I occasionally find people who are not so into Italian wine, and I frequently ponder the potential reasons, so today I decided to flip this on its head.
If you like or love Italian wine, what is it about Italian wine that you like or love?
Its sense of place
Variability in winemaking styles & grapes (hedonic perspective)
Near infinite exploration (epistemological perspective)
All but high end sophistication for me, which whilst it can be noble, can also be a bit snobby/elitist as a pitch.
Anything else? Reasonably informative labelling, and whilst DOCG was never the guarantee (of quality) it sounded like, I do think the DOCG / DOC / IGT / VdT system worked well for Italian wine, allowing a sense of place/tradition, but also offering freedom to go off-piste without causing confusion by doing so under a historic label. All rather in keeping with the great contrast of Italy as a source of great individuality/flair, yet also with such firmly embedded traditions.
Conversely, what would be the reasons not to like it?
Freshness & Vibrancy and natural wine making could be negatives for some people (as can tannins)
variability in styles and huge range of wines might also confuse / put off others, and confusion can find people buying / drinking wines that aren’t the best pick for them / the setting. e.g. buying wines that positively need cellaring, then wondering what the fuss is with these astringent wines.
Price might not stack up to other regions e.g. Chile
Some pushing the boundaries to extremes, be that an oak obsession, extreme natural / orange wine styles, or alcohol levels (I’m looking at you Amarone, but also some of the primitivo aspiring to the Zin style)
It has industrial wine, like other countries, and some can be rather soulless. To their credit, regions like Chianti and Soave have worked hard to repair the brand damage of bulk wine, and I think industrial Lambrusco isn’t the force it once was, but the artisan stuff remains cheap enough to suggest the brand is still suffering.
Not every small producer is competent
Apart from tourist locations / touristy wineries e.g. Montepulciano / Marchesi di Barolo, drop-in tasting rooms are rare, with visits typically needing to be booked.
Slow to accept screwcaps / non-cork alternatives (Aussie and Kiwi wine drinkers may see this is a big problem)
Even in Italy (I’m in Milan for work this week) some of the national brands are sadly damaged. I’ve had conversations with two different Italians this week who wanted to explain to me that Chianti = junk wine. I offered a different perspective.
When I got into wine, I stuck with California, because I had been to many wineries in Sonoma and Napa. Then Alfert taught me the way of France. And that was enough for me. I did my best to understand those areas, it was plenty to explore and I did not want to get confused by other regions.
But a few years back I ordered a few Italian wines, and I really, really liked them. Then I started ordering more, and liking them even more. A few months ago I read a book covering all the Italy’s wine regions so I could better understand.
This past weekend / week I had drank Italian for about 5 bottles in a row. Then last night, I popped a 2018 Ridge Geyserville. Formerly this was one of my favorite wines. It seemed so polished compared to what I had been drinking. I drank half a glass and could not do anymore. I put the cork back in it and popped an Italian and drank the whole bottle last night with some pizza.
I will re-visit the Ridge tonight, but I am afraid my enjoyment of Italian wines may have skewed my taste away from some of the stuff I used to enjoy.
I have been warned many times that my palate would change, and I think I originally assumed it would just grow to enjoy an even wider range of wines. Sadly, and similarly to your case, I am finding that there are a handful of more reasonably price wines that I am no longer that excited about opening. I still enjoy them, but I really want something else 50% of the time.
I really dont get this
Italy belongs to the worlds greatest (red) wine countries. Italy among the 2 greatest. Off course we love Mascarello and Montevertine
If the title was “Slovakian wine why do you love it?” it would be understandable
Variability in winemaking styles & grapes (hedonic perspective) - This one is more about purely enjoying the flavors of many styles and grapes.
Near infinite exploration (epistemological perspective) - This one is more about enjoying the journey of trying the many many variations, not necessarily because you will love each wine’s flavors, but more out of curiosity and wanting to explore.
I hope that helps. Let me know if it is still unclear.
very much agreed. The tough thing for most I think is knowing where to look.
But there is also, when to drink? How much air to give? Pair or not? If so, with what? At what temperature?
2016 AR.PE.PE. Valtellina Superiore Il Pettirosso for example. Huge difference serving it close to 60 degrees. But I imagine many try the wine in the high 60s after trying other Nebbiolo, and simply think they don’t like the wine much, or much less than they actually would.
The massive variety is also what makes it so hard to learn all of those details for each wine.
I voted 3 but maybe if you’re into the “journey” the whole world is your oyster.
More than anything else I think for me it’s being Italian so I have access to a ton of that stuff (I don’t shy away from other areas of the world ofc)
This was fun for me. But to sum up my view, there is no place on earth where there is such a variety of high quality wines, differing region by region, that drink so well with the food of that region. Generally, the Italian wines I do not care for are wines made with, let’s call them “international” varietals.
I had to chuckle at your story. I started with Italian wines purely by good fortune about forty years ago. And as a result, I’ve never been able to drink California or most other new world wines.
Think of #3 is one where a person is constantly seeking out types of wines they havent had, while #2 may just be cellaring/rebuying wines that they know they love from a variety of wine types. Perhaps Taurasi, Amarone, Barolo, Brunello, Primitivo, Etna Rosso…
