WINE
Learn about Italian Wines!
This page is an essential guide to Italian Wines and collects all the articles about wines, appellations, and grape varieties. Italian Wines are classified into 526 Denominations, spread in 20 regions: 75 DOCGs, 333 DOCs, and 118 IGPs. Everybody has heard of Barolo, Brunello, Chianti, and Amarone. If you are an intermediate taster, you may know about Cortese, Vermentino, Aglianico, maybe Orvieto, and Verdicchio.
But who knows about Vitoska, Vespolina, Biancolella, and Tintilia? You will, if you want, by reading this guide.
Facts and figures
-- The Italian wine scene is composed of about 310,000 farms, an average of 2 hectares cultivated per farm, and just over 45,000 wine-making companies -- AGEA (Agency for Agriculture Subsidy) data: in 2015, 76% of the wineries produced less than 100 hectoliters of wine per year, 17% between 101 and 1,000 hectoliters, 5% between 1,001 and 10,000 hectoliters, and 1% between 10,001 and 100,000 hectoliters -- This confirms the tendency towards fragmentation and the prevalence of small and medium-sized entities -- The vast majority comes from the larger companies: in 2015, 77.5% was produced by companies that vinified more than 10,001 hectoliters per year -- Three fundamental categories:Â Family-run wineries, widespread in the areas with the greatest winemaking traditions; Cooperatives, that cover 60% of wine production in Italy; Large estates and industries, historic Tuscan, Venetian, and Piedmontese wine families, grown considerably through acquisitions and mergersThe Essential Guide to Italian Wines
You will see the most recent articles on the top of the page. However, you can find the topic that you would like to learn about by:
--> using the search tool --> using the tags: they are by region, by type, and by grape variety-
Circeo DOC
Circeo DOC: It is a very interesting appellation from Lazio producing red, white, rose’, and sparkling wines. White Grape is Trebbiano. Red Grape Varieties are Merlot, Sangiovese. Bianco (Wh, WhFr): Minimum 55% Trebbiano Toscano; maximum 30% Chardonnay; maximum 30% Malvasia; maximum 15% OAWG; Trebbiano (Wh): Minimum 85% Trebbiano + OAG; Novello (Rosso); Riserva (Rosso); Spumante (WhSp): Minimum 55% Trebbiano; maximum 30% Chardonnay; maximum 30% Malvasia; maximum 15% OAWG; The Minimum alcohol level is 11.0% for Bianco, Rosato, and Novello; 11.5% for varietals and Spumante; 12.0% for Rosso; 12.5% for Riserva We are working on this Circeo DOC appellation description.Please come back soon.Send us an e-mail if you are looking for…
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Cesanese di Olevano Romano / Olevano Romano DOC
Cesanese di Olevano Romano / Olevano Romano DOC: This is an appellation for only red wines in the region of Lazio.Red Grape is Cesanese. Rosso (Rd, RdSw, RdFrSw): Minimum 85% Cesanese (Comune and/or di Affile) + OARG; Superiore (Rosso);Riserva (Rosso). The Minimum alcohol level is 9.0% for Rosso dolce and Rosso dolce frizzante; 11.0% for Rosso amabile; 12.0% for Rosso; 12.5% for Superiore; 13.0% for Riserva We are working on this Cesanese di Olevano Romano / Olevano Romano DOC appellation description.Please come back soon.Send us an e-mail if you are looking for more info atcheers@drinkitalian.com In the meantime, if you are in the mood for a good book, you can…
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Cesanese di Affile / Affile DOC
Cesanese di Affile / Affile DOC: This is an appellation for only red wines in the region of Lazio. Red Grape is Cesanese. Rosso (Rd, RdSw): Minimum 90% Cesanese di Affile + OARG. Riserva (Rosso) The Minimum alcohol level is 9.0% for Rosso dolce; 12.5% for Rosso secco; 13.0% for Riserva We are working on this Cesanese di Affile / Affile DOC appellation description.Please come back soon.Send us an e-mail if you are looking for more info atcheers@drinkitalian.com In the meantime, if you are in the mood for a good book, you can try:– The Modern History of Italian Wine by Walter Filipputti– Hidden Gems of Italy: An Insider’s Secret Formula To Find Top-Class…
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Cesanese del Piglio / Piglio DOCG
Cesanese del Piglio / Piglio DOCG: This is an appellation for only red wines in the region of Lazio. Red Grape is Cesanese. Rosso (Rd): Minimum 90% Cesanese (Comune and/or di Affile) + OAG;Superiore (Rosso); Superiore Riserva (Rosso); The Minimum alcohol level is 12.0% for Rosso; 13.0% for Superiore; 14.0% for Superiore Riserva We are working on this Cesanese del Piglio / Piglio DOCG appellation description.Please come back soon.Send us an e-mail if you are looking for more info atcheers@drinkitalian.com In the meantime, if you are in the mood for a good book, you can try:– The Modern History of Italian Wine by Walter Filipputti– Hidden Gems of Italy: An Insider’s Secret Formula…
