Displaying items by tag: Italian wine education

Glera is the principal grape of Prosecco sparkling wine. Originally the grape was known as Prosecco (more precisely Prosecco Tondo). The variety has an unclear origin and an even more complicated ampelographic history due to the fact that several distinct varieties have been called “Prosecco-something” in northeast Italy since the 18th century. The grape is late-ripening and prone to both fungal diseases and water stress. It is widely planted in the province of Treviso.

The grape varieties of Veneto 

Veneto’s grape varieties are almost equally divided between white and red. More than 60% of the cultivated varieties are native or Italian grapes. Among them, the indigenous Glera, Garganega and Corvina Veronese account for almost half of Veneto’s total plantings.

Today, Veneto represents Italy’s most productive wine region and accounts for 25% of Italy’s total DOC/G wine production.

Friuli Grave DOC

Friuli Grave was previously called Grave del Friuli but is often simply referred to as Grave. This is the largest DOC, both in terms of area under vine and in production. It accounts for more than one-third of Friuli’s total wine production.

A number of Friuli’s native varieties were rescued from the brink of disappearance. Let us introduce you to Vitovska and Pignolo.

Vitovska: The name of this white grape variety is of clear Slavic origin, but it is generally considered to be a native variety of both eastern Friuli and Slovenia, as it was historically only cultivated in Carso (in the province of Trieste) and in Slovenia.

With a treasure trove of native white varieties, Friuli Venezia Giulia makes some of Italy’s most exciting white wines.
Friuli Venezia Giulia is considered the birthplace of modern Italian white winemaking. In the late 1960s, a small group of inspired producers began crafting clean, fresh and fruity white wines—a monumental shift from the tired, oxidized versions that had been largely produced prior.

Emilia-Romagna’s Romagna Albana DOCG holds the claim to that distinction. This was Emilia-Romagna’s first DOCG, and more controversially, Italy’s first white DOCG.

Ancient Romans often drank wine at the end of the meal by passing around a “gutturnium” (a 2 liter silver jug). Emilia-Romagna’s Gutturnio DOC takes its name from a jug found along the Po River in 1878.