothing in the early 20th century. Even Hunter Valley struggled. Maurice O’Shea, the first great Australian winemaker of the 1900s, produced Hunter Valley Shiraz table wines (labeled as “Hunter Burgundy”) for McWilliams’ Mt. Pleasant until his death in 1956, despite overwhelming domestic interest in fortified wines and beer. But the overall industry in Hunter Valley contracted until a flurry of new plantings occurred in the 1960s, led by Lake’s Folly. On the other hand, the machine of Riverina continued to move forward, relentlessly, producing over 21,000 tonnes of fruit in 1961. As Australians begin to shift back toward table wines in that decade, Riverina responded with a host of new plantings better suited for the new styles, moving toward Chardonnay and Merlot and away from Pedro and Trebbiano. In the 1970s new regions were born—or reborn—along the coastline and the inland side of the Great Dividing Range. By 1981, Riverina was firmly a part of Australia’s “cheap and cheerful” image, producing over 90,000 tonnes of fruit, and Hunter Valley was capitalizing on a new interest in wine tourism to rebound from its midcentury doldrums. New South Wales, like the rest of Australia, rocketed forward during the wine boom of the 1990s, and many of its fledgling regions experienced dramatic growth during this period. From 1973 to 2011, NSW increased its annual crush from 73,000 tonnes to 580,000 tonnes—a larger leap forward than any other state. In 2010, NSW accounted for 29% of Australia’s total wine production.

The major climatic features in New South Wales include the Pacific Ocean and the Great Dividing Range. In the coastal zones of South Coast, Hunter, and Northern Rivers, humidity is high and summer rainfall is especially common, particularly as one moves north, where the water warms and lingering effects of the Indo-Australian monsoon season’s impact are felt. The Great Dividing Range, a complex of mountain chains running along the entire coastline of NSW, blocks western areas from rainfall and cooling maritime breezes—the inland zones of Big Rivers and Western Plains are especially arid and progressively hotter as one moves north. The highest mountains in Australia are the Snowy Mountains, an alpine sector of the Great Dividing Range located within the Southern New South Wales zone. In the highlands of this range and the ranges running north and south of it, climate becomes continental and temperatures cool with elevation.

Hunter Valley Zone

The Hunter Valley region has become a casualty of faulty logic in the age of Geographical Indications. There is the Hunter Valley zone, which contains the Hunter GI region, which in turn encompasses three GI sub-regions: Upper Hunter Valley, Broke Fordwich, and Pokolbin. Pokolbin and Broke Fordwich are both located within what has traditionally been known as the Lower Hunter Valley—the heart of the region’s viticultural activities—but “Lower Hunter Valley” did not merit GI status, according to the local authorities’ infinite wisdom. In 2013 a round-up of top winemakers and vineyard owners in the Lower Hunter Valley, representing Tyrrell’s, Brokenwood, Thomas Wines, Audrey Wilkinson and McWilliam’s Mt. Pleasant, responded with ready dismissal when asked if any of them would ever consider using “Pokolbin”—the GI wherein they are all located—on a wine label. Historically, the Lower Hunter has been divided into six sub-regions: Pokolbin, Broke Fordwich, Allandale, Belford, Dalwood, and Rothbury—but only the first two have earned sub-region GI status to date. The Upper Hunter Valley GI has fewer vineyards and a shorter narrative, as modern viticulture dates only to 1960, when Penfolds established 250 ha of vines at Wybong in the region.

Hunter GI (Lower Hunter)

Zone: Hunter Valley
Climate: Hot Subtropical
Degree Days (°C): 2070 (Region IV)
Top Varieties: Semillon, Chardonnay, Verdelho, Shiraz
Secondary Varieties: Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon

The Hunter Valley endures one of the warmest and wettest climates among Australia’s winegrowing regions. It is sub-tropical and humid, and the Lower Hunter averages over 20 inches of rain during the growing season. According to Winkler’s Scale, the marginally warmer Upper Hunter Valley is considered Region IV—a zone best utilized for fortified wine production—and is actually hotter than the Riverland, South Australia’s warmest GI (although it remains slightly cooler than Riverina). Ripening comes early in the Hunter Valley and is unimpeded through the region’s warm summer nights. However, autumn also arrives early, and with it comes a near-constant cloud cover. Ripe fruit character thus develops early in the season, when pH is still relatively low, but sugar ripening slows early as well, as vines transition to producing carbohydrates for dormancy in the early fall. Fierce storms often arrive in the last week of January—the first two months of the year are the wettest in the Hunter Valley—and may provoke early harvesting decisions for white grapes. Despite the heat Hunter produces surprisingly elegant and low- to moderate-alcohol styles of wine. White grapes are more common than red.

Picking Semillon early was originally an economic decision. In the late '50s and '60s several vintages were totally
destroyed by rains, so people started picking once they saw a single cloud in the sky.
-Bruce Tyrrell, Tyrrell’s Wines

If we catch anyone blending Semillon with Sauvignon Blanc, we’ll probably shoot them.
-Iain Leslie Riggs, Chief Winemaker, Brokenwood

Semillon is the most planted grape in Hunter Valley, and Hunter Valley Semillon is the world’s most classic and ageworthy dry example of the grape. Semillon was once sold as “Hunter Riesling” here, a synonym that offers a clue to its austere character: the wine is fairly low in alcohol (frequently in the 10-12% range) and incredibly acidic (pH levels remain around 2.9). Classic Hunter Semillon is harvested at the end of January or during the first week in February, at Baumé levels of 9-12°; it is generally vinified with commercial yeasts and quickly bottled (in the June or July following harvest) with a significant remaining level of carbon dioxide. Classic Hunter Semillon never sees oak and there is no emphasis on lees stirring, but it will be aged by its makers for several years prior to release, during which period it begins to gain notes of browned toast and crème caramel—expanding on the simple lemon and slight grass notes of its extreme youth. Top bottlings include Tyrrell’s “Vat 1” and Brokenwood’s “ILR Reserve,” which are released five and six years after the vintage, respectively. Both have aging potential measured in decades rather than years, and their makers, like many others in Australia, have shifted entirely to screwcap closures. That overly simplistic blind tasting adage—“New World” wines have higher alcohol and “Old World” wines have higher acidity—is called into question with Hunter Semillon, and one is reminded that temperature is only one factor in the equation of wine climate.

Tyrrell’s in Hunter Valley takes credit for the country’s first varietal bottling of Chardonnay, the 1971 “Vat 47 Pinot Chardonnay.” Since that year, Chardonnay has become an important variety in the Hunter Valley, comprising over a quarter of its total plantings; however, winemakers typically do not consider it a top variety in the region, and prefer to plant Semillon and Shiraz in top sites. The Portuguese grape Verdelho is also common, perhaps feeling as welcome in the Hunter as it does in its other subtropical home, Madeira. The grape’s naturally thick skins lend a measure of protection against mold—a constant worry in Hunter’s humid climate. Verdelho offers an alternative to Semillon, yielding generous wines of tropical fruit character, often finishing with a degree or so more alcohol than Semillon. Shiraz is the top red variety in the Hunter, performing especially well on the red volcanic soils of the Lower Hunter Valley (Semillon prefers the white alluvial sands). Maurice O’Shea was producing varietal Shiraz and Shiraz-Pinot Noir blends at Mount Pleasant when “Grange” was just a twinkle in Max Shubert’s eye, and Hunter Shiraz has long been one of the great archetypes in Australia, with fruit and acid at the forefront.

