Italy
Italy is one of the oldest wine regions in the world. Etruscans and Greek settlers produced wine in the country long before the Romans started developing their own vineyards in the second century BC. Roman wine-growing was prolific and well-organised, pioneering large-scale production and storage techniques like barrel-making and bottling. Two thousand years later, Italy remains one of the world's foremost producers, responsible for approximately one-fifth of world wine production. To put this into some sort of scale – Sicily alone as a wine region produces more than all of the wine regions of Australia put together.
One of the most fascinating of all countries to visit from a wine point of view, Italy has a seemingly infinitive amount of variety. Not only as a country does Italy remains extremely regional – indeed the concept of a united Italy is to a great extent only a political entity –whereas all regions have very distinct characteristics and these are reflected in geographical and linguistic terms as well as the style of food and wine of the region. One of the incredible benefits that Italy enjoys, especially today when increasingly amounts of wine lovers are becoming disillusioned with standardised Cabaret and Chardonnay tasting the same from around the globe – is that Italy has an immense number of indigenous grape varieties, many of which are not grown outside of a specific region let alone outside of Italy. Whereas the varieties of Sangiovese of Chianti fame and Nebbiolo of Barolo and Barbaresco may be well known – such delights as Ribolla Gialla, Lagrein, Marzemino, Negroamaro, Refosco dal Penuncolo Rosso are lesser known! Italy also has such a wide range of climatic conditions from the coastal area of Bolgheri to the mountainous regions of Alto Adige, that every single style of wine is produced – including some world class sparkling wines from the Franciacorta region – through superb white with great aging potential from Friuli to the powerful reds of Puglia to the exquisite Vin Santo of Tuscany.
Italy can be a confusing region for wine consumers to understand – and indeed there is such a wide range of wines from a quality point of view – as an example the ubiquitous Pinot Grigio can either be a bland non descriptive wine or a wonderfully complex wine with great minerality. Part of the attraction of wine touring in Italy with Arblaster & Clarke is dispelling many myths around the Italian Wine scene – such as the delight of clients on the Opera & Wine Tours to Verona who rediscover Soave and Vapolicella as serious world class wines and not the jug wines of their student days. There is nowhere more rewarding than Italy – especially given the local food is an essential part of all of our tours – and we ensure that the best of the regional cuisines is paired with wine from the leading estates in whichever region of Italy you choose.
Fair, 21C, Florence
Puccini Festival & Tuscan Wine
9 - 12 July 2009
Verona Opera & Wine
16 - 19 July 2009
Independent Opera, Puccini Festival
24 - 27 July 2009
Rome Opera & Wine
30 July - 2 August 2009
Rome Independent Opera
30 July - 2 August 2009
