Italy Flashcards
When does Italian winemaking date back to? Who is responsible for bringing viticulture, and where did they take it next?
At least to the 8th century BCE with both phoenician influence in central Italy in the Etruscan period, and Greek influence in the Greek colonies, which covered much of southern Italy.
It’s likely that it was the Etruscans who exported wine culture to Mediterranean France from 6th century BCE onwards.
By what time has it been documented that wine culture is well established?
By the time of Pliny the Elder (died 79 CE), wine culture was well established in Italy, and Pliny even writes about the fame of individual vintages.
What did the expansion of Rome allow for? Which Italian wines were the most prestigious around this point in history? Where else was making wine at this time?
Allowed for a large domestic market for wine and, with the expansion of Roman empire into the Mediterranean, made the transport of wine in amphorae possible to Gaul (the area which today includes modern day France) and Spain.
The most prestigious wines came from modern day Lazio and northern Campania (though wine was being made and consumed throughout the rest of the Italian peninsula, and were commented on in writing from the time of Emperor August 31BCE - 14CE).
What did the end of the Roman empire mean for wine?
In the 5th century CE, wine consumption continued as part of the Mediterranean diet of grain, olives and wine but the market of fine wine and exports came to a halt.
At what point in history did fine wine trading and exports return to Italian culture?
11th-14th century CE, with the cities of Genoa and Venice becoming trading centres for Europe as a whole, which as a result made them become trading centres for wine.
What happened in Florence thar contributed to the growth of wine?
It became the banking capital of Europe, with families such as the Antinori’s, who made their fortune in banking then reinvested it into land and wine production.
Similarly, the Frescobaldi family made money as traders and then became important land owners and wine producers.
Both families are still major players in wine production today.
What structural change took place in the 13th century onwards that differentiated viticulture to other types of farming? How does this work?
Wine became an important cash crop, when much of Italy was farmed on a sharecropping basis.
Land owners typically took half the produce of the land with peasants keeping the other half to live on and, occasionally, to sell.
Most of this wine was consumed locally, but a proportion was exported to other parts of Europe via boat, as land travel was difficult.
When was the first known mention of Italian varieties as we know them today?
Some (eg, Barbera and Trebbiano) are mentioned in books from the 14th century.
The first full treatment of Italian varieties was written by the Renaissance botanist Andrea Bacci in the late 16th century.
What is known about wine from the 16th-19th century?
Very little about the quality, though exports appear to have reduced.
When did the modern period of Italian winemaking begin?
The 19th century, when styles we know today began to be established. Eg, Chianti became a wine predominantly based on Sangiovese only at the end of the 18th century.
International varieties arrived in North East Italy at the beginning of the 20th century, after phylloxera.
What two events set the scene for the contemporary period?
The unification of Italy in 1861 and the economic boom after the second World War.
What style of wine was the emphasis on after the Second World War? When did this begin to change?
In the decades after, high yields and volume production.
The last 3 decades of the 20th century saw the general standard of Italian wines develop from simple wine for locals or inexpensive wine for exporting to compete on the competitive international market.
The most important innovations were the use of stainless steel tanks and temperature control for whites in Friuli in the 1960s, and the success of red Bordeaux blends in Tuscany from the 70s, raising the ambition of all winemaking in Italy.
What have the last two decades seen for Italian wine?
A renewed emphasis on quality wines from the abundant local varieties, alongside the great commercial success of Pinot Grigio and Prosecco.