Central Ranges Zone

The three regions of the Central Ranges lie on the western slopes of the Great Dividing Range, near the town of Bathurst some 125 miles west of Sydney. Mudgee GI is the zone’s oldest producing region and it borders Hunter GI, yet rises 400-500 meters higher in altitude and experiences a drier, sunnier, and less humid climate with greater diurnal shifts in temperature. Budbreak is delayed and harvests often occur a month after those in the Lower Hunter Valley—and they are less frequently interrupted by severe storms. Concentrated, deeply colored red wines are the order of the day in warm Mudgee. Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, and Merlot are among the region’s most planted varieties, and red grapes outnumber white grapes by four to one. Regardless of the modern emphasis on reds, Mudgee Chardonnay—the region’s most planted white grape—has a special place in Australian wine history. Murray Tyrrell asserts that he was the first to release varietal Chardonnay, but he may have taken his cuttings from Mudgee, and at least one Mudgee winery preceded his in producing a single varietal Chardonnay wine. Craigmoor—the first winery established in Mudgee, in 1858—cultivated Chardonnay for half a century prior to Tyrrell’s first release, although it was not identified as such until the late 1960s. Craigmoor winemaker Pieter van Gent made Chardonnay in the 1971 vintage, paralleling Tyrrell’s first release, but the winemaker concedes that there was not enough wine to warrant bottling. An employee of Craigmoor, Alf Kurtz, planted his own vineyard with Craigmoor cuttings and founded Mudgee Wines in the 1960s, releasing several small vintages of Chardonnay prior to both Craigmoor and Tyrrell’s. The Craigmoor Chardonnay selection came to the vineyard by way of one Kaluna Vineyard near Sydney, which was likely planted with cuttings from Kirkton—James Busby’s estate in Hunter.

Southwest of Mudgee is Orange GI, the Central Ranges’ youngest, coolest, and potentially most exciting region. It is also one of the highest regions in the entire country overall: Orange GI begins at the 600-meter line of elevation, and its vineyards rise up the slopes of NSW’s central highlands, past the 1000-meter mark. The highest point in the appellation is Mount Canobolas, an extinct volcano and the source of the region’s richest, basalt-derived soils. On the high volcanic plateau extending northward from Mount Canobolas, the pioneering producer Bloodwood planted Orange’s first modern vineyard in 1983. With about 1,000 ha under vine, the region has grown rapidly since then. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Shiraz, and Chardonnay are the region’s most popular grapes, but Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir look increasingly promising in Orange’s cool mountain climate. Cowra GI, the southernmost and warmest region in the zone—an indication of its lower elevation rather than its higher latitude—is best known for soft, generous styles of Chardonnay.

South Coast, Northern Rivers, and Northern Slopes Zones

The South Coast and Northern Rivers zones nearly span the entirety of the New South Wales coastline, separated by a small segment of the Hunter Valley. The Northern Rivers’ Hastings River GI lies right on the coast; it is unequivocally hot—falling within Region V on Winkler’s Scale—and it experiences more rainfall during the growing season than any other region in Australia. With early picking, Semillon in Hastings River can develop some of the same characteristics as it does in the Hunter, but this is overall not a fine wine destination. The Northern Slopes’ New England Australia GI, formally approved in 2008, is northwest of Hastings River. Elevation afforded by the Great Dividing Range in New England mitigates the heat, and allows the region’s growing number of wineries to produce cooler-climate versions of Shiraz and other red grapes, despite the area’s northerly latitude. In 2019, both regions together accounted for less than 150 total hectares of vines.

The South Coast’s Shoalhaven Coast GI hugs a strip of the NSW coastline about 75 miles south of Sydney. While growing season rainfall and heat are slightly diminished in the South Coast, the region still struggles with identity, and only a handful of small wineries have emerged. To date, the region is best known for wines produced from Chambourcin—a red French hybrid. The Southern Highlands GI, on the other hand, is nestled in the hills of the Great Dividing Range, and has greater potential to produce quality wines. Surprisingly, Tempranillo is currently the most planted grape in the region. Like their northern counterparts, Shoalhaven Coast and the Southern Highlands remain small, and in 2019 they together contained less than 200 hectares of vines.

Big Rivers Zone

The Big Rivers zone is located along the Victorian border to the west of the Great Dividing Range; the big rivers in question are the Murray and the Murrumbidgee. SA’s Riverland GI may be the largest single region in Australia, but Big Rivers is the top-producing zone in the country. Riverina GI remains the production leader here and in the entire state, and Chardonnay is its most planted grape, followed by Shiraz and Semillon. McWilliam’s and De Bortoli were market leaders in Riverina for decades, but they were surpassed by Casella Wines. Founded in 1969, Casella is the largest family-owned wine company in Australia today, and sky’s-the-limit fortunes rested with the incredible, overnight success of the company’s [yellow tail] brand of wines in the US export market. This original and most identifiable—and most loathed, in some quarters—of the Australian “critter” labels debuted exclusively for the US market in 2001. In 2003 [yellow tail] became the top imported brand in the US, and in 2006 it earned the top spot overall in US supermarkets, overtaking Sutter Home as the leading wine brand. Casella boasts that one in five bottles leaving Australia are labeled [yellow tail]. But the good days may be over: a strong Australian dollar has hampered US sales for the past few years, and consumers are moving on from Australian “critter” labels, or at least growing tired with the one that sustained them through the 2000s. Casella recorded a loss of 30 million Australian dollars for the 2012 financial year, and many wine (and business) writers have suggested that [yellow tail] and its imitators are squarely to blame for Australia’s recent troubles in the US market. In a 2009 Slate article titled “Not Such a G’Day: How Yellow Tail Crushed the Australian Wine Industry,” author Mike Steinberger argues that the Australians’ “woes are mostly self-generated; they’ve trashed their own brand, a point many of them now concede.”

Riverina is not solely defined by its mass-market brands. On the other end of the spectrum, the region can produce tiny quantities of high-end botrytis-affected dessert wines. In 1958 McWilliam’s was the first Riverina winery to explore the style, but De Bortoli, who crowns an otherwise low-priced range in Riverina with the world-class “Noble One Botrytis Semillon,” is the star. First released in the 1982 vintage, the lusciously sweet “Noble One” quickly rose to the pinnacle of Australian dessert wines, and has garnered an outpouring of international critical praise.

