Foundations Flashcards
Indigenous tribes of Italy
Rhaeti - NW
Salassi - NW
Liguir - NE
Veneti - NE
Piceni - Central
Samnites - South
Contribution of the Etruscans
Taught tribes how to
- Grow vines
- Make wine
- Preserve wine
- High training - prototype for modern trellising
- Trade with France and Spain
What did the Romans name the South Italian territories?
Magna Graeci (Great Greece)
Contributions from the Greeks
- Brought new grape varieties ef Muscat Blanc a Petit Grains (Moscato)
- Innovative viticulture and wine making techniques
- low trianed vines
Contribution of the Romans?
- Refined vine training and prunning methods
- Mathcing soils with grape varieites
Columella
1st introduced the concept of terroir by recommending ideal soils for certain areas / grape varieties
1st Grand Crus of the Roman Empire
Caecubum - Lazio
Falernum - Campania
Mamerinum - Sicilia
Wine style prefered by Romans
Sweet & Alcoholic
Diluted with water, flavored and stabilized with salt water, resin, herbsd, spices and honey
Under Augustus
Wines in N Italy gained esteem
- Rhaeticum (Retico) - Veneto near Verona
- Pucinum - Friuli Venezia Giula
Italy became a major center for production and trade of wine via road networks
Under Domitian
Vineyards replacing wheat fields led to overproduction of wine and scarcity of wheat
Domitian issued an edict 92 AD forbidding the planting of new vines in Italy
Fall of Rome
Splite into Byzantine Rome in the East under Constantine 330AB
Capital of West moved to Milan, then Ravenna
5th century Goths and Vandals led to fall of Rome in 476 AD
Middle Ages
Use of wooden barrels becomes widespread (not airtight so quality declined)
Justinian defeates Ostrogoths, but left country weakedn, which was exploited by Lombards who divided the kingdom into several duschies to maintain military dominance
Franks rose to defend the Papal territories against the Lombards in 756. Charlemange defended them again in 774 taking land from Lombards. After his death it set the stage for city-states
The Papal State
Lazio
Marche
Umbria
part of Emilia-Romagna
Middel Ages (cont)
9th - Arabs take Sicilia
11th c - Normas beat Arabs, control S Italy
Comuni developed around major towns evolving to city-states
Metayage & Mezzadri - sharecropping
Comuni - decreased in favor of Signoria (lordship) eg Medici - Firenze Sforza - Milano, Gonzaga - Mantova implementing duties, tolls, tax with different currencies making trade impossible
S Italy - Normans replaced by Crown of Aragon - divided into Kingdom of Napoli then Sicilia
Pier de Crescenzi (14th c)
Wrote 1st imporant doc on wine
Mezzadria
Landowner leased farmland to those who would work it
Owner to 50% of annual crop - made wine
Farmers used for food
Focus on quantity not quality
More prominent in the North and Central Italy
No dedicated vineyards
Abolised in 1960s
13th c - 16th c AD
Italian Renaissance - cultural advancement
Italy still weak politically and militarily - became a major battleground
Spanish - obtained control of a large part of Italy
- *French** - retained dominance over Piemonte
- *Venezia** and Papal States remained independent
Discovery of America
Started deep economic crisis in Italy as Mediterranean trade routes lost importance
Particularly severe in the south
17th/18th c AD
Austrian Habsburg Empire took control from Spain over large parts of the north
Spain retained Napoli and Sicilia
No incentive to improve or innovate, with no export market and few traveling (cork and glass, both common in 17th and 18th centuries didn’t take hold in Italy until 19th century)
Winter Freeze of 1709
Destroyed vines all over Europe into Northern Italy
Encouraged growers to replant cold-resistant grapes varieties -usually lesser quality
1720s
Duchy of Savoy obtained Sardegna through agreement with the Austrian Habsburg Empire and became Kingdom of Sardegna – a crucial step towards the process of Italian unification
1800s
Napoleon had taken control of a large part of northern and central Italy
1814-1815 Congress of Vienna restored Italy’s prior political structure, leaving the country largely under the hegemony of the Austrian Habsburg Empire
il Risorgimento (the Resurgence) lead to unification under the Kingdom of Sardegna’s leader King Vittorio Emanuele II de Savoia and General Guiseppe Garibaldi (who defeated Austrians in 1859)
Wine 1800s
Many of the most famous wine regions adopted their contemporary styles / blending formulas
Enological schools were established, including:
Enological School of Conegliano in Veneto
Agrarian Institute of San Michele all’Adige in Trentino
Enological School of Alba in Piemonte
Italian Unification
The united Kingdom of Italy was declared on March 17, 1861 but did not yet include all.
