Italy Flashcards
List the 4 seas surrounding Italy
Tyrrhenian
Adriatic
Ligurian
Mediterranean
What wine was created by Antinori in 1971 that broke away from the DOC regulations and what wine inspired this creation?
- Tignanello was made by Antinori and was inspired by Sassicaia. Sassiciaia was a cab sauv. and personal project of Mario Incisa della Rocchetta.
What chain of Mountains run the length of the Peninsula?
Apennines Mountain
What is the lead grape variety of Italy?
Sangiovese
What are the lead 2 white grapes of Italy?
Trebbiano Toscano (Ugno Blanc) and Pinot Grigio
List the 8 leading red grape varieties of italy.
- Sangiovese
- Montepulciano
- Merlot
- Barera
- Nero d’Avola
- Cabernet Sauvignon
- Primitivo
- Negroamaro
List the 7 leading white grape varieties of italy.
- Trebbiano Toscano
- Pinot Grigio
- Catarratto
- Chardonnay
- Glera
- Garganega
- Moscato Biano
List the 4 quality designations of wine in increasing quality.
- Vino ( basic table wine)
- Indicazione geografica tipica (IGT)
- Denominazione di origine controllata (DOC)
- Denominazione di origine controllatta e garantita (DOCG)
What 2 categories fall under the PDO designations?
DOC & DOCG
What does the term “Classico” indicate within the PDO category of Italian wine?
term indicates a central or historic subzone within a larger geographic region. Oftern the original center of wine production in the area and is often considered to be superior to the surrounding areas.
What does the term “Superiore” indicate within the PDO category of Italian wine?
term indicates a wine that has a specific higher level of alcohol by volume than required of the corresponding normale wine. These wines are usuallu produced using a lower yield of grapes per acre or riper grapes.
What does the term “Riserva” indicate within the PDO category of Italian wine?
term is applied to wines that have been aged for a longer minimum period of time than regular wines. The total aging time varies according to the type and style of wine.
What does the term “Bianco” mean?
White
What does the term “Dolce” mean
Sweet
What does the term “frizzante” mean?
Slightly sparklling
What does the term “grappa” mean?
A spirit distilled from pomace
What does the term “liquoroso” mean?
Fortified
What does the term “Piccolo”
Literally, small
- a wine bottle holding 187.5 Ml
What is Pomace?
The residue left after grapes are pressed, consisting of skins, seeds, stems, and other solids.
What is Recioto?
a style of sweet wine made from dried grapes.
What is Ripasso?
a style of wine made from combining the pomace left over from the production of Amarone or Recioto with a batch of freshly fermented wine.
What is Rosato?
Italian for Rose
What is Rosso?
Italian for Red
What is Secco
Italian for “dry”
What is Spumante?
Italian for fully sparkling
What is Vendemmia?
Italian for the grape harvest
What is Abboccato?
Italian for slightly sweet
What is Amabile?
Literally translates as “friendly.” It refers to a wine that is a little sweeter than abboccato.
What is Amaro?
- “Bitter” also refers collectively to italian-made liqueurs that are aromatic, bittersweet, and herbal.
- Aperitif
- Most amari are made from lightly fortified wine infused with botanicals like quinine bark, wormwood, rhubarb, ginger root, cardomom, gentian, and all manner of spices.
What does Annata mean?
Vintage; year or year of the harvest.
What is Apassimento?
the process of dehydrating harvested grapes by spreading out the clusters on straw mats or shelving or hanging them up in special cool drying rooms. The process raisinates the grapes and concentrates the sugars in them.
What is a “Botte”?
A cask or barrel
What is a “Cantina”
a wine cellar or winery
What is a “Casa Vinicola”
a wine firm, usually making wine from wine or grapes it has purchased; as opposed to grapes grown on its own estate.
Who developed the charmat method?
In 1895 by Italy;s Federico Martinotti
The process is sometimes called “Charmat-Martinotti”
What is “Chiartetto”?
a very light red or even rose wine.
What is “Fattoria”?
a Tuscan term for a farm or wine estate.
What is “Gran Selezione”
The Italian term for the highest quality category in Chianti Classico. The wine must be made from estate-grown grapes and aged at least 30 months before it is sold.
What is “Grappa”?
a clear Italian brandy (Eau-De-Vie) made by distilling the pomace left over after grapes or MUST are pressed. A somewhat more superior designation, grappa di monovitigno, is a grappa from a signle grape variety.
What is “imbottigliato All’Origine”
“Bottled at the source” - the term may only be used by estates that produce and bottle the wine on the property where the grapes were grown.
What does “nero” mean?
“black”, said of dark red grapes and wines
What is Passito?
The gerneal term for wines made from grapes that have been intentionally dried or partially dried by laying out the clusters on straw mats or hanging them up in special drying rooms.
*Passito wines have undergone the process of appassimento**
What is Recioto?
a term which, when used with the name of a wine, indicates that the style of wine will be sweet.