Southern New South Wales Zone

The Southern New South Wales zone is located within the Great Dividing Range, and encompasses the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). The Canberra District GI surrounds the national capital (Canberra) and is the zone’s most important growing region. Set against the backdrop of the Snowy Mountains, it has a mild, continental climate—not unlike the Northern Rhône Valley. While viticulture has been practiced in the area since the mid-1800s, the modern region was born in 1971, when Edgar Riek planted vines on the shores of Lake George and John Kirk planted his Clonakilla vineyard in Murrumbateman. Clonakilla produced Canberra District’s first commercial vintage in 1976, and the winery’s Shiraz-Viognier, a moderate-bodied, pretty medley of red fruit, flowers and spice modeled on Côte-Rôtie, debuted in 1992 to become a modern icon in Australia. Hardys moved into Canberra District in 2000, immediately doubling vineyard acreage, but withdrew from the region in 2007. The vacuum left in Hardys’ wake has been filled by a growing number of smaller producers, emboldened by critical praise for their wines. Elegant styles of Shiraz, high-quality dry Riesling, and increasingly good examples of Bordeaux blends and Pinot Noir are being produced. One emergent producer, Lark Hill, has even planted Australia’s first Grüner Veltliner vineyard, and is achieving some critical success with the grape.

Côte-Rôtie is a clear parallel (to Canberra District). In cooler vintages a great trick to play on experienced palates is to line up a blind tasting of Côte-Rôtie and Canberra Shiraz. It is very easy to confuse the two. The red fruit surge and spice rack complexity is common to both. Even the dried herb element in Côte-Rôtie is found in Canberra Shiraz in some cooler years. Côte-Rôtie does tend towards a smoky character at times, which is especially brought to the fore in the wines of producers who use a large whole bunch inclusion (think Jamet and Rostaing). I don't see this in Canberra Shiraz so much. And as with all Australian wine the palate structure is a little fuller and sweeter, even with the higher natural acids that the high altitude (600 meters or more) provides in our GI.

Co-fermenting a small amount of Viognier with cool-climate Shiraz produces a synergy that is hard to define, but delightful to behold. My own experience is that the Viognier expands the wine, both aromatically and texturally. It extends the aromatic profile, providing a subtle high note that hovers above the red berry/cracked pepper tones of the Shiraz. The Viognier also contributes a rounding effect to the palate, acting to soften the sharper tannin edges of the Shiraz and tying the acid more cohesively to the fruit. In the best examples a seamless palate is the result.
–Tim Kirk, Winemaker, Clonakilla

In the warm, continental climate of Hilltops GI, west of Canberra District, Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz have emerged as primary grapes, and red grapes account for approximately 80% of the total vineyard acreage. Riverina’s McWilliam’s has the largest share of plantings in the region, and Clonakilla has been sourcing Shiraz fruit from the region for over a decade, drawing attention back to this former gold-mining region. Hilltops Shiraz, in comparison with Canberra District fruit, tends to develop deeper color, lower acid, more robust tannins and darker fruit. Gundagai GI, with the Murrumbidgee flowing through it, is adjacent to Hilltops’ southern border. The land here flattens out as one moves west from the Great Dividing Range into the arid bush, with rainfall becoming sparser and temperatures rising accordingly. Some major vineyards have emerged since the mid-1990s, but the region is still in its infancy. Tumbarumba GI, south of Gundagai, lies within the foothills of the Snowy Mountains and has a measurably cooler climate, well suited for the production of sparkling wines. In 2012, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir accounted for almost 90% of the total grape harvest in the GI. Several of Australia’s larger producers value the crisp acidity Tumbarumba fruit lends to sparkling wine blends, but few are willing to risk ownership of vineyards in its frost-prone mountain climate. Thus, most of Tumbarumba’s two-dozen growers remain small, and sell the majority of their fruit.

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Victoria

Capital: Melbourne

In 1838 the Ryrie brothers, three Scottish-born cattlemen from Sydney, leased 43,000 acres for grazing in the Yarra Valley. The named their property “Yering,” and planted a vineyard, cultivating two grapes: the Black Cluster of Hamburg and a white grape called Sweetwater. Thus at Yering Station in the Yarra Valley, just east of Melbourne, did Victorian viticulture begin. From the first European (convict) settlement in Victoria at Sullivan Bay in 1803 to the formal founding of the British Colony of Victoria in 1851, the remote region remained sparsely populated, but in that latter year fortunes turned: the discovery of gold at Ballarat, Bendigo, and other locations throughout the colony triggered one of the biggest gold rushes in world history. In the following decade Victoria’s population—and its thirst for wine—increased sevenfold as prospectors from around the world arrived to find their fortune. The Victorian wine industry hummed alongside the steady flow of gold; at its heyday in the latter half of the 19th century the colony produced over half of Australia’s wine. In the 1860s Geelong (west of Melbourne and southeast of the gold fields at Ballarat) became the most prodigious wine region in all of Australia. In his A Short History of Wine, historian Rod Phillips recalls: “At the 1873 Vienna Exhibition the French judges, tasting blind, praised some wines from Victoria but withdrew in protest when the provenance of the wine was revealed, on the grounds that wines of that quality must clearly be French.” Australia exported 145,600 cases of wine annually to the United Kingdom between 1860 and 1875, and much of it was Victorian in origin. Yarra vintner Hubert de Castella—who had purchased a sector of the original Yering property to found St. Hubert’s in 1862—speculated in his 1886 book John Bull’s Vineyard that Victoria could supply all the wine Britain might ever require.

Black Saturday

Throughout Australia, the ever-present eucalypt trees (“gum trees”) contain highly flammable eucalyptus oil, and the trees’ discarded dry bark acts as a powder keg in the Australian bush. Bush fires are a constant source of worry. On Saturday, February 7, 2009, high temperatures and extended drought conditions conspired to produce a series of violent firestorms throughout Victoria. “Black Saturday” resulted in 173 deaths as wind conditions changed rapidly, driving fires in unpredictable directions. In loss of life, it is Australia’s worst natural disaster to date; the state’s vineyards suffered serious losses as well. Decanter Magazine reported that 5% of Yarra Valley’s vineyards were damaged or destroyed, along with vineyards in Bendigo, Beechworth, Heathcote, and Gippsland. The CSIRO does not publically implicate climate change as a cause, but states on its website that “by 2020 we expect to see a greater number of extreme fire weather days, longer fire seasons and a greater potential for multiple fire events like those seen in the Victorian fires.”

Alas, the boom days would not last: with its appearance in a Geelong vineyard by 1877, phylloxera had arrived in Australia. Much of Victoria was devastated, particularly as the immediate official response was “death by extinction,” a criticism levied by viticultural expert François de Castella (son of Hubert). Rather than a sensible replanting on American rootstocks, the Victorian government ordered every vine in Geelong uprooted, bringing an instant end to Australia’s then-largest wine region. Rutherglen usurped its place and greatly surpassed it in size, becoming the Southern Hemisphere’s largest wine region by the time phylloxera struck its vineyards in 1899. Other regions throughout the state were similarly attacked in the late 19th century. In 1891 the boomtown of Beechworth had 70 ha of vines; in 1916 two hectares remained. Bendigo had about 220 ha of vines and 100 wineries in 1880; not a vineyard remained after phylloxera’s arrival in 1893. Phylloxera spared Yarra Valley (The bug did not arrive there until 2006!) but in the 1930s its vineyards were entirely grubbed up anyway to make room for pastureland. Crippled by phylloxera and hit hard by the domestic temperance movement, shortages of manpower during the World Wars, economic depression, and newfound competition from South Australia with the removal of interstate trade barriers, the wine industry in Victoria floundered during the early 20th century. By midcentury Rutherglen had realigned with the tastes of the day and was producing large quantities of sweet fortified wines, but by the 1960s there were only two-dozen wineries left in the state—and fourteen were located in Rutherglen.

