Preparing to visit Italy a few years ago, I read a 300-page book on its wines and jotted down the name of every wine I read about. When I got there I found a hundred wines I’d never heard of.
Wine authors say Italy has 350 wine varieties. Giant wineries produce millions of bottles a year. Small personal vineyards grace every home garden. Aging barrels lurk in every home cellar. Every wine lover has his or her own recipe, and of course it is the best.
Altogether Italy pumps out 2.7 million gallons a year of wine, the most of any European country, according to the California-based Wine Institute.
Let’s take a tour of some of Italy’s wine regions to see how they do it.
EASTERN VENETO
Drive west an hour from Venice and you’re in Italy’s northeastern Veneto wine region, bordered by the Dolomite mountains and the Adriatic Sea. The region’s green rolling hills are the home of prosecco, the soft and trendy sparkling wine that always floods the Venice Film Festival. Glera is the grape of prosecco, but the wine is named for a small village outside Trieste.
— Nonvintage Torresella Prosecco Extra Dry, DOC Veneto (glera): Lots of soft, fizzy bubbles, subtle aromas and flavors of lemons and limes, hint of sweetness; $14. (Recommended)
ALTO ADIGE
At the top of Italy, just below Austria, Alto Adige is the home of a wine that’s very popular in the United States — pinot grigio. It also grows 19 other wine grapes on steep hillsides with stunning views of the snow-capped Dolomite Mountains that are part of the Alps. It stands between mountains that protect it from cold northern winds and the friendly breezes of the Adriatic Sea.
— 2014 Kettmeir Pinot Grigio, Alto Adige (pinot grigio): floral aromas, flavors of ripe golden delicious apples, light and lively; $20. (Highly recommended)
— 2014 Kettmeir Pinot Bianco, Alto Adige (pinot bianco): floral aromas, flavors of tart green pears and minerals, crisp; $20. (Recommended)
— 2014 Kettmeir Müller-Thurgau, Alto Adige (müller-thurgau): aromas of white flowers, spicy apricot flavors, full-bodied; $20. (Recommended)
TUSCANY
One of the world’s finest wine regions, this 8,900 square-mile area is located in central Italy between the once-warring city states of Florence and Sienna. Wine subregions include Chianti, a large region south of Florence; Chianti Classico, a smaller region within Chianti and Maremma, a large region bordering the Mediterranean Sea in southwest Tuscany. Tuscany’s wine history goes back 3,000 years to when ancient Etruscans settled here. Chianti makes its famous wine largely from the sangiovese grape. The Chianti Classico area is reputed to have better conditions, better grapes, better wines. Maremma calls itself Tuscany’s “Wild West,” with horses and long-horned cattle, and says its seaside location gives its wine a pleasant salty tang.
— 2014 Fattoria Sardi Rosato (Rosé), IGT Tuscany: (sangiovese, merlot, ciliegiolo, syrah): pale, transparent rose hue, dry, light and crisp, intensely fruity, with tart strawberry aromas and flavors; $20. (Highly recommended)
— 2014 Fattoria Sardi Vermentino DOC Colline Lucchesi (vermentino): floral aromas, pale green hue, flavors of green pears, lemons and cinnamon; $15. (Recommended)
Chianti Classico (Tuscany)
— 2011 Lamole di Lamole Chianti Classico “Blue Label,” DOCG Tuscany (sangiovese, cabernet sauvignon, merlot): deep red hue, hint of oak, aromas and flavors of black raspberries and spice, full-bodied and powerful; $19. (Recommended)
— 2011 Lamole di Lamole Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG (sangiovese, canaiolo): deep red hue, hint of oak, hearty flavors of tart cherries and cinnamon, muscular tannins and acids, age-worthy; $20. (Highly recommended)
Maremma (Tuscany)
— 2012 Sassoregale Sangiovese DOCG Tuscan Maremma (sangiovese): intense aromas and flavors of black cherries and spice, hearty and smooth, long finish; $18. (Highly recommended)
SICILY
Italy’s southernmost wine region set in the Mediterranean Sea a half-hour ferry ride from the mainland, Sicily is blessed by plenty of rain and sunshine. You may have seen the Corleone Family harvesting grapes here in the “Godfather” films. Once something of a backwater, the island today has some of Italy’s most cutting-edge wineries.
— 2013 Feudo Zirtari Bianco, IGT Sicilia (inzolia and chardonnay) floral aromas, intensely fruity flavors of tart peaches, full-bodied, crisp; $12. (Recommended)
— 2013 Feudo Zirtari Rosso, IGT Sicilia (nero d’avola, syrah): deep red hue, aromas and flavors of black plums and cloves, full-bodied; $12. (Recommended)
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(Fred Tasker has retired from the Miami Herald but is still writing about wine. He can be reached at fredtaskerwine@gmail.com.)
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