Foundation Flashcards
How did the Estruscans help Italy’s viticulture and wine history?
- Taught local tribes wine growing, winemaking, and preservation techniques
- Alberata/Maritata all’Albero using trees to train vines. Allowed poly-crop planting training systems
- Developed wine trade and exportation
How did the Greeks help Italy’s viticulture and wine history?
- “Oenotria” - southern wine region
- Alberello low-head training techniques
- Turned wine into essential commodity
How did the Romans help Italy’s viticulture and wine history?
- Improved & refined Estrucan & Greek techniques
- Popularized and spread vine crops through parts of Europe (Spain, Rhône, Rhine)
- Made Italy center for wine production & trade
How did conquering tribes in Italy influence wine regions?
-Viticulture and wine culture declined:
-Lombards: controlled northern regions, some central & southern
-Eastern Roman Empire- central and Papal States
-Sicily- Arab & Norman rule
How did the Dark Ages impact Italy’s wine industry?
-Wine production significantly dropped
-Trade became dangerous
-Wine culture was saved by monasteries
How did the discovery of the Americas impact Italys wine regions?
Mediterranean trade routes lost importance and decreased Italy’s economic and social development
What was instrumental to Italys unification in 1861?
House of Savoy/Duchy of Savoy obtained Sardegna. Because Kingdon of Sardegna
-Kingdom of Sardegna + Resurgimento led to unification
How did phylloxera shape Italy’s wine regions?
-Destroyed and replanted considerable international varieties
-Many indigenous varieties were lost completely
What were the major 20th century events that shaped Italy’s modern wine industry?
-1950s/1960s: consumer class demand for wine
-1963 DOC created to regulate & protect wine industry
-Abolition of “mezzadria” share-cropping
Give the structure of European Union wine laws 
(Bottom to top)
Generic
Generic w/ grape and/or vintage
PGI (with geographical indication)
PDO (with geographical indication)
Italian Wine Laws structure
(Bottom to top)
Vino- Generic
Vino- Generic w/ grape and/or vintage
PGI/IGP (traditionally IGT)
PDO- DOC or DOP
PDO - DOCG
DOC labeling requirements
-PDO
-From delimited geographical area
-Follow discipliaire, less stringent than DOCG
-Lab tested
-Blue fascetta/sigillo (seal) optional
-332 (+/-) DOCs
DOCG Labeling requirements
PDO, highest classification
-Delimited geographical area, usually smaller than DOC
-Stringent discipliaire production requirements including type, production cycle, variety, yield, min potential alcohol, final alcohol & aging
-Laboratory tested + blind tasting
-Gold fascetta/sigillo (seal)
-Min 10 years as DOC
74 DOCGs
IGT Labeling requirements
-Middle quality
-Defined by area made, usually large province(s) or region(s)
- 85% of grapes from stated region
-85% of production from stated region
-Can state IGP (EU term) or IGT (It. Term)
-118 IGTs
What information can be on a vini Label? What varieties are allowed?
Vini = Generic wine.
-Country of origin
-Can be labeled by color, variety (85% min) variety (85%)
-7 permitted varieties: Cab Franc, Cab Sauv, Cabernet (CS + CF) Merlot, Syrah, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc
DOC/DOCG Regulations
-Labeling terms
-Grape variety
-Geographical boundaries
-Viticulture practices:
planting density, pruning/training, max yields, min ripeness aka potential alcohol)
-Winemaking practices:
Min final alcohol, oak and/or bottle ageing
-Chemical-physical parameters (acidity, sugar)
-Organoleptic parameters (color, aroma, flavor)
Sottozona requirements
Sub-zones within in a DOCG or DOC
-Special climate, topography, soils OR historical tie
-labels can list subzone and/or subzone and grape
What is a consorzio?
Voluntary association of producers, merchants and cooperatives that represent interests of wine district or sub region
-Create disciplinaire
-legally regulated
What is the Disciplinare di Produzione?