Yet there were stirrings: the first modern winery in Yarra Valley (Wantirna Estate) was established in 1963, and Idyll Vineyard was planted in Geelong in 1966. Other regions in which viticulture was nearly or totally abandoned—Macedon Ranges, Sunbury, Bendigo, Beechworth, Heathcote—reemerged with new vines, and new areas, such as King Valley and Strathbogie Ranges, entered into viticulture.

Modern Victoria has rebounded—as of 2013 there are over 775 wineries in the state (more than any other state in the country) and 21 distinct GI regions. In 2010, Victoria provided 17% of Australia’s total wine grape tonnage. Unlike the other mainland Australian states, winegrowing occurs throughout Victoria; vineyards line the banks of the Murray River—marking the state’s border with New South Wales—and are planted throughout the cooler coastal regions of the Port Phillip zone and Henty GI. The Great Dividing Range, with its southernmost extremity at Grampians, shelters numerous wine regions between its low ridges. Overall, climate in Victoria turns markedly warmer as one moves inland, but it is tempered by elevation in the complex of numerous low mountain ranges that run through the state. Victoria is Australia’s most densely populated state, and there are wines for every taste, from crisp sparkling wines to raisiny and rich fortified wines, produced across a broad range of climates.

The Port Phillip Zone

Anyone can oak**** a wine. In any region. There’s no skill, art, or endeavor in that. Twenty years ago, we didn’t understand how to make wine. We just knew how to add more to everything. How to go from seven to eight, from nine to ten. Now we make medium-weight, elegant wines in Yarra Valley, not wines designed for hand-to-hand combat. Today I like our stuff. How do you make it? Irrelevant. How you grow it is much more important. We just want to make drinks that we like drinking.
– David Bicknell, Chief Winemaker, Oakridge

The Port Phillip Zone, termed the “dress circle of Melbourne” by James Halliday, surrounds the capital city and encircles the Port Phillip Bay—the shallow, collapsed delta of the Yarra River. The Rip, a small channel about 2 miles wide, connects the Port Phillip Bay with the Bass Strait and the Southern Ocean, and strong southwesterlies—chilling winds from the polar latitudes—help cool the zone. Climate is generally Mediterranean, and all five of the region’s zones are classified as either Region I or II in Winkler’s Scale of heat summation. Overall climate, cooled by wind, proximity to water, and—in the northern area of the Macedon Ranges—elevation, is cooler than what one would find in Bordeaux; thus, the region’s most successful varieties are Burgundian in origin. Cabernet Sauvignon struggles to ripen in many vintages. Climate change, however, has brought unpredictability. Many of the vast temperate rainforests that once covered the zone—and helped to regulate weather patterns—have been logged, and with ozone depletion the southern sunlight has a magnified impact on vines. In Yarra, Bicknell offers a real-world reminder: “Averages mean nothing anymore. In the mid-1990s we picked in early March for every variety; now we start picking in the first week of February.”

Yarra Valley GI

Zone: Port Phillip
Climate: Cool Maritime
Degree Days (°C): 1250-1352 (Region I)
Top Varieties: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir
Secondary Varieties: Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot

Yarra Valley GI, a gentle, rolling and bucolic region, has boomeranged from the total loss of its wine industry in the 1930s to become the most important area of production in Victoria today, and one of Australia’s top fine wine regions. Regional stars Yarra Yering, Mount Mary, and Chateau Yarrinya (purchased by De Bortoli in the mid-1987) were established by the mid-1970s. Yeringberg and St. Hubert’s (sectors of the original Yering Station property) came back on line by 1975. In the mid-1980s, Halliday founded Coldstream Hills and the French Champagne giant Moët & Chandon established Domaine Chandon in Yarra Valley, bringing national and international fame back to the region. Now, Yarra Valley has just over 2,000 ha of vines. Pinot Noir is the region’s most planted variety, with Chardonnay coming in a close second. Together, the two grapes account for nearly 75% of Yarra Valley’s total acreage. Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon, the valley’s second- and third-most planted red grapes, produce lighter and more elegant styles in Yarra’s cool climate. Shiraz—often labeled “Syrah” to tweak consumer expectations—is often attractively peppery, floral, and red-fruited. Whole cluster (or whole berry) fermentations and low levels of new oak are common amongst Syrah producers in Yarra. To the stereotype of American oak-driven Aussie Shiraz, De Bortoli Chief Winemaker Steve Webber retorts: “I don’t think there’s an American barrel in the Yarra.” The myth of high alcohol is also put to bed: levels over 13.5% are uncommon for any variety in the region.

Yarra Valley, alongside Margaret River in Western Australia, provides one of the top examples of Chardonnay in Australia. Here the prevailing modern style is stony and mineral rather than fat and tropical—a distinction Webber describes as “detailed” rather than “a bit blurred.” Malolactic fermentation is rare, and while barrel fermentations are common, new oak levels are generally restrained to one-third or less during maturation. Leesy characteristics frequently appear, and sweet citrus and melon flavors are common. Despite the level of its Chardonnay, Yarra Valley is best known internationally for the quality of its Pinot Noir. Yarra’s cool climate and generally lengthy growing season promotes a style that is, despite ripe red fruit character, somewhat leaner and lower in alcohol than those produced in Otago, the other premier Pinot Noir-growing region in Oceania. The valley contains two sectors: the warmer Lower Yarra Valley in the north, with its ancient sandy loam soils, and the cooler, higher-elevation Upper Yarra Valley in the south, where the soil is composed of younger red basalt. Pinot Noir from the Upper Yarra Valley tends to be more defined and mineral, whereas those from the valley floor in the Lower Yarra are often plumper and less aromatic. Preferences in clonal selections, so often at the forefront of Pinot Noir conversations elsewhere, are less emphasized in Yarra, yet many producers are focusing on Dijon clones 667 and 777 and/or MV6, a “mother vine” selection James Busby brought into the country in 1831 from Clos Vougeot.

The Yarra Valley in fall and spring.