Veneto and part of Friuli Venezia Giulia were incorporated in 1866
Roma and Papal States annexed in 1870
Trentino, Alto Adige and part of Friuli Venezia Giulia remained independent (until 1915 - WWI)
Challenge was to “make Italians” out of different people, cultures, languages and laws
Phylloxera strikes
First noticed in Lombardia in 1875
Resulted in the replanting of considerable quantity of international varieties, particularly in the northeast
Many indigenous varieties never replanted and were lost forever
Oidium and peronospora also a problem
1900s
WWI led to annexation of Trentino, Alto Adige and remaining part of Friuli Venezia Giulia
Destruction and poverty led to political, social and economic crisis
Enter fascism, which led to dictatorship
Italy became a republic after WWII
Economic and industrial boom gave rise to a consumer class
1960s
First DOC - 1966 - Vernaccia di San Gimignano
Intense experimentation:
Single vineyard wines in Barolo
Sassicaia
Mezzadria abolished
Mario Schiopetto experiment in Friuli with modern winemaking techniques
Clonal selection research increased
EU Wine Laws
meant to align EU standards with those already adopted by WTO and to make label nomenclature more uniform
PDO
Produced from grapes grown in the stated geographical area
Entire production process must take place within the boundaries
DOCGs
Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita
Wine undergoes lab analysis and blind tasting
Each bottle carries a golden seal label (fascetta or sigillo) with a unique alphanumeric code (used to be different colors based on style of wine)
Must have been DOC for at least 10 years
As of 2015 - 74 DOCGs
DOC
Tested for adherence to precise chemical and organoleptic standards
Carry a blue seal label (fascetta or sigillo) with unique alphanumeric code – optional to use serial number instead
As of 2015 - 332 DOCs
New DOCs and DOCGs
must gain approval from Italian government, and since 2012, also from EU
Sottozona
Sub-zone
Typically have more stringent production rules
E.g. Classico
May be linked to a particular grape
Friuli Colli Orientali Ribolla Gialla di Rosazzo DOC
Friuli Colli Orientali is DOC
Ribolla Gialla is the grape
Rosazzo is the sub-zone
Menzione Geografica Aggiuntiva (MGA or MeGA)
Specific delimited vineyard area
Smaller, owned by fewer producers than sub-zones
Somewhat analogous to “cru”
PGI/IGP/IGT
Wines can show grape variety and vintage on label
85% rule (for location)
production process must take place within geographical boundaries
As of 2015 - total of 118
Vini
Vini da Tavola - traditional name now completely replaced and cannot be used
Can be labeled as Wine with an indication of color
OR
Wine with the grape variety and/or vintage (85% rule), but only 7 grapes allowed to appear on label:
Cab Franc, Cab Sav, Merlot, Chard, SB, Syrah and Cabernet (a blend of the 2 cabs)
Disciplinare di Produzione
the official legal document behind each DOCG, DOC and IGT
Formalizes the designations and terms that can be used on labels, grapes grown, geographical boundaries, viticultural and winemaking practices
Also contains the chemical-physical and organoleptic parameters
Consorzio
Voluntary association formed by producers, merchants and cooperatives
Regulated by law and tasked with protecting, promoting and developing the reputation and interest of the DOC/G
Testing is now entrusted to a third party
Equivalent to Comite Interprofessionnei in France and Consejo Regulador in Spain
Italian Wine Labels
MUST appear:
- Name of appellation
- Name of traditional quality designation (DOCG, DOC, IGT)
- Country of origin
- Vintage
- Name and location of bottler (importer may also be required)
- Indication of the batch
- Actual alcoholic strength
- Nominal volume of wine
- Sulfite warning
- Health warning (if required)
Abboccato
medium-dry wine (max 1.2% or 12g/l sugar)
Amabile
medium-sweet wine (max 4.5% or 45g/L sugar)
Annata
Vintage
Bianco
White Wine
Chiaretto
Rose wine made in a specific DOC
Classico
wine produced from the original historic winegrowing area of a DOCG / DOC
Dolce
a sweet wine (more than 4.5% or 45g/L sugar)
Fermo
a still wine
Imbottigliato all’origine
Estate bottled
Liquoroso
a fortified wine
Novello
a wine released shortly after it is made; similar in concept to Beaujolais Nouveau; by law, must include at least 40% wine made from carbonic or semi-carbonic maceration (some appellations require a higher percentage)
Passito
Wine made from semi-dried grapes
Riserva
a wine that went through an extended period of ageing before release; may also have stricter production requirements
Rosato
rose wine
Rosso
red wine