Southern Italian Wines - Cheat Sheet

Lessons learned or everything you need to know about Northern Italian Wines (to sound like a wine geek!)

Overall, southern Italy is experiencing some of the same, broad changes as those of the north – namely an evolution from a bulk or industrial wine industry to a boutique or artisanal wine industry. The south has generally lagged the north. Only recently has modernization begun to take hold…

Le Marche and Abruzzo – Coming Out of Isolation

Le Marche is located in the center of Italy, on its eastern edge. It has a long, Adriatic coastline in close proximity to the Apennine mountain range, divided between river valleys. The climate is moderated due to the maritime influence. The soil is full of limestone and mineral-rich clay. Both literally and figuratively, le Marche is somewhere in between the north and south - it has wines that straddle the divide. It produces both floral aromatic whites, like verdicchio, and soft, rich reds like montepulciano.

Verdicchio is the main white varietal of the region. It is late-ripening and a unique varietal-characteristic. It has scents of pine nuts, resin, herbs and pears with a lot of acidity. A specific sub-region, Castelli di Jesi, produces great wines. Its location in the foothills is ideal, with a long and dry growing season. Le Marche was not immune to the cooperative movement of the 50s and 60s. It too went down the road of mass-production - verdicchio was their answer to wines such as pinot grigio and soave. Much like those wines, it has benefited from modern technology - steel tank, controlled temperature fermentation - and modern quality sensibilities. Vintners now, on average, produce a clean, delicate, acidic wine.

Abruzzo is located just south of le Marche and has the highest point in the Apennine mountain range - the Gran Sasso d’Italia or “great rock of Italy”. This is not green, lush land, but a barren, rocky region. Nowhere is more dominated by the mountains, than Abruzzo and the distance between mountains and sea is very short. Indeed, the mountains effectively walled off this region from the rest of Italy until the introduction of the autostrada. Though they have been affective at producing fine bottlings of wine, this is a region still dominated by mass-market impetus.

The montepulciano grape produces soft, generous wines that are the antitheses of the landscape. The best come from the northern section of the region. The soils are a mix of iron-rich wine and limestone. The climate is cool and dry due to the sea and the higher elevations. The wine is deeply colored, with naturally sweet tannins and low acidity - fruity softness. Inky-purple in color and syrupy in texture, with scents of black berries and a touch of earthy funk.

Campania and Puglia – A Return to a Storied Past

The wines of Campania, historically, have been great, however, since the Italian unification; they have lost ground to the noble wines of the north, like Barolo, etc. This region produces a wide array of white and red wines, indeed it produces a tremendous amount, but only 7% is classified as DOC. This region is also a major agricultural player - the name is derived from Latin - Campania Felix - or “lucky country”. This area has been producing wine for a very long time - the Greeks probably brought the varietal greco di tufo to Italy around 500 BC.

There are three main white varietals - greco di tufo, falanghina and fiano. They are all light, delicate, aromatic and acidic wines. Greco is the fruitiest and is usually planted in the volcanic soils in the hills near Avellino. Fiano is more savory - tasting of pine nuts and herbs. And then Falanghina has some of the pine essence of the fiano and the juiciness of the greco. It is grown along Amalfi coast and is usually blended.

The main red varietal is Aglianico and it recalls the faded elegance of Naples. It traditionally comes from the sub-region of Taurasi, but is produced throughout Campania as a whole. It is known to have an aggressively tannic structure along with a tarry spiciness. There is a lot of limestone in Taurasi and it gives a mineral structure to these brooding wines.

Located in the heel of Italy’s “boot”, Puglia is too all about agriculture. It has iron-rich soils, in a rich fertile plain. The region is known for its red wines - particularly primitivo, a precursor to zinfandel, and negroamaro. Negroamaro is a thick-skinned, deep-colored grape producing tannic wines. It is age-worthy given its structure, flavor concentration and tannins. Primitivo is its opposite. It is soft and generous and able to be quaffed young. It is produced in a sweet, syrupy, oaky-style that is very popular with Americans.

Sicily and Sardinia – Islands Apart

Sicily is a large island in the south of Italy – it is so large that it has a range of climates - from searing Mediterranean (thanks to the North-African wind, Scirocco) to mountain snow. It is yet another agricultural powerhouse. Sicily is really most famous as the producer of Marsala wine - a fortified wine created to survive the long journey to Britain during the War of the Spanish Succession. Another feature of Sicily is its latifondo and cantina movements - both land redistribution schemes to rectify the very unequal treatment of peasants (as compared to the north). This created an environment for large cooperatives, mass-market wine, and lots of Marsala. Unfortunately, Marsala became less popular in the last century and the wine industry tanked. Slowly, in the 1990s, smaller producers have come back, making lovely red and white wines.

Red wines have been doing especially well in Sicily, particularly those produced from the nero d’avola varietal. It has a dark, tarry, chocolately undertone with lovely black fruit and violet aromas. The tannic structure gives it aging potential.

Marsala actually is derived from the Arab phrase “marsah-el-Allah” or “port of god”. It is characterized by color, age and sweetness. It can be either oro (gold), ambra (amber), or rubino (ruby). It has age-designations similar to Sherry - fine are the simplest and aged one year; superior are aged two; and vergine or solera are the most complex and aged three years. Finally, marsala can be dry or sweet. It has caramel tones, along with nuts, orange and spice.

Sardinia is the other large island of Italy. It is set apart, a bit foreign and different from the rest of the country. It is also affected by the Scirocco and has the intense Mediterranean climate akin to Sicily. The main red varietal is cannonau, a version of Grenache and the main white is vermentino. Cannonau is a dark wine, with savory, earthy flavors of tar and tobacco along with a touch of red fruit. Generally, the best vineyards are located in the foothills on the eastern coast.