South of the Yarra Valley, the slender Mornington Peninsula GI divides the Port Phillip Bay from the Bass Straight. Much of its expensive oceanfront real estate has been gobbled up by the wealthy elites of Melbourne for weekend homes, but winegrowing has taken hold between the tourists and holidays. Today there are about 900 ha of vines in the Mornington Peninsula, and over 60 wineries. With such significant maritime influence, Mornington Peninsula is overall—no surprise—quite cool, but climate can vary more than one might expect from such a small area. Red Hill, near the peninsula’s western tip—an area Ten Minutes by Tractor Winemaker Martin Spedding refers to as “up the hill”—is considerably cooler than the “down the hill” northeastern area near Moorooduc (a southern suburb of Melbourne), where the same grape variety might be harvested three weeks earlier. Despite these differences, the region can produce thrilling Pinot Noir—which accounts for almost half of the GI’s planted vineyards and about 85% of its red grape acreage—as well as good examples of Chardonnay and Pinot Gris. Across the bay, Geelong GI has revived its wine industry but it has never fully recovered its past glory. In 2012 Geelong was declared completely free of phylloxera, and today the region has almost 500 ha under vine, with producers—like their fellows around the Port Phillip Bay—pinning their hopes on Pinot Noir as the flagship variety. By Farr and Bannockburn are leading producers today. Geelong is the driest GI in the Port Phillip zone, and spring frosts and wind damage can be especially challenging here. The GI has three unofficial sub-regions: Surf Coast/Otways, the Bellarine—a peninsula that reaches out toward Mornington—and the Moorabool Valley, the beating heart of Victorian wine production in the 1860s and the center of the Geelong wine industry today. Port Phillip’s final two regions, Sunbury and Macedon Ranges, extend northward from Melbourne. Vineyards in the Macedon Ranges are generally between 400 and 600 meters in elevation; these are the highest vineyards in the Port Phillip zone and Macedon Ranges is the coolest region on the Australian mainland. Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Shiraz are the most common varieties, and both still and sparkling wines are produced. Bindi Wine Growers is the most recognizable Macedon Ranges name worldwide, and one of Australia’s top boutique producers.

Central, North East, and North West Victoria Zones

Gold was discovered near Bendigo in 1851 and at Beechworth in 1852, and small wine industries followed. However, with the collapse of Geelong in 1875 the bulk of Victorian wine production moved northward. So did phylloxera. In Central Victoria, phylloxera landed in the neighboring wine regions of Heathcote and Bendigo in 1891 and 1893, respectively, and laid waste to their vineyards. Over a half-century would pass before viticulture was renewed in either region. Today, both are predominantly red wine-producing areas, and Heathcote has become highly regarded for the quality of its full-bodied, densely flavored Shiraz. Jasper Hill is one of its foremost producers in the region, and one of the marquee names in blockbuster-styled Shiraz in the country. Heathcote is a fraction cooler than Bendigo, but both are similar in climate and terrain: dry, warm, continental, and undulating in aspect, with Heathcote experiencing a more pronounced variation in elevation due to the ridgelines of the Mount Camel Range. The major difference lies underfoot: on the eastern side of Heathcote, a strip of red earth rich in 500-million-year-old Cambrian volcanic greenstone is especially prized for growing vines.

Northeast of Bendigo and Heathcote is the Goulburn Valley GI, a region with a lengthy—and continuous—history of viticulture. Tahbilk, Goulburn Valley’s first commercial winery, planted 25 hectares of vines in 1860, and managed to persist despite the advance of phylloxera in the late 1800s. A half-hectare of Tahbilk’s original, ungrafted vineyard survives today—thanks to alluvial, sandy soils deposited along the course of the Goulburn River that kept the bug at bay—and from this plot the winery produces one of Victoria’s most acclaimed bottlings of Shiraz. Shiraz is the most important grape in Goulburn Valley today; here it is more in line with the fuller, bolder styles of South Australia than the elegant, lifted Syrahs of Yarra. Tahbilk also counts some of the world’s oldest Marsanne vines (planted in 1927) amongst its holdings, and the estate was the sole operating winery remaining in the region during the dark years of the early 20th century. Today, Tahbilk and many of the other Goulburn Valley properties are clustered within the southern sub-region of Nagambie Lakes GI, where a complex of inland lakes and lagoons helps to moderate the otherwise quite warm and continental climate of the region. As one moves southeast from Nagambie into the folds of the Great Dividing Range, the climate turns cooler still with a corresponding increase in elevation. Here, Strathbogie Ranges GI and Upper Goulburn GI are sparse areas with no great tradition of viticulture. The highest vineyards in each zone climb to 600 and 800 meters above sea level, respectively, and vintner interest is increasingly shifting to Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

Rutherglen GI surrounds the historic, 19th century gold-mining town of the same name, and the Murray River provides its northern border. This warm, continental area is famous today for its unique—if somewhat unfashionable—sweet, fortified “stickies,” but the quiet, bygone region got its start slacking prospectors’ thirst with heavy red table wines in the heady gold rush days of the mid-19th century. Morris Wines was established in 1859 and All Saints Winery—the first in Rutherglen to win international acclaim—opened its doors in 1864. By 1906, seven years after phylloxera’s arrival, Rutherglen had nearly 3,000 hectares of vineyards. At the time it produced one-quarter of Australia’s wine and provided one-third of its exports, almost wholly destined for markets in the United Kingdom. Regrettably, phylloxera delivered one blow and the Great Depression delivered another: UK exports dried up and producers in the foothills around the old gold rush town shifted to fortified wine production in bulk to sate local palates. Fortified wines boomed through the mid-century; successes came in the form of fortified Muscat, “Sherry,” “Tawny,” “Tokay,” and other styles modeled on European wines. A small resurgence in table wines followed in the 1960s and 1970s. In the '60s, more than half of Victoria’s wineries were located in Rutherglen; however, the region has remained rather stagnant in plantings and size since then, particularly in comparison with Yarra Valley’s ascent. Today Rutherglen has about 800 hectares of vineyard landscape. Shiraz and Durif/Petit Sirah are the principal red grapes for table wines, and wineries in the region have invested in the (still unclear) success of white Rhône varieties. Despite waning interest in the category, the region’s most emblematic and exceptional wines remain its top fortified styles: Muscat and Topaque.

Rutherglen Muscat is one of the world’s sweetest, most ambrosial, and liqueur-like wines. It is released as a blend of vintages, whether in its fresh and floral youth or after years—even decades—of aging, during which the wine darkens and develops nutty, rancio complexity and concentration. The Muscat of Rutherglen Network, a producers’ syndicate established in 1995, has developed a voluntary and self-regulating four-tier classification system for the Muscat wines based on taste profile. The basic level, Rutherglen Muscat, showcases the orange and rosy aromatics of young Muscat in a saccharine, mouthcoating frame. “Classic” Muscat retains intense varietal aroma, but adds concentration and slight rancio tones. The greatest shift in color and style is at the “Grand” level, where the wines take on decidedly more oxidative tones and begin to show mature rancio character. The oldest, sweetest, most concentrated and most viscous wines are labeled “Rare.” Minimum age guidelines and residual sugar ranges are suggested rather than absolute: a “Rare” Muscat should taste as though it is at least 20 years of age—and often it will be much older—but there is no technical analysis to prove it. According to Colin Campbell (Campbells), “the whole system works on peer pressure,” much like the aging designations for Tawny Port.

Rutherglen GI

Zone: North East Victoria
Climate: Hot Continental
Degree Days (°C): 1770 (Region III)
Top Varieties: Shiraz, Brown Muscat, Durif
Secondary Varieties: Muscadelle

Brown Muscat (Muscat de Frontignan, or Muscat Rouge à Petit Grains) grows on deep “Rutherglen loam” and shrivels on the vine through long, dry late summers and early autumns. Botrytis is undesirable—and historically uncommon—as it ruins the varietal, terpene-laden character of Muscat grapes, but this process of passerillage is essential for concentration of sugar. By the Muscat harvest, usually carried out by early April, Brix levels may exceed 36°. Locals are fond of noting that, “it never rains until it rains on the march,” (Anzac Day, April 25) but climate change has brought summer showers and the specter of mold in recent years.

