Vino d'Italia! Italian Wines on the Web© Sonia Michaels
Oct 30, 1998
The grapes are being (or have been) harvested in Europe and North America, the weather is getting cooler, and people seem to be starting to think about the holiday season already, so I thought this might be a good time to provide some useful wine info. In my most recent journeys around the web, I have come across a lot of great Italian wine sites -- Italian wines are not nearly as confusing as French wines, but there are still a few mental hoops to jump
through if you want to reach a decent understanding of them. Their DOC (Denominazione de Origine Controllata) rules are somewhat convoluted and strange, and there are a lot of Italian grape varietals and regions that many North Americans may not be familiar with, but once you get a handle on these basics, the rest is fairly easy to deal with! So here are some ideas for Italian wine drinkers, collectors, and would-be wine travellers -- some commercial
links, some general wine links, and some travel related links for those considering or dreaming of tasting their way around Italy. (Standard disclaimer: I'm not affiliated with any of the companies I may link to, and I am not recommending their products or services -- simply telling you where to find them!) There is some helpful information about Italian wine laws and labelling at the Made In Italy site: http://www.made-in-italy.com/winefood/wine/labels.htm. This page contains material from the Italian Institute of Foreign Trade, and includes definitions of the DOC and DOCG zones; it also explains why some of the best Italian wines (such as the "Supertuscans")are still simply classified as "Vino da Tavola." For those who want to know about the Chianti region, here are a few places to start: Chianti Net, at http://www.chiantinet.it has some excellent information for prospective wine tourists, and a brief guide to wine tasting -- the link to the general tourist info for Tuscany was not functioning when I checked out the site, but all the wine-related stuff was working well. For that general tourist information, and more, try the Panzano and Greve In Chianti web pages -- at
http://www.panzano.com and
http://www.greve-in-chianti.com -- they provide information about special events, festivals, tourism, markets, restaurants, and so on. These are fairly commercial sites, which is to be expected, but there is a lot of good stuff there! Brunello di Montalcino is among the best (and most expensive!) of the Tuscan wines, and one of the most famous producers of this glorious beverage is
Go To Page:
1
2
The copyright of the article Vino d'Italia! Italian Wines on the Web in Italy is owned by . Permission to republish Vino d'Italia! Italian Wines on the Web in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
|
