Venezia DOC: It is a very interesting apellation from Veneto producing red, white, rose’, dessert and sparkling wines. White Grapes are Chardonnay, Friulano, Gewürztraminer, Glera, Manzoni Bianco, Pinot Bianco, Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc, Verduzzo. Red Grapes are Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenère, Malbec, Merlot, Pinot Nero, Raboso, Refosco The Minimum alcohol level is 10.5% for all frizzante, rosato, and sparkling wines; 11.0% for…
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: 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 mergers
The 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
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Valpolicella Ripasso DOC
Valpolicella Ripasso DOC: This is an appellation for only red wines in the region of Veneto. Red Grapes are Corvina, Corvinone and Wine Composition: Rosso (Rd): 45–95% Corvina and/or Corvinone; 5–30% Rondinella; maximum 25% OARG (of which no single variety can exceed 10% and all aromatic varieties combined cannot exceed 10%); Superiore…
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Valpolicella DOC
Valpolicella DOC: This is an appellation for only red wines in the region of Veneto. Red Grapes are Corvina, Corvinone and Wine Composition:Rosso (Rd): 45–95% Corvina and/or Corvinone; 5–30% Rondinella; maximum 25% OARG (of which no single variety can exceed 10% and all aromatic varieties combined cannot exceed 10%); Superiore (Rosso). The Minimum…
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Soave Superiore DOCG
Soave Superiore DOCG: This is an appellation for only white wines in the region of Veneto.White Grape is Garganega and Wine Composition forSu periore (Wh): Minimum 70% Garganega; maximum 30% Trebbiano di Soave and/or Chardonnay; maximum 5% OANWG; Riserva (Superiore). Minimum alcohol level is 12.0% for Superiore; 12.5% for Riserva We…
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Soave DOC
Soave DOC: This is an appellation for only white wines in the region of Veneto.White Grape is Garganega and Wine Composition for Bianco (Wh) is Minimum 70% Garganega; maximum 30% Trebbiano di Soave and/or Chardonnay; maximum 5% OANWG; Spumante (WhSp): Minimum 70% Garganega; maximum 30% Trebbiano di Soave and/or Chardonnay; maximum 5%…
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Riviera del Brenta DOC
Riviera del Brenta DOC:It is an appellation from Veneto producing red, white, rose’, and sparkling wines. White Grapes are Chardonnay, Friulano, Pinot Bianco, Pinot Grigioand Red are Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenère, Merlot, Raboso, Refosco.The Minimum alcohol level is 10.5% for Bianco, Chardonnay frizzante, and Pinot Bianco frizzante; 11.0% for Pinot Bianco tranquillo, Pinot Grigio, Tai, Rosato, Rosso,…
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Recioto di Soave DOCG
Recioto di Soave DOCG: It is a very interesting appellation from Veneto producing red, dessert and sparkling wines. White Grape is Garganega and Wine Composition: Spumante (WhSpSw): Minimum 70% Garganega; maximum 30% Trebbiano di Soave; maximum 5% OAWG;Recioto (WhSw): Minimum 70% Garganega; maximum 30% Trebbiano di Soave; maximum 5% OAWG. The Minimum…
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Recioto di Gambellara DOCG
Recioto di Gambellara DOCG: It is a very interesting appellation from Veneto producing dessert and sparkling wines. White Grape is Garganega and Wine Composition:Spumante (WhSpSw): 100% Garganega; Classico (WhSw): 100% Garganega. The Minimum alcohol level is 11.0% (14.0% potential) for Spumante; 11.3% (14.0% potential) for Classico (the disciplinare says 11.3%, but…
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Recioto della Valpolicella DOCG
Recioto della Valpolicella DOCG: It is a very interesting appellation from Veneto producing red, dessert and sparkling wines. Red Gs are Corvina, Corvinone and Wine Composition:Spumante (RdSpSw): 45–95% Corvina and/or Corvinone; 5–30% Rondinella; maximum 25% OARG (of which no single variety can exceed 10% and all aromatic varieties combined cannot exceed 10%);…
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Piave Malanotte / Malanotte del Piave DOCG
Piave Malanotte / Malanotte del Piave DOCG: This is an appellation for only red wines in the region of Veneto.Red Grape is RabosoStyles and Wine Composition forRosso (Rd) is Minimum 70% Raboso Piave; maximum 30% Raboso Veronese; maximum 5% OARG. The Minimum alcohol level is 12.5% We are working on this…