After the harvest, Rutherglen producers typically allow the Muscat grapes to undergo a short fermentation on the skins, consuming 20-40 g/l of sugar over the course of one or two days. The wine is then pressed and immediately fortified with a neutral 96° grape spirit, added—as in Port—in a one-to-four ratio. The wine matures for years, even decades, in various formats of old wood: 225-liter barriques, 300-liter hogsheads, and occasionally 500-liter puncheons and even larger oval casks, depending on the producer and the wine. As the wines mature in cask, evaporation sends a share to the angels, resulting in a net loss of around 5% per year and a greater concentration of sugar, acid, and alcohol in the remaining wine. Some producers use a solera system; others tend to keep lots and vintages separate, preferring to assemble blends just prior to bottling. Eight wineries today produce fortified Muscat wines: All Saints, Morris, Campbells, Chambers, Stanton & Killeen, Rutherglen Estates, Buller, and Pfeiffer.

Fortified Muscat may be the most concentrated and well-known wine of Rutherglen, but Topaque is perhaps the region’s most unique style. Formerly known as Tokay—a designation phased out through agreement with the EU—Topaque is a fortified wine made with Muscadelle grapes. In fact, it may be the world’s only fortified wine produced with the grape, an uncommon aromatic variety found in Bordeaux and Southwest France, and totally unrelated to any Muscat grape. Like Muscat, Muscadelle concentrates through passerillage, but it often hangs on the vine until the end of April, and accrues noticeably less sugar. Fermentation, fortification and aging procedures are similar to the processes associated with Muscat, and the same categories (Classic, Grand, etc.) are in place for Topaque. The final wines are lighter in color than Muscat, as they are produced from white rather than red grapes, and typically exhibit 30-40 g/l less residual sugar than Muscat wines in the same category. Winemaker Chris Pfeiffer (Pfeiffer Winery) highlights common Topaque aromatic descriptors: honey, cold tea, and sardine oil—the latter a not-at-all unpleasant, seaweed-like character that offers interesting counterbalance to otherwise sweet-smelling and candied aromas. With less intensity and greater acidity than fortified Muscat, Topaque is a better wine for the table, and the basic styles can be offered as a chilled aperitif (In place of Apera, perhaps?) over ice.

Other regions of the North East Victoria Zone include Glenrowan GI, which produces similar styles of dry reds and fortified wines as Rutherglen, and the progressively higher-elevation GIs of Alpine Valleys, Beechworth, and King Valley. Rainfall increases and climate cools slightly with altitude as one moves upward into the foothills and low ranges of the Victorian Alps (part of the Great Dividing Range). While red wine production continues to outweigh whites—particularly in Beechworth—white grapes like Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, and Pinot Gris have assumed greater importance. The most important red varieties currently are Pinot Noir and Bordeaux grapes; Shiraz and Durif, so popular in both Glenrowan and Rutherglen, take a backseat in these cooler appellations. In King Valley, much of the Chardonnay and Pinot Noir fruit actually becomes blending material for sparkling wines. Wangaratta (King Valley’s northernmost point) and Rutherglen are separated by only 23 miles, but there is a nearly 700-meter difference in elevation between the highest vineyards in King Valley and those in Rutherglen—sparkling wines are plausible in the former and hot-climate fortified wines are the latter’s best bet.

Victoria’s warmest wine regions, Murray Darling GI and Swan Hill GI, are located in the North West Victoria zone, and they are shared with New South Wales. These dry inland areas, like South Australia’s Riverland GI, straddle the Murray River (Australia’s longest) and sustain viticulture and other commercial agriculture through steady irrigation. In drought cycles, such as the period that lasted through most of the 2000s, the Murray’s reduced flow becomes a serious cause for concern. Overall, Murray Darling GI and Swan Hill GI contain nearly 9,000 hectares of vines, accounting for about 6% of the entire Australian vineyard, and this is supermarket-brand territory: 92% of the wines produced in these GIs (which invariably carry the “South Eastern Australia GI” moniker) sell for less than five Australian dollars per liter.

Western Victoria and Gippsland Zones

Grampians GI and its single sub-region, Great Western GI, lie at the western end of the Great Dividing Range, where moderately high elevation (rising to 440 meters) tempers the climate. The cool but extremely arid area developed a historical reputation for sparkling wines, shouldered on the efforts of Great Western Winery, founded by Joseph Best in 1865 but now under the Seppelt name. In 1890 Charles Pierlot, a French winemaker who trained at Pommery, made Australia’s first-ever traditional method sparkling wine, at Great Western. In 1894, Pierlot’s boss, Hans Irvine, showed the winery’s first “Sparkling Burgundy” at a Melbourne wine show, and under legendary winemaker Colin Preece Great Western shepherded Australia’s unique sparkling red style through the depression-era years of 1930s, when all others had abandoned the style. Red grapes dominate Grampians today: in 2018 they accounted for over 80% of the harvest, led by Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon. Despite its historical image, Grampians is primarily a still red table wine producer, and styles of Shiraz from the region are often elegant, defined, and peppery—although the occasional sparkling example does appear. Pinot Noir and Riesling are also becoming winemaker favorites in the area, and the region’s best modern producer is, aptly, Best’s.

The Pyrenees GI is adjacent to the northeastern border of Grampians. Its name is yet another example of the Australian colonial prerogative to simply name new places for the old ones to which they bear the most resemblance. Here it was perhaps wishful thinking: the Pyrenees in Australia, one of the last ranges within the Great Dividing Range, rarely rises above 700 meters. Like Grampians, the focus is on red varieties like Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon. The wines are richer and more full-throttled in Pyrenees than in Grampians. Henty GI, located along the southern coast in Victoria’s southwestern corner—and closer to Coonawarra than the regions of Port Phillip or Central Victoria—is on the opposite end of the spectrum: Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Riesling are the dominant grapes in this genuinely cool region, and sparkling winemaking is a common pursuit. As in Grampians, Seppelt is the largest producer in this tiny region: their 100 ha vineyard at Drumborg, originally planted in 1964, accounts for nearly two-thirds of Henty’s total vine acreage.

On the eastern side of coastal Victoria, Gippsland is unique among the state’s zones in that it does not currently have any smaller GI regions within it. The sprawling zone extends eastward from the Yarra Valley along the Bass Strait coastline, and reaches into the Great Dividing Range just south of the King and Alpine Valleys. Viticulture first sprung up in the 19th century in the area of East Gippsland, but modern efforts are concentrated nearly 125 miles away, in West Gippsland—which abuts the Yarra Valley—and in the cooler, maritime climate of South Gippsland, home to one of Australia’s top producers of Pinot Noir, Bass Phillip. As in Yarra, Pinot Noir is currently the most planted grape in Gippsland. Given the huge distances and significant differences in climate between the three unofficial subzones, many producers would like to see GI regions within the zone defined, but the low level of production is an obstacle. As a region must produce at least 500 tonnes of fruit annually to merit consideration for GI status, the entire Gippsland zone, with only 190 ha under vine in 2019, is simply not large enough to currently warrant the creation of three distinct Geographical Indications.

