Wine History
For the perfect fusion of food, wine and culture, there is simply nowhere like Italy. It’s no surprise that wine tours in Italy have grown tremendously in popularity. Beyond wine country there is so much more: the canals of Venice, the leaning tower of Pisa, the Roman Coliseum, the halls of the Vatican or sunny Mediterranean beaches. Every corner of Italy is steeped in history and rich in the treasures of the past, but alive with cutting edge style.
A wine getaway in Italy means experiencing la dolce vita – the sweet life.
History of Italian wine
With a wine history dating back more than 4,000 years and a climate ideally suited to viticulture, Italy is one of the most diverse wine-making countries in the world. By the time the Greeks first came to southern Italy, wine had long been a part of everyday life. Grapes were so easily cultivated they named the country Oenotria, meaning the land of wine.
The Etruscans, followed by the Romans, took a great interest in wine-making skills. The Roman god Bacchus and the wild festivals that celebrated him, Bacchanalia, got so out of hand that they were eventually banned by the Roman Senate.
Italy continued to refine wine-making techniques throughout the middle ages, firmly cementing an international reputation for making a wide variety of excellent wines.
Today, Italian wines are more varied and more popular than ever. An astonishing range of red, white and sparkling wines made in every style from traditional to ultra-modern are enjoyed by critics, collectors and consumers throughout the world. Italy’s wine future is just as bright as its storied past.
Calabria and wine
The Wines Of Calabria
At the “toe” of Italy’s peninsula lies the mountainous Calabria region. Calabria’s viticulture is dominated by two grape varieties, the red Gaglioppo and the white Greco.
However, wines made from these grapes of Greek origin can vary greatly in style from one vineyard to another, and many other grapes are used in smaller quantities to impart different characteristics to the wines.
Calabria is a region of contrast, from the cool Sila and Aspromonte massifs to the warmer hills of the coast there are significant variations in temperature and weather conditions, creating many different microclimates for wine production.
The region’s versatility is demonstrated by Calabria’s 9 DOC and 10 IGT appellations.
Curiosity
The "amphorae"
Originally, there was no wine without an amphora: in terracotta containers, called "qvevri", wines were born, refined and transported from one side of the sea to the other.
A story that dates back to the age of Magna Grecia, when man used terracotta for storing wine. The amphorae came with the Greeks and it was the Etruscans who spread them in Italy.
Why? Simple, wine and terracotta was the perfect combination, the easiest natural method to adopt; the extraordinary ability of thermal insulation of terracotta allowed a perfect conservation of the wine thanks to the chemical-physical characteristics of the material
