Italy has been producing wine for hundreds of years. In Italy, wine is a part of gastronomie, culture, and the economy. Almost every region in Italy makes some type of wine. Italy is known best for the following wines:
- Sturdy, full bodied red wine. Made in Toscana from the Sangiovese grape.
- Simple, soft fruity, red wine from Veneto. Best drunk young and slightly chilled, from Morvina and Corvina grapes.
- Simple, dry, crisp. A firm, well balanced wine with a hint of floweriness in its bouquet. Made from Trebbiano and Garganza grapes in Veneto.
- A simple full-bodied wine ranging in color from pale straw to copper. Made from Pinot Gris grapes in Trentino - alto adige region.
- A sparkling white wine, sometimes sweet, sometimes dry.
Two regions in Italy which produce very different types of wine are Veneto and Toscana.
In the Veneto region, the featured wines include Soave, Valpolicella, and Custoza. Veneto is the third largest wine producing region in Italy. Only Pulgia and Sicilia produce more. The varying climate provides possibilities to grow many different varieties of grapes. The Veneto region began only with the production of white grapes and white wine. Later the cultivation of red wine became more important. Italians in this region are well educated and cultured. Both white and red wines are important to these people. Soave and Valpolicella have become very popular exports. The European Community has put production quotas on the amount of production regions aere allowed to produce. This has somewhat decreased production, however, the quality of the wine remains the same. Due to the climate, land, grapes, technical advances, and people within the Veneto region, wine production has been very successful in this area.
The history of Tuscan wine production dates back to Roman times. Poems and tales which mention wine have been found in the region which date back to the 16th and 17th centuries. The most famous of these tales is "Bacco in Toscana" which explains in detail the wines of Toscana. In 1716 Cosimo III de Medici decreed which wines would be produced in Toscana. These included Chianti, Carmignano, Pomino, and Valdaino di Sopra. Later, production was expanded to Sangiovese, Canaiolo, Malvasia, and Trebbiano. In Toscana, a wealthy region, most of the production was done by the nobility. In the 1970's, a crisis errupted concerning wine production in Toscana. The wine did not pass quality tests. The Toscana wine industry has improved over the past two decades. Currently, the quality of these wines is in the medium range. This quality continues to improve.
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