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Western Australia

Capital: Perth

In 2019, the state of Western Australia (WA) comprised 7% of the total Australian vineyard area, and produced under 2% of the country’s total harvest. With over 1300 miles separating SA’s Adelaide from Perth (Western Australia’s only real center of population), the GI zones of Greater Perth and South West Australia are a world removed from the growing regions in southeastern Australia. Viticulture in WA is essentially confined to the coastal regions in the southwest, as much of the state’s vast inland desert and northern tropical regions are totally unsuitable for grape-growing. Like any major winegrowing region, growth usually occurs in proximity to a major market; that the wine industry in WA first developed in the hills and valleys surrounding Perth is no surprise. Thomas Waters, a botanist, planted Western Australia’s first vineyard in Swan Valley—now a sub-region of the Swan District GI—after his arrival with the first European fleet of settlers in 1829. Two of the state’s oldest wineries, Houghton and Sandalford, were founded in Swan Valley in 1836 and 1840, respectively. Today Perth’s northeastern suburbs are encroaching upon Swan Valley, and it has the rather notorious distinction of being Australia’s hottest GI in an era when pursuit of cooler climes drives the fine wine industry. In the 1980s more than half of WA’s wine was produced in Swan Valley; today, the volume of production has shifted from the Greater Perth zone to the South West Australia GIs of Margaret River, Great Southern, and Geographe.

South West Australia Zone

As far this writer is aware, this region has never been seriously proposed as suitable for commercial viticulture. Nevertheless a study of its climate shows that it merits serious consideration.
– Dr. John Gladstones on the potential of the Busseltown/Margaret River area, 1965, “The Climate and Soils of South-Western Australia in Relation to Vine Growing”

Margaret River GI, a coastal region bounded by the Geographe Bay and the Indian and Southern Oceans, is the state’s most acclaimed appellation and among the foremost areas for Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Sauvignon Blanc-Semillon blends in the country today. This despite relative youth: Margaret River as a commercial wine region is barely a half-century old, and its original development was the result of scientific planning rather than historical accident. In 1965, Dr. John Gladstones, a local agronomist, presented his research on the suitability of the region for grape-growing to a group of local landowners—“mad doctors in run-down dairy country,” one elder winemaker recollects—and the first experimental plantings followed in 1966. In 1971 Dr. Tom Cullity’s Vasse Felix label produced the first commercial Margaret River wine—a Riesling. That first, raucous release party, attended by local farmers used to the alcohol levels of beer (rather than wine) is the stuff of local legend! Efforts with Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec and Shiraz followed soon thereafter. The “Gladstones Line”—the line of longitude 115° 18’ E—established the modern appellation’s eastern border, essentially following alongside the Whicher Range. With further research in 1999, Dr. Gladstones proposed six unofficial subzones, cataloged not by soil profile but by the drainage direction for the region’s numerous rivers and creeks, which corresponded to the direction of air flow systems. The coastal zones, from north to south, are Yallingup, Wilyabrup, Wallcliffe, and Karridale. Carbunup lies on the Geographe Bay east of Cape Naturaliste in Yallingup, and Treeton is an inland region, with the warmest summer daytime temperatures but also the greatest diurnal variation. The heart of the appellation is Wilyabrup, home to three of the appellation’s “first five” producers: Vasse Felix, Cullen, and Moss Wood. The other two pioneers in the region, Leeuwin Estate and Cape Mentelle, are located in Wallcliffe, a cooler subzone that follows the course of the Margaret River as it flows westward into the Indian Ocean. The Blackwood River flows into the Southern Ocean in Karridale, home to some of the region’s best Sauvignon Blanc—crisp, cool, and often reflecting a pure snow pea character.

Margaret River GI

Zone: South West Australia
Climate: Warm Mediterranean with Maritime influence
Degree Days (°C): 1690 (Region III)
Top Varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Chardonnay
Secondary Varieties: Shiraz, Merlot, Malbec

Margaret River stands alongside Coonawarra as one of the country’s premium sources of Cabernet Sauvignon, and has pushed in the last decade to surpass it. According to local folklore, the grape arrived in Western Australia with Thomas Waters and other early European settlers, who picked up pre-phylloxera cuttings on their voyage around the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, and planted vines near Perth. From these original South African cuttings came the “Houghton” selections, first established at the 175-year-old winery of the same name in Swan Valley, which provided the original source material for Cabernet vines in Margaret River. Margaret River’s general climate is Mediterranean—dry summers and rainy winters—and while marginally warmer than Coonawarra or the Médoc, Dr. Gladstones determined that its similarity in climate to Bordeaux held promise for varieties from that region. Cabernet Sauvignon from the red gravelly loam soils of Wilyabrup is the star: in warm vintages they are ripe yet moderate in weight, with bright acidity, dark berry, savory bay leaf herbal flavors and red capsicum notes. South of Wilyabrup, the cooler Wallcliffe often produces more austere and herbal Cabernet Sauvignon wines, but the sub-region excels with Chardonnay. The “Golden Triangle” within Wallcliffe—coined by James Halliday, the Golden Triangle comprises Leeuwin Estate, Cape Mentelle, and Voyager Estate—has been home to top Australian Chardonnay for two decades, and the entire region today delivers inspiring examples. Many of Margaret River’s Chardonnay vineyards are planted with the Gingin clone, a hen-and-chicken Chardonnay clone named after a town north of Perth, but better known as Mendoza elsewhere. While some producers are moving to Bernard (Dijon) clones in Margaret River, Gingin provides the base for the region’s classic style of rich, phenolic wines framed with taut acidity, accented by flavors of peach and lime. New oak is prominent but handled with finesse, and flinty, sulfite-derived character in “Chardy” has become a regional signature.

In the 1980s, all Cabernet was picked at 12.4° Baumé. In the '90s people started to pick on flavor ripeness and wines got bigger, but in the '00s we started to look at the vineyards more, and make wines in a more ‘sympathetic’ way. From the mid-2000s forward, we are starting to see more of the elegance and finesse of great Cabernet coming in, and we have entered an era of more attention to our vineyards and wines.
–Virginia Willcock, Chief Winemaker, Vasse Felix

Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay are the region’s most respected wines internationally, but the engine room of local production is the Sauvignon Blanc-Semillon blend. Varietal Semillon was a regular entry in producer portfolios two decades ago, but today the blend (SBS or SSB) is a much more saleable venture. A wide array of crisp, unoaked wines are available, but the region can also produce high quality, oak-driven wines with Graves-like character, a style introduced by veteran Margaret River winemaker Stuart Pym (Stella Bella) after a season’s stint at Domaine de Chevalier.

The first bottle of red wine commercially
released in Margaret River.

