Talk Magazine: Gastronomy: Italian Wine Primer

nderstanding Italian wine can be a daunting task. Some

wines are named

after the grapes the wine

is made from,

some are named for the area

where the grapes are grown,

some are named for a style,

and some are

combinations

of the above. But with a few tricks it can be easier to

make

sense of the

Italian wine landscape.

One rule of thumb worth noting is that most Italian wines

are designed

to be drunk with food. While

there are

exceptions (especially among

white wines), Italian wines

that may be merely good while

sipping at a

cocktail party

will take on a new life when drunk with a few bites of

food:

the natural acidity

of many Italian wines marries perfectly

with

food, making the wine taste more complex and the

food

taste more

vibrant.

Also, most are meant to be drunk young. While many of

Italy's great

wines (such as the three great "Bs":

Barbaresco, Barolo, and Brunello)

can age and gain

complexity for decades, the vast majority are

designed

be consumed upon release and only a few are bottled to

last as long as ten years.

The initials Denominazione di Origine Controllata (Italian for "Denomination of Controlled Origin"), or D.
O.C., on a label is not exactly a guarantee of a great wine, but it does mean the wine in the
bottle was produced using legal standards and practices required for that type of wine. When in doubt,
D.O.C. (and slightly more exclusive D.O.C.G.) wines are probably safer bets than most alternatives.

Some types of wines that are particularly agreeable to novice wine drinkers include Barbera, Chianti,
Dolcetto, and Montelpulciano among reds, and Frascati, Pinot Grigio, and Tocai among whites.
Prosecco, from north of Venice, is a very accessible kind of sparkling wine, and Moscato is an easy-to-
like type of dessert wine.