May 4, 2004

Off the Vine

Wines lie at the heart of Italy

Lorn Razzano

When I was a young man in the Italian wine industry everything was done by tradition. I was constantly reminded that "grandpa did it this way" whenever we handled the grapes or fermented the juice. It seems odd to me that at the same time in the 1960s other industries were throwing off tradition such as the automotive, furniture and fashion industries.

In the United States, the wine industry was taking hold of the clean wine sciences of the University of California at Davis and innovative pioneers like Joe Heitz and Robert Mondavi in the Napa Valley were making lovely wines using stainless steel and controlling as many of the winemaking variables that they could. In Italy I was still throwing hunks of ice in old wooden fermenters to slow down the hot fermentations and scooping yellow jackets from open fermenters with nets!

In the 1960s and 1970s it was a real risk to buy many Italian white wines due to the oxidation found in many of them. Italian reds were very woody and acidic and in hot climates such as southern Italy many of the wines were all juicy and high alcohol with very little backbone. There were exceptions in Italy but the rule was that nothing would change; tradition was king.

Things began to change in Italy by the late 1970s and nobody looked back.

With the passing of the older generation, the sons and daughters began to look around and take stock. The first thing that they did was to leave the insulated provence of their forefathers and attend symposiums, travel to far lands and invite new thinkers to the old wineries. In the old days wine information was a closely guarded secret. Very little was exchanged between winemakers from village to village and very few people left their own region for advice or consultation.

Information and education saved the Italian wine industry in a big way. Change began in the vineyards. Where grandpa wanted seven tons of grape per acre the youngsters found that by exact vineyard management and dropping to three tons per acre one sacrificed quantity for quality.

Closed fermenters with temperature controlled devices soon replaced the stinky old fermenters of the past. The day of the wicker basket Chianti was fast coming to an end.

I read not long ago that eight out of 10 homes in Italy have wine, one in 10 in America have wine. The Italians plan a dinner around the wine they have on their wine rack, Americans plan their dinner then choose the wine to go with it. Every region in Italy grows and makes wine, much of it very good to excellent. Imagine if all 50 states had large wine-making industries and were able to sell all of their wine, 70 percent in America while importing 30 percent around the globe! This is the enormity of the Italian wine scene and the experience felt by the Italian wine consumer.

Some years ago an Italian mathematician estimated that if every bottle and barrel of wine were dumped on the streets of Italy, the entire Italian peninsula would be covered by just a hair less than a meter of juice! This might be an exaggeration but the truth of the matter is that if you love wine and are not aware of Italian wines you are missing out on a vast and lovely experience of great wines and stunning values. In the next two articles we will explore in depth the tangle of the Italian wine label, grapes and regions.

Until then, Buona Fortuna!