Where do Italian Varieties Come From?

The origins of 50 Italian varieties used in Australia

Australian wine lovers, even those with the most rudimentary knowledge of varieties, know that some of our wine is made from Italian wine grapes.

There are 377 Italian wine grape varieties listed in Jancis Robinson’s Wine Grapes¹ And there are plenty more in small vineyards scattered across the country.

There are many other obscure local varieties and if you wish to dig deeper the book to read is Ian d’Agata’s Native Wine Grapes of Italy ²

But what does Italian mean in this context?

Italy is not a homogenous country. It is united politically ...well almost, but there are vast internal differences. There are twenty-one official regions, each with its own history, culture and proud culinary traditions. Viticulturally there are differences as well. The obvious variation in climate from north to south is overlain with centuries of cultural differences. This is reflected in the grape varieties grown.

This article discusses the approximately 50 Italian wine grapes used in Australia. Most have been used commercially here relatively recently. Before the 1990s virtually all of Australian vineyards consisted of French or Iberian varieties. The change was in response to a desire to extend the possibilities for different styles of wine, to cater for an increasing multicultural society and to find varieties that matched the local climate. This latter factor has become more important as climate change progresses.

Where do Italian varieties come from?

Here’s the list

• Aglianico ~ Campagna and Basilicata

• Aleatico ~ Tuscany

• Ancellotta ~ Emilia-Romagna

• Arneis ~ Piemonte

• Barbera ~ Piemonte

• Biancone ~ Elba

• Bianco d'Alessano ~ Puglia

• Brachetto ~ Piemonte

• Canaiolo Nero ~ Tuscany

• Colorino ~ Tuscany

• Cortese ~ Piemonte

• Corvina ~ Veneto

• Dolcetto ~ Piemonte

• Falanghina ~ Campania

• Fiano ~ Campania

• Freisa Piemonte

• Friulano ~ Friuli (actually a French variety Sauvignonasse)³

• Garganega ~ Veneto

• Grecanico

• Greco ~ Campania

• Grillo ~ Sicily

• Inzolia/Ansonica ~ Sicily

• Lagrein ~ Trentino Alto Aldige

• Lambrusco Maestri ~ Emilia-Romagna

• Malvasia Actually many differnt varieties

• Mammolo ~ Tuscany

• Marzemino ~ Friuli

• Montepulciano ~ Abruzzo

• Nebbiolo ~ Piemonte

• Negroamaro ~ Puglia

• Nero d'Avola ~ Sicily

• Nero di Troia ~ Puglia

• Pavana Trentino ~ Alto Adige

• Pecorino ~ Marche

• Picolit ~ Friuli

• Piedirosso ~ Campania

• Pignoletto ~Emilia Romagna

• Primitivo ~ Puglia (actually the Croatian Tribidrag, but also genetically identical to Zinfandel)

• Refosco ~ Friuli

• Rondinella ~ Veneto

• Rossola Nera ~ Lombardia

• Sagrantino ~ Umbria

• Sangiovese ~ Tuscany

• Schioppettino ~ Friuli

• Teroldego ~ Trentino Alto Adige

• Trebbiano ~ Tuscany

• Verdicchio ~ Veneto

• Verduzzo ~ Veneto

• Vermentino Sardinia

• Vespolina ~ Piemonte

How many have you tried?

We will be discussing some of these Italian varieties in a forthcoming Taste and Talk, on Thursday 28 June. Subscribers will be invited to join our discussion.

Just where are all of these regions?

You can find these regions plus the finer details of the DOCG, DOC and IGP areas in this suite of digital maps from De Long. Note PDF includes two very detailed maps plus an informative booklet detailing the major varieties of each region.

https://www.delongwine.com/products/wine-map-of-italy-digital-edition?ref=11

Reminders

You can get a $100 credit to buy some wine from Naked Wines by using this link. I have been buying their wine for quite some time. I like their wine and I like the way they are contributing to breaking the supermarket duopoly of wine distribution. They have a large range of specially created wines from up-and-coming winemakers.

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I recently wrote a short article on Vinodiversity about using professional guides when visiting wine regions.

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Next taste and talk session will be held on Thursday 27 June.

1. This book is essential for anyone interested in Australian wine grape varieties. It is available from Amazon in hardback or digital (Kindle) form.

2. Native Wine Grapes of Italy by Ian d’Agata available from Amazon.

3. Treated as Italian by most Aussie winemakers. Formerly known as Tocai Friulano.