Legal document defining IGT, DOC, and DOCG growing and production rules
EU Mandatory Labeling Terms
- Name of Appellation
- Name of quality designation (eg DOC)
- Country of origin
- Vintage (harvest year)
- Name and location of bottler
- Batch indication
- Alcohol level
- Volume of liquid e 
What part of Europe is Italy located in?
Southern
What is the topography of Italy?
35% Mountains: Alps and Apennine’s
42% Hills: Prealps; Central and southern along Apenine
Volcanic, sedimentary, morainic
23% Plains: Padana (Po Valley), Tavoliere d’elle Puglie (Puglia)
Seas: Mediterranean - Adriatic, Ionian, Tyrrhenian, Liguarian
Rivers, lakes
How do Italian mountain ranges effect climate?
-Extends the growing season. One of the latest harvest times in Europe
-Helps maintain acidity
-Helps maintain aroma
How do seas effect Italy’s climate?
-Mediterranean provides warmth and humidity
-Tyrrhenian is deep and large and exerts more moderating influence on Western Italy
What are the sedimentary areas of Italy and how did they form?
Sediment: formed through accumulation and cémentation
Alluvial (rivers) - gravel & sand : Padana Plain
Marine - limestone, calcaereous, dolomite: Alp regions - Langhe, Valpolicella, Collio, Colli, Conegliano, Valdobbiadene, Chianti, Montalcino
Define orogenesis
Formation of mountain ranges.
-Created sedimentary soils
Define moraine and where they are found
Sediment that was transported by a glacier; creates a mound
-Northern Piemonte, Franciacorta, Valtellina, Lake Garda
How is metamorphic rock formed and where is it found?
Sedimentary or igneous Rock exposed to high temperatures and pressure which changes rock structure
-Commonly found in mountainous regions - Sardegna, Calabrian, northeast Sicily and Alps
What are the volcanic areas of Italy?
Sardegna,
Alps
Veneto prealps
Toscana
Lazio
Basilicata
Campania
How is Italy divided politically?
5 autonomous: Valle d’Aosta, Trentino-Alto Adige, Friuli VG, Sicily, and Sardinia, following historical lines
Regions > Provinces (provinci) >Municiplaties (comum)
How did the mezzadria system impact Italy’s wine development?
Mezza- half of the profit of rented farm land went to the owner
-Dominant system of crop growing in Italys development
-While it was legal, quantity and multiple crops were the focus, not quality
-Little money to invest in equipment or method advancements
-After abolished, focus on higher quality clones and vines
Define alberata system and where it is used.
Tying a vine to a tree (vine married to a tree)
-This method transferred to pergola:
-Trentino Alto Adige
-veneto
-Romagna
And Tendone in southern regions
How are Italy’s native grape varieties important to the wine industry?
-Native varieties represent 1/4 of worlds cultivated grape varieties
-Give grape growers unique, non-replicable wines
-Most are late-ripening and need warm conditions
What events led to the planting of international varieties in Italy?
-French and German cuttings brought in 19th century: Pinot, Chardonnay, Cabernet Franc, Merlot
-After phylloxera outbreak (early 20th cent), grafted onto French varieties and indigenous varieties not replanted
-1970s - 1990s; Pinto Grigio, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and rise of super Tuscans
What are the most widely planted varieties overall and where are they grown?
- Sangiovese: Tuscany, Romagna, elsewhere
- Montepulciano: Abruzzo
- Catarratto Blanco: Sicily
- Merlot: Veneto, n/e Italy
- Trebbiano: Tuscany
Other reds: Barbera, Nero d’Avola
Other whites: Chardonnay (for sparkling), Glera, Pinot Grigio
100 varieties widely cultivated
List the common sparkling winemaking techniques
-Tank: Metodo Martinotti
-Traditional: aka Metodo Classico or Talento
-Frizzante: fizzy, 1 - 2.5atm
-Regional methods: Franciacorta, Trento - strict yield and lees aging requirements
-Ancestral: Rifermentazione naturale in bottiglia