Possibly Central Italy's greatest export, Chianti is the region from where the wine is made. It is a light and easy drinking red wine, made primarily from the Sangiovese grape and is famous for its straw enclosed bottle. Pinot Grigio, on the other hand, is a deliciously crisp and refreshing Italian wine and is great for drinking on its own or as a pre-dinner drink. It is the Italian version of Pinot Gris from France and has become so popular in recent years that it is rivalling Chardonnay for the role of number one white grape.
Hidden Secrets
If you fancy getting to know the real Italy, you'd be best to steer clear of the famous names. Italy produces hundreds of different grapes and many of these are native to the country. Yes, you might come across the odd international grape such as Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay or Riesling, but Italian wines are much more about its Nebbiolo, Barbaresco, Montepulciano, Barbera, Trebbiano, Cortese and Verdicchio to name but a few. Work your way through a few of these and you certainly won't be left feeling disappointed!
Diversity and Distinctiveness
There are 20 Italian wine growing regions stretching from the North to the South and with huge variations in the climate and landscape of each, the style of the wines coming out of each region are truly diverse. While no two regions (and, therefore, wines) are the same, it is worth taking the time to discover the exciting and unique delights being produced. If you need a hand to help you get started, you can generally expect Italian wines produced in the North to be lighter and more elegant due to the cooler climate, while those in the South will have richer and fuller flavours.
Eat Like the Italians
Entwined with Italian wine and the country's regions is its cuisine, so it really is no surprise that pasta and tomato based dishes, which are the staple of the Tuscan diet, are a perfect match for a bottle of Chianti for example, while fresh fish from the North East coastal regions taste good with a bottle of Soave from the Veneto region. If you are lucky enough to be visiting Italy, make sure you get under the skin of the country and learn the real way by eating and drinking like the locals. Not only will you save on your pocket but also you'll get a far more authentic experience and undoubtedly you will get to enjoy some of the best Italian wines that you have ever tasted.
This is just a brief introduction to Italian wine.
There are many people who love everything about Italy, the food, the people, the country itself and of course the wines. Italy is considered as a romantic country and their excellent wines only add to that idea. Italian wines are made with passion and sun and that is what you taste. This is a country that produces more wine than any other country in the world and the export is enormous. There are hundreds of types of different Italian wines and that is because each wine area produces a specific kind of grapes and this gives every win a different taste. That is why getting to know the world of Italian wines can be quite complex.
There was a rumor that run for many years and was about a story that Italy kept there best wines for themselves and just exported the more generic ones to other countries. These wines were in fact fine and great wines, they were just not the absolute top. But this was a rumor and Italy is just getting rid of it in the last couple of years. Maybe that is because the times in wine making have changed because of practices and technology and a more global demand for the more exclusive Italian wines.
We can make many nuances in Italian wine but we can also roughly divide them in two different types the table wines and the more exclusive and expensive ones.
Lets start with the table wines
When we think of Italian family life, we think about large families who eat and drink together at long tables in the garden, grandmothers, fathers mothers, little children all together. Big bowls of pasta, and salads and wine lots of wine. These table wines are perfect with a robust meal and you can taste them also in most Italian restaurants. They are not expensive and are perfect for casual gatherings with friends and family. There are red and with table wines and you can serve them in a large glass jug. Most of these wines are fruity and slightly sweet, some are even sparkling and most are light bodied. Chianti is for example a very popular type of table wine, it is very affordable and many people like the taste of it.
And end with the more expensive wines
Italy has an enormous wine selection and a big part of this selection are the more exclusive and expensive wines, the price is a bit higher than the normal prices and that is justified. It all depends on the type of native grapes and the wine region where the exclusivity is based on. For example Tuscan wines are just from the province of Tuscan and no were else in the country, it can also be more specific and be pinpointed to a specific region in Tuscan and the type of grapes used. And because there are over 2,000 types of grapes that are grown all over Italy you can imagine the enormous variety of exclusive wines that are brought to the market. The possibilities are endless and this is the reason why exclusive Italian wines are complex to buy.
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