Italy and its Winemaking Heritage

by Michael Gallagher April 27, 2018

Italy, home to some of the oldest wine- producing regions in the world have enormous popularity for their broad varieties. Italy, with France closely behind produces the worlds largest volume of wine to date. Italy ranks 5th on the worldwide consumption list. Grapes can be found in every region with more than 1 million vineyards under cultivation. Super Tuscans, what I believe to be some of the best overall wines, are home to some of the world’s most notable wine regions, Chianti, Brunello di Montalcino, and Vino Nobile di Montepulcino, which are mostly made with Sangiovese grapes, whereas the Vernaccia grape is the basis of the white Vernaccia di San Gimignano. Located in Central Italy of Tuscany along the Tyrrhenian coast, there is much to be said of just how amazing these wines have been throughout history. Tuscany has 33 Denominazioni di origine controllata (DOC) and 11 Denominazioni di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG). In the 70’s, the great Super Tuscan emerged being produced outside DOC/DOCG regulations but were still considered high quality wines which inevitably commanded high prices. Many of these wine became “Cult Wines” which are basically dedicated groups of enthusiasts who will pay large amounts of money in order to obtain. California’s Screaming Eagle and Australia’s Penfold’s Grange are a couple examples of cult wines. In the reformation of the Italian classification system, a majority or the earliest Super Tuscans are now under the application of DOC or DOCG, however some producers still prefer the original classification ranking and use of Indicazione Geografica Tipica (IGT) classification of Toscana. Today you will find 5 sub-categories of IGT wines available in the market.