Northern Italian Wines - Cheat Sheet

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

Italy is a patchwork of small regions and producers.  There is an amazing wealth in terms of varietals and styles.  The three most important regions of Northern Italy are TreVenezia (really three small regions combined), Piedmont and Tuscany.

First, a little introduction to the laws and regulations of Italian wines - they are a bit confusing....  Italian wines are all about regional names, similar to France.  Much like you have Burgundy, Bordeaux, etc. you have Chianti, Barolo, etc. in Italy.  A caveat though, you also will get varietal names like Sangiovese and Nebbiolo when you are buying the entry-level wines and then there are some exceptions like Montepulciano d’Abruzzo (Montepulciano grape of Abruzzo).

Italian wines are also labeled using the Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOCG) system (similar to French AOC).  It is is the modern legislation governing Italian wine production since 1963.  There are several levels of classification in increasing order of pedigree:  Vino da Tavola (VdT or table wine); Indicazione Geografica Tipica (IGT or typical geographic indication); Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOC or controlled origin); and Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG or controlled and guaranteed origin).  It is important to note that there are some brilliant wines, like Super-Tuscans, that do not follow the strict regulations of the DOCG system (often include outside varietals such as Cabernet Sauvignon) and so are considered table wines even though they command prices in the hundreds of dollars.

There are a ton of varietals in Italy, so I will highlight the ones I think are important for Northern Italian wines, it would be impossible to cover the probably more than 800 distinct varieties of grapes in Italy in just 2 tastings.

TreVenezia - Veneto, Trentino-Alto Adige & Friuli-Venezia Giulia

Friuli-Venezia Giulia

This region is the in the far northeast, has been influenced by many different forces - slavic, germanic and italian.  Indeed, until WWII, it wasn’t officially a part of Italy!  The region is enclosed by the Carnic and Julian Alps to the north and the east - which separate it from Slovenia and Austria.  The other main dominating feature of the geography is the Adriatic Sea.  The proximity provides temperature moderation and cooling breezes.  Vineyards planted in the limestone hills of the collio produce the most intriguing wines.  This region pioneered the usage of stainless-steel tanks and temperature-controlled fermentation.  The white wines do not undergo malo-lactic fermentation, so they produce crisp, bright, fruity wines.  The main white wine grapes are tocai friulano, pinot grigio, ribolla gialla, sauvignon blanc, pinot bianco and picolit.  Red wines, though not as renowned, are also produced usually from merlot, cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon, and refosco.

Trentino-Alto Adige

To the north and west is the mountainous region of Trentino-Alto Adige or Tyrol.  This region is quite Germanic and in many ways it still feels like it is a part of Austria.  The signature wines are crisp and aromatic whites - think gewurztraminer, muller-thurgau, etc.  Everything is more extreme here - cooler, higher, rockier.  The wines taste like bright green apples and are accompanied by a range of aromas - from flinty, mineral to tropical fruits.  Pinot grigio is the most common varietal.

Veneto

The Veneto region produces both red and white wines as well as the sparkler - Prosecco.  The vineyards are inland, close to Verona.  The region has been battling an image of quantity over quality for some time, especially with regards to Soave.  Soave is made principally from the Garganega grape - which matures later in the season, which works, since the climate is actually quite hot.  The vineyards are planted in mineral-rich, balsatic rock.  In an effort to combat mass-production issues, the original Soave zone is now known as Soave.   The wines are somewhat aromatic with a flinty, appely edge.  Red wine is defined by Valpolicella, which is north of Verona on mountainous ridges containing lots of marble known as rosso veronese.  Valpolicella is made from corvina,a dark, thin-skinned grape with nice firm tannins and a rich, smoky, red-cherry scent.  Another grape that is commonly used is Rondinella which is more aromatic. Two special wines of the region are the sweet Recioto and rich and intense Amarone.  They are produced through the process of appasiamento - grapes are left to dry and lose 30% of water weight.

Piedmont

Piedmont is located in the northwest of Italy.  It is surrounded by mountains - the Maritime Alps shut it off from France and the Swiss Alps cap the region in the north. It was part of the Duchy of Savoy for a long time and so has ties to both Italy and France, though it was one of the first regions of Italy to join the nascent country in the 1860s.   There are several extremely famous regions, specifically, Barolo and Barbaresco of the Langhe hills in the southeast which flank the Po river, however there are many interesting, lesser-known wine regions as well.

All of the vineyards are planted in limestone rich soils at high altitudes.  Despite the relatively cool, damp climate, white wines are not king, though they are tasty.  Roero arneis is the most interesting white producing fruit driven wines with grapefruit and floral aromas. Gavi is another white varietal.  The red varietals produce wines with aromas of truffles, mushrooms, hazelnuts, coffee. Really,  red wines are the king!  South of the Po River, the nebbiolo grape shares the langhe and monferrato hills with plump and purple dolcetto and the super-prolific barbera, along with a bunch of others.  As compared to nebbiolo, barbera and dolcetto are more fun and accessible.  Dolcetto, or little sweet one, is all soft tannins and plump grapey fruit.  Barbera has  aromas of violets and black fruits and licorice and even coffee.  The varietal is all about acidity and so has a more sour, spicy red fruit character as compared to dolcetto.

Nebbiolo comes from the Italian word nebbia, which means fog, and refers to the damp conditions the wines are produced in.  Nebbiolo is behind the most elegant wines with aromas of light red fruit, tar, leather, truffles and spice.  It is also ridiculously tannic and so needs time to age before consumption.  The vineyards of Piedmont are all about subtlety, especially when it comes to the famous Barolo and Barbaresco.   Barbaresco is slightly cooler climate, feminine and produces finer wines. Barolo is more brawny  and produces intense, masculine wines.  Both are amazing regions for world-class wines.

Tuscany

If Piedmont is Italy’s Burgundy, Tuscany is Italy’s Bordeaux.  The most famous and recognized region of Tuscany is Chianti (including Chianti Classico).  It has been a delimited wine region since the 1700s.  During the last century, however, it became known for mass-quantity, cheap wine.  This was a result of a geographical expansion of the region, bad blending rules and large-scale plantings.  Today, the superior wines come from the smaller region of Chianti Classico.  There are 7 sub-regions within Chianti, including Rufina.  In response to the bad situation, some vintners created super-tuscans - which are wines outside of regulations.  These include Sassicaia, Solaia, Ornellaia, and Tignanello.  Others worked on upgrading the winemaking process, regulations and raw ingredients - better standards, better clones, and controlled temperature fermentation in stainless steel.  As a result there has been much improvement in the last few decades.  Beyond Chianti, there are two other main regions - Brunello di Montalcino and Vino Nobile de Montepulciano.

There are really only two grapes in Tuscany - white trebbiano and red sangiovese.  Sangiovese has lots of sub-varieties which fall into two basic categories - sangiovese grosso which has large berries (brunello) and sangiovese with small berries.  Grosso’s thicker skins are what give brunellos a more tannic bite and ability to age.  From the schist-like soil, wines exhibiting aromas of cherry with a foresty, smoky edge emerge.  Sangiovese is a very vigorous grape that is difficult to get fully ripe - which is why old-style chiantis were such acidic messes.

Brunello di Montalcino, which was unknown until the 1970’s, has a dryer, hotter, more mediterranean environment.  The soils are different as well with more limestone and sand - they are perhaps superior.  Due to the climate, the harvest is early and the wines are bigger, blacker and more tannic.  Vino Nobile de Montepulciano is the last of the big three and it tends to be forgotten.  As a result, the wines are often a good deal.  The wines have softer tannins and broader, less acidic profiles.