Some History on Wine in Italy

Italians have been proudly growing grapes to harvest for wine for over two-thousand years! In the second century BC. Romans used their intelligence to their advantage and began developing their own vineyards to produce wine using advanced storage techniques like barrel-making and bottling.

Today, grapes are grown on over 1 million vineyards in Italy, with most of the wines being produced in wineries to increase production. Wines created in Italy "tend to be acidic, dry, light-to-medium bodied, and subdued in flavor and aroma". I was surprised to find that because of these characteristics Italian wine is preferred to be companied with food, rather than drink it on its own. I am really looking forward to going to this wine bar in Trastevere and seeing if they serve an aperitivo (appetizer) with a glass of wine.

There are four main categories of wine under Italy's classification system, with two in the EU category and two in the 'table wine' category. The EU category refers to the quality wine of produced in specific regions. Under the EU category are Denominazione di Orginie Controllata (DOC) and Denominazione di Orginie Controllata e Garantita (DOCG). These zones define specific regions and grapes that have been tested for quality. Under the 'table wine' category are Vino da Travola and Indicazione Geografica Tipica, which define wines from Italy and wines from specific regions in Italy respectfully.

As one is probably aware there are many varieties of wines in Italy, from rosso (red) to bianco (white) to super tuscans for which I will save for another blog.

Reference: "Italian Wine." Wikipedia. 20 May 2008. 21 May 2008 .