Margaret River joined the winners’ circle of Australian wine regions in fairly short order, whereas the expansive Great Southern GI—another area promoted by Gladstones in 1965—remains emergent, still struggling to carve a cohesive regional identity. In a 1956 report, Professor Harold Olmo (UC Davis) recommended a shift in table wine production from the hotter climate of the Perth Hills to the cooler apple-growing regions of Mount Barker and the Frankland River, which lay inland off the southern coastline of WA. Gladstones’ endorsement followed: “Certainly, this area, lying on the borders of Region I and II (Winkler heat summation zones), would be greatly superior to the Swan Valley for table wine making.” Although the commercial possibilities of the Mount Barker region were explored as early as the 1930s, Olmo and Gladstones amplified enthusiasm for viticulture in the area. Riesling vines at Forest Hill in Mount Barker date to 1965, and respected Houghton’s winemaker Jack Mann, whose career spanned five decades, Great Southern’s first red wine from Forest Hill Cabernet grapes in 1972. In the isolation of Western Australia, he developed some of his own intuitive techniques—Mann crushed his grapes with a butcher’s mincer.

Today, the Great Southern GI includes five official sub-regions: the inland GIs of Mount Barker, Frankland River, and Porongurup; and the coastal GIs of Denmark and Albany. Albany is the site of Western Australia’s oldest permanent settlement and the spot from which Britain formally claimed Western Australia for the crown, on Christmas Day 1826. Climate in Albany and Denmark is strongly influenced by cool ocean breezes moving northward from the Antarctic, and diurnal temperature range is minimal. Both areas produce promising, if not totally evolved, examples of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. In the inland areas of Porongurup and Mount Barker the climate turns more continental, and Riesling and Shiraz are the most dominant varieties. Mount Barker, the Great Southern’s most established sub-region and its center of production, is home to the regional pioneers Forest Hill Vineyard and Plantagenet. Overall, the wine industry in Great Southern continues to grow, but—with over 250 miles separating Albany from Perth—the region remains isolated, a wide expanse of rocky and savage coastline, gum tree forests, rolling hills and pastureland, where grazing animals outnumber persons and the nearest continent is Antarctica.

85% of Western Australia’s vines are located in the South West Australia zone, and the lion’s share is divided amongst Margaret River and Great Southern. Geographe GI is the state’s third-largest appellation (nearly 800 ha of vines in 2019) and another relative newcomer to viticulture—Capel Vale, Geographe’s most important producer today, planted the region’s first vines in 1974. The GI sweeps northward from the Gladstones Line along the seaboard of the bay of the same name—so named in dedication to le Géographe, vessel of the French explorer Nicolas Baudin, who mapped its coastline in 1800. It contains four distinct areas: Donnybrook, Ferguson Valley, Harvey, and the Capel-Busselton coastline. The focus in Geographe has always been on red varieties, with Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon leading the pack, but Semillon-Sauvignon Blanc blends are gaining steam as their popularity inflates next door in Margaret River. Other GIs in the region are younger still, and less tested: Blackwood Valley GI’s first vines were planted in 1976, whereas Pemberton GI—home to some surprisingly good Chardonnay—and Manjimup GI did not see the advent of commercial vineyards until the 1980s.

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Tasmania

Capital: Hobart

Located off the coastline of Victoria, the island state of Tasmania is Australia’s coolest and southernmost wine-producing area. Bartholomew Broughton planted Tasmania’s first commercial vineyard in 1823, predating the vine’s arrival in South Australia and Victoria. With about 1,700 hectares of vines, the state’s wine industry is dwarfed by that of many single regions and most zones on the mainland. Individual, unofficial regions exist on the island, but Tasmania GI is the state’s sole appellation. (One winemaker, Natalie Fryar of the Jansz Wine Company, describes further division as little more than “late night private talk,” as the focus in this tiny state is best kept on “Tassie” itself.) The island can however be broadly divided between its northern and southern sectors. The center of production is the Tamar Valley region in Northern Tasmania, where over one-third of the state’s vines are located, and the most important region in Southern Tasmania is the Coal River area, just north of Hobart. The climate of Northern Tasmania is similar to that of Champagne or the Rheingau, and Southern Tasmania is even cooler, although long sunshine hours during the growing season promote slow, even ripening. Overall, white grapes—Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris, and Riesling—outnumber red plantings by a slim margin, but Pinot Noir is still by far the most planted variety. Overall, the island’s climate is perfectly suited for sparkling winemaking, as finesse, elegance, and acidity are easily maintained. In 2019, Tasmanian producers transformed 71% of the total Chardonnay harvest and 37% of the Pinot Noir fruit into sparkling wines. One in every two bottles from the island is bubbly, and Tasmania’s traditional method sparkling wines are without a doubt Australia’s best efforts in the category. Jansz, a property now owned by Yalumba but founded in the early 1980s as a joint venture between Louis Roederer and Heemskerk Wines, is the eldest commercial producer of sparkling wines and one of the premier wineries in Tasmania.

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Queensland

Capital: Brisbane

Queensland is the least significant state in Australia in terms of wine, and conditions throughout much of it render viticulture improbable. Inland climate turns desert-like west of the Great Dividing Range, and coastal climates shift from subtropical to tropical as one moves north. The summer-dominant rainfall patterns evidenced further south in the wine regions of Hunter and Hastings River intensify in coastal Queensland. To date, Granite Belt GI, a region on the border with New South Wales and adjacent to New England Australia GI, has produced the state’s best wines. Granite Belt is situated in the high country along the Great Dividing Range’s spine, with vineyards planted at 700 meters above sea level and higher. With its altitude, climate becomes continental despite the majority of rainfall occurring during the growing season. The region’s first modern vineyard—one hectare of Shiraz—was planted in 1965, and Shiraz remains its most successful variety. Over two-thirds of plantings are red grapes. The state’s other GI, South Burnett, is the northernmost wine region in Australia, and it experiences a fully subtropical climate. South Burnett was approved in 2001 as Queensland’s first GI, yet the first commercial vineyards in the area were planted as recently as 1993. Producers in the region have had some success with Verdelho, but this is an unequivocally hot and humid region, and challenges for fine wine production are legion. Other unofficial wine regions in Queensland include Darling Downs, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, and the environs of Brisbane, but as of 2013 none meets the minimum level of production required for GI approval. The state of Queensland experienced more rapid wine industry growth than any other in the early 2000s, but it has reversed with the contraction of Australia’s overall wine sector in recent years. While the local market of Brisbane provides a home for the state’s wines and tourists for its cellar doors, any future for the state as an internationally recognized producer of quality wines will be an uphill battle.

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Italy Part II: Central Italy

Jonathan Eichholz — Sat, 28 Feb 2026 16:10:33 GMT

Revision 97 posted to Expert Guides by Jonathan Eichholz on 2/28/2026 4:10:33 PM

The Grapes and Grape Families of Central Italy
Tuscany
Umbria
Emilia-Romagna
The Marche
Lazio
Bibliography

Central Italy comprisesS the heart of the Italian Peninsula, both geographically and historically. Lazio, which houses the capital at Rome, roughly corresponds to the ancient Roman city, while Tuscany equates generally to the older Etruria. Millennia later, Tuscany grew to become a major economic power in Italy, first as the Republics of Florence and Siena and later as the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. Before the Risorgimento, much of the rest of centraI Italy was made up of the Papal States, under direct rule of the pope and the Vatican. This guide will consider five regions as central Italy: Tuscany, Umbria, Emilia-Romagna, the Marche, and Lazio.