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Barolo is a red denominazione di origine controllata e garantita (DOCG) wine produced in the northern Italian region of Piedmont. It is made from the nebbiolo grape and is often described as one of Italy's greatest wines.
Nebbiolo is an Italian red wine grape variety predominantly associated with its native Piedmont region, where it makes the Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG) wines of Barolo, Barbaresco, Gattinara, Ghemme, and Roero, together with numerous DOC wines. Nebbiolo is thought to derive its name from the Italian nebbia or Piedmontese nebia, meaning 'fog'. During harvest, which generally takes place late in October, a deep, intense fog sets into the Langhe region where many Nebbiolo vineyards are located. Alternative explanations refer to the fog-like glaucous veil that forms over the berries as they reach maturity, or that perhaps the name is derived instead from the Italian word nobile, meaning 'noble'. Nebbiolo produces lightly-colored red wines which can be highly tannic in youth with scents of tar and roses. As they age, the wines take on a characteristic brick-orange hue at the rim of the glass and mature to reveal other aromas and flavours such as violets, tar, wild herbs, cherries, raspberries, truffles, tobacco, and prunes. Nebbiolo wines can require years of ageing to balance the tannins with other characteristics.
Barbera is a red Italian wine grape variety that, as of 2000, was the third most-planted red grape variety in Italy. It produces good yields and is known for deep color, full body, low tannins and high levels of acidity.
Dolcetto is a black Italian wine grape variety widely grown in the Piedmont region of northwest Italy. The Italian word dolcetto means "little sweet one", but it is not certain that the name originally carried any reference to the grape’s sugar levels: it is possible that it derives from the name of the hills where the vine is cultivated. In any case the wines produced are nearly always dry. They can be tannic and fruity with moderate, or decidedly low, levels of acidity and are typically meant to be consumed within a few years after release.
Grignolino is a red Italian wine grape variety commonly grown in the Piedmont region. It makes light colored wines and rosés with very fruity aromas, strong acidity and tannins. The name Grignolino derives from the word grignole which means "many pips" in the local Piedmontese dialect of the Asti region. The abundance of pips, or seeds, contributes to the strong, bitter tannins associated with the wine. Modern winemakers try to avoid the excess tannins with gentle and slow pressings. Grignolino has three Denominazione di origine controllata (DOCs) that produce wine from it - Asti, Monferrato Casale, and Piemonte Grignolino.
Italian wine is produced in every region of Italy. Italy is the country with the widest variety of indigenous grapevine in the world, with an area of 702,000 hectares under vineyard cultivation, as well as the world's second largest wine producer and the largest exporter as of 2023. Contributing 49.8 million hl of wine in 2022, Italy accounted for over 19.3% of global production, ahead of France (17.7%) and Spain (13.8%); the following year, production decreased by 11.5 million hl, and Italy was surpassed by France. Italian wine is also popular domestically among Italians, who consume a yearly average of 46.8 litres per capita, ranking third in world wine consumption.
Ruché is a red Italian wine grape variety from the Piedmont region. It is largely used in making Ruché di Castagnole Monferrato, a small production red varietal wine which was granted Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOC) status by presidential decree on October 22, 1987, and was granted the more prestigious Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG) status in 2010. The current DOC recognized area of production for the wine covers only about 100 acres of vines around the villages of Castagnole Monferrato, Refrancore, Grana, Montemagno, Viarigi, Scurzolengo and Portacomaro. Ruché di Castagnole Monferrato is, therefore, one of the lowest production varietal wines in Italy. The grape is also grown to some extent in the neighboring province of Alessandria.
Piedmont wine is the range of Italian wines made in the region of Piedmont, in the northwestern corner of Italy. The best-known wines from the region include Barolo and Barbaresco. They are made from the Nebbiolo grape. These wines are ideal for storage and a well-aged Barolo for instance may leave a feeling of drinking velvet because the tannins are polished and integrated more and more into the wine. As the wine matures the colour becomes more brownish and rust-red.
Arneis is a white Italian wine grape variety originating from Piedmont, Italy. It is most commonly found in the hills of the Roero, northwest of Alba, where it is part of the white Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG) wines of Roero. It can also be used to produce DOC wines in Langhe. Arneis is so called because it is regarded as a somewhat difficult variety to grow. It is a crisp and floral varietal, and has been grown for centuries in the region. The white wines made from the Arneis grape tend to be dry and full bodied with notes of pears and apricots.
Uva Rara is a red Italian wine grape variety that is grown in the Piedmont and Lombardy wine regions of northern Italy. The grape is a permitted blending variety along with Nebbiolo in the Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG) wines of Ghemme. In the Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOC) wine region of Oltrepò Pavese the grape is often blended with Barbera and Croatina. While Uva Rara's name means "rare grape" in Italian, the variety is actually widely planted with 608 hectares of the vine recorded in Italy in 2000.
Gaja is an Italian wine producer from the Piemonte region in the district of Langhe, chiefly producing a number of Barbaresco and Barolo wines, and later diversified into Brunello di Montalcino and "Super Tuscan" production. Its current owner and president Angelo Gaja is credited with developing techniques that have revolutionised winemaking in Italy, and terms such as "the undisputed king of Barbaresco", and "the man who dragged Piedmont into the modern world" have been applied to him, and whose Barbaresco wine is considered a status symbol on a par with Château Lafite Rothschild or Champagne Krug.
Incrocio Manzoni or Manzoni grapes is a family of grape varieties named after Professor Luigi Manzoni (1888-1968) of Italy's oldest school of oenology located in Conegliano, in the Veneto region. Manzoni created the new grape varieties by selecting, crossing and grafting vines from various vineyards during the 1920s and 1930s. The family includes both white and red grape varieties. Although most Manzonis are grown in northeastern Italy, they are mainly grown in the Piave area of Province of Treviso and are only now starting to be sold commercially in Europe and the United States.
Rossola nera is a red Italian wine grape variety that has been growing in the Valtellina region of Lombardy since at least the 17th century. In 2004 DNA profiling determined that the grape has a parent-offspring relationship with the Piedmont wine grape Nebbiolo though which variety is the parent and which is the offspring is not yet clear. However, most ampelographers believe that Nebbiolo is likely the parent variety since written records in Piedmont have noted Nebbiolo being grown since at least the 13th century.
Douce noir is a red Savoyard wine grape variety that has historically been grown in the Savoy region, but today is more widely planted in Argentina.
Plassa is a red Italian wine grape variety that is grown in the Piedmont wine region of northwest Italy where it was once historically used as a table grape but now is almost always used for winemaking. Here the grape is most often used as a minor blending component adding tannins to wines made from Barbera, Neretta Cuneese, Grisa nera and Chatus.
Valentino nero is a red Italian wine grape variety that is grown in the Piedmont wine region of northwest Italy but was initially bred at the Conegliano research center in the Veneto. In 1936, its creator, Giovanni Dalmasso, stated that the grape was a crossing of two Vitis vinifera Piedmontese varieties, Nebbiolo and Dolcetto, but DNA profiling in 2009 showed that the French wine grape Chatus and Dolcetto were the parent vines.
Avanà is a red Italian wine grape variety that is grown in the Piedmont wine region of northwest Italy. Historically, the grape has also been grown in the Dauphiné and Savoie wine region of eastern France where it was known as Hibou noir and in the Valais region of Switzerland. The grape is most often used as a blending variety in the Denominazione di origine controllata (DOC) zones of Pinerolese, with Barbera, Persan, Freisa and Neretta Cuneese, and Valsusa, with Barbera, Dolcetto, Neretta Cuneese and other local red Piemontese varieties.
Avarengo is a red Italian wine grape variety that is grown in the Piedmont wine region of northwest Italy where it is a permitted blending component in the Denominazione di origine controllata (DOC) wines of Pinerolese. Here the grape is usually blended with Avanà, Neretta Cuneese and other local red Piemontese varieties.
Barbera del Sannio is a red Italian wine grape variety that is grown in the Campania region of southern Italy. Despite the similarities in name and appearance, the grape has no close genetic relationship with the Piedmont wine grapes Barbera or Barbera bianca or the Sardinian wine grape Barbera Sarda and is, instead, more closely related to the Campanian varieties Casavecchia and Catalanesca and the Apulian grape Nero di Troia.
Bianchetta Trevigiana is a white Italian wine grape variety that is grown in the Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol and Veneto wine regions of northeast Italy. Here the grape is rarely used a varietal but, instead, is a permitted blending grape adding acidity to the wines of several Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOC) zones including the sparkling wine Prosecco and has also been used for vermouth production. The name Trevigiana is derived from the province of Treviso where the grape is believed to have originated from.
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 J. Robinson, J. Harding and J. Vouillamoz Wine Grapes - A complete guide to 1,368 vine varieties, including their origins and flavours pp. 24, 86, 232. Allen Lane 2012 ISBN 978-1-846-14446-2
- ↑ Vitis International Variety Catalogue (VIVC) Albarossa Archived 2016-01-11 at the Wayback Machine Accessed: 30 December 2012.