Italian Reds
Vintage image sourced on Pinterest
No one is surprised that the first Italian tasting here is focused on the reds. Italy is famous for its red wines, but please don’t count out the whites! We’ll get to those another time, don’t worry. This tasting covers the “biggies.” The must-know Italian red wine styles, the ones that are widely exported and have come to represent Italy’s modern wine culture, even though it’s far more diverse than we could ever cover in a single tasting.
Stuff to know
Italy as we know it today only became a country in 1861. As an American living in Europe, I’m constantly reminded of my home country’s relative youth. But 85 years separate the beginning of America from the beginning of modern-day Italy. It’s a fact worth considering when one tries to lump all things Italian into a single “type.” Most Italians are from their region more than they are Italian, just like the wines.
When you start learning about Italian wine and then immediately become confused by the grapes whose names change depending on where they’re grown, it also helps to remember that many of these regions were different countries not that long ago.
Not to mention the fact that Italy has a vast amount of native grapes. Ian d’Agata’s seminal work on the topic, Native Grapes of Italy breaks down 377 different Italian native grapes, while clarifying upfront that there are likely about 2,000 different native grapes in Italy…more than in France, Spain and Greece combined.
Learning about Italian wine isn’t just about learning the grape varieties though. Like France, Italy names its wines by place. Appellation, if you want to get more specific, since “place” means much more than just where the grapes are grown. Italy’s appellation system is the Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOC), and it regulates minimum alcohol levels, vine planting density, whether or not a grower can water their vines, and whether, how long and in what style of vessel a winemaker can age their wines.
Restrictive? Maybe, but I think it helps to consider that the DOC system, with its 4 increasingly regulated tiers, allows wines to function much like brands. Their names tell us what to expect. Of course there is variation from producer to producer and vintage to vintage, but the regulations mean that we can begin to understand these styles of wine pretty quickly, even if the foreign naming conventions and tongue-twisting Italian words might seem intimidating at first.
What to look for in this tasting
Italian wines are often known for their acidity and their texture. Acidity is easier to decipher, so let’s start there. Lemon juice’s instant pucker provides a quick hit of acidity in the extreme, so if you imagine sucking on a lemon and immediately feeling saliva gathering and that tingling sensation in the back of your jaws, you’ve grasped what to expect from high acidity in a wine. Not all Italian wines have high acidity, but enough do that they’re known for it.
Texture is a bit more abstract, necessitating analogies from categories beyond food and drink. Does the wine feel silky, grainy, sandy, thick, coarse, chalky? Most of these refer specifically to how tannins feel in your mouth, but even Italy’s white wines have distinct textures. Pay attention to what the wine feels like, and even more so, how that feeling changes when you drink the wine with food. Certain Italian wines (ahem, Barolo) are aggressively tannic without food. As in, your mouth will feel like it’s been wiped with cotton and shrink-wrapped from the inside unless you eat something to alter that feeling. Personally, I love the distinctive shrink wrap feeling, but I recognize that it might be an acquired taste, so you have been warned: serve some food.
The wines
#1: Chianti Classico
Chianti Classico. Key word here being “Classico.” Yes, it matters.
You can think of “Classico” as the OG Chianti. Once upon a time, Chianti wines could only be made in the lands between Florence and Siena. The lands of the black rooster, or so the legend goes. The legend being a story originating in the Middle Ages, during which Florence and Siena’s respective republics were at war. To settle a border dispute, the republics decided to allow two knights to ride toward the opposing city, agreeing that a border would be drawn where they met. The caveat being that the knights could leave at dawn, as signified by a rooster’s crow, no earlier. So of course the scheming began. Siena chose a white rooster, and treated it well in hopes that it would perform the best. Florence chose a black rooster, and starved it in a cage. The starving rooster crowed long before dawn in its desperation to be fed, so the Florentine knight made it almost all the way down to Siena before meeting his opponent. The majority of the Chianti zone in between became the territory of the black rooster, later a symbol of the Lega del Chianti that subsequently controlled the area.
If at all possible, please select a real-deal Chianti Classico for this one. Just look for the black rooster on the bottle.
Chianti Classico wines are primarily made from Sangiovese, though other local grape varieties are allowed for up to 20% of the blend. The regulations for Chianti Classico production are stricter than those for Chianti, and they become even stricter for their Riserva and Gran Selezione wines.