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Cerveteri DOC
Cerveteri DOC: It is a very interesting appellation from Lazio producing red, white, rose’ wines. White Grape isTrebbiano and Grapes are Montepulciano, Sangiovese. Bianco (Wh, WhFr, WhSw): Minimum 50% Trebbiano Toscano (locally Procanico); maximum 35% Malvasia; maximum 15% OAWG; Trebbiano (Wh): Minimum 85% Trebbiano + OAWG; Rosato (Ro, RoFr): Not specified in disciplinare, but presumably same as Rosso; Rosso (Rd, RdSw): Minimum 60% Montepulciano and/or Sangiovese (minimum 25% of each); maximum 35% Merlot; maximum 15% OARG. The Minimum alcohol level is 11.0% for Bianco, Rosato, and Rosso amabile; 11.5% for Trebbiano and Rosso secco We are working on this Cerveteri DOC appellation description.Please come back soon.Send us an e-mail if you…
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Castelli Romani DOC
Castelli Romani DOC: It is a very interesting appellation from Lazio producing red, white, rose’ wines.White Grapes are Malvasia, Trebbiano and Red are Cesanese, Merlot, Montepulciano, Nero Buono, Sangiovese. Bianco (Wh, WhFr, WhSw): Minimum 70% Malvasia Bianca di Candia, Malvasia del Lazio (locally Malvasia Puntinata), and/or Trebbiano (di Soave, Giallo, or Toscano) + OAWG; Rosato (Ro, RoFr, RoSw): Any proportions of Cesanese, Malvasia, Merlot, Montepulciano, Nero Buono, Sangiovese, and/or Trebbiano; Rosso (Rd, RdFr, RdSw): Minimum 85% Cesanese, Merlot, Montepulciano, Nero Buono, and/or Sangiovese + OARG; Novello (Rosso). The Minimum alcohol level is10.5% for Bianco and Rosato; 11.0% for Rosso We are working on this Castelli Romani DOC appellation description.Please come back soon.Send us…
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Cannellino di Frascati DOCG
Cannellino di Frascati DOCG: This is an appellation for only white wines in the region of Lazio. White Grape is Malvasia. Vendemmia Tardiva (WhSw): Minimum 70% Malvasia Bianca di Candia and/or Malvasia del Lazio (locally Malvasia Puntinata); maximum 30% Bellone, Bombino Bianco, Greco, and/or Trebbiano; maximum 15% OAWG; The Minimum alcohol level is Approx. 10.0% (12.5% potential) We are working on this Cannellino di Frascati DOCG appellation description.Please come back soon.Send us an e-mail if you are looking for more info atcheers@drinkitalian.com In the meantime, if you are in the mood for a good book, you can try:– The Modern History of Italian Wine by Walter Filipputti– Hidden Gems of Italy: An Insider’s…
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Bianco Capena DOC
Bianco Capena DOC: This is an appellation for only white wines in the region of Lazio. White Grape Varieties are Malvasia, Trebbiano. Bianco (Wh): Minimum 25% Trebbiano; maximum 55% Malvasia; maximum 20% Bellone and/or Bombino Bianco; Superiore (Bianco). The Minimum alcohol level is 11.0% for Bianco; 12.0% for Superiore We are working on this Bianco Capena DOC appellation description.Please come back soon.Send us an e-mail if you are looking for more info atcheers@drinkitalian.com In the meantime, if you are in the mood for a good book, you can try:– The Modern History of Italian Wine by Walter Filipputti– Hidden Gems of Italy: An Insider’s Secret Formula To Find Top-Class Italian Wines At Value Prices…
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Atina DOC
Atina DOC: It is a very interesting apellation from Lazio producing red, white wines. White Grape is Semillonand red Grapes are Cabernet Franc, Cabernet SauvignonSémillon (Wh): Minimum 85% Sémillon + OAWG; Rosso (Rd): Minimum 50% Cabernet Sauvignon; minimum 10% Cabernet Franc; minimum 10% Merlot; minimum 10% Syrah; maximum 20% OANRG; Cabernet (Rd): Minimum 85% Cabernet Franc and/or Cabernet Sauvignon + OARG; Riserva (Rosso, Cabernet). The Minimum alcohol level is 11.0% for Sémillon; 12.0% for Rosso and Cabernet; 12.0% for Riserva We are working on this Atina DOC appellation description.Please come back soon.Send us an e-mail if you are looking for more info atcheers@drinkitalian.com In the meantime, if you are in the mood…
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Aprilia DOC
Aprilia DOC: It is a very interesting apellation from Lazio producing red, white, rose’ wines.White Grape is Trebbiano and Red Grape Varieties are Merlot, Sangiovese. Bianco (Wh): Minimum 50% Trebbiano Toscano; 5–35% Chardonnay; maximum 15% OAWG; Rosato (Ro): Minimum 50% Sangiovese; 5–25% Cabernet Sauvignon; 5–25% Merlot; maximum 15% OARG; Rosso (Rd): Minimum 50% Sangiovese; 5–25% Cabernet Sauvignon; 5–25% Merlot; maximum 15% OARG; Merlot (Rd): Minimum 85% Merlot + OARG. The Minimum alcohol level is 11.0% for Bianco; 11.5% for Rosato; 12.0% for Rosso and Merlot We are working on this Aprilia DOC appellation description.Please come back soon.Send us an e-mail if you are looking for more info atcheers@drinkitalian.com In the meantime, if…
