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 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-
Bramaterra DOC
Bramaterra DOC: This red wine is produced in the Northern part of Piedmont in the Novara province. It is made with min 50% Nebbiolo, Croatina (max 30%), and Vespolina and/ora Uva Rara (max 20%). It can also include other autorized red varieties. We are working on this Bramaterra 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 And Taste La Dolce Vita by Tony Margiotta Additionally,…
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Brachetto d’Acqui / Acqui DOCG
Brachetto d’Acqui / Acqui DOCG: This is a very interesting red wine, very aromatic, which must have at least 97% Bracchetto grape. It can be produced in 3 styles: still, sparkling and passito. We are working on this Brachetto d’Acqui / Acqui 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 To Find Top-Class Italian Wines At Value Prices And Taste La Dolce Vita by Tony Margiotta Additionally, you can discover the other wines…
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Boca DOC
Boca DOC: This red wine is produced in the Northern part of Piedmont in the Novara province. It is made with min 70% Nebbiolo, and Vespolina and/ora Uva Rara (min 10%-max 30%) We are working on this Boca 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 And Taste La Dolce Vita by Tony Margiotta Additionally, you can discover the other wines from Piedmont.
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Barolo DOCG
Barolo DOCG is one of the most important Italian wine appellations and this wine is considered one of the best and most representative red wines, together with Barbaresco and Brunello (3 Bs). It is a red wine made with 100% Nebbiolo, and it is produced in 11 Municipalities. It must be subjected to a minimum aging period of 38 months of which 18 in wood, while the Riserva version ages 62 months of which 18 in wood. We are working on this Barolo 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…
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Barbera del Monferrato Superiore DOCG
Barbera del Monferrato Superiore DOCG: This red wine is min 85% Barbera and it can include Freisa, and/or Grignolino, and/or Dolcetto for a max of 15%. It is at least 13 percent alcohol by volume, and must be aged for at least 14 months before release. A minimum of six months of this maturation period must be spent in oak barrels. We are working on this Barbera del Monferrato Superiore 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…
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Barbera del Monferrato DOC
Barbera del Monferrato DOC: This red wine is min 85% Barbera and it can include Freisa, and/or Grignolino, and/or Dolcetto for a max of 15%. Monferrato is a larger area than Alba. We are working on this Barbera del Monferrato 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 And Taste La Dolce Vita by Tony Margiotta Additionally, you can discover the other wines from Piedmont.
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Barbera d’Asti DOCG
Barbera d’Asti DOCG: Asti is a great area for wine in Piedmont especially known for the sparkling wines. The rule here ask for at least 90% Barbera in the bottle. We are working on this Barbera d’Asti 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 To Find Top-Class Italian Wines At Value Prices And Taste La Dolce Vita by Tony Margiotta Additionally, you can discover the other wines from Piedmont.
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Barbera d’Alba DOC
Barbera d’Alba DOC: Alba is an inconic comune in Piedmont and in its territory there are many appellation. This is a red wine made with min. 85% Barbera and 15% Nebbiolo. We are working on this Barbera d’Alba 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 And Taste La Dolce Vita by Tony Margiotta Additionally, you can discover the other wines from Piedmont.
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Barbaresco DOCG
Barbaresco DOCG It is considered one of the most important wines in Piedmont. Often “compaired” with Barolo as they come from close reas and they are both red wines made with 100% Nebbiolo. We are working on this Barbaresco 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 To Find Top-Class Italian Wines At Value Prices And Taste La Dolce Vita by Tony Margiotta Additionally, you can discover the other wines from Piedmont.
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Asti DOCG
Asti DOCG It is the historical sparkling area of Piedmont. The wine is 100% Moscato Bianco. The production method is very particular: they don’t do the second fermentation in the bottle like Metodo Classico (or Champagne), neither in tanks like for Prosecco. As a matter of fact, they don’t do the second fermentation at all! They keep the must chilled and when it is time to produce the wine, they put the must in the tanks for just one fermentation and they bottled afterwards. We are working on this Asti 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…