To be clear, there are without doubt high quality Chianti wines being made outside the Classico zone, they’re just not Chianti Classico.
What to ask for: Ask by name
Alternatives: Chianti Classico Riserva, Chianti Classico Gran Selezione, or styles of Chianti like Chianti Rufina and Chianti Colli Senesi.
#2: Barolo
Barolo is often called Italy’s king of wines and the wine of kings. This nickname originated from the influence of Piedmont’s nobility on Barolo in the mid-1800s. Before then, Barolos were sweet wines that weren’t well known. Which aristocrat hired which enologist to create the dry style of Barolos we know today is up for some debate, but we do know that the House of Savoy’s Carlo Alberto, king of Sardinia and father to the first king of Italy was involved. This involvement meant that Barolos made their post-glow-up debut at royal courts around Italy, then Europe, cementing the moniker.
Barolo wines are made in Piedmont from Nebbiolo, a finicky grape that ripens late and makes wines with an unusually pale color. Barolos often appear reddish orange in the glass, almost brick-colored, and are pale enough to make you think the wine inside will be delicate. Wrong. These wines are known for having some of the highest tannin and acidity levels in the wine world. And its not just their structure. Barolos can also be some of the most intensely fragrant and flavorful wines you’ll ever experience. As the saying goes, don’t judge a book by its cover.
Barolo had its own wine war in the 70s and 80s. At the time, there was one way of making a “real” Barolo, and the rebels who tried new approaches revolutionized Barolo and started family feuds that continue today. These days, there are still some producers who adhere to extremely “traditional” or “modern” winemaking methods, but many choose something in between, so today’s Barolos don’t usually need a decade or more of bottle aging before being ready to enjoy.
What to ask for: Ask by name
Alternatives: Gattinara, Ghemme, Roero Rosso, Valtellina Superiore, Lessona, Carema, Langhe Nebbiolo
#3: Brunello di Montalcino
Montalcino is a medieval walled town on a hilltop in central Tuscany, just 25 miles (40 km) south of Siena. The roughly square-shaped namesake wine region surrounds the town, with vineyards and olive groves fanning out in all directions toward the Tyrrhenian sea to the west, the Apennines to the east and Mount Amiata, an inactive volcano, looming in the south. Three rivers border the region, outlining the territory with just over 5,000 people living within.
Brunello di Montalcino is one of those examples of Italian grape varieties’ names changing from region to region. Brunellos are made from Sangiovese, but more specifically, a clone called Sangiovese grosso that’s distinctive to Montalcino. Before DNA profiling confirmed this though, the grape went by the name Brunello, hence Brunello “of” Montalcino.
Brunellos are different from other Tuscan Sangiovese wines not just in the clonal differentiation though. Brunellos undergo longer aging periods than Chiantis and Vino Nobiles. These wines are only released for sale 5 years after the grapes were harvested, even longer for Riserva wines. For at least 2 years of that time, Brunellos must age in oak barrels, though producers have flexibility to choose which type and size.
Wines have been made in Montalcino for more than 2,000 years, at least since Etruscans lived here in antiquity. But Brunello has only officially been around since the late 60s, in which time its global renown has been thoroughly established.
What to ask for: Ask by name
Alternatives: Brunello di Montalcino Riserva, Rosso di Montalcino
#4: Amarone della Valpolicella
Amarones are unusual Italian reds. These rich reds are made in northern Italy, in Valpolicella just north of Verona. It isn’t the place or the grapes that make these wines most distinctive though, it’s the process.
Appassimento is a process that makes passito wines. Essentially, ripe grapes are harvested and then dried before the juice is pressed to make wine. It’s a process that has been practiced since antiquity, when sweet wines were the most precious, and someone discovered that drying grapes concentrated their sweetness. Grape bunches used to be carefully laid out and dried on straw mats or hung from the ceiling in lofts, but most producers today have facilities with big fans and temperature control to better avoid mold ruining a vintage.
While the appassimento process is ancient, Amarones are recent. It’s unclear exactly when producers started intentionally letting all of the sugars in these wines ferment, making dry wines instead of sweet. Eventually though, these dry, oak-aged wines became the region’s most prestigious.
Amarones are “big” wines. Since yeasts turn sugars into alcohol, there is plenty of alcohol and sometimes still a bit of residual sweetness, making Amarones hearty and decadent. You can expect to find dried fruit flavors from the various Veronese grapes that make up the Amarone blends, including Corvina, Corvinone, Rondinella and Molinara, like dried red and black cherries and prunes, alongside baking spices, cocoa and occasionally floral and herbal flavors like mint and violets adding further complexity.
What to ask for: Ask by name
Alternative(s): Amarone della Valpolicella Riserva, Valpolicella Ripasso or Valpolicella Classico Superiore
#5: Super Tuscan
Super Tuscan doesn’t sound very Italian, does it? That’s because it’s a phrase created by an American wine writer in the early 80s to define a then brand-new category of wines made with French grape varieties and techniques, usually from Bordeaux, but in Tuscany. These top quality wines fell outside the Italian DOC system, so at first, they were labeled with the least prestigious appellation category: Vino da Tavola.
These wines had been produced for a decade before the Super Tuscan name was coined, specifically starting with a single wine: Sassicaia, quickly followed by other now-icons: Ornellaia, Tignanello, Solaia, Le Macchiole and Masseto.
Luckily, you don’t have to splash out for a Super Tuscan icon to get the experience. There are now a plethora of Tuscan wines made with French grapes like Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. New DOCs have even been created that legally require French grapes in the blends in Bolgheri and Maremma.
What to ask for: Ask by style name
Alternatives: Bolgheri Rosso, Bolgheri Rosso Superiore, Maremma Toscana, IGT Toscana, IGT Costa Toscana
#6: Barbaresco
If Barolos are the king of Italian wines, then Barbarescos are the queen. And like many queens, Barbarescos are often placed in the shadow of the king. But as history has consistently shown us, queens aren’t lesser than, they’re just different. And different is always interesting.
Barbaresco wines are made in Piedmont with the finicky late-ripening Nebbiolo grape, just like Barolos. These wines are pale, usually brick red, and tend to have much more tannin and acidity than you’d expect from a pale wine. Barbaresco isn’t far from Barolo either. The two regions are just about 2 miles (3.2 km) apart, with the river Tanaro splitting from a single river to 3 tributaries as it flows through the hills in between. Barbaresco contains less than half as much vineyard area as Barolo, so these wines can be just a bit more challenging to find. Barbaresco wines age for 2 years before being released for sale, compared to Barolo’s 3 years, which can be considered lesser than or better than, depending on what you prefer.
Only you can decide which is best: the king or queen of Italian wines.
What to ask for: Ask by name
Alternatives: Barbaresco Riserva, Gattinara, Ghemme, Roero Rosso, Valtellina Superiore, Lessona, Carema, Langhe Nebbiolo
Tasting tips
The eats
These are food wines. Usually, I’d say that just serving bread, professional-tasting style, would cut it if you want to keep things simple, but not in this case. Please serve up at least an Italian-style charcuterie board.
If you’re going all-in, you know you have an abundance of options within the wonderfully wide world of Italian food. Even more if you’re adding Italian American food on top of that.
It’s a cliché, admittedly, but I’d like a big batch of bolognese for this tasting. My mom would hate it, since she believes in meatballs, not meat sauce, but I’d do it anyway. I’d make Meryl Feinstein’s casual bolognese from her Pasta Every Day cookbook and the whole house would smell delicious, since it simmers for hours. Fresh pasta as a bonus if I have the time, though store-bought will do just fine too. With plenty of crusty bread or focaccia for dipping and mopping up every last drop of sauce.
Any long-stewing Italian meat dish will accomplish the same goal, I just happen to be a sucker for the simplicity and comfort of a really good bolognese.
The prep
Since these are Italy’s “biggies,” they are the wines whose prices tend to be more expensive than most other Italian wines. That said, there will still be a wide range of prices for each of these wines, so your guests should have wiggle room within to decide how much they want to spend. If you’re finding that the wines’ prices are prohibitive, you can choose to invite guests to split their assigned wine’s cost with a friend or partner, widening the tasting group.
Since these wines are some of the most widely distributed of all Italian wines, it should be pretty easy to find options wherever you live.
A note on the tasting order: The wines are listed in the order of which should be included first, so that even if there are just 4 wines in the tasting, you’ve got a well-rounded experience ahead. However, I’d suggest switching up the order in which you taste the wines, regardless of how many wines make it in the final cut, as follows:
Chianti Classico
Brunello di Montalcino
Super Tuscan
Amarone
Barbaresco
